Individual film directors Books

Book SynopsisIn this book Richard Ayoade -- actor, writer, director, and amateur dentist -- reflects on his cinematic legacy as only he can: in conversation with himself. Over ten brilliantly insightful and often erotic interviews, Ayoade examines Ayoade fully and without mercy, leading a breathless investigation into this once-in-a-generation visionary. They have called their book Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey. Take the journey, and your life will never be the same again.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA collection of essays, speeches, inteviews and reflections by the acclaimed filmaker Hayao Miyazaki.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Shining may be the first movie that ever made its audience jump with a title that simply says, Tuesday,' proclaimed The New York Times. Never has a film evoked so much dread in its audience with so little gore than Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the 1977 novel by the master of terror himself, Stephen King, where true horror lies in the darkest corners of domesticity and isolation. Equally a study of the intricate mechanics of Kubrick's genius as an in-depth look at the making of a visual masterpiece, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining gathers hundreds of hours of exclusive new interviews with the cast and crew in an unprecedented look at the 1980 cult classic. Slip in through the back door of The Overlook Hotel to witness Kubrick's endless rounds of script rewrites, his revolutionary use of the Steadicam, the mechanics behind the infamous blood elevator, the mysterious mid-filming fire at Elstree Studios, and the countless takes needed to satisfy the meticulous force that was Kubrick. Conceived and edited by Academy Award-winning director Lee Unkrich, dubbed by The Hollywood Reporter as the world''s foremost Shining aficionado, with text by best-selling author J.W. Rinzler and a foreword by Steven Spielberg, this is the definitive compendium of the film that transformed the horror genre. The two-volume collection designed by M/M Paris includes hundreds of never-before-seen production photographs from the Stanley Kubrick Archive and the personal collections of cast and crew, rare documents and correspondence, conceptual art, an exclusive look at deleted scenes, and more. THE SHINING and all related characters and elements & Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s22)

Read more less

Book SynopsisRead this meditative and inspiring diary of Derek Jarman's famous garden at Dungeness, which is also a powerful account of his life as an HIV positive man in the 1980s. In 1986 Derek Jarman discovered he was HIV positive and decided to make a garden at his cottage on the barren coast of Dungeness. Facing an uncertain future, he nevertheless found solace in nature, growing all manner of plants. While some perished beneath wind and sea-spray others flourished, creating brilliant, unexpected beauty in the wilderness. Modern Nature is both a diary of the garden and a meditation by Jarman on his own life: his childhood, his time as a young gay man in the 1960s, his renowned career as an artist, writer and film-maker. It is at once a lament for a lost generation, an unabashed celebration of gay sexuality, and a devotion to all that is living. 'An essential - urgent - book for the 21st Century' Hans Ulrich Obrist This new edition features an introduction from Olivia Laing, the author of CrudoTrade ReviewThe most beautiful & furious book of all time -- Olivia LaingAn essential – urgent – book for the 21st Century -- Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of the Serpentine GalleryA marvellous, moving book * Sunday Telegraph *Jarman gave his garden a certain narrative; perhaps he treated it a bit like a film or theatre set. His films were visionary, eccentric, romantic and rebellious, all of which could also be said about his garden * Guardian *It's hard not to warm to the man who, in the face of all the personal and professional hardships described in this book, can still regard himself as 'the most fortunate film-maker of my generation * Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisDavid Lynch erupted onto the cinema landscape in 1977 with Eraserhead, establishing himself as one of the most original and imaginative directors at work in contemporary cinema. Over the course of his career, he has remained true to a vision of the innocent lost in darkness and confusion, balancing hallucination and surrealism with a sense of Americana that is as pure and simple as his compelling storylines. In this volume, Lynch speaks openly about his films as well as about his lifelong commitment to painting, his work in photography, his television projects, and his musical collaborations with Angelo Badalamenti.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis stunning coffee table book focuses on the storyboards for nine of Alfred Hitchcock's classic movies - Vertigo, The Birds, Psycho, North by Northwest, The 39 Steps, Torn Curtain, Marnie, Shadow of a Doubt and Spellbound. It includes never before-published images and incisive text putting the material in context and examining the role the pieces played in some of the most unforgettable scenes in cinema. Hitchcock author and aficionado Tony Lee Moral takes you through the last 100 years of cinema, with the Master of Suspense as your guide.Trade ReviewTo average moviegoers, a storyboard is simply the way filmmakers organize the scenes of a film in preproduction. But for the great Alfred Hitchcock, storyboards were an essential element of his artistry. This fascinating book chronicles the way Hitchcock and his artistic collaborators first created his films on paper, deciding angles, shot depths, and speed of movement, purely through sketches. Covering 11 films, including The 39 Steps, Shadow of a Doubt, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds, this oversized book is filled with beautifully drawn images from some of the best art directors and artists of their time. The key attraction for cinephiles is the attention paid to these artists, including legends such as Dorothea Holt Redmond, Henry Bumstead, Robert Boyle, Saul Bass, and Salvador Dali. Several of these artists were also trained in architecture, which helped them illustrate the depth and scale required to realize Hitchcock’s vision. Moral’s (The Young Alfred Hitchcock’s Moviemaking Master Class) writing is occasionally repetitive, but this is not a major detraction. The artwork is the true attraction. VERDICT A beautiful, behind-the-scenes collection for all lovers of art, film, and Hitchcock. - Library Journal (starred review)“Celebrate(s) both [Hitchcock's] meticulous pre-planning and his unmatched mastery of cinematic composition” – Total Film 4 star review

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe second volume of legendary animation director Hayao Miyazaki’s career memoir continues with essays, interviews, and discussions about some of his most popular films, including Spirited Away and Ponyo.In the mid-1990s, filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki moved from success to success as his work found an audience outside of Japan. His animated films of the era, including Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Ponyo, were internationally lauded, and Miyazaki won an Academy Award® in 2003 for his popular and critical hit Spirited Away. Follow Miyazaki as his vision matures, as cinema-lovers worldwide embrace his creations, and as critics such as Roger Ebert take up the cause of animation and Miyazaki’s films. In a legendary career, these crucial years represent the turning point.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"If one movie theater trip to the Isle of Dogs isn’t enough, you’re in luck: A companion book is soon coming to a store near you. The Wes Anderson film, which boasts a star-studded cast and is due for release March 23, is set in future Japan where all dogs have been sequestered on an island due to “canine flu.” The tale follows 12-year-old Atari Kobayashi, who sets out to find his bodyguard-pup. In the tradition of recent Anderson films, a gorgeous book featuring original art will be published soon after its release. This one’s co-written by film critic Lauren Wilford and filmmaker Ryan Stevenson, with Grand Budapest Hotel author Matt Zoller Seitz contributing the foreword. Through a series of interviews with Wilford, Anderson shares the story behind Isle of Dogs’ conception and production, and interviews with Anderson’s key collaborators on the film reveal the ins and outs of stop-motion animation as well as many other insights into his creative process. Previously unpublished behind-the-scenes photographs, concept artwork, handwritten notes, and storyboards accompany the text." Entertainment Weekly

