F1 the Movie
This meticulously-crafted book offers an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the making of Apple Original Films' F1(R) The Movie , the most authentic racing film ever. Whether you're a die-hard gearhead or a lover of cinematic spectacle, this collector's edition is a must-have tribute to the artistry of F1(R) The Movie and the adrenaline-fueled world of FORMULA 1 itself. Through in-depth interviews with director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun: Maverick), star and producer Brad Pitt, and cast members Damson Idris, Javier Bardem and Kerry Condon, readers will discover how Hollywood's biggest filmmakers and stars brought the world of FORMULA 1 to the big screen. From casting and training, to innovative filming techniquest, to filming at actual Grand Prix events around the world, the book reveals how precision, preparation, and passion collided in this groundbreaking production.Packed with stunning and exclusive photos of the film and its production, storyboards, concept drawings, and behind-the-scenes imagery of the cars and the featured racing tracks, props, costumes, set designs and much more, F1(R) The Movie is both a celebration of an epic film and an homage to FORMULA 1. F1(R) The Movie also includes special "under the hood" access that will appeal to FORMULA 1 fans, delving into the cutting-edge engineering and innovation that define the sport of racing. Racing enthusiasts and cinephiles will revel in explorations of the cars' design and capabilities, from detailed sketches, to interviews with the design team, to exclusive documentation of the film's scenes at Grand Prix weekends, and beyond.
Roland Barthes and Film
Suspicious of what he called the spectator's "sticky" adherence to the screen, Roland Barthes had a cautious attitude towards cinema. Falling into a hypnotic trance, the philosopher warned, an audience can become susceptible to ideology and "myth". In this book, Patrick Ffrench explains that although Barthes was wary of film, he engaged deeply with it. Barthes' thought was, Ffrench argues, punctuated by the experience of watching films - and likewise his philosophy of photography, culture, semiotics, ethics and theatricality have been immensely important in film theory. Focusing particularly on the essays 'The Third Meaning' and 'On Leaving the Cinema' and the acclaimed book Camera Lucida, Ffrench examines Barthes' writing and traces a persistent interest in films and directors, from Fellini and Antonioni, to Eisenstein, the Marx Brothers and Hitchcock. Ffrench explains that although Barthes found pleasure in "leaving the cinema" - disconnecting from its dangerous allure by a literal exit or by forcefully breaking the trance - he found value in returning to the screen anew. Barthes delved beneath the pull of progressing narrative and the moving image by becoming attentive to space and material aesthetics. This book presents an invaluable reassessment of one of the most original and subtle thinkers of the twentieth-century: a figure indebted to the movies.
Feeding Hannibal
Feeding Hannibal: A Connoisseur's Cookbook is a collection of easy-to-follow recipes inspired by the show and created by its food stylist, Janice Poon. Each recipe is accompanied by fascinating insider's anecdotes, delightful artwork and revealing behind-the-scenes photos of stars and crew on the set of Hannibal.
Never Ending Wonder
Never Ending Wonder is a lyrical and rigorous exploration of the sensorial, philosophical, and affective territories of contemporary cinema. With a keen eye for nuance and a broad intellectual foundation, Julio Bezerra draws connections between film and phenomenology, weaving together the thought of Merleau-Ponty, Deleuze, Bazin, and Ayfre with the work of filmmakers such as Claire Denis, Pedro Costa, Tsai Ming-liang, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.This is not a conventional work of film theory. Rather, it is an evocative meditation on cinema's capacity to transform perception, dissolve dualisms, and bring forth new modes of being in the world. Moving beyond narrative and representation, Bezerra engages with a cinema of atmosphere, embodiment, and affect-a cinema that touches, disorients, and embraces, inviting the viewer into an experience that is both intimate and open-ended.Written with poetic clarity and philosophical depth, Never Ending Wonder invites us to reimagine how we watch, think, and feel cinema. It speaks not only to scholars and cinephiles but to all who believe in the power of film to challenge, console, and awaken. This is a passionate, personal, and intellectually generous inquiry into a cinema that does not aim to explain the world, but to encounter it, feel it, and remain in awe of its infinite becoming.
You Know You Love Me
Growing up is hard to do, but the kids on Gossip Girl sure made it look easy-and sexy, to boot. Set in the always-alluring penthouses and exclusive clubs of New York City, Gossip Girl followed, as its intro said, the "scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite," through the eyes of an omniscient narrator that had her eyes, ears, and hands in everything. Gossip Girl was enticing in a "lifestyles of the rich and famous" sort of way, but when you added on the fact that these pretty people had pretty problems and someone watching their every move, it was almost too good to resist. In You Know You Love Me, Lindsay Denninger gives an unprecedented inside look at how this icon of '00s pop culture captured the hearts, minds, and eyes of millions of viewers; influenced the worlds of fashion and media; and continues to reverberate in the culture today. Weaving together oral history interviews with all of the show's key personnel-performers, crew, writers, and showrunner Josh Safran-Denninger doesn't just reveal behind-the-scenes drama. She shows how Gossip Girl was an early harbinger of the cultural landscape to come, spanning from the very dawn of social media to the fractious internet of today, and from the autumn years of broadcast television (it aired on the CW) to the streaming era. Packed with juicy tidbits, unvarnished accounts, and unapologetic nostalgia, this is a thrilling behind-the-scenes look at the show that New York magazine, with a casual brio befitting its subject, dubbed "The Greatest Show of Our Time."
Shoah
Sue Vice's study explores Claude Lanzmann's epic 1985 film Shoah both as cinema and as an example of Holocaust representation. Shoah, the distillation of more than 350 hours of footage gathered over eleven years, tells the story of the Holocaust through interviews with survivors of the extermination camps, bystanders who watched or participated in mass murder, and some of the perpetrators of genocide. Eschewing staple documentary elements of archival footage or narrating voiceover, the film is composed entirely of eyewitness interviews contrasted with footage of landscape in the present, and the chilling imagery of travelling trains. Shoah's effect is to represent the past, but only as it exists in the present - in Lanzmann's words, a "fiction of the real", and not a simple documentary. In a series of close readings of some of the film's interviews, Sue Vice follows Lanzmann's declaration that "Shoah is a fight against generalities", in emphasising the importance of detail in both dialogue and filmic technique. Through these analyses, Vice explores the background to the film, the difficulties in its financing and production, and the long process of editing that led to Lanzmann's realisation that "the subject of my film is death itself; death and not survival." In her afterword to this new edition, Sue Vice considers developments such as the online availability of the complete 'Shoah Collection', Lanzmann's archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Shoah's continuing influence on films that witness genocides and the Holocaust, including Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look of Silence (2014), and Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest (2023).
