The New Wave Cinema in Iran
The New Wave Cinema in Iran is a historical and analytical study of the Iranian New Wave Cinema (Mowj-e No) as an artistic and intellectual movement that came to its best early productions between 1958 and 1978. As the movement has a long history, Parviz Jahed focuses on the development and the early progression of the movement in the 1960s and explores its emergence and development in the context of the cultural and social conditions of Iran during this period. Jahed first defines the term 'New Wave' in Iran's film culture, in order to identify the root elements that gave traction to this movement. He analyses the degree to which different elements and factors have contributed to the formation of this cinema, accounting for the different approaches of Iranian intellectual filmmakers towards modernity and a modern form of cinema in Iran. The book finishes by studying the works of three intellectual figures and influential filmmakers of the 1960s, Ebrahim Golestan, Farrokh Ghaffari, and Feraydoon Rahnama, who are arguably considered the forerunners of the New Wave Cinema in Iran.
Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras: Encounters with History explores the life and work of the director intertwined with historical and socio-political events, from the early stages of his career: emigrating to France from Greece in 1955 and first studying at the Sorbonne, then focusing on filmmaking at IDHEC, now La F矇mis. He became an internationally respected director, first with his Oscar-award winning film Z (1969) and continued with a vast array of films, including his most recent work, Adults in the Room (2019). His films portray the complexities of human nature, relationships challenged by historical and contemporary socio-political issues. In this overview of the director's films, the authors shed light on his encounters with history from his youth in war-torn Greece to his later films on immigration, unemployment, global capitalistic greed, and the abuse of political and economic power in Europe. Costa-Gavras' films have spanned several decades and several continents, to combat unethical laws and injustice, oppression, legal/illegal violence, and torture. Throughout his evolution in the world of cinema for over half a century as director, writer, and producer, Costa-Gavras has told human-interest stories that entertain and inspire, and that help us better understand ourselves and a fragile, fragmented world.
Screening the Crisis
The financial collapse of 2008 extended and deepened a prolonged, multilayered crisis that has transformed, often in unexpected ways, how we think about all aspects of social life. Amid these turbulent times, film studies scholars have begun to ask new questions and create fresh strategies in order to integrate intellectual and political work in ways that directly address our current predicament. This timely volume reconsiders the relationships between cinema and society at a time when neoliberal policies threaten not only civic culture but also nearly every aspect of human life. Screening the Crisis brings together established authors as well as brilliant young scholars in the field of film studies to explore the ways in which new tendencies in US cinema enhance awareness of the complexity of the problems facing contemporary society. The issues addressed include economic inequality, shifts in gender roles, racial conflicts, immigration, surveillance practices, the environmental crisis, the politics of housing, and the fragility of nationhood. These questions are explored through in-depth studies and contextualized analyses of a wide variety of recent films, genres, and filmmakers. With its ample range of topics and perspectives, this collection provides an essential reference work for those who want to research how US cinema has responded to the manifold interconnected crises that characterize our current times.
I’m Not a Film Star
The first collection dedicated to David Bowie's acting career shows that his film characterisations and performance styles shift and reform as decoratively as his musical personas. Though he was described as the most influential pop artist of the 20th century, whose work became synonymous with mask, mystery, sexual excess and ch-ch-ch-changing genres, Bowie also applied his genius to the craft of acting.Bowie's considerable filmography is systematically examined in 12 scholarly essays that include tributes to Bowie's performance craft in other media forms. Classic films such as The Prestigeand Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, cult hits Labyrinth and The Man Who Fell To Earth, as well as lesser-known roles in The Image, Christiane F. and Broadway hit The Elephant Manare viewed, not simply through the lens of Bowie's mega-stardom, but as the work of a serious actor with inimitable talent. This compelling analysis celebrates the risk-taking intelligence and bravura of David Bowie: actor, mime, mimic and icon.
The Cinema of Yorgos Lanthimos
From the critical and commercial fanfare his films generate, it is largely understood that Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the more interesting filmmakers to have emerged out of the new century. A markedly transnational filmmaker, between Dogtoothand The FavouriteLanthimos has managed to traverse the gap between the art-house and mainstream while not once sacrificing his unique style and worldview. His films, while often difficult, showcase his talents as a filmmaker, collaborator, and commentator on the human condition. Accompanied by a trademark acerbic wit, Lanthimos's films take aim at humanity's more contemptible and absurd designs as he explores a thematic preoccupation with, among other things, power, trauma, isolation, sex, and violence. This edited collection covers everything from an early career that was marked by experimentation with a range of different media to international festival hits including Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, andthe Academy Award-winning "historical" epic The Favourite, Lanthimos's most successful feature to date. All his work demonstrates a fascinating contravention of aesthetic, thematic, and generic boundaries that forms the basis of some of the analyses to be found here. Featuring a roster of talented scholars, both new and established, The Cinema of Yorgos Lanthimos: Films, Form, Philosophy provides a timely compendium of critical approaches to one of the most distinct voices in contemporary film.