Read more less

Book SynopsisBased on the famous series of dialogues between Francois Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock from the 1960s, the book moves chronologically through Hitchcock's films to discuss his career, techniques, and effects he achieved. It changed the way Hitchcock was perceived, as a popular director of suspense films - such as Psycho and The Birds - and revealed to moviegoers and critics, the depth of Hitchcock's perception and his mastery of the art form.As a result of the changed perceptions about Hitchcock, his masterpiece, Vertigo, hit the No 1 slot in Sight & Sound''s recent poll of film-makers and critics, displacing Citizen Kane as the Best Film of all time.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisJames Cameron has blazed a trail through the cinematic landscape with a series of groundbreaking films that have each become deeply embedded in the popular imagination. But while Cameron has created and employed advanced filmmaking technologies to realize his unique vision, his process of creative ideation began with pen, pencil and paints long before he picked up a camera. Inspired by his mother, an artist, Cameron displayed remarkable ability at an early age, filling sketchbooks with illustrations of alien creatures, faraway worlds, and technological wonders. As he grew older, his art became increasingly sophisticated, exploring major themes that would imbue his later work-from the threat of nuclear catastrophe to the dangers inherent in the development of artificial intelligence, to a fascination with ecology that would foreshadow his storied career in science and exploration. Working in the film industry in his early twenties, Cameron supported himself by illustrating theatrical posters and concept art for low-budget films before creating the visionary concept pieces that would help greenlight his first major feature, The Terminator. For the first time, Tech Noir brings together a dazzling and diverse array of personal and commercial art from Cameron's own collection, showing the trajectory of ideas which led to such modern classics as The Terminator, Aliens, Titanic and Avatar. Starting with his earliest sketches through to unrealized projects and to his later work, the book features the filmmaker's personal commentary on his creative and artistic evolution throughout the years. A unique journey into the mind of a singular creative powerhouse, Tech Noir is a true publishing event and the ultimate exploration of one of cinema's most imaginative innovators.

Read more less

Book Synopsis The first illustrated monograph on writer, journalist, and director Nora Ephron, the visionary behind When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got MailNora Ephron at the Movies offers an unfiltered look at Ephron as a champion of the rom-com and as a feminist Hollywood trailblazer. It explores her life and work by pairing detailed criticism with exclusive interviews with Ephron’s key collaborators, including Andie MacDowell and Jenn Kaytin Robinson, to add color and nuance to her life and legacy. With her singular voice, Nora Ephron flourished as a dominant force in the entertainment industry, focusing on the idiosyncrasies of romance that were universally relatable. The women in her stories paralleled reality—the veil was lifted, the glossy sheen removed. Her protagonists share an unwavering sense of humor about life’s mishaps, and they never take themselves too seriously—l

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the writer of Knocked Up, Pineapple Express and Superbad, and the director of This is 40 and Trainwreck, comes a collection of intimate, hilarious conversations with the biggest names in comedy from the past thirty yearsTrade Review'The funniest man in Hollywood' Sunday Times'Hilarious and informative... my representatives assure me I will appear in a future edition' Will Ferrell'I can't stop reading it... I don't want this book to end' Jimmy Fallon'Anyone interested in comedy should invest' Heat'It's funny (natch), gossipy, page-turningly readable and packed with hard-won observations about showbusiness and life' GQ'Open this book anywhere, and you're bound to find some interesting nugget from someone who has had you in stitches many, many times' New York Times'These are wonderful, expansive interviews-at times brutal, at times breathtaking-with artists whose wit, intelligence, gaze, and insights are all sharp enough to draw blood' Michael Chabon

Read more less

Book Synopsis"... Full-page illustrations, drawings, paintings, photos, film scenes accompanied by texts allow the reader to forget reality for a moment. Dreams replace reality." — Mensch Maus… ! The volume accompanies the major exhibition - the first in Italy - that the National Cinema Museum dedicates to Tim Burton (1958). A journey into the visionary universe and creativity of the Californian director through original works of art, photographs, film material - storyboards, costumes, sketches, maquettes - and precious documents, many of which come from his personal archive. The volume retraces Tim Burton’s 30-year production from his beginnings, with Beetlejuice and Batman, up to the recent great success of Wednesday, highlighting the evolution of his singular imagination, which draws not only from the most varied forms of popular culture - such as fairy tales, comics, television films - but also to classic illustrators such as Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, Don Martin and Theodore Geisel, to expressionist cinema, to the horror catalogue of Universal Studios and the masters of suspense William Castle and Vincent Price. Likewise, it emerges how ideas, themes and even some images peculiar to his art have flowed into the most iconic films that we today associate with the sumptuous cinema spectacle. Text in English and Italian.Trade Review"The publication accompanying the Turin exhibition opens the reader to the world of Tim Burton. Full-page illustrations, drawings, paintings, photos, film scenes accompanied by texts allow the reader to forget reality for a moment. Dreams replace reality." - Mensch Maus… !

Read more less

Book SynopsisOn its release in 1988, Grave of the Fireflies riveted audiences with its uncompromising drama. Directed by Isao Takahata at Studio Ghibli and based on an autobiographical story by Akiyuki Nosaka, the story of two Japanese children struggling to survive in the dying days of the Second World War unfolds with a gritty realism unprecedented in animation. Grave of the Fireflies has since been hailed as a classic of both anime and war cinema. In 2018, USA Today ranked it the greatest animated film of all time. Yet Ghibli’s sombre masterpiece remains little analysed outside Japan, even as its meaning is fiercely contested - Takahata himself lamented that few had grasped his message. In the first book-length study of the film in English, Alex Dudok de Wit explores its themes, visual devices and groundbreaking use of animation, as well as the political context in which it was made. Drawing on untranslated accounts by the film’s crew, he also describes its troubled production, which almost spelt disaster for Takahata and his studio.Trade ReviewA little jewel of a book, concise, lucid, informative, moving. * The Times *Alex Dudok de Wit provides a valuable service to Japanese animation studies by writing the first book-length analysis in English of Grave of the Fireflies. Let us hope it will pave the way for similar scholarship to follow on other anime films. * Asia Times *For readers to now have access to this detailed, well-written and richly illustrated companion guide to the film is without doubt a boon to both future generations of moviegoers and scholars of animation - thought provoking in all the right ways. * The Japan Society *A thoroughly interesting, enlightening read… Alex Dudok de Wit has done this challenging film a real justice. * Skwigly *Extremely well researched… Insightful. * Sight & Sound *Alex Dudok de Wit’s impactful BFI monograph grapples with the Ghibli stunner’s intended socio-political message – and whether it has been washed away by audiences’ tears. Plus tense tales of missed production deadlines. * Total Film *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments and Author’s Note Introduction: Japanese Suffering, Japanese Guilt The Production: A Monster and a Grave The Film: The Lovers’ Journey The Legacy: A Rethinking of Animation Notes Credits