The Housemaid (2025)
Behind the pristine walls of a beautiful home, something is deeply wrong-and The Housemaid (2025) refuses to let you look away. This gripping nonfiction deep dive pulls back the curtain on one of the most unsettling psychological thrillers of the decade, revealing the hidden mechanisms of control, manipulation, and power that drive the film long after its final scene. Far beyond a simple plot breakdown, this book examines the dark psychology beneath the smiles, the silent rules governing the household, and the slow-burn terror that makes The Housemaid linger in the mind. Through sharp analysis and cultural insight, you'll explore how the film fits into a 30-year lineage of domestic thrillers, why female rage has become one of the most resonant forces in modern storytelling, and how fear operates without violence-through gaslighting, class imbalance, and credibility gaps. Each chapter dissects the characters played by Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Michele Morrone, and Elizabeth Perkins, uncovering how performance, silence, and power collide to create an atmosphere of constant unease. This book doesn't just ask what happens in The Housemaid. It asks why it feels so familiar-and why that familiarity is terrifying. By tracing the film's psychological undercurrents and cultural context from the 1990s through 2025, it reveals how domestic spaces become battlegrounds, how identity fractures under pressure, and how survival often demands restraint rather than rebellion. Whether you are a fan of psychological thrillers, a student of film and culture, or a reader drawn to stories about power, control, and hidden truths, this book offers a deeper way to experience The Housemaid-one that sharpens your understanding and challenges your assumptions. If the film unsettled you, this book will explain why. If it stayed with you, this book will take you further. Read it now-and see what the house was really hiding.
100 Movies of the 1960s
Positioned precariously between the uptight '50s and the freewheeling '70s, the 1960s marked a transitional decade in the film industry. As art, mass market, and pop culture merged and collided in true pop art style, cinema swirled with psychedelic energy. This handbook gathers the best films of the era, exploring the making and the mastery of such cinematic star turns as The Leopard, The Birds, Belle de Jour, A Fistful of Dollars, and Doctor Zhivago.With audiences ever more glued to their TV sets and the loosened rules about what was "permissible" in cinema with the abolition of the Production Code, filmmakers embraced the freedom to explore the possibilities of film as an art form. As was often the case, the Europeans led the way, the French with Nouvelle Vague directors like Godard and Truffaut, and the Italians with such innovative films as Fellini's 8 1/2 and Antonioni's Eclipse.By the mid-'60s the United States also began to exercise greater creative liberties, especially in films from young underground directors such as Russ Meyer, John Frankenheimer, and Sam Peckinpah. Meanwhile, Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music ushered out the grandiose Hollywood musical era with a bang while the Spaghetti Western became an instant phenomenon, and Kubrick set new standards for sci-fi with 2001: A Space Odyssey.Though the term "feminism" may not have been ready for prime time, the decade was also one of major advances in female characterization. From Jane Fonda's Barbarella to Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's to Bonnie Parker of Bonnie and Clyde, it was the 1960s that saw women on-screen graduate from decorative accessories to complex, kick-ass personas.
100 Movies of the 1970s
The 1970s: that magical era betwixt the swinging '60s and the decadent '80s, the epoch of leisure suits and Afros, the age of disco music and platform shoes. As war raged on in Vietnam and the Cold War continued to escalate, Hollywood began to heat up, recovering from its commercial crisis with box-office successes such as Star Wars, Jaws, The Exorcist, and The Godfather. Thanks to directors like Spielberg and Lucas, American cinema gave birth to a new phenomenon: the blockbuster. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, while the Nouvelle Vague died out in France, its influence extended to Germany, where the New German Cinema of Fassbinder, Wenders, and Herzog had its heyday. The sexual revolution made its way to the silver screen (cautiously in the U.S., more freely in Europe) most notably in Bertolucci's steamy, scandalous Last Tango in Paris. Amid all this came a wave of nostalgic films (The Sting, The Last Picture Show) and Vietnam pictures (Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter), the rise of the antihero (Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman), and the prestigious short-lived genre, blaxploitation.
Tim Burton
Dive into the whimsical, surreal and often macabre world of one of cinema's most unique visionaries. From his early days animating for Disney to earning cult-classic status, Tim Burton's trajectory in film is nothing short of extraordinary. In this book, Olly Richards explores the director's peculiar yet brilliant filmography and pairs each of his best-known works with behind-the-scenes stories and stills. With a repertoire ranging from outright spooky (Sleepy Hollow) to wholesome (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory); from superhero movies (Batman) to likeable anti-heroes (Wednesday and Pee-Wee Herman), it is apparent that Tim Burton is not afraid to get weird and let his imagination fly. Fall down the rabbit hole and celebrate one of history's most iconic directors.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Aditya Chopra's 1995 romantic drama, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, follows the journey of Raj and Simran, who fall in love on a trip to Europe but must fight societal expectations as Simran is betrothed to marry someone else in an arranged marriage. It is one of the most commercially successful and longest-running films in Indian cinema history, shown consistently for over 25 years in Mumbai's Maratha Mandir theatre. Anupama Chopra's study of the film explores is cult status, analysing its mise-en- sc癡ne, soundtrack, and star-making performances by Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. She argues that it is a paradoxical film which at once affirms the power of love to transcend societal norms and expectations, while also upholding old-fashioned values of pre-marital chastity and family authority, affirming the idea that Westernisation need not affect an essential Indian identity. In her foreword to this new edition, published to coincide with the film's 30th anniversary, Monika Mehta reflects on the film's perennial success, considering its position as cultural phenomenon that continues to resonate with audiences worldwide.
Joking Apart
In the heart of 1920s England, where the glittering facade of London society conceals a labyrinth of human relationships, emerges a comedy-drama novel that dances on the edge of wit and satire. This once-lost gem, out of print for decades, has been lovingly republished by Alpha Editions, offering a fresh lens on the timeless dance of social satire and the complexities of early 20th-century fiction. With dialogue as sharp as a Dorothy Parker quip and scenarios that could rival the humour of PG Wodehouse, this narrative captures the essence of an era while resonating with the intricacies of today's world. The story unfolds with a vivid tapestry of characters, each navigating the delicate balance between societal expectations and personal desires. As the pages turn, readers are drawn into a world where laughter and introspection coexist, showcasing the enduring power of witty dialogue to illuminate the human condition. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure, meticulously restored for today's and future generations. For literary enthusiasts and casual readers alike, this book stands as a testament to the enduring allure of British literature. With its poignant exploration of themes that remain relevant, it invites adult readers to delve into a narrative that is both a reflection of its time and a mirror to our own.