"A Hero Will Endure"
This volume adds to previous historical and political studies about 'Gladiator' with essays about the movie's relation to pop culture and contemporary discourses. It not only relates 'Gladiator' to traditional cinema aspects such as heroism, music, acting, studio culture, and visual effects, but it also connects the film to sports, religion, and the environment, expanding the ways in which the film can be evaluated by modern audiences. The volume can be read by individuals or in classroom settings, especially as a recommended text for students studying the ancient world in film.
The Plays and Films of Bahram Beyzaie
Bahram Beyzaie is one of Iran's leading playwrights and auteur filmmakers. This book examines several of Beyzaie's films and plays and their preoccupation with the modalities and transformations of Iranian contemporary, historical and mythical identity from different perspectives. The chapters analyse Beyzaie's influential plays such as Arash and So Dies Pahlevan Akbar and his filmic magnum opuses such as The Crow, Bashu, the Little Stranger and Killing Mad Dogs from a range of critical perspectives including ecofeminist, sociopolitical, new-historicist, archetypal and psychoanalytical readings. They also explore Beyzaie's dialogue with filmic genres such as noir, different Iranian languages such as Gilaki, Iranian epics and ritual practices such as ta'ziyeh plays and javanmardi chivalry cults. Together, the chapters show how Beyzaie's works negotiate narratives of belonging and undermine the dominant exclusionist discourses in Iran, and how they use the resources of Iranian folk and performance traditions to comment on the position of women, children, intellectuals, and minorities in society.
Semiotics for Screenwriters
You're trying to finish a screenplay, but there's a voice in your ear whispering, "You should know more about how cinema story works." Perhaps you've heard how many successful screenwriters deconstruct or "break down" films and study them. You'd like to try this method but ask yourself, "How do I start?" Semiotics for Screenwriters can help you with this daunting task by taking you on a unique journey through 3 classic films - It's a Wonderful Life, Lost in Translation, and Get Out - that shows you the hidden universal language of plot, character, and theme at work in them. This method will reveal the mechanics of cinema story, then show you how to apply this knowledge to your own screenwriting. Semiotics is a powerful system of analysis applied in many fields, including literature and psychology. In this book you'll learn to deploy this method to break down classic films then apply it to writing, developing and correcting your own screenplays.
Films, festivals et mondes contemporains
Si les pratiques festivali癡res mobilisent depuis longtemps la recherche scientifi que, il semble qu'un tournant ait 矇t矇 op矇r矇 ? la fi n du XXe si癡cle avec l'矇mergence des Film Festival Studies. Depuis une vingtaine d'ann矇es, face ? l'essor constant des manifestations festivali癡res en Europe et ? l'international, de plus en plus de chercheur. e.s se sont en effet focalis矇.e.s sur l'objet festival de cin矇ma en l'envisageant ? la fois comme la construction d'un regard sp矇cifi que sur le cin矇ma (et ? travers lui sur le r矇el), un lieu de transactions professionnelles intenses et un espace de mediation avec les publics et la critique de cin矇ma. L'ambition de cette publication collective est de contribuer ? l'identifi cation d'une nouvelle p矇riode festivali癡re caract矇ristique des ann矇es 2000 d'un point de vue cette fois fran癟ais. La d矇marche des auteur.e.s ici r矇uni.e.s a consist矇 ? penser l'矇mergence des soci矇t矇s festivali癡res du XXIe si癡cle dans une perspective anthropologique, en s'attachant ? leurs modes d'existence d'une part et en interrogeant la mani癡re dont, par leurs actes de programmation, les festivals pensent et fondent la representation des mondes contemporains d'autre part. La question de fond qui anime les quinze pr矇sentes contributions porte sur la fa癟on dont se cr矇e et circule l'alt矇rit矇 dans ces cultures festivali癡res dont la nature complexe se situe ? l'intersection de la sociologie, de l'矇conomie, de la g矇opolitique et de l'esth矇tique.
TV Writing on Demand
This book takes a deep dive into writing for today's audiences, against the backdrop of a constantly evolving TV ecosystem. The aim of this 2nd edition is to go beyond an analysis of what makes exceptionally compelling episodic TV series work.
The You've Been Gilmored Workbook
Experience a little more 'Gilmore'! Designed to be a companion to You've Been Gilmored!, but this book can be enjoyed by ANY Gilmore Girls fan!This You've Been Gilmored!: The Companion book functions as a workbook where you can tick boxes as you watch every movie mentioned in Gilmore Girls, read every book, listen to every song, and work your way through the Gilmore Girls inspired bucket list, and study guides. This book contains the comprehensive lists from the You've Been Gilmored! encyclopedia of every movie, television show, song, book, and food that every Gilmore fan should experience. In addition, it contains Rory's Study List and the Gilmore Girls Bucket List, which honorary Gilmore's can work through to immerse themselves in the "Gilmoreverse".
The HATERS' Guide to New Who
"'The stories don't work, you know.' "That's all it took to set me off. Someone I knew - not a friend - an acquaintance had the nerve, the temerity, the-the-the audacity to tell me that the stories told in each episode of my beloved Doctor Who since the show returned to our TV screens in 2005 ... don't stand up to scrutiny." That is how Mike Sivier embarked on a quest to cast a critical eye - and ear - over the world's longest-running TV science fiction drama, in an attempt to establish the facts. The results are contained here... and they may surprise you!