Read more less

Book SynopsisComprehensive and definitive volume telling the complete story of how Alien was made, featuring new interviews with Ridley Scott and other production crew, and including many rarely-seen photos and illustrations from the Fox archives. In 1979 a movie legend was born, as Twentieth Century-Fox and director Ridley Scott unleashed Alien - and gave audiences around the world the scare of their lives. To celebrate the movie's fortieth anniversary, author J.W. Rinzler (The Making of Star Wars) tells the whole fascinating story of how Alien evolved from a simple idea in the mind of writer Dan O'Bannon into one of the most memorable sci-fi horror thrillers of all time. With brand new interviews with Ridley Scott and other key members of the original production crew, and featuring many never-before-seen photographs and artworks from the archives, The Making of Alien is the definitive work on this masterpiece of popular cinema.Trade Review“Rinzler does a fine job of showing why, exactly, Alien became one of cinema’s greatest creations” - The Film Stage “completely enthralling...For fans of the film and the franchise, you couldn’t ask for more for this year’s 40th anniversary of Alien.” - Borg.com“a jaw-dropper of a book, a must-own for Alien fans that's positively overflowing with excellent artwork, new interviews, script excerpts, and a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes photos I'd never seen before” - Birth.Movies.Death“a gorgeous hardcover book that follows the making of the film from its inception in the mind of writer Dan O’Bannon to the mark it has left on the world...I think it’s safe to say that this book is a must-have for fans of the Alien franchise” - Dread Central “tells the fascinating story of how Alien germinated from screenwriter Dan O'Bannon's simple extraterrestrial stowaway idea into one of the most indelible works of scare cinema ever produced” - SYFY “J.W. Rinzler has previously set the bar for "The Making of" genre. By the end of this book he's becoming the platinum standard. This is easily the most well done and comprehensive look at Alien fans have ever seen.” 10/10 - Adventures in Poor Taste “author J.W. Rinzler brilliantly guides us through the long and fascinating origins of this unforgettable film by Ridley Scott” - Dead Enertainment “a gorgeous book and a must have for fans of the franchise” - Fangirl Nation“an extraordinary revelation of a film we thought we already knew.” - Film School Rejects “an exhaustive volume, one that works on two levels...you can page through, just soaking in the extraordinary illustrations and concept art from Ron Cobb, Chris Foss, H.R. Giger, and Scott himself. It’s also a book that provides some phenomenal detail into the story of the film’s production, and how it fit into the larger picture of cinema.” - The Verge “While I can’t recommend The Making of Alien highly enough to fans of the movie, it’s also an interesting look into the creative process, shedding light on the creation of one of the greatest films of all time. Rinzler and Titan have released a top-quality book that should interest any fan of horror, science fiction, or good film in general” - Ravenous Monster“a perfect 40th anniversary dedication” - Geekisphere “shines a light into these neglected corners of the animation legend's career” - SYFY"An engaging tribute to a widely respected film, but also a treat for fans of books about moviemaking." - Booklist“A fantastic in-depth look behind the scenes at Ridley Scott's horror/sci-fi masterpiece and a must-own for fans of the Alien franchise” - Cinema Sentries “Rinzler does a fine job of showing why, exactly, Alien became one of cinema’s greatest creations” - The Film Stage

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the moment Star Wars burst onto the screen in 1977, audiences have been in equal parts fascinated and appalled by the half-man/half-machine hybrid Darth Vader. In 1999, creator George Lucas began the story of how Anakin Skywalker grew up to train as a Jedi under Obi-Wan Kenobi, found love with the Queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidala, before turning to the dark side of his nature and becoming more machine than man. After driving the development of nascent digital technology, George Lucas perceived how he could create new creatures and new worlds on a grander scale than ever before. He created the first digital blockbuster, and met fierce resistance when he pushed for widespread digital cameras, sets, characters, and projection – all of which are now used throughout the industry. He essentially popularized the modern way of making movies. Made with the full cooperation of George Lucas and Lucasfilm, this second volume covers the making of the prequel trilogy — Episode I The Phantom Menace, Episode II Attack of the Clones, and Episode III Revenge of the Sith — and features exclusive interviews with Lucas and his collaborators. The book is profusely illustrated with script pages, production documents, concept art, storyboards, on-set photography, stills, and posters.Trade Review“The best work on the greatest saga in the world... For the Star Wars fan, this book is a revelation.” * Welt am Sonntag *“The Star Wars Archives pulls off the impossible: a fresh look at one of the most picked-off franchises ever.” * Chicago Tribune *“A book from another galaxy. A must for every fan!” * stern *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Northman: A Call to the Gods is the official look at how this epic Viking revenge thriller was conceived, written, cast, and produced by acclaimed director Robert Eggers. Set against the ruthless backdrop of tenth-century Norse territory, The Northman is an epic Viking revenge thriller by acclaimed director Robert Eggers (The Witch [2015] and The Lighthouse [2019]), featuring an all-star cast including Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, and Bjoerk. Compiled from fascinating interviews with the cast and crew, inspiring storyboards, exclusive behind-the-scenes photographs-including the director's own firsthand account of his creative processes in writing and directing-The Northman: A Call to the Gods explores the cold and forbidding world of the Vikings, their customs, traditions, and relentless thirst for battle and vengeance that inspired Eggers to write this compelling Norse saga. Learn how the wardrobe department recreated the intricate chainmail armor and costumes of Viking berserkers and warriors; and delve into the research behind the art department's visual inspiration for replicating the villages of Hrafnsey and Freysdalur.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is an intimate account of the rise, fall and rise again in show business of Hollywood giant and legendary 'bad boy' Robert Evans. He spares no-one, least of all himself, in this revealing chronicle.

Read more less

Book SynopsisJohn Cassavetes is the godfather of American independent cinema, saluted by virtually every US maverick who''s followed in his stead, from Martin Scorsese to Sean Penn. Since his death in 1989, Cassavetes has become increasingly renowned as a cinematic hero - a loner who fought against the iniquities of the Hollywood system, steering his own creative course in a career spanning thirty years. Having first established himself as an actor, he bravely struck out on his own as a director in 1959 with Shadows, and proceeded to build up a formidable body of work. His major films include Faces, Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Opening Night and Gloria. These unforgettable works are driven and distinguished by Cassavetes''s collaboration with actors of the calibre of Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk. Professor Ray Carney, a friend and admirer of Cassavetes, presents a book that offers us Cassavetes in his own words - frank, uncompromising, humane, and passionate about both life and art.

Read more less

Book SynopsisNamed one of TIME magazine's 100 Greatest Men of the Century, Bruce Lee's impact and influence has only grown since his untimely death in 1973Trade Review"Whether he was teaching, acting, writing, or speaking, Bruce was able to … 'simply and honestly expressing himself.' Superficially, this could be called 'charisma,' but on a more profound level this ability to bare the soul should be called 'artistry.' Just as Michelangelo chipped away at a block of marble to reveal David, so did Bruce peel away the layers of his inner soul to expose his true self to the world." --Linda Lee Cadwell, from the Foreword"The Bruce Lee Library stands as the definitive presentation of Bruce Lee's magnificent legacy. Each volume belongs on the bookshelf of every serious martial artist." --Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Nucleus"With rare letters, essays and even poems, the book offers readers a glimpse into the mind and work ethic that drove Lee, as well as a window into his philosophy." --News China Magazine

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplore the beginning of Steven Spielberg's remarkable career with this definitive retrospective that covers Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1941, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. In the first ten years of his career, Steven Spielberg directed some of the most influential and beloved films in cinema history. Movies such as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial introduced audiences to the modern blockbuster and cemented Spielberg as a monumental figure in pop culture. Through exclusive imagery and unparalleled insight from Spielberg's longtime documentarian, Laurent Bouzereau, this deluxe volume explores how a young filmmaker reinvented American cinema within just ten years. Featuring a fresh perspective on films including Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1941, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, this book is an essential exploration of an iconic filmmaker's early career.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. The Auteur 2. The Bohemian 3. The Nostalgic 4. The Finn Appendix: A Conversation with Aki Kaurismaki Filmography Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA rare, intimate portrait of Hollywood's reigning blockbuster auteur' whose deeply personal billion-dollar movies have established him as the most successful director to come out of the British Isles since Alfred Hitchcock.Updated, with a chapter on OppenheimerA masterclass . . . brilliant. Immersive, detailed, meticulous, privileged inside-dope.' - Craig Raine More than just the tinkerings of a glass watchmaker, Christopher Nolan's films have an unerring grasp of the way time makes us feel. Time steals people away in his films, and he takes careful note of the theft. Time is Nolan's great antagonist, his lifelong nemesis. He seems almost to take it personally.Written with the full cooperation of Nolan himself, who granted Tom Shone access to never-before-seen photographs, storyboards and sketches, the book is a deep-dive into the director's films, influences, methods and obsessions. Here for the first time is Nolan on his