Hitchcock's North by Northwest
Possibly Alfred Hitchcock's most popular and elaborate film, North by Northwest follows advertising executive Roger Thornhill's frantic cross-country race to free himself from a false murder charge and a mistaken identity pursuit by foreign spies. In a series of lively, self-contained chapters geared to both film buffs and casual viewers, the book explores all of the structural and thematic elements that combine to make this one of the master of suspense's most remarkable achievements. Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Hitchcock's favorite production team and a perfect cast including James Mason and Eva Marie Saint are celebrated at the height of their creative talents.
Classic Films - Famous and Forgotten Films
Classic Films: Famous and Forgotten Films is the first release of a multi-volume book series containing film reviews by Constance Metzinger, author of the long-running film blog Silver Scenes. Whether you are a devoted classic film enthusiast or a curious newcomer, you will relist the reviews and behind-the-scenes tidbits of treasured favorites from Hollywood's golden era and unearth forgotten jewels like MGM's Beauty for Sale, 20th Century Fox's The Luck of the Irish, and Walt Disney's The Moon-Spinners. Prepare to rediscover the art of cinema one film at a time. Included are reviews from The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Above Suspicion (1942), Road to Utopia (1945), Picnic (1955), The Shaggy Dog (1958), How to Steal a Million (1966), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1968), and many more!
Blur
In cinema, blurriness is usually intended to go unnoticed. When it appears it is either considered an error -- a mistake of focus or a technological failure -- or a background effect of shallow focus intended to offset a defined image. As Martine Beugnet argues, however, blur is an essential feature of the cinema, possessing its own properties and affordances, and capable of powerful effects. Examining an array of notable examples of blurriness from horror to art cinema and experimental film, and including the works of the Lumi癡re brothers, Josef von Sternberg, Agn癡s Varda and many others, she develops a taxonomy of blurs, from speed and motion blur to the hand-held, "shaky camera" blur common in contemporary digital cinema. These wide-ranging instances all return the viewer to the sensorial and material qualities of the moving image. In the face of technological developments that valorize sharpness as an indicator of progress, blur stands as a provocative reminder of the value of uncertainty--a sign of the irreducible mystery at the heart of the filmic image.
Scriptnotes
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The ultimate guide to writing a great screenplay and building a screenwriting career, from the creators of the hit podcast Scriptnotes--featuring contributions from film and TV legends Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Michael Schur, Rian Johnson, Aline Brosh McKenna, Ashley Nicole Black, Seth Rogen, and many more. With decades of Hollywood experience, John August and Craig Mazin know what it takes to write a successful script for the screen. And over the past twelve years, they've analyzed generation-defining movies and shared their wisdom on their popular podcast Scriptnotes, inviting experts in the craft to discuss everything that makes a script shine. Now, in their first book, August and Mazin draw on more than a thousand hours of Scriptnotes conversations, as well as their own storied careers, to help readers begin, refine, and sell their own scripts. Part writing class, part informational interview with the best creators in the business, this essential book shares tips on: - The Basics--including the rules of screenwriting and when to break them- The Craft--including how to create a compelling story with captivating protagonists, worthy antagonists, and a sound structure- The Business--including how to pitch a script and the do's (and don'ts) of working collaboratively on a project Perfect for screenwriters, film buffs, and anyone who enjoys analysis of iconic movies like Die Hard, this one-of-a-kind resource provides exclusive access to the screenwriting process--and will inspire anyone ready to pen their own successful screenplay.
A History of Shock Film
"A History of Shock Film" tells the story of movies that broke taboos, specifically in the realms of sex, violence, profanity, sacrilege, controversial messaging, and a few other areas that many cultures find transgressive.The book shows how what constitutes shocking content has changed over the past century-plus of movies. It starts with an 1895 short of a woman dancing on stage and ends on a 2010 film that had to be edited to get an NC-17 rating. Throughout, these films sparked public controversies. The conflict between freedom of expression and various forms of censorship is central to the narrative of "A History of Shock Film." While "A History of Shock Film" focuses mainly on the films of the United States, it also covers influential movies from around the world. A grand total of 321 official shock films from 27 countries are chosen as the most important to the story of shock cinema. Among the official shock films are well-known classics like "Psycho," "Pink Flamingos," "Blue Velvet," "The Exorcist," "Battleship Potemkin," "Do the Right Thing," "Frankenstein," "Taxi Driver," and "Monty Python's Life of Brian." You'll also learn about more obscure art films and exploitation movies. Important figures range from art-film deity Ingmar Bergman to schlockmeister Herschell Gordon Lewis.Author Eddie Daniels keeps the tone light and conversational; this is not an academic text. It is full of wild anecdotes about the people who made the movies. Daniels infuses his personality throughout, clearly delineating his own opinions from historical facts. He believes any statement of a film's effectiveness should be couched as a subjective judgement; he often uses phrases like "in my opinion" to emphasize that he's not trying to speak on behalf of all filmgoers. Eddie Daniels' previous book, "The Baseball Hall of Fame Corrected," was a moderate success by the standards of self-publishing. It was a combination of baseball history and humor book. In "A History of Shock Film," Daniels leaves much of the comedy behind in favor of historical critique.
Last Week in End Times Cinema
An almanac of every bad thing that happened in the film industry from March 2024 to March 2025. From A. S. Hamrah, the film critic at n+1 and the author of The Earth Dies Streaming: Film Writing, 2002-2018, comes this unique archive of unfortunate movie bulletins, compiled for his weekly newsletter, Last Week in End Times Cinema, and presented here in digest form. These customized batches of misfortune and upheaval record a full year of wrong thinking, bad decisions, and man-made disasters from the world of filmmaking. Set against the backdrop of the crazed push for AI, the wildfires in Los Angeles, and the reelection of Donald Trump, the general disaster of current commercial cinema in the age of streaming platforms, theater closures, and the dead-end reliance on IP franchising becomes apparent. As the Hollywood film industry plunged into near irrelevance, these weekly roundups tracked every passing mistake, every easily avoided blunder, every up-to-the-minute example of unnecessary garbage as it emerged from the content mills of our newly tech-based movie business. Presented without commentary, footnotes, or links, inspired by F矇lix F矇n矇on's Novels in Three Lines and the Coffee News, this compilation lists filmland items in naked form, stripped of any ameliorating showbiz happy talk. As Fred Allen once wrote about Hollywood, beneath all that phony tinsel there is real tinsel. Here it is, all the shiny nothingness of an industry gone astray.