Cocktails with George and Martha
"Very smart and entertaining . . . dishy-yet-earnest . . . Gefter shows why Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? hit the '60s like a torpedo."-NPR, Fresh Air "Raucous, unpredictable, wild, and affecting."-Entertainment WeeklyAn award-winning writer reveals the behind-the-scenes story of the provocative play, the groundbreaking film it became, and how two iconic stars changed the image of marriage forever. From its debut in 1962, Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a wild success and a cultural lightning rod. The play transpires over one long, boozy night, laying bare the lies, compromises, and scalding love that have sustained a middle-aged couple through decades of marriage. It scandalized critics but magnetized audiences. Across 644 sold-out Broadway performances, the drama demolished the wall between what could and couldn't be said on the American stage and marked a definitive end to the I Love Lucy 1950s. Then, Hollywood took a colossal gamble on Albee's sophisticated play-and won. Costarring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the sensational 1966 film minted first-time director Mike Nichols as industry royalty and won five Oscars. How this scorching play became a movie classic-surviving censorship attempts, its director's inexperience, and its stars' own tumultuous marriage-is one of the most riveting stories in all of cinema. Now, acclaimed author Philip Gefter tells that story in full for the first time, tracing Woolf from its hushed origins in Greenwich Village's bohemian enclave, through its tormented production process, to its explosion onto screens across America and a permanent place in the canon of cinematic marriages. This deliciously entertaining book explores how two couples-one fictional, one all too real-forced a nation to confront its most deeply held myths about relationships, sex, family, and, against all odds, love.
Kung Fu Companion
HI-YAH!!! Mitch Lovell is back with another collection of bone-snapping, gut-busting, side-splitting reviews! This time, he sets his sights on the world of Kung Fu Cinema! Collected here for the first time anywhere is a brand-new compendium of karate-chopping commentary on some of Mitch's favorite (and not-so favorite) Kung Fu films. From Jackie Chan to Zatoichi. From Shaw Brothers to Steven Seagal. From the One-Armed Swordsman to the fake Bruce Lees. From action classics to oddball obscurities. From Hong Kong to Hollywood, Mitch reviews them all. Kung Fu movie fans! This is the book you've been waiting for!Mitch Lovell is the proprietor of The Video Vacuum website. He is the author of Double Vision: Hollywood vs. Hollywood, The Bloody Book of Horror, and many more. He has also contributed to Exploitation Retrospect, Saturday Night Screening, and Rupert Pupkin Speaks.
Music in the Horror Films of Val Lewton
Val Lewton's horror films revolutionized a popular genre through a much-studied and still widely emulated visual style emphasizing shadows and absences. By denying audiences visual confirmation of horror, his reforms placed a fresh burden on the soundtrack of his films. This book offers a fine-grained study of the Lewton unit's transformational sonic style which introduced the first "jump scare," liberal use of pre-musique concr癡te, and an original orchestral score for every film in the series in violation of "B" movie norms. Their orchestral scores often exceed the conventions of film music as we hear the RKO Music Department ignoring instructions thus freeing their contributions to signpost the path toward each films' essential themes.
Refocus: The Films of Wallace Fox
Born in Oklahoma into the Chickasaw Nation, Wallace Fox directed films over the span of four decades. Known primarily for Westerns and mystery films, his output starred such famed actors as Bela Lugosi, Bob Steele, and Lon Chaney. ReFocus: The Films of Wallace Fox includes analysis of some of his best known films, including Wild Beauty, Gun Town, The Corpse Vanishes, Bowery at Midnight, Career Girl and Brenda Starr, Reporter. It reclaims the history and artistry of this major talent.
Resistance in Indian Documentary Film
While sizable literature exists on the themes, issues and voices that constitute resistance in historical Indian documentary cinema, less is known about contemporary modes of resistance in Indian documentary. This volume identifies languages and practices of resistance constructed by Indian documentary practitioners located in contemporary global and national contexts organised by majoritarian political discourse, rising social inequalities, tightening media regulatory mechanisms and variable access to digital technologies. Extending its analytical lens beyond textual politics, the volume offers an original conceptualisation of how we identify, mobilise, and recuperate acts of resistance as both represented in documentary and those represented by the organisation of documentary practice e.g., documentary exhibition, curation, education, and criticism. Combining scholarly essays and practitioner writing, the volume offers a timely reconsideration of how central debates and issues of power and representation in documentary may be studied as objects of analysis and as subjective accounts of individual experience, decisions, and actions relating to documentary aesthetics and practice.