Read more less

Book SynopsisEmbargoed to 30th March 2017The Art of Smurfs presents hundreds of storyboards, character design, and location concept pieces.With a foreword by Veronique Culliford, daughter of Pierrot "Peyo" Culliford, this insider's guide celebrates her father's cherished Smurfs and provides a glimpse into the creative process that turned his popular comics into a feature-length, animated film.In this fully animated, all-new take on the Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty on an exciting race through the Forbidden Forest leading to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe definitive look at how the 70s movie makers changed the face of cinema

Read more less

Book SynopsisKnown as Hollywood's 'Boy Wonder', Irving Thalberg created classics such as "Ben-Hur", "Tarzan the Ape Man", "Grand Hotel", "Freaks", "Mutiny on the Bounty", and "The Good Earth", but died tragically at thirty-seven. This work uses production files, financial records, and correspondence to confirm the genius of Thalberg's methods.Trade Review"Vieira has accomplished something quite extraordinary... This is the definitive volume about a towering figure in the history of Hollywood." -- Leonard Maltin Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy "Vieira has written the definitive biography of Thalberg." STARRED REVIEW -- Teri Shiel Library Journal "The third biography of Thalberg, and far and away the most thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and penetrating ... as close to definitive as any biography of Irving Thalberg is likely to get." -- Joseph Epstein The Weekly Standard "Vieira writes with great verve and enthusiasm, and he has a flair for narrative movement that suits these exponents of the new storytelling ... well written and extensively researched." -- David Thomson New Republic "If you want to know about Hollywood's Golden Age, then you must know about Thalberg. And if you want to know about Thalberg, then you must read this book." -- Anthony McKenna Screening The Past "Among the many virtues of Mark Vieira's biography is the use he makes of the story conferences preserved in the MGM archives." The Economist "Vieira's work is both exhaustively researched and beautifully presented, rich in detail yet compulsively readable. If you want to know about Hollywood's Golden Age, then you must know about Thalberg. And if you want to know about Thalberg, then you must read this book." -- Anthony McKenna Screening The Past "This is a worthy, well-documented account of [Thalberg's] life." -- R. D. Sears Choice "A well-researched and readable biography." -- David Yezzi Wall Street Journal "This is a sympathetic, diligent, and intelligent account of a wondrous era in Hollywood." Jewish Book World "Vieira has put the enigmatic producer back in the spotlight with his biography ... a thorough and readable book." -- Matthew Rovner Forward "Vieira's excellent biography reveals a master player...[and] sheds much needed light upon significant, influential life." Magill's Literary Annual / Salem Press "The jury has been out for 70 years on the MGM studio chief, even though F Scott Fitzgerald immortalised him as the "last tycoon". Was Thalberg art's gift to Hollywood, with his well-bred epics (Romeo and Juliet, Marie Antoinette)? Or was he a mogul playing to the middlebrow? Read this impressively researched study and decide." -- Nigel Andrews Financial Times "An engaging new biography ... an unusually animated and revealing tour of Hollywood in the 1920s and '30s." -- Noah Isenberg Bookforum "An important book on a pivotal figure in Hollywood history... Vieira's biography is an invaluable resource." -- Camille McCutcheon, University of South Carolina Upstate Jrnl Of American Culture "Vieira takes students of movie history deep into the bowels of MGM." -- Robert Fulford The National Post "A fast-paced and well-researched new biography of Thalberg." -- Kent Jones Film CommentTable of ContentsPreface Part One The Merger 1 The Boy Wonder 2 A Funny Little Man 3 Three Shaky Little Stars Part Two The Perfection of Silence 4 A Studio Style 5 Wicked Stepchildren 6 A Business of Personalities 7 Top of the Heap 8 “More Stars Than There Are in Heaven” Part Three The Talkies 9 The Golden Silents 10 All-Talking, All-Singing, All Profitable 11 The Production Code Part Four “His Brain Is the Camera” 12 Visiting Royalty 13 New Morals for Old 14 The Right to Be Wrong 15 Hollywood Icarus Part Five The Thalberg Unit 16 The New Setup 17 Honor with Credit 18 “To Hell with Art!” Part Six The Crown Prince of Hollywood 19 “Napoleon Thalberg” 20 A Feverish Energy 21 A Labor of Love 22 The Gods Are Jealous Part Seven The Legacy 23 Unfinished Projects 24 Marie Antoinette Epilogue Appendix: The M-G-M Films of Irving Thalberg Notes Select Bibliography Acknowledgments Index Illustrations

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisDiscover everything you''ve ever wanted to know about Star Wars in this complete history of the most famous franchise in movie history.Painstakingly researched and superbly illustrated, Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual History, New Edition presents a unique Star Wars timeline-the full history of the amazing Star Wars phenomenon as you''ve never seen it before.This stunning visual journey features trivia and cultural cornerstones from director George Lucas'' early life through to the iconic movie stills, comic books, novels, toys, video games, and theme parks that have spawned from five decades of seminal film making. Fully updated and expanded, this edition encompasses all nine episodes of the original, prequel, and sequel trilogies, along with the standalone movies Rogue One and Solo, and the acclaimed television series, The Mandalorian. Produced in full collaboration with Lucasfilm and written by renowned Star Wars experts, Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual History, New Edition is ideal for Star Wars fanatics and newbies alike. & 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER “This funny, insightful, and deliciously dishy memoir” (Town & Country) from the director of Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, and Glory, creator of thirtysomething, and executive producer of My So-Called Life, “takes its place alongside Adventures in the Screen Trade and Easy Riders, Raging Bulls as one of the indispensable behind-the-scenes books for fans of movies and television” (Aaron Sorkin).“I’ll be dropping a few names,” Ed Zwick confesses in the introduction to his book. “Over the years I have worked with self-proclaimed masters-of-the-universe, unheralded geniuses, hacks, sociopaths, savants, and saints.” He has encountered these Hollywood types d