The James Bond Archives. the Complete Films
"Bond, James Bond." Since Sean Connery uttered those immortal words in 1962, the most dashing secret agent in the history of cinema has been charming and thrilling audiences worldwide. This impeccably British character created by author Ian Fleming has starred in 25 EON-produced films played by six different actors over seven decades.Paul Duncan, who has compiled this volume covering every James Bond film ever made, beginning with Dr. No (1962) and ending with No Time To Die (2021), had access to the official Bond archive of photos, designs, storyboards, and production materials. The wealth of rare photography, set designs, storyboards, and production memos is a tribute to the legend of Bond, James Bond.JAMES BOND, 007, and related James Bond copyrights and/or trademarks authorized for use by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., exclusive licensee of London Operations LLC. (c) 2025 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Rebel Without a Cause
Nicholas Ray's 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause is a globally recognised landmark of post-war American cinema. The film follows twenty-four hours in the life of troubled teen Jim Stark (James Dean), the new boy in town, who becomes drawn into a maelstrom of shifting social allegiances, emotional turmoil, and violence. Rebel tackled head-on the thorny political issue of juvenile delinquency from the perspective of the adolescents, contributed to the genesis of the teen movie, and was pivotal in bringing The Method acting style to wider audiences. Dean's nuanced and dextrous performance as the film's lead character was paramount in establishing the actor's iconicity. In his study of the film, Glyn Davis foregrounds the concept of rebellion, exploring in detail what it meant to be a rebel in the 1950s, the role that cinema has played in articulating rebellion and providing a haven for rebels, and why James Dean's archetypal depiction of a teenage rebel has endured. Combining sharp close analysis with perceptive contextualisation, Davis scrutinises Nicholas Ray's status as a maverick director, the challenges that The Method presented to calcified standards of performance in Hollywood, and the ways in which Rebel contributed to the shaping of new articulations of masculinity and sexuality. Ray's film, Davis ultimately argues, has an ambiguous stance on rebellion, depicting both the lure and the terror of rejecting conformity. Davis examines the significant contributions to Rebel Without a Cause made by an array of cast and crew members: from screenwriter Stewart Stern to composer Leonard Rosenman, from production designer Malcolm Bert to costume designer Moss Mabry, from lead actors such as Dean and Mineo to secondary players such as Marietta Canty and Edward Platt. Highlighting the film's shifting critical reception, he unpacks its legacy and the reasons that it continues to resonate with contemporary audiences.
Kaagaz Ke Phool (Paper Flowers)
Guru Dutt's final film as a director, Kaagaz Ke Phool/Paper Flowers (1959), follows the successful film-maker Suresh Sinha (played by Dutt himself) as rumours of his affair with his actress Shanti (Waheeda Rehman) lead him to lose his family, descend into alcoholism and ultimately retreat from the film industry. Initially met with critical and commercial failure, the film is now revered for its technical prowess and considered one of the finest self-reflexive works in Indian cinema. Lalitha Gopalan explores Kaagaz's innovative visual style, being the first Indian film shot in CinemaScope, highlighting cinematographer V. K. Murthy's essential contribution. She also analyses the soundtrack, composed by S. D. Burman with lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, examining the now-classic picturisations of songs such as 'Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam'. Drawing on interviews with practitioners and people close to Dutt, Gopalan reconstructs the original contexts of the film's production and reception. Finally, using Kagaaz as a lens, she assesses Dutt's influence on popular Indian cinema during the 1950s, as well as on global film melodrama more broadly.
Billy Elliot
Set against the turbulent backdrop of the UK miners' strike (1984-5), Billy Elliot (2000) follows eleven-year-old Billy as he pursues his dream of becoming a ballet dancer. Hailed for its heartfelt portrayal of working class life and its powerful challenge to gender stereotypes, Stephen Daldry's film is recognised today as a significant contribution to the tradition of British social-realist cinema. James Leggott's insightful study explores the creative forces behind Billy Elliot's development, drawing from interviews with many of the core production team, such as the screenwriter Lee Hall, the choreographer Peter Darling and the composer Stephen Warbeck. Leggott identifies influences from the worlds of theatre, dance, photography and music, including inspirations specific to the North East of England, and calls attention to the film's innate musicality in its bold and playful combinations of soundtrack and action, with songs by Marc Bolan and T. Rex, The Clash and The Jam among others. Tracing Billy Elliot's global impact and its remarkable afterlife as a hit stage production, Leggott makes a case for the film's enduring significance in British cinema history.
The 'Before' Trilogy
In Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise (1995), two young lovers, the American Jesse (Ethan Hawke), and the Frenchwoman Celine (Julie Delphy), meet on a train travelling across Europe and spend a magical night together in Vienna before parting at dawn. Filmed in nine-year intervals, the film's sequels Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013) forge an unexpected trilogy brimming with longing, second chances and resentments as the couple meet again and build a relationship. Lucas Hilderbrand reflects on the experience of falling in love with, living with and having one's own life shaped by the Before trilogy. Tracing the story of the films' production, he considers the contribution of the leading actors, particularly Delphy, to their screenplays. He offers a close reading of each of the Before films, considering the extent to which they operate beyond the generic norms of romantic comedy or melodrama, incorporating aspects of realism and emotional authenticity through their location shooting, long takes and near-real time temporality. Treating the films as time capsules of their respective historical moments, Hilderbrand considers how evolving politics and technologies impact or interrupt the characters' intimacy, while placing the trilogy in conversation with other films. All the while, he pays attention to the trilogy's subjective impact on viewers across its eighteen-year timespan - and its continuing afterglow.
The Art of Invincible Season Two
This official behind-the-scenes companion to Prime Video's second season of the hit animated series, INVINCIBLE, featuring a foreword from co-creator Robert Kirkman! The Art of Invincible Season Two features exclusive character, background, and vehicle designs along with key art and more! This volume takes fans behind the scenes and includes interviews with key creatives, including INVINCIBLE creators Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker.
Beasts in the Cellar
First published in 2005, this is the 20th Anniversary re-issue of Beasts in the Cellar, the definitive study of Britain's Greatest Exploitation Film Producer. Tony Tenser has earned an unrivalled position as the godfather of low-budget British films. Amongst his many movies are the notorious 'nudie' Naked - As Nature Intended and Roman Polanski's ground-breaking Repulsion. Most notably it was Tony Tenser whose entrepreneurial wit and creative spark fanned the flames of the entire Folk Horror genre with his seminal classics Witchfinder General and Blood on Satan's Claw. Tenser made movies in every genre, working with household names such as Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Raquel Welch and Norman Wisdom, and his early career highlights include using strippers to picket central London cinemas and converting a Soho basement into Britain's most successful private cinema club. By the time he started producing films such as The Black Torment and The Pleasure Girls, Tenser's name was a byword for colourful titles, controversial themes and outrageous publicity stunts. He would enjoy mainstream success with the likes of Cul-de-Sac and Hannie Caulder but his company, Tigon, is not only synonymous with the Folk Horror genre, but also with a great many other spectacular horror hits including The Sorcerers, Curse of the Crimson Altar, Frightmare and The Creeping Flesh. By drawing on exclusive interviews, original production files and private correspondence, John Hamilton pieces together the stories behind the movies that made Tenser the most admired and successful exploitation producer in British cinema. From battles with the censor to studio in-fighting, and from tantrums on set to post-production interference, the cut and thrust of British filmmaking on a budget is revived in glorious detail. Featuring: - Detailed analysis of all of Tenser's films complete with the inside story behind the making of the movies, full production details, contemporary reviews and box-office statistics. - Rare and unpublished photographs, many from Tenser's private collection - A foreword and extensive interview with Tony Tenser, as well as contributions from many of the film-makers and stars of his movies. - An exhaustively researched filmography covering all of the films produced or distributed by Tenser as well as a wealth of detail on unfilmed projects.