Refocus: The Films of Agnieszka Holland
The Films of Agnieszka Holland is the first monograph devoted to the internationally most famous Polish filmmaker, a three times Oscar nominee and the recipient of numerous film festival prizes. It examines her rich, original oeuvre, which ranges from Holocaust dramas such as Europa, Europa (1990) to episodes of the HBO series The Wire. In examining the multifaceted nature of Holland's authorship, the study situates her work in the context of art, popular, national, European, Hollywood, transnational, women's, and queer cinema, as well as global television projects. Her colourful public persona oscillates among auteur, celebrity director, and political activist in an extraordinary professional trajectory, which started in the Eastern Bloc, continued in Western Europe and North America, then backtracked to a unified Europe. That zigzagged route conveys the unique nature of Holland's career while epitomising the transformations of post-Cold War cultural production.
The Female Avenger in Film and Television
The Female Avenger, Women's Anger and Rape-Revenge Film and Television examines the contentious nature of the female rape survivor turned avenger in rape-revenge stories. The focus is on a trend of contemporary rape-revenge film made by women directors. Vaage asks what it might mean for women in particular to watch female avengers, and suggests that the reason some women filmmakers explore the rape-revenge convention is because it is all about an emotion that is difficult for women, and used to label women as difficult, namely anger. The central premise in this book is that understanding the emotions stirred up by this type of story is crucial in order to understand its recurring, controversial presence in popular culture, and also its potential value. Vaage offers a cultural and political analysis of contemporary rape-revenge film made by women grounded in the psychological and philosophical study of the emotions.
The Talent Management of Indie Authorship
This book explores the role that talent intermediaries, including talent agents, talent managers and producers, play in packaging, marketing and selling screen media products, services and brands by constructing and positioning their clients and collaborators as indie-auteurs. Exploring several case-studies across a range of screen media during an era of media convergence, including American indie cinema, high-end television, music video, advertising and branded content, the book explores the strategies that talent intermediaries adopt and the industrial, cultural and social connotations and hierarchies that indie-auteurism as a promotional discourse and tool carries and reinforces. As a result, the book stakes out new ground that complicates popular ideas of indie-auteurs as highly autonomous and innovative filmmakers by exploring how this authorial discourse migrates between media and is constructed and reconfigured in relation to changing industrial and cultural contexts.
Science on Screen and Paper
During the Cold War, scientific discoveries were adapted and critiqued in many different forms of media across a divided Europe. Now, more than 30 years since the end of the Cold War, Science on Screen and Paper explores the intersections between scientific research and media by drawing from media history, film studies, and the history of science. From public relations material to educational and science films, from children's magazines to television broadcasts, the contributions in this collected volume seek to embrace medial differences and focus on intersectional themes and strategies for the representation of science.
Unauthorized Offworld Activation
In 1928, an archeological dig in Giza, Egypt, unearthed a giant ring and cover stone that had been buried for nearly 10,000 years. Decades later, disgraced Egyptologist Daniel Jackson discovers that this ring is a gateway to another planet, Abydos. However, the "stargate" is also a doorway to danger, as it was originally buried to stop a powerful alien being from enslaving ancient Egyptians in the guise of the god Ra. Thus, the Stargate franchise was born.That first step into the cosmos reveals a vast network of stargates throughout the galaxy and beyond, while introducing Ra's species, the parasitical Goa'uld, who seek to subjugate all inhabited worlds. Earth establishes a program with the mandate to explore the vast array of planets on the other side of the stargate, while seeking allies and technical assistance in fighting the Goa'uld and freeing those already enslaved.What began as an exciting adventure film in 1994 has endured as a multimedia franchise spanning multiple Stargate television shows (SG-1, Infinity, Atlantis, Universe, and Origins) and an expanded universe of licensed literature. The mythos has explored not only alien civilizations and customs, but also the human condition, politics, and morality. This anthology gathers essays from subject-matter experts examining these and other themes through an insightful and scholarly lens. Chevron seven is locked, and the wormhole is open and ready for you to step through...
African American Female Leadership in Major Motion Pictures
This book explores the factors contributing to the under-representation of African American female directors in mainstream cinema leadership. It also unmasks the potential strategies African American female film directors might pursue to reduce this inequity.
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu
First published in 1983, Shigu矇hiko Hasumi's Directed by Yasujirō Ozu has become one of the most influential books on cinema written in Japanese. This pioneering translation brings Hasumi's landmark work to an English-speaking public for the first time, inviting a new readership to engage with this astutely observed, deeply moving meditation on the oeuvre of one of the giants of world cinema. Complemented by a critical introduction from acclaimed film scholar Aaron Gerow and rendered fluidly in Ryan Cook's agile translation, this volume will grace the shelves of cinephiles for many years to come.
The Art of Color Categorization
From Newton's prism spectroscopy to modern color science, the study of color has been rooted in the categorization of colors. Building upon this foundation, this book aims to explore the rich and varied examples of color theory through two basic concepts: categorizing colors themselves and categorizing things by color. How have different cultures drawn the line between colors, and why? What do these divisions reveal about color naming, standards, environments, and sensory perceptions? The book delves into these questions, shedding light on how color categorization has shaped our world. Through this exploration of color theory, the author also hopes to draw attention to the potential parallels between Western color classifications and the logic of racism. By examining various theories on color classification standards, the author seeks to unravel this complex issue and encourage readers to reflect on how our understanding of color and categorization can impact our social and cultural attitudes.