Read more less

Book SynopsisRole Models is a wild and witty self-portrait of John Waters, America''s ''Pope of Trash'', told through intimate profiles of his favourite personalities - some famous, some unknown, some criminal, some surprisingly middle of the road. From Esther Martin, owner of the scariest bar in Baltimore, to the playwright Tennessee Williams; from the atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair to the insane martyr Saint Catherine of Siena; from the English novelist Denton Welch to the timelessly appealing singer Johnny Mathis - these are the extreme figures who helped John Waters form his own brand of neurotic happiness.A paean to the power of subversive inspiration that delights, amuses and happily horrifies in equal measure...Trade ReviewA delirious descent into Waters World, Role Models is a true-life confessional from one of America's greatest ironists. John Waters is a man always ready and willing to say the unsayable. He is the dark mirror of contemporary culture. From haute couture to low culture, from literary outsiders to lapsed actors, he delivers razor-sharp pen portraits of the women and men who have perverted and inspired him by turns. And yet Waters's warped imagination is always humane, his judgments insightful. Role Models is as much a philosophical manifesto as it is an utterly hilarious and shamelessly entertaining read. -- Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan, or The WhaleDisarmingly unfiltered confessions that capture Waters' singular blend of weirdness and guileless honesty. * San Francisco Chronicle *John Waters has a great gift for appreciation - whether for toothless lesbian strippers in Baltimore or the most rarefied painters and writers of our day. He is a dandy who has done away with everyone else's hierarchies and created a new world that conforms only to his own taste for trash and the sublime. He is frank, funny, and (strangely enough) both sensible and outrageous. -- Edmund White, author of City Boy

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis study examines the work of Akira Kurosawa, one of the century's greatest film directors. It discusses his choice of themes, story-telling technique, camera work and directorial style. New to this edition are a revised introduction and filmography, and some additional chapters.Trade Review"A gratifying study for both film buff and critic." * Kirkus Reviews *"The seminal work on one of the greatest of all film artists, [it] has universally been regarded as a masterpiece of film criticism." * Bloomsbury Review *"Definitive, readable, and a virtual model for future studies in the field." * Saturday Review *

Read more less

Book Synopsis “A great gift for any Coen fan-boy or fan-girl in your life.” ―NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour Combining critical text—biography, close film analysis, and enlightening interviews with key Coen collaborators—with a visual aesthetic that honors the Coens’ singular mix of darkness and levity, The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together is film critic Adam Nayman's carefully crafted effort to plot, as he puts it, “some Grand Unified Theory of Coen-ness.” Ethan and Joel Coen have cultivated a bleakly comical, instantly recognizable voice in modern American cinema. They have given movie fans classics of all types—comedy, history, drama, romance. Their movies have a distinctive style and point of view: hilarious, sad, thoughtful, musical, sometimes all at once. When someone says a movie is Coen Brothers–like, every serious movie lover knows exactly what they meaTrade Review"...this book tries to plot "some Grand Unified Theory of Coen-ness" in a "definitive" exploration of the Coen brothers' oeuvre." -- TheBookseller"Far from an entry-level guide to the Coens' career, this comprehensive dissection of their filmography aims to uncover a 'Grand Unified Theory Of Coen-ness'. Exploring the complexities of the duo's oeuvre with forensic attention to detail, critic Adam Nayman flags up repeating motifs and parallels, only occasionally overreaching into tenuousness." -- Total Film"The large-format tome, lavishly decorated with stills (including on-set panoramas by Jeff Bridges), illustrations and infographics, may suggest coffee-table fare, but there is genuine substance here. Punctuating his chronologically ordered analyses of individual movies with interviews with key collaborators (though not the Coens themselves) and five chapters charting the commercial and critical vicissitudes of the brothers' career, Nayman swiftly shows he's done his homework: he's read the books that influenced the movies, researched and considered the countless references, and checked, for example, the number of cats used in shooting Inside Llewyn Davis (2012)." -- Sight & Sound magazine"Nayman’s essays are both entertaining and academic, analysing themes and motifs from each film, identifying recurring links between them, and tying them into cinema history - and once you start reading, it’s easy to get hooked. Even the most obsessive Coen fans will come out of this appreciating their favourite films in new ways as they see details they never knew were there." -- Starburst“One of the pleasures of the big, handsome, mid-to-late career monographs that Abrams Books has made a specialty (they also released books on Wes Anderson, Oliver Stone, and Martin Scorsese) is that they allow us to appreciate the “minor” entries of those oeuvres. Take, for example, Adam Nayman’s The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together (out tomorrow), which, yes, gives full analysis and appreciation to Fargo, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, and No Country For Old Men. But Nayman also has plenty to say about supposedly secondary works like The Hudsucker Proxy, Burn After Reading, and, in this excerpt, the all-but-forgotten 2001 black-and-white film noir riff, The Man Who Wasn’t There.” -- Flavorwire"Drawing heavily on his knowledge of film production methods and cinematic history and with a keen eye for the concepts that emerge and re-emerge in the Coen Brothers’ work, Nayman has put together an urgent and compelling tribute to the two mild-mannered brothers from Minnesota showed us the life of the mind. The Coen Brothers; This Books Really Ties The Films Together is a must for any film buff and required reading for all the stoned bowlers and murderous insurance salesman out there." -- Film Ireland“… film critic Adam Nayman weaves biography, critical analysis, and interviews with Coen collaborators (including longtime cinematographer Roger Deakins) to present the definitive history of the Coen brothers oeuvre.” -- Indiewire"This is highly recommended for any film fan, and essential for any Coen brothers fan - let Adam Nayman show you the life of the Coen brothers’ minds." -- StarburstMagazine.com“The Coen Brothers can count themselves among the small list of the most extraordinary American filmmakers to ever work in the genre. And reading through The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together is a testament to their talents.” -- /Film"If you’d like to read more about the making of The Big Lebowski, may we recommend The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together, which has just been released by Abrams" -- AnOther Man“It’s one of those large Abrams doorstops… filled with glossy, well-chosen pictures as well as thoughtful, eloquent analysis that more than justifies their literal heavy-osity.” -- Filmmaker Magazine online“There’s no doubt this is one of 2018’s must-own books for film lovers.” -- The Film Stage“…a marvelous mixture of well-designed coffee table book and thoughtful analysis of a filmmaking team…” -- Flavorwire Christmas gift guide“…fans of Joel and Ethan Coen will appreciate this oversized guide to their offbeat oeuvre…” -- Newsday“..this detailed compendium is a cinephile’s delight.” -- BookPage“It would make a great gift for any Coen fan-boy or fan-girl in your life.” -- Pop Culture Happy Hour“…a king-sized guide to the filmmakers’ off-beat oeuvre… “ -- The Playlist

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs the Walt Disney Studio entered its first decade and embarked on some of the most ambitious animated films of the time, Disney hired a group of concept artists whose sole mission was to explore ideas and inspire their fellow animators. They Drew as They Pleased showcases four of these early pioneers and features artwork developed by them for the Disney shorts from the 1930s, including many unproduced projects, as well as for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and some early work for later features such as Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Introducing new biographical material about the artists and including largely unpublished artwork from the depths of the Walt Disney Archives and the Disney Animation Research Library, this volume offers a window into the most inspiring work created by the best Disney artists during the studio''s early golden age.They Drew as They Pleased is the first in what promises to be a revealing and