Bong Joon Ho: Director's Inspiration
Through objects from his personal archive, Bong Joon Ho reveals his inspirations and creative processes for his films including Snowpiercer, Parasite and Mickey 17Published with Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. From his earliest short films through his international breakthrough The Host and the Oscar-winning Parasite, the films of Bong Joon Ho defy simple categorization. Whether set in 1980s Korea or an imagined future time and space, they address issues that are transnational and universal: class disparity, social injustice, the environmental crisis and political and moral corruption. Bong embeds social critique into deeply humorous, unexpected and thought-provoking stories, and his protagonists are everyday people--often unlikely heroes--who confront the absurdities of modern life. With unprecedented access to the filmmaker's archive and personal collection, Bong Joon Ho: Director's Inspiration features storyboards, notebooks, concept art, models, props, behind-the-scenes photography and more. The book includes a new interview with Bong by film scholar Nam Lee, essays by exhibition curator Michelle Puetz and film critic Amy Taubin, and personal reflections by friends and colleagues that give insight into the Academy Award-winning director's inspirations and creative process.Bong Joon Ho (born 1969) is an Oscar-winning director and writer whose films include Memories of Murder, The Host, Mother, Snowpiercer, Okja and Mickey 17. His 2019 film Parasite was the first South Korean film to win the Palme D'Or at Cannes and the first non-English film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Popcorn Disabilities
You can learn a lot from the movies-about sex and relationships, about business, about history. Sure, there's a fair amount of fantasy, wish fulfillment, and glorious hair to exaggerate everything, but for better or for worse, films remain one of the most important ways that viewers around the world learn about other people and cultures. And almost since the dawn of the medium, movies have shaped the public's understanding of and assumptions about disability. As a film critic and disabled person, Kristen Lopez speaks with particular authority on how disability is represented-and too often misrepresented-in movies. Popcorn Disabilities is her impassioned but nonetheless fun and engaging survey of how Hollywood has dealt with disability over the last century. As she reveals, even when they're not just narrative props to help out an able-bodied protagonist, disabled movie characters are overwhelmingly white, affluent, and conventionally attractive, obscuring the variety of disabilities and the experiences of those who deal with them. But she also explains where films have gotten it right and how the power of the medium can continue to be used to enlighten and educate in the future. From little-remembered gems like Tod Browning's Freaks-one of the earliest well-intentioned attempts to show disabled characters as complex, three-dimensional human beings-to contemporary films like Coda, My Left Foot, A Different Man, and many others, it challenges popular assumptions about disability while never losing sight of movies' unique power, influence, and potential as a tool for social good.
Resilience for Filmmakers, Creatives & Solo Creators
The question: How do creative people keep making courageous work-and even grow-when the industry is unstable and the communities around them feel more draining than supportive?This book doesn't promise shortcuts. It offers a lantern, illuminating field-tested practices you can use the same day you read them. No fluff. No grand theories. Just enough light for the next step.Drawing on two decades in independent film and creative practice, Resilience for Filmmakers, Creatives & Solo Creators distills hard-won lessons into Lantern Learnings(TM)-clear principles for protecting your energy, choosing better partners, navigating politics cleanly, and keeping your art alive when recognition lags.What's insideAct I: Becoming - build a steady base: grace, presence, role, and purpose.Act II: Belonging - navigate partnerships, communities, boundaries, and breakups without losing yourself.Act III: Evolving - practice resilience in the real world: grit to endure and alchemy to turn setbacks into fuel.You'll learn how toSet boundaries without drama and protect your attention.Right-size "hustle" vs. sacred partnerships and read the politics of the room.Close loops cleanly, recover faster after conflict, and keep creating when recognition lags.Use simple scripts, checklists, and field prompts you can revisit when your focus wavers.Shift from wondering if you'll ever "make it" to letting your purpose help you "make" consistently.Resilience isn't firework light. It's lantern light-ordinary, fragile, easy to overlook. But carried through the dark, it is enough.Carry the lantern. Keep walking. Create anyway.
Staying Gold: The Oral History of the Outsiders
The definitive oral history of the 1967 novel for teens, turned blockbuster film turned Tony-winning musical, and commemorated with a newly opened museum. This groundbreaking story has managed to stay gold for nearly sixty years. *Includes interviews with Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell Leif Garrett, David Arquette, Dennis Quaid, and more! When a story resonates with audiences generation after generation, it reaches "classic" status. Francis Ford Coppola saw that potential in S. E. Hinton's novel about two rival groups in 1960s Tulsa and knew it was meant for the silver screen. Now, in this definitive oral history, we're given a rare glimpse into the filmmaking process: How Coppola's team recruited unknown actors destined to become household names. How a film that could have easily been shot in a Hollywood studio was instead produced on location where the original novel was set. How an author who could have stood in the shadows came to be a major influence on the film, the actors, and the director himself. This oral history explores the legacy of The Outsiders, defining its historic impact since first arriving on bookshelves sixty years ago. Over a series of fascinating interviews with actors, casting directors, and others close to the project, it swiftly becomes clear how The Outsiders has managed to--as the adage goes--stay gold.
Christopher Nolan
Few filmmakers have made such a seismic impact on Hollywood during the past two decades as Christopher Nolan. Whether mind-twisting crime thrillers or vast sci-fi epics, his films are consistently huge crowd pleasers, despite his bold and complex visions never being compromised. Featuring fresh insights from a writer who has witnessed Nolan at work first-hand on several of his films, this is the definitive guide to the most significant British director since Hitchcock. From Memento to The Dark Knight Trilogy to Inception to Oppenheimer, it takes you on a cinematic odyssey that is truly like no other.