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu
First published in 1983, Shigu矇hiko Hasumi's Directed by Yasujirō Ozu has become one of the most influential books on cinema written in Japanese. This pioneering translation brings Hasumi's landmark work to an English-speaking public for the first time, inviting a new readership to engage with this astutely observed, deeply moving meditation on the oeuvre of one of the giants of world cinema. Complemented by a critical introduction from acclaimed film scholar Aaron Gerow and rendered fluidly in Ryan Cook's agile translation, this volume will grace the shelves of cinephiles for many years to come.
Closures
From The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Arrested Development to BoJack Horseman, the American sitcom revolves around crises that must be resolved by episode's end, with a new crisis to come next week. In Closures, Grace Lavery reconsiders the genre's seven-decade history as an endless cycle of crisis and closure that formally and representationally frames heterosexuality as constantly on the verge of both collapse and reconstitution. She shows that even the normiest family-based sitcoms rely on queer characters like Alice (The Brady Bunch) and Steve Urkel (Family Matters) who highlight how the family is perpetually incomplete and unstable. Analyzing the genre's techniques and devices such as the laugh track and the cringe pan, Lavery also charts the shift to friend-group and workplace sitcoms like Friends and The Office, which she contends reflect a weakening of social ties in ways that place characters in an unending state of becoming. With this capacious yet svelte queer and trans theorization of the sitcom, Lavery demonstrates that the family ties that bind the genre's normative heterosexuality are far more tenuous than we have been led to believe.
Pasolini
PASOLINIIL CINEMA DI POESIA/ THE CINEMA OF POETRY By Jeremy Mark RobinsonA new critical study of the Italian filmmaker and poet Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975). The focus is the cinema of Pasolini, which includes The Gospel According To Matthew (his best-known film), the controversial Salo, the 'trilogy of life' movies based on Middle Ages texts (Chaucer, Boccaccio and the 1001 Nights), adaptations of ancient world plays (Medea and Oedipus Rex), and poetic portraits of contemporary Roman life (Accattone, Mamma Roma and The Hawks and the Sparrows). Pasolini: Il Cinema di Poesia/ The Cinema of Poetry considers all of Pier Paolo Pasolini's work in cinema, with a chapter on each feature-length movie, plus the short episodes he made for anthology films, all of his documentaries, and his unmade film projects. There is a biography of Pasolini, an exploration of aspects of his cinema, and topics related to Pasolini's life and interests such as religion, poetry, homosexuality, his colleagues, Marxist politics, modern Italy, and the Third World. Pier Paolo Pasolini was born on March 5, 1922, in Bologna, Italy. He died on November 2, 1975, in Ostia, Rome (he was buried in Casarca, in his beloved Friuli). When he was a film director, Pier Paolo Pasolini was certainly an intimidating presence, with a formidable reputation - like Cecil B. DeMille, D.W. Griffith or Jean-Luc Godard. Very confident, very smart, a great talker and interviewee, a leader on set, with no doubts from anyone about who was the primary creator and author. The appendices include entries on the work of Pier Paolo Pasolini's collaborators, such as Bernardo Bertolucci and Sergio Citti, and films made from Pasolini's fiction (such as A Violent Life and The Big Night). Fully illustrated with images from all of Pasolini's works in cinema. Bibliography, appendices, filmography and notes. 536 pages. Full colour cover. www.crmoon.com
Closures
From The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Arrested Development to BoJack Horseman, the American sitcom revolves around crises that must be resolved by episode's end, with a new crisis to come next week. In Closures, Grace Lavery reconsiders the genre's seven-decade history as an endless cycle of crisis and closure that formally and representationally frames heterosexuality as constantly on the verge of both collapse and reconstitution. She shows that even the normiest family-based sitcoms rely on queer characters like Alice (The Brady Bunch) and Steve Urkel (Family Matters) who highlight how the family is perpetually incomplete and unstable. Analyzing the genre's techniques and devices such as the laugh track and the cringe pan, Lavery also charts the shift to friend-group and workplace sitcoms like Friends and The Office, which she contends reflect a weakening of social ties in ways that place characters in an unending state of becoming. With this capacious yet svelte queer and trans theorization of the sitcom, Lavery demonstrates that the family ties that bind the genre's normative heterosexuality are far more tenuous than we have been led to believe.
How To Be The Star Of Your Life
From the writer/producer/director of female-driven films Assault of the Killer Bimbos and Modern Girls comes a collection of captivating conversations with movie industry insiders about what it takes to be the star of your life. International keynote speaker, award-winning author, and television guest expert Anita Rosenberg invites her talented and award-winning friends-writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, production designers, editors, and actors-the people who actually make the movies!-to explore what it takes to succeed in a famously challenging and competitive industry. These intimate conversations are loaded with gems of lessons learned, sage advice, and motivating inspiration.The captivating cast of advisors includes movie star Virginia Madsen advocating a positive mindset; Hip-hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy revealing how great relationships can bring great fortune; and "Comic Book King" Michael Uslan confessing why content really is king (hint: acquiring Batman rights while in his twenties set up his entire career).