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“A swift and elegant introduction to Spielberg’s life and work.”—David Denby, New Yorker"'Everything about me is in my films,' Spielberg once said. Yet in this compact study of a sprawling career, Haskell comes close to presenting a unified theory of a director who entertains multitudes, and contains them too."—Victoria Segal, Sunday Times"A superbly readable portrait of the man through his movies . . . this meeting of the minds of the critic and the director turns out to be exceptionally fruitful."—Kate Muir, Times (London)"The exploration here is lively, the critic is deeply informed, and she approaches her mandate with a calmness of inquiry that is a gift often bestowed on the outsider anthropologist impervious to tribal influences."—Lisa Schwarzbaum, New York Times Book Review"Luckily, Molly Haskell is far too wise a critic to be flummoxed by Mr. Spielberg’s seemingly critic-proof oeuvre. She nails Mr. Spielberg when he needs to be nailed . . . Ms. Haskell’s great on the movies that give her something to write about, like 'Duel,' 'Jaws,' and 'Empire of the Sun.'"—Scott Eyman, Wall Street Journal"This fascinating critical study and close reading of the movies, written by a prominent feminist film critic, focuses on the evolution of Spielberg’s Jewish identity."—New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice"As Haskell delves into her subject, however, she discovers the influences and challenges that shaped this outsize figure in American mainstream cinema, including his denied, then embraced Jewish faith, and comes up with a compelling and remarkable figure."—Sarah Jilani, Times Literary Supplement"In a long nomadic career of film writing, the feminist critic Molly Haskell has never wild about Spielberg, her taste steeped in the great auteurs, her signature a coolly playful rigour. Unexpectedly, this makes her the perfect biographer for a director with a life-long weakness for treacle. Spielberg emerges with his credibility enhanced for having been put through the wringer."—Danny Leigh, Financial Times"Legendary movie critic Haskell weaves Spielberg’s entire body of work through her captivating narrative, providing a poignant study of him as a person and a filmmaker."—Publishers Weekly"Haskell’s discussion of the childlike wonder inherent to many of the director’s films and her eloquent defense of some of his riskier, less successful movies is particularly valuable. . . . Recommended for readers of film criticism or commentary."—Library Journal"[Haskell] takes Spielberg’s statement that 'everything about me is in my films' and provides a fascinating portrait of the man and his entire oeuvre, illustrating just how entwined they are. She reveals that this extraordinarily gifted individual would translate 'not only his childhood but whatever he was feeling and experiencing at any given time' into his films."—Anne Joseph, Jewish Chronicle"Haskell has turned out a brilliant, almost exemplary book: in 200-odd pages it manages to precis the key facts of Spielberg’s off-camera life and distill the essence and flow of his evolving, shifting cinematic achievements . . . an excellent critical biography of a great film director, and is warmly recommended."—Andrew Pulver, Jewish Renaissance"This unlikely match of biographer and subject gives [Haskell’s]study the tension and snap of a good romantic comedy. . . . An essential volume on an artist whose aversion to interviews has shortened the shelf of worthwhile studies on him."—Guy Lodge, The Observer"An arresting set of connections, linking the stresses of childhood and adolescence with the defining themes of his expensive output, ultimately taking a view on Spielberg as a more personal filmmaker than many of his contemporaries . . . a filmmaker this refreshing volume make you keen to reassess, or perhaps indeed visit for the first time with new eyes."—Trevor Johnson, Sight & Sound"Molly Haskell, one of our most essential authorities on the movies, has written a fascinating, witty, acutely discerning book about a subject that would seem, at first glance, odd. But what a spectacular match it proves to be! Spielberg is given his proper due, and Haskell outdoes herself."—Phillip Lopate, author of American Movie Critics"Steven Spielberg and Molly Haskell—the great producer-director of modern film and one of the most intelligent and sensitive film writers we have ever had. The result is as rich and intriguing as the meeting of Elliott and E.T. We know the Spielberg films, or we think we do, until they come under the cool yet warming gaze of Ms. Haskell. As a result, we are the more fascinated with Spielberg and the more encouraged by the principle of essential and enlightening film commentary."—David Thomson, author of A Biographical Dictionary of Film"Molly Haskell’s writing is always thought provoking and rife with insight. She skillfully argues that Hollywood’s most commercially successful film maker has, over a forty-five-year career, produced a series of highly personal films that give voice to the director’s inner conflicts and longings. This persuasive re-think will no doubt intrigue fans and, in fact, anyone who has ever watched a Spielberg movie. A must for anyone interested in a serious look at popular cinema."—Joseph Egan, author of The Purple Diaries"This is a wonderful book, at once personal and critical, eloquent and vivacious. The book vibrates with a productive tension between the writer and her subject."—Morris Dickstein, author of Dancing in the Dark and Why Not Say What Happened

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisNobody could make a film like Stanley Kubrick.' Steven SpielbergKubrick's interest in observing human folly produced some of the most important works of art of the twentieth century, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove, Barry Lyndon and The Shining.Based on Kubrick's archive, as well as new interviews with family members and those who worked with him, Kubrick: An Odyssey offers comprehensive, in-depth coverage of Kubrick's personal, public and working life.This long-awaited, new biography dispels the myths surrounding the allegedly reclusive director, who spent his career determined to transcend traditional film-making.Kolker and Abrams have unearthed some superb new facts about the director.' The Times, Book of the Week'An authoritative portrait of the director. Filled with striking behind-the-scenes stories and elevated by a keen understanding of Kubrick's style, this is a biography as monumental as its subject.' Publishers WeeklyMyths are debunked, and everyone from the Kubrick obsessive to the casual fan will be beguiled.' Guardian

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Over 20 films. Over 40 years. What collaboration in any medium has lasted so long, been so successful, so personal, so happy? Read this wonderfully entertaining book: a unique story of a unique life in the world of world cinema'' WES ANDERSON ''Jim is as eloquent and elegant with words as with the camera; here are almost a series of short stories of his life, vivid snapshots, told with an exacting eye. Every sentence is filled with his wry cadence, guided by his appreciation of things beautiful, amusing and unusual. We take the tour of his life which has as fascinating a cast and is set in locations as far flung and exotic as his films - except with way more sex. Read it and drink it in!'' HELENA BONHAM CARTER''Ivory is full of candour and randiness...[this] book will open the eyes, often very wide'' The Times---------------In Solid Ivory, a carefully crafted mosaic of memories, portraits, and reflecTrade ReviewOver 20 films. Over 40 years. What collaboration in any medium has lasted so long, been so successful, so personal, so happy? James Ivory met Ismail Merchant (in 1961) and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (in 1962), and one of the earliest, most durable, most independent of independent film families came to life. The widest varieties of stories (neorealist memoirs, literary adaptations, avant garde experiments) and settings (England, France, Italy, India, the Americas North and South); the broadest collection of superb actors and artists (Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Newman, Anthony Hopkins, Shashi Kapoor, Maggie Smith, Subrata Mitra!). Read this wonderfully entertaining book: a unique story of a unique life in the world of world cinema. * Wes Anderson *I met Jim when I was 18 . He was an introvert to Ismail's extrovert. I always wondered what was going on in his head. Now I know, and I'm so glad he's shared it.Jim is as eloquent and elegant with words as with the camera; here are almost a series of short stories of his life, vivid snapshots, told with an exacting eye. Every sentence is filled with his wry cadence, guided by his appreciation of things beautiful, amusing and unusual. We take the tour of his life which has as fascinating a cast and is set in locations as far flung and exotic as his films - except with way more sex. And I thank God I'm not in it. Jim is now in his ninth decade and I believe his secret elixir is a delight in life - read it and drink it in! -- Helena Bonham Carter'James Ivory write[s] with perfect elegance...there's nothing starchy or uptight about these scenes from his fascinating life' * The Sunday Times *'Full of humour, warmth and crystal-clear reminiscences from his personal and professional life, Ivory's narrative is witty, informative, gossipy and at times eye-poppingly frank' * The Lady *'There's something rather brilliant about a man heading towards his hundredth birthday demanding more explicit sex. Ivory is full of candour and randiness...[this] book will open the eyes, often very wide' * Times *'Consistently entertaining' * Guardian *'A languid, enjoyably gossipy memoir from one half of Merchant Ivory that after a fascinating exploration of well-off, small-town American life in the Thirties and Forties, quickly gets eye-opening' * Evening Standard *Ivory writes beautifully and delicately, and emerges as a true cinematic rarity; the auteur who wants everyone to have a nice time while they make their best work * TLS *Over 20 films. Over 40 years. What collaboration in any medium has lasted so long, been so successful, so personal, so happy?...Read this wonderfully entertaining book: a unique story of a unique life in the world of world cinema. -- Wes AndersonJim is as eloquent and elegant with words as with the camera; here are almost a series of short stories of his life, vivid snapshots, told with an exacting eye. Every sentence is filled with his wry cadence, guided by his appreciation of things beautiful, amusing and unusual. We take the tour of his life which has as fascinating a cast and is set in locations as far flung and exotic as his films - except with way more sex...read it and drink it in! -- Helena Bonham CarterA memoir as eloquent and gracious as his films, Ivory's page-turner brims over with the boldness, candor, and modesty which only great minds can claim. Places, objects, bodies, people, and so many names, all have a place in his unassailably brilliant life. -- André Aciman - writer of CALL ME BY YOUR NAMEThe producer-director's memoirs are as stately and intimate as his indelible films, chronicling his childhood in Klamath Falls, Oregon during the Great Depression; his clandestine boyhood crushes; and the tribulations and triumphs of making movie magic. * Oprah Daily *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this original and indispensable book, Christine Madrid French reveals Hitchcock’s relation to the built world was informed by an intense engagement with location and architectural form - in an era marked by modernism’s advance - fueled by some of the most creative midcentury designers in film.Trade Review"The subject is fascinating. This book will surely appeal to a wide audience. Christine Madrid French’s enthusiasm is contagious, informative, and eye-opening." - Sidney Gottlieb, editor of Hitchcock on Hitchcock