I Only Believe in Myself
A long-form dialogue--on cinema and survival--with the visionary French filmmaker. The virtuous always engage in a pseudoreligious morality. But there's one thing they never say: the desire for pleasure is thought in motion. It's what makes you transfigure a dull and repetitive sexual act into something that can bring you to ecstasy and an idea of eternity ... --Catherine Breillat to Murielle Joudet Catherine Breillat has always told just one story: her own, the story of a young girl whose existence was forbidden, who was, from childhood, cut in half, split between her mind and her sexuality, marked by the shame of being born female. She became a filmmaker at a time when choosing that vocation meant disobeying the world. During six months between September 2022 and March 2023, the film critic Murielle Joudet interviewed Catherine Breillat for thirty hours, often following up with further discussion over the phone. Joudet and Breillat discuss each of her films in chronological order, moving freely between Breillat's cinematic vision, her life, and the situations, artworks, and thought that have inspired her films. From A Real Young Girl (1975) to Last Summer (2023), Breillat has made films in an attempt to recover what she believes was stolen from her-- the "unfilmable," inexhaustible grey area of the feminine where shame, transgression, sensuality, disgust, and the search for oneself intertwine until they become indistinguishable. Her work proposes a haunting imperative to know oneself ... and for her heroines, this spiritual search plays out as an open war with the opposite sex. A conversation with Catherine Breillat is as much a cinema master class as it is a lesson in survival.
Resilience for Filmmakers, Creatives & Solo Creators
The question: How do creative people keep making courageous work-and even grow-when the industry is unstable and the communities around them feel more draining than supportive?This book doesn't promise shortcuts. It offers a lantern, illuminating field-tested practices you can use the same day you read them. No fluff. No grand theories. Just enough light for the next step.Drawing on two decades in independent film and creative practice, Resilience for Filmmakers, Creatives & Solo Creators distills hard-won lessons into Lantern Learnings(TM)-clear principles for protecting your energy, choosing better partners, navigating politics cleanly, and keeping your art alive when recognition lags.What's insideAct I: Becoming - build a steady base: grace, presence, role, and purpose.Act II: Belonging - navigate partnerships, communities, boundaries, and breakups without losing yourself.Act III: Evolving - practice resilience in the real world: grit to endure and alchemy to turn setbacks into fuel.You'll learn how toSet boundaries without drama and protect your attention.Right-size "hustle" vs. sacred partnerships and read the politics of the room.Close loops cleanly, recover faster after conflict, and keep creating when recognition lags.Use simple scripts, checklists, and field prompts you can revisit when your focus wavers.Shift from wondering if you'll ever "make it" to letting your purpose help you "make" consistently.Resilience isn't firework light. It's lantern light-ordinary, fragile, easy to overlook. But carried through the dark, it is enough.Carry the lantern. Keep walking. Create anyway.
Nashville
Robert Altman's Nashville (1975) is simultaneously an intimate film about interpersonal connection and disconnection, and a sprawling, meandering portrait of American societal exhaustion in the wake of Vietnam, Watergate and a spate of political assassinations. Despite its pessimistic, satirical viewpoint, the film suggests a carefully guarded optimism: 'life may be a one-way street', but one has no choice but to 'keep a' goin'. Heather Hendershot places Nashville in the context of the New Hollywood of the 1970s, which offered a post-censorship anti-hero, the perennial loser. Embracing the new pessimism, Altman's work fits with those of contemporaries such as Martin Scorsese and Peter Bogdanovich, but it also stands apart for its innovative sound design, improvisatory drive, and loose genre commitments. Through a close reading of the five days over which the film takes place, Hendershot unpacks both its political dynamics and the characters' interrelationships and motivations. She highlights Nashville's criticism of the suffering of its female characters, an engagement that springs from Joan Tewkesbury's screenplay, Altman's sensitivity to gendered exploitation (here, if not in all of his pictures), and the role the performers themselves played by improvising and scripting some of their own material.
Die Hard
Upon its release, John McTiernan's Die Hard (1988) was met with immense commercial and critical success; breaking the $100 million mark at the box office in its first run, and resulting in four Academy Award nominations. Jon Lewis's study of the action classicclosely examines the film's novel and script adaptation, highlighting the influential role of producer Joel Silver. He delves into Silver's ground-breaking 'whammy theory', which redefined script structure by organizing scripts around timed 'beats' rather than traditional acts or scenes, tracing its impact not only in Die Hard, but also in other iconic franchises like Lethal Weapon, Predator, and The Matrix. Lewis goes on to consider the film's evocation of post-Vietnam male panic and its connection to the Iron John movement. He highlights Die Hard as a prime example of the 'male rampage film' genre, where white male protagonists express frustration with cultural antagonists like feminism, economic regulation, government bureaucracy, and political corruption. Finally, he reflects on how Die Hard resonated with its 1988 audience, looking for new antagonists in a changing world. The film's anticipation of European radical political groups and later terrorism rooted in North Africa and the Middle East foreshadows the era-defining 'war on terror' that would follow.
Six Films
The English-language debut of a beautiful and beguiling cycle of experimental texts by the legendary Marguerite Duras. In the late 1970s, Marguerite Duras embarked on an experimental journey to expand the boundaries of writing and film. For Duras, writing need not be text on a page nor cinema merely images on a screen. Six Films is the result of her efforts to redefine the two arts in order to create a hybrid work. Taking narration, voiceovers, and dialogue from six of her films, Duras re-envisions them as extended prose poems and monologues, tangling with self-identity, personal relationships, colonialism, and expression as the celluoid images recede and the text becomes the film itself. Now available for the first time in English, Six Films is a document of an artist at the apex of her creative prowess.
The Highland Fling And How To Teach It
A spark of Highland fire discover the steps, spirit, and instruction behind Scotland s most beloved solo dance. This restored classic teaches more than movement; it unlocks a living tradition. Horatio N. Grant s The Highland Fling And How To Teach It is an authoritative Scottish dance guide that combines clear, step-by-step dance guidance with the cultural context every teacher and dancer needs. Inside, Grant lays out Highland dance instruction and Highland Fling tutorial techniques from basic posture and footwork to rhythms and regional variations making it an indispensable Scottish dance for teachers and a practical Scottish dance guide for beginners. Detailed illustrations and practical exercises translate traditional choreography into modern, teachable methods, ideal for mastering Highland Fling or introducing Scottish cultural dance in classrooms and clubs. Historically significant, this Horatio N. Grant book preserves early 20th-century pedagogy and the living language of Scottish heritage dances, offering insights valuable to historians, performers, and collectors. Long out of print, Alpha Editions has carefully restored the text for today s and future generations this edition is not just a reprint but a collector s item and cultural treasure, remastered with fidelity and care. Whether you re a casual reader curious about Celtic arts, a dance teacher seeking proven traditional dance teaching techniques, or a collector of rare works, this essential Highland dance instruction volume brings tradition back to life. Keywords: Highland dance instruction, Scottish dance guide, traditional dance teaching, learn Highland Fling, dance techniques for beginners, step-by-step dance guide, mastering Highland Fling, Scottish heritage dances, Scottish dance for teachers.