Satan in the Celluloid
Evil cults! Demonic possession! Black magic! The 1970s were gripped by an obsession with the devil and all his works. This book explores 100 devilish movies that blazed across the screens of the drive-ins and grindhouses of the decade.They were a product of their time. The counterculture of the 1960s had soured with the brutal actions of the Manson Family sparking fears of cults and hippie mysticism. Christian fundamentalism was on the rise and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was just around the corner. But, for the 1970s, the devil stalked the screens as a figure to be feared, invoked, exorcised and worshiped. He possessed young girls, demanded blood sacrifice and caused nuns to cast off their habits and indulge their most blasphemous and erotic desires.From the heavy hitters like The Exorcist and The Omen to the drive-in favorites like Race with the Devil and The Brotherhood of Satan to foreign entries like Suspiria and The Wicker Man, this book takes a deep dive into the demonic movies that thrilled and terrified audiences of the 1970s.
Billy Wilder
The director and cowriter of some of the world's most iconic films--including Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment--Billy Wilder earned acclaim as American cinema's greatest social satirist. Though an influential fixture in Hollywood, Wilder always saw himself as an outsider. His worldview was shaped by his background in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and work as a journalist in Berlin during Hitler's rise to power, and his perspective as a Jewish refugee from Nazism lent his films a sense of the peril that could engulf any society. In this critical study, Joseph McBride offers new ways to understand Wilder's work, stretching from his days as a reporter and screenwriter in Europe to his distinguished as well as forgotten films as a Hollywood writer and his celebrated work as a writer-director. In contrast to the widespread view of Wilder as a hardened cynic, McBride reveals him to be a disappointed romantic. Wilder's experiences as an exile led him to mask his sensitivity beneath a veneer of wisecracking that made him a celebrated caustic wit. Amid the satirical barbs and exposure of social hypocrisies, Wilder's films are marked by intense compassion and a profound understanding of the human condition. Mixing biographical insight with in-depth analysis of films from throughout Wilder's career as a screenwriter and director of comedy and drama, and drawing on McBride's interviews with the director and his collaborators, this book casts new light on the full range of Wilder's rich, complex, and distinctive vision.
Somerset Maugham and the Cinema
William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was one of the most prominent and productive authors of the twentieth century-and his works have been among the most cinematically transformed in history. For more than five decades, adaptations of his plays, stories, and novels dominated movie theaters and, later, television screens. More than ninety individual works were filmed, and for many filmgoers his name was a greater draw than that of the director. Works such as Of Human Bondage, "The Letter," The Painted Veil, "Rain," The Razor's Edge, and others were produced multiple times, with starring roles sought by actors like Bette Davis, Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo, Lionel Barrymore, Charles Laughton, and Bill Murray. This study of the famous author explores the relationship between literature and film, what is involved in adaptation, and how best to judge films based on celebrated books. Robert Calder, the world's leading scholar of Maugham's work, offers fascinating production histories, insight into both fortunate and misguided casting decisions, shrewd analyses of performances and film techniques, and summaries of public and critical responses. Maugham's characters were often conflicted, iconoclastic, and morally out of step with their times, which may have accounted for the popularity of his fiction. Most of Maugham's works could be adapted to satisfy the tastes of moviegoers and the demands of the Hays Office censors, if not the expectations of their author.
The Animated Dad
The Homer Simpson-esque stereotype has been a persistent trope in cartoons since programming aimed directly at children and adolescents began. Young viewers are exposed to the incapable and incompetent "hapless father" archetype on a regular basis, causing both boys and girls to expect the bare minimum of fathers while mothers hold the responsibility for all domestic and parenting work. Cartoons rely heavily on toxic stereotypes for ratings, when in fact, healthy representations of fathers are just as successful in maintaining viewership. Eleven essays, written by scholars from around the world, investigate the topic of fatherhood as it is represented in children's animated television shows. Main themes that emerge include absent and negligent fathers, single fathers, generational shifts within families, and raising the standard of fathering by creating secure bonds between father and child. The authors uncover problematic fathers, imperfect yet redemptive fathers, and fathers who embody idealized parenting traits through some of our most beloved animated dads. This collection demonstrates the impact that media representations of father figures have on young viewers and argues for better role models.
The Vigilante Thriller
This is a detailed examination of vigilantism in 1970s American film, from its humble niche beginnings as a response to relaxing censorship laws to its growth into a unique subgenre of its own. Cary Edwards explores the contextual factors leading to this new cycle of films ranging from Joe (1970) and The French Connection (1971) to Dirty Harry (1971) and Taxi Driver (1976), all of which have been challenged by contemporary critics for their gratuitous, copycat-inspiring violence. Yet close analysis of these films reveals a recurring focus on the emerging moral panic of the 1970s, a problematisation of Law and Order's role in contemporary society, and an increasing awareness of the impossibility of American myths of identity.