Read more less

Book SynopsisMelodrama, biography, cold war thriller, drug memoir, essay in fragments, mystery – Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors is cult critic Ian Penman’s long awaited first original book, a kaleidoscopic study of the late West German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945–1982). Written quickly under a self-imposed deadline in the spirit of Fassbinder himself, who would often get films made in a matter of weeks or months, Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors presents the filmmaker as a pivotal figure in the late 1970s moment between late modernism and the advent of postmodernism and the digital revolution. Compelling, beautifully written and genuinely moving, echoing the fragmentary and reflective works of writers like Barthes and Cioran, this is a story that has everything: sex, drugs, art, the city, cinema and revolution.Trade Review‘[Fassbinder] Thousands of Mirrors is not a sorrowful kill-your-heroes recanting. It’s much more interesting than that – a freewheeling, hopscotching study of the Fassbinder allure and an investigation of Penman’s younger self…It’s a book about a film-maker but also, hauntingly, about the way our tastes and passions change over time.’ — Anthony Quinn, Observer‘Do Penman’s flurries of quickfire erudition add up to a dazzling kaleidoscope overall, or a labyrinth of aborted pathways? The answer is “both”. He’s boldly querying his subject’s genius from every vantage point – angry and young; older and (maybe) wiser.’ — Tim Robey, Telegraph‘Ian Penman is an ideal critic, one who invites you in, takes your coat, and hands you a drink as he sidles up to his topic. He has a modest mien, a feathery way with a sentence, a century’s worth of adroit cultural connections at the ready, and a great well of genuine passion, which quickly raises the temperature.’ — Lucy Sante, author of The Other Paris‘This is a wonderful book, and a surprisingly encouraging one too. Acute in its glancing survey of Fassbinder’s films, it also engages the early Seventies as a moment of ideological dishevelment that refuses to pass. If Penman lingers over those years in his own taut and revealing way, that is partly because they produced a kind of critical thought that, having not yet been squared up to fit the academic conveyor belt, could be rarified, speculative and experimental while also remaining closely engaged with political reality. Fassbinder is a great model for anyone puzzling over how we might remember as well as think and act in this chaotic time.’ — Patrick Wright, author of The Sea View Has Me Again‘Ian Penman – critic, essayist, mystical hack and charmer of sentences like they’re snakes – is the writer I have hardly gone a week without reading, reciting, summoning to mind. The writer without whom, etc.’ — Brian Dillon, author of Affinities‘Approached from all angles, Fassbinder is by turns a figure of intense corporeality, glistening with sweat, and an overblown mass of meaning.’ — Georgie Carr, Times Literary Supplement‘The book is many things, but above all it is a reckoning with the idea that art might enter the commodity world and awaken its inhabitants.... [T]he late 1970s/early 1980s, in which Penman was a shadowy but vital presence – post-punk, new pop, new romanticism – is remembered similarly as a moment where a sudden societal switch led to an efflorescence of radical popular culture. Writing his book in 2022, Penman was remembering Penman in 1982 remembering the just-dead Fassbinder marking one historical moment of transition by making reference to another that took place decades earlier. To read Penman doing this in what feels like another moment of passage into something unknown and frightening is rather eerie.’ — Owen Hatherley, London Review of Books‘This is a jittery, clammy book, sweat beading on every page… In its exuberant phrase making, obsessive listing, emotional explosions and crashes, bursting seams – the book has three appendices – and its linguistic pyrotechnics, it ultimately comes down on the side of willing delirium.’ — John Douglas Miller, Frieze‘[A] slender love letter.’ — Stuart Jeffries, Spectator‘[T]his is the efficient, gregarious guidebook that neophytes have been missing’ —Chris Molner, Los Angeles Review of Books ‘Drifting through personal back alleys and intellectual boulevards à la the wanderings of Walter Benjamin and Geoff Dyer. A maze of epigrams, aphorisms (“Aren’t all masks death masks?”), anecdotes, and numbered fragments. An exquisitely companionable guidebook-inventory of a vast, intimate mental space Penman dubs the Fassbundesrepublik…A Thousand Mirrors doesn’t try to solve the contradictions of its subject but lays them out like a suit and inhabits them.’ —Howard Hampton, Artforum‘Ian Penman’s Fassbinder Thousands Of Mirrors isn’t a biography of the epic and controversial master filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder – it’s much more. It’s chock-a-block with quotes and confessions, famous writers, artists, politics, history, social commentary and a bit of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, among – of course – film talk. Like me, you’ll have to re-read this, not least because it’s a who’s who of post-WWII culture world.’ — Rhonda Lee Reali, Buzz Magazine‘And so, as if making a pact with his young review-churning self, Penman opted for a different strategy: to write quickly, finishing in a matter of months a critical portrait of Fassbinder in the style of Fassbinder — fast, made-to-deadline, bristling with ideas yet economical.The book rushes by in a flurry of numbered one-or-so-paragraph notes. The notes drift, venture lightly and suggestively down quick-flash exploratory tunnels, turn Fassbinder and his films over and peer at them from various heights.’ — William Harris, Jacobin‘Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors, by the British critic Ian Penman, offers… an erotics—of cinema, of memory, of the gradual wreck of history. The sensuality of Penman’s book is inseparable from the music of his prose.’ — Jeremy Lybarger, The Baffler‘Ian Penman – legendary writer, critic and master of lucid, joyous prose – instead offers up a patchwork portrait of RWF, one assembled of 450 observations, reflections, bits of research and more. Through those fragments you get a proper sense of how one can really wallow in both Fassbinder’s massive body of work and his personal mythology – but Mirrors also reeks of adoration and joy, a delightful, emotive and appropriately flashy ode.’ — Ed Cunningham,Timeout Books of the Year 2023