India'S Problem, Krishna Or Christ
A stirring question at the crossroads of faith: must India choose Krishna or Christ? In India s Problem: Krishna or Christ?, John P. Jones mounts a passionate, clear-eyed exploration of India s spiritual dilemma, tracing the clash and convergence of Hindu and Christian thought during a pivotal era. Part sermon, part scholarly inquiry, the book compares religious philosophy in India, examines missionary work in India, and probes the deeper currents of religious identity India faces amid social change. Jones frames the debate Krishna vs Christ not as mere polemic but as a searching invitation to Hindu-Christian dialogue. Historically significant and surprisingly timely, this work captures early 20th-century perspectives on comparative religion India and Christianity in India, offering readers a textured account of religious debate India that shaped missionary strategies and cultural responses. Jones s voice is both earnest and provocative, making the book valuable to casual readers interested in spiritual questions and to classic literature collectors tracking influential texts in religious studies. Long out of print, this edition has been lovingly restored and republished by Alpha Editions. More than a reprint, this is a collector s item and cultural treasure carefully prepared for today s and future generations seeking clarity on Hinduism vs Christianity and India s religious conflict. Essential for anyone engaged in religious philosophy India, Hindu-Christian dialogue, or the history of missionary work in India.
Animation Techniques
Animation can be used to illustrate, simplify and explain complicated subjects, as well as to transform stories into engaging, fantastical narratives. There are many types of animation, all of which can incorporate different artistic techniques such as sculpture, drawing, painting, printing and textiles. In this practical guide, animation tutor Steve Roberts explores the twelve basic principles of animation, demonstrating the different techniques available and offering helpful exercises for readers to practise in their chosen style. From pencils to pixels, flip books to feature films, and plasticine to puppets, this helpful book covers everything you need to know about how to start animating and will be of great interest for anyone looking to learn how to make their own animated films.
The Hollywood History of Art
How Hollywood has portrayed the lives of artists, from Kirk Douglas' Vincent van Gogh to Salma Hayek's Frida KahloEver since the dawn of the sound era, Hollywood and friends have made a series of elaborate feature films about the lives of the great artists: the cast of colorful characters includes Fredric March as Cellini, Charles Laughton as Rembrandt, George Sanders as Gauguin, Jos矇 Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec, Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, Charlton Heston as Michelangelo, Mel Ferrer as El Greco--and, more recently, Jeffrey Wright as Jean-Michel Basquiat Derek Jacobi as Francis Bacon, Ed Harris as Jackson Pollock, Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo, and many others.To attain box office success, these films have represented the lives of artists in stories that take audiences on a journey from garret to gallery to glamour to gutter to grave. Although sometimes dismissed by art historians and curators, these films can tell us a great deal about how art and artists have entered the cultural bloodstream of Western culture.Until now, there has never been a full-length book devoted to the fascinating story of artists and Hollywood. Based on many years of archive research and interviews with participants, The Hollywood History of Art will appeal to museum and gallerygoers, film buffs, art fans and of course those with fond memories of Kirk Douglas being attacked by crows, Charlton Heston swallowing a mouthful of paint as he frescoes the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Ed Harris dripping brushfuls of paint onto a huge canvas, and Salma Hayek being transported at speed in a four-poster bed to a contemporary art gallery in Mexico City.Christopher Frayling (born 1946) is Professor Emeritus of Cultural History at the RCA and a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. His previous books with Reel Art Press include The 2001 File (2015), Frankenstein: The First Two Hundred Years (2017), Once Upon a Time in the West: Shooting a Masterpiece (2019) and Sergio Leone by Himself (2024).
Post-Cinema
Post-cinema designates a new way of making films. It is time to ask whether this novelty is complete or relative and to evaluate to what extent it represents a unitary or diversified current. The book proposes to integrate the post-cinema question within the post-art question in order to study the new ways of making filmic images. The issue will be considered at three levels: the impression of post-art on regular films; the relocation (Casetti) of the same films that can be seen using devices of all kinds in conditions more or less removed from the dispositif of the theater; the integration of cinema into contemporary art in all kinds of forms of creation and exhibition, parallel to the integration of contemporary art in regular cinema.
Cheryl
Number One Sunday Times Best Seller. For the first time Cheryl tells her full story, her way. Revealing the truth behind the headlines, this is the only official autobiography, giving the fans the true story they've been waiting for. Includes exclusive, personal photos. The nation's sweetheart, Cheryl has achieved unrivalled success with Girls Aloud, as a solo artist, a judge on the X Factor, a fashion icon and as the face of L'Oreal. However, the path to fame is rarely easy and for Cheryl it has been a colourful journey. From happy but humble beginnings growing up on a tough Newcastle estate, Cheryl saw firsthand the damage that drugs and alcohol can do. But this feisty Geordie never gave up on her dreams of being on stage. With success came a level of fame no one could prepare for. As Cheryl's career went from strength to strength her personal heartache was played out in the national media. From her divorce to her battles with malaria, Cheryl's every move was captured by paparazzi. There was nowhere for Cheryl to hide. However, a true fighter, Cheryl emerged from every challenge stronger. Now it's Cheryl's turn to set the record straight. In this heartfelt account, she opens up about all of the incredible ups and downs of her life. Told with searing honesty this is Cheryl as you've never seen her before.
Rewinding the '80s
Take a trip back to your favorite video store with this in-depth journey through the highs and lows of '​80s cinema--with profiles of hundreds of films--and how Hollywood studios around the globe reflected a period of cultural change. The movies were flying blind in 1980. "New Hollywood" was over and the era of auteur-driven, personal films that had defined moviemaking since the late '60s came to a symbolic end with Heaven's Gate (1980), replaced by a new world of multiplex blockbusters supported by massive marketing campaigns. But beyond the high-school comedies and hardbody action films came a new wave of cinematic excitement--an era defined by Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Purple Rain, When Harry Met Sally, E.T., and Top Gun, each of which are now classics for a new generation of nostalgic movie lovers. The decade saw works that uniquely captured an era of cultural and technological change, from new indie auteurs to the highs and lows of animation, an emergent LGBTQ+ cinema, the last days of the Cold War, and the explosive impact of MTV. With wit and authority, author John Malahy provides fresh insight about the films, filmmakers, and stars who illuminated each of the exciting new facets of Hollywood throughout the decade. Illustrated with more than 200 full-color photos, Rewinding the '80s is a lively, intelligent, and immersive look at an indelible moment in modern history.