Crisis Cinema in the Middle East
In recent years, the Arab world and Iran have been afflicted by cataclysmic events, among them brutal state crackdowns of revolutions. Yet, filmmakers have persisted in their desire to tell their stories, against the odds, in creative acts that attest to their imagination, courage and resilience. In this book, Shohini Chaudhuri examines a broad range of films made during the tumultuous period since 2009, ranging from internationally award-winning festival favourites, such as For Sama (2019), Capernaum (2018) and Taxi Tehran (2015), to lesser-known films from the region. While freedom of expression is often understood through the lens of state censorship, she reveals the different types of obstacles that filmmakers face and their strategies for overcoming them so that those constraints are transformed into creative opportunities. Using her original interviews with filmmakers such as Waad al-Kateab, Yasmin Fedda, Larissa Sansour, Mani Haghighi and Ossama Mohammed, she identifies nine creative strategies for producing work under conditions of crisis. Chaudhuri argues that creativity is indelibly shaped by constraints, whether these are externally imposed by existing materials, funding and socio-political conditions, or self-imposed constraints, through choices of genre or acceptance of rules and responsibilities.She shows that the range of creative strategies emanating from the region is much wider than allegory and becoming ever more direct. She thus opens up new lines of inquiry into cinematic creativity in sites of conflict and crisis in the Middle East and beyond.
Lindsay Wagner - The Works
Actress Lindsay Wagner's portrayal of THE BIONIC WOMAN launched her to international stardom, but that was not the beginning or the end of her amazing career! LINDSAY WAGNER - THE WORKS chronicles all facets of Lindsay Wagner's trailblazing career, and offers a detailed look at her numerous projects - including her Early Years, Feature Films, Television Guest Appearances, TV Series, TV Movies & Mini-Series, Specials, Endorsements, Public Service, Personal Appearances, Product Covers, and more!
The Films of Martin Scorsese
In a series of articles, Chris Wade looks at the first half of Martin Scorsese's film career; from the early student shorts of the mid sixties, through the visceral seventies with films like Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, on to undisputed classics such as Raging Bull and Goodfellas, and culminating with 1995's underrated masterpiece Casino. This remarkable run of movies is arguably unmatched to this day, films which helped reshape and redefine the laws of cinema. This book is a tribute to a remarkable era in movie history, telling the story of one of its true geniuses through his finest cinematic moments.
Film Close Up
In this edition of FILM CLOSE UP, Chris Wade celebrates the career of Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. One of the founders of the world renowned Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki has brought animated film into the realm of high art. With such masterpieces as Spirited Away, Ponyo, My Neighbour Totoro, and Kiki's Delivery Service, Miyazaki is one of Japan's most popular and acclaimed directors. Going from film to film, Wade affectionately explores the Miyazaki filmography, delving into the making of each picture and their lasting legacies. The book also features an interview with actor Bob Bergen, who voiced No-Face in Spirited Away, and Frank Welker, voice of Catbus and Totoro.
You’ve Been Gilmored!
You've Been Gilmored! is a handbook for living a life that is thoroughly steeped in Gilmore Girls. Inside its pages, you will find how to 'live like a Gilmore'--including what music to listen to, what films and television shows to watch, what books to read, what food to eat, and how to study like a Gilmore. It provides insight and detailed information about the 'Gilmore-verse' and is the most comprehensive guide written about the lives of the Gilmore Girls, and the town of Stars Hollow, to date. At over 600 pages, consider this your all-inclusive encyclopedia of all the cultural capital that this show had to offer--a Gilmore guide to life. You won't want to watch the show again without it!
Film Close Up
Writer, musician, and filmmaker Chris Wade explores the filmography of the acclaimed and controversial French filmmaker, Bertrand Blier. Hailed as a genius of the absurd and heavily awarded in Europe, Blier became known for his satirical tales of macho chauvinism and twisted love, often with French icon Gerard Depardieu as his leading man. Emerging as a serious force of European cinema with his landmark Going Places (1974), Blier went on to win an Oscar for Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978), a Cesar for Buffet Froid (1979), and the Cannes Grand Prix for Too Beautiful For You (1989). Though once one of the leading lights of French cinema, Blier is spoken of less today, and his films are not as celebrated as they once were. Chris Wade's book then, is a much needed reappraisal, as well as a celebration of a singular talent whose films deserve to be watched by generations to come. The book also features Chris's interview with Bertrand Blier from 2021.
Film Close Up
Bob Rafelson was one of the most important and influential directors to emerge in the New Hollywood boom of the 1960s and 70s. In films like Five Easy Pieces, he captured the confused mood of the times, with his leading man Jack Nicholson embodying the dissatisfaction felt by many in the post-sixties cultural landscape. Rafelson, though, was always hard to pin down to a style, and his filmography is full of such unique gems as The King of Marvin Gardens, Stay Hungry, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Blood and Wine. In this book, writer and musician Chris Wade explores Rafelson's extraordinary body of work, as well as getting fresh recollections from colleagues and collaborators.