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe enigmatic and elusive filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has not been treated to a full-length biography in over twenty years. Stanley Kubrick: An Odyssey fills that gap. It is based on access to the latest research, especially into his archive at the University of the Arts, London, and other papers as well as new interviews with family members and those who worked with him. It offers comprehensive and in-depth coverage of Kubrick's personal, private, public, and working life. We discuss not only the making of his films, but also about those he wanted but failed to make like Burning Secret, Napoleon, Aryan Papers, and A.I. We discover what he was doing when he was not making films. This biography will puncture a few myths about this allegedly reclusive filmmaker, who created some of the most important works of art of the twentieth century

Read more less

Book SynopsisUnofficial and unauthorised.'When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'No, I went to films''. From the set of 1993’s Pulp Fiction, to a bar room meeting with Robert Rodriguez and an inspirational lunch with Leonardo di Caprio, this unique graphic novel takes us across a series of Hollywood-inspired vignettes covering the movie-obsessed life and career of one of modern cinema’s greatest filmmakers – Quentin Tarantino. Join the conversation as Tarantino talks John Travolta into starring in Pulp Fiction, find out about the inspiration for his earliest screenplays and learn about Tarantino’s obsessive childhood growing up in California. For those who already know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris – as well as those looking for an insight into Tarantino’s influences, inspirations and the development of his signature

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume celebrates one of the best known and most loved Italian directors in the world, one of the great masters of tension and horror: Dario Argento. Over the years his cinema has established itself - among cinephiles but not only - for its visionary power, for the search for an aesthetic dimension which is reached through excess. And this excess is not so much what materialises in the virtuosity of the staging of murder and death, as in treating such a brutal and disturbing material in such a way that it becomes something abstract, almost a baroque stylisation. The volume, full of critical essays that investigate the poetics and imagination of Dario Argento, retraces the director’s complete filmography. It also welcomes the testimonies of collaborators and the statements of great directors and actors who shared his long career. Biographies complete the volume. With texts by: Mick Garris, Domenico De Gaetano, Marcello Garofalo, Stefano Della Casa, Piera Detassis, Roberto Pugliese, Alan Jones, Domenico Monetti; testimonianze di: Stefania Casini, Franco Bellomo, Luigi Cozzi, Claudio Simonetti, Sergio Stivaletti, Luciano Tovoli, Antonello Geleng, Pupi Oggiano; fotogrammi tematici: Grazia Paganelli, Matteo Pollone, and Fabio Pezzetti Tonion. Text in English and Italian.

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplore the beginning of Steven Spielberg’s remarkable career with this definitive retrospective that covers Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1941, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. In the first ten years of his career, Steven Spielberg directed some of the most influential and beloved films in cinema history. Movies such as Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial introduced audiences to the modern blockbuster and cemented Spielberg as a monumental figure in pop culture. Through exclusive imagery and unparalleled insight from Spielberg’s longtime documentarian, Laurent Bouzereau, this deluxe volume explores how a young filmmaker reinvented American cinema within just ten years. Featuring a fresh perspective on films including Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1941, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, this book is an essential exploration of an iconic filmmaker’s early career. ALL-NEW INSIGHTS: Featuring exclusive imagery and unparalleled insight from Spielberg’s longtime documentarian, Laurent Bouzereau. EXPLORE SPIELBERG’S EARLY CAREER: Covering the years 1971 to 1982, this deluxe volume explores how a young filmmaker reinvented American cinema within just a decade. LEARN THE HISTORY OF LANDMARK FILMS: This book dives deep into groundbreaking Spielberg films including Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1941, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. COMPLETE YOUR COLLECTION: This book stands alongside hit titles including Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History and Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History.

Read more less

Book SynopsisDiscover the secrets of Christopher Nolan's Tenet with this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at 2020's most anticipated film. In 2020, director Christopher Nolan returns with Tenet, an action epic evolving from the world of international espionage. This deluxe book takes fans through the full creative journey that brought Tenet to the screen, from the genesis of Nolan's uniquely imaginative script through to the cutting edge techniques used to realise the film's innovative action sequences. Featuring exclusive interviews with the director and his crew, including producer Emma Thomas and production designer Nathan Crowley, The Making of Tenet is a can't-miss companion to Nolan's thrilling new masterpiece.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“It’s gossipy and funny and sometimes wistful and sad, but it’s page-turning. . . . For a film lover like me, Alright, Alright, Alright is an endless feast of facts and revelations. I’m gonna guess that for the casual filmgoer (and even someone who’s never seen Dazed and Confused) it will be fascinating just for the thrill of reading older people looking back with joy, bewilderment and sometimes anger at a time when they were not only young, but when their youth blazed.” — Patton Oswalt, New York Times Book Review “The story of Dazed and Confused has been told before, but never with the depth, breadth, or remarkable reproduction of the film’s conversational rhythms found in Melissa Maerz’s new oral history. . . . Like Linklater’s depiction of the last day of school circa 1976, Maerz’s book envelops readers in time and place. But while the movie’s more of a snapshot, Alright, Alright, Alright is a panorama, enriched by deep background…. It’s a class reunion that doesn’t suck, attended by almost all of the living principals.” — AV Club “[Maerz] does a lot more than just weave the oral history behind a famous movie. She makes it feel like the story of a generation….. This book does for the Nineties what the movie did for the Seventies: a lovingly detailed portrait of an era, celebratory but inevitably elegiac, full of tiny comic moments that seem to sum up the decade’s craziest hopes and dreams…. Like the movie, the book is pure pleasure because makes you feel like you’re hanging out with these friends—it’s a joy to jump and join them on a slow ride.” — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone “A charming oral history of everyone’s favorite stoner film. . . . Essential for fans of the film but also for anyone with ambitions to work in film on either side of the camera.” — Kirkus, starred review “Fun reading, enhanced by veteran entertainment journalist Maerz’s expert chapter introductions and many, well-organized conversations with everyone from Linklater to the stars to the film crew. But Alright, Alright, Alright is also an interesting peek into the many relationships that must be navigated in the making of a film, and a surprising foray into the nature of memory and nostalgia. A must for fans of the movie and readers interested in the moviemaking experience.” — Booklist, starred review “Thorough, funny, and bittersweet.” — Texas Monthly “Touches on the volatility of young artists, the hormones of youthful performers, the conflicts between corporate and artistic stakeholders, the ways our entertainment is presented to us and how we consume it. The book, like the film, is a story about time. ... One of the joys in Alright, Alright, Alright is the perspective Maerz attains with the time that has passed since the making of “Dazed,” as well as its release, its lukewarm reception and its long-tail embrace. Her book becomes less specifically tied to the film and more about how time affects all of us after adolescence.” — Houston Chronicle “An at times humorous chronicle of how a small film became a touchstone of 1990s cinema, with introspective analysis of directing techniques, casting, and performance. . . . Linklater devotees, those who love Dazed and Confused, and anyone interested in 1990s indie film will appreciate Maerz’s detailed tribute.” — Library Journal “An intricate oral history… any cinephile would be happy to check out.” — Publishers Weekly

Read more less