Post-Cinema: The Age of AI
"Billups is Hollywood's baddest pixel-packing cowboy, riding on the fringes of an industry that views him with interest, admiration, and some degree of incomprehension." --WIRED MagazineThe only must-have guide for filmmakers ready to thrive in the Age of AI. POST-CINEMA: THE AGE OF AI isn't just about the future of Hollywood--it's about the future of human expression. AI-generated films, interactive narratives, and virtual actors are only the beginning. As Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs), Spatial Media, and Quantum AI take hold, storytelling will evolve beyond the screen, dissolving the boundary between creator and audience, imagination and reality. Scott Billups isn't a theorist--he's been inside the machine. From pioneering virtual actors like Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe to building AI-driven filmmaking engines under lock and key at major studios, he's lived the collision of art and artificial intelligence. His Digital Moviemaking series guided Hollywood through its first digital revolution--now, in Post-Cinema, he charts the next one, where AI isn't just a tool but an autonomous force, generating stories, characters, and entire cinematic worlds in real-time. This is still a book about movies--but not the kind you grew up with. The old Hollywood system is being rewritten by algorithms, and the new creative order will be dictated by those who understand the technology shaping it. Whether you're an artist, a technologist, or just trying to grasp the scale of what's coming, Post-Cinema is your front-row seat to the most profound transformation in media history.
Silver Screens
A celebration of the world's most cherished cinemas, from vintage movie houses to quirky start-ups. Grab your popcorn and settle in to the world of Silver Screens, where the magic of cinema lives on. Cinemas are where emotions come alive - where heartstrings are tugged, fears exposed, and joy explodes with every happy ending. Cinemas are a place of communal experience, of first dates and unforgettable reactions. Silver Screens captures that magic, celebrating remarkable movie houses and drive-ins around the world that are still showing films today. Part travel guide, part love letter to cinema, it whisks you across the globe through stunning photography.Step inside art deco masterpieces like Jaipur's Raj Mandir and Melbourne's Sun Theatre; visit icons such as Hollywood's Chinese Theatre and Madrid's Cine Dor矇; and uncover hidden gems in far-flung corners of the world. From the northernmost to the southernmost, from India's largest single screen to Italy's officially smallest, from Britain's oldest to the world's very first - Silver Screens is your ticket to cinema's most extraordinary destinations.
The Star Wars Archives. 1999-2005
From 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, Padm矇 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.
The Greengrass Papers
Rabble-rouser. Trouble-maker. Speaker of truth to power. Released to coincide with his 13th feature, The Greengrass Papers reveals how Paul Greengrass came to be venerated as a game-changing director. In 2004, Greengrass's adaptation of Robert Ludlum's spy thriller, The Bourne Supremacy, gave the shooting of action films an entirely new cinematic syntax -- urgent, visceral, immersive, immediate -- that everyone rushed to replicate, including the Bond and Mission Impossible franchises. A veteran of Granada TV's groundbreaking current affairs programme, World in Action, Greengrass uses documentary techniques to imbue his thrillers and docudramas with the heat and crackle of chaotic, fast-moving, real-life events. This is the first time he has been involved in a book around his work, and he has given exclusive access to Tom Shone to share the story of the revolution he brought to Hollywood filmmaking, which is showcased here alongside never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photographs. As well as a portrait of a filmmaker, The Greengrass Papers is a deep-dive into espionage, assassination and the political violence that Greengrass has laid bare in his films, bringing these worlds to the screen with more visceral power than any other British director working today.
Rear Window
The definitive, in-depth look inside Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window--the all-time classic of voyeurism, paranoia, and murder that became one of Hollywood's greatest achievements and turned generations of viewers into "a race of Peeping Toms." A must-read for film buffs, Hitchock fans old and new, and fans of classic movies and Hollywood insider history. Before the internet and social media offered voyeuristic glimpses into the lives of others, the acclaimed Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, exposed the dangers and delights of looking--and knowing--too much in his 1954 masterpiece Rear Window. Widely hailed as one of the greatest films ever made, it stars James Stewart and Grace Kelly at the top of their game but, in an unusual gamble, is shot entirely from within a Greenwich Village apartment . . . Using this limited point of view, Hitchcock forces his audience to participate in his protagonist's voyeuristic impulses and darkest obsessions--a bold move in the era of the Hollywood Blacklist and restrictive Hays Code. But the gamble paid off, and Rear Window became a timeless classic. This eye-opening book goes straight to the source of Rear Window's genius by mining the original papers of Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, and Thelma Ritter, revealing little-known facts behind the scenes: Why taking the role of Lisa Fremont was one of the toughest decisions Grace Kelly ever made; How Hitchcock intertwined suspense and romance with inspiration from Ingrid Bergman; How he used a topless scene to distract the censors from other scenes to which they may have objected; and how Hitchcock crafted the film's unforgettable villain, Lars Thorwald, by modeling him on a producer he loathed--the infamous David O. Selznick. Filled with eye-catching photographs, outrageous anecdotes, and delicious details, this exciting book pulls back the curtain on a classic thriller that's as relevant today as ever--and every bit as thrilling.
Bob Dylan as Filmmaker
"Michael Glover Smith's Bob Dylan as Filmmaker is the most compelling reconsideration of Bob Dylan's work as a filmmaker written to date." -- Erin C. Callahan, author of The Politics and Power of Bob Dylan's Live PerformancesA deep dive into one of the most overlooked -- and fascinating -- sides of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature winner: Bob Dylan, the filmmaker. While his music and lyrics have been studied endlessly, his work behind (and in front of) the camera remains largely unexplored. No other book has taken this angle, and with Dylan's legend still growing, the audience is more than ready for a bold new take. Bob Dylan as Filmmaker, the first book of its kind, opens up exciting new ways to think about the artistry of Bob Dylan. It offers a captivating exploration into movies that, according to Michael, showcase Bob Dylan not just as a subject, but as the primary author. These include Eat the Document--a short, experimental television film shot in 1966 and released in 1972; the sprawling, genre-blurring epic Renaldo and Clara (1978), both directed by Dylan himself; and the darkly surreal Masked and Anonymous (2003), directed by Larry Charles but co-written by and starring Dylan. Bob Dylan as Filmmaker explores what these movies reveal about "how it feels" to be Bob Dylan during three defining eras of his career: the revolutionary 1960s, the introspective 1970s, and the enigmatic early 2000s. Just as crucially, they illuminate Dylan's remarkable instinct for using film not merely as a medium, but as a deeply personal mode of expression. The book also provides an essential survey of Dylan's most recent movie projects, including those by other directors, in which Dylan's influence is less overt but no less powerful. Here, Michael argues that Dylan operates as a kind of "invisible co-author" in Martin Scorsese's Rolling Thunder Revue (2019), where Dylan appears as a slippery, self-mythologizing interviewee; Alma Har'el's haunting Shadow Kingdom (2021), a stylized livestream performance; and James Mangold's A Complete Unknown (2024), the Timoth矇e Chalamet-led biopic shaped in part by Dylan's behind-the-scenes "script approval."