Sexual Diversity in Young Cuban Cinema
This book explores how young Cuban filmmakers have expanded the range of sexual subjectivities on screen. It analyzes cine joven (films made by young directors) from the late 1980s to the early 2020s, film reviews, articles, and materials from the Cinematheque of Cuba's archive to illustrate the confluence of sexuality, cinema, and discourses of youth. While sexual and cinematic cultures have their own unique relation to the public sphere, state institutions, and transnational flows, this book explores tensions, debates, and expressions that unite them. In an investigation of how young filmmakers employ queer strategies of self-making to bring sexual diversity to the screen, Margaret G. Frohlich shows us how cine joven takes part in the socialization of power in Cuba.
Sylvain Chomet's Distinctive Animation
This open access book provides the first in-depth analysis of his animation films and his contribution to contemporary animation. Sylvain Chomet is a multifaceted French artist best known for his feature animation films The Triplets of Belleville and The Illusionist. Although the films have a highly recognized artistic value, the relevant literature is limited to a modest number of articles. Sylvain Chomet's Distinctive Animation examines important elements of the artist's life, his studies and previous works, along with his influences and important collaborations. Special attention is also paid to the production processes, as well as the historical and socioeconomic context in which they have been created, in order to provide the reader not only with a comprehensive study of the films, but also to highlight their contribution to the advancement of contemporary animation. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on www.bloomsburycollections.com.
Good Old-Fashioned Values
Seth MacFarlane has made an immense mark on popular culture through both his live action and animated television series: Family Guy, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, and The Orville. While MacFarlane has garnered a large legion of fans, even those who do not personally watch Family Guy, this longest running series, will be quick to recognize images of Peter and Stewie Griffin: a caricature of the clueless dads from sitcoms of yesteryear and an inexplicably queer-coded evil baby genius, respectively. This book explores Family Guy and Seth MacFarlane's other animated series closely, examining how the series uses satire and other strategies to construct specific ideas related to sex, gender, and family. The authors argue that the series, like many other television series, contribute to our collective understanding of family, and reinforce (at times) unfavorable gender stereotypes.
A Critical Companion to Mel Gibson
The twelve essays in A Critical Companion to Mel Gibson offer various interpretations of Mel Gibson's work, treating this prolific but controversial figure not only as a filmmaker but as a historian, religious thinker, and social philosopher. From The Man Without a Face and Braveheart to The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto, and Hacksaw Ridge, this interdisciplinary collection mines Gibson's life and oeuvre for insight into existential problems, Aristotelian virtues, the politics of film, interreligious dialogue, adaptation issues, and much more.
Gaspar No矇
Since the release of his breakout film Irr矇versible in 2002, Gaspar No矇 (b. 1963) has been labeled the principal provocateur of twenty-first-century French cinema. While many of the filmmaker's complex and daring works have been reduced by his critics to their (innumerable) depictions of hallucinogens, violence, and unsimulated sexual intercourse--the latter rendered into vertiginous 3D with his film Love--other viewers have remained in steady awe of No矇's dizzying camerawork, immersive visuality, and expressive editing. No矇's cinema greets the short attention spans of digital life with works of extremities and endurance for performers and spectators alike. This first-of-its-kind collection of interviews documents No矇's engagement with the feverish reception of his work and received ideas about his life and politics. Collecting conversations with critics, scholars, and artists, including fellow directors Matthew Barney, Abel Ferrara, and Harmony Korine, No矇 speaks about his process as a writer, director, cinematographer, and editor. Also examined are his engagement with developing film technology and his fascination and indebtedness to past filmmakers such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jean Eustache, Stanley Kubrick, and Sam Peckinpah. No矇 discusses life in Buenos Aires and emigrating to France, his use of irony and melodrama, and his interest in documentary practices. Throughout, No矇 explores his continuing examination of faith and secularism, body and mind, and the politics of spectatorship. Editor Geoffrey Lokke's introduction provides a close reading of No矇 in conversation, assessing what has changed over the years in terms of the filmmaker's aesthetics and presentation of self, as well as what No矇 is reticent to articulate about his life and art.
The DeCavalcante Mafia Crime Family
Do you want to find out which family served as inspiration for the acclaimed TV show The Sopranos?If you want to uncover the secrets of one of the most notorious criminal organizations in American history, then you need to read this book.Within these pages is a riveting and in-depth exploration of the shadowy history of the DeCavalcante family, from their origins to their ultimate downfall.Inside The DeCavalcante Mafia Crime Family, discover: The origins of the DeCavalcante family and how they established themselves as a major player in the New Jersey underworld.How the DeCavalcante family influenced The Sopranos's characters and storylines, along with the similarities between the real-life Sopranos and the fictional characters portrayed in the show.The violent and ruthless tactics used by the DeCavalcante family to maintain their power and influence.The family's connections to other major Mafia organizations, including the Gambino and Lucchese families.The numerous law enforcement efforts to bring the family to justice, including the landmark Operation Heat case.The impact the DeCavalcante family had on organized crime in New Jersey and beyond.Whether you are a true-crime enthusiast or interested in the history of organized crime, this book is one that you don't want to miss out on.From illegal gambling to drug trafficking and extortion, The DeCavalcante Mafia Crime Family reveals the truth of this family's involvement in some of the most heinous crimes in New Jersey history.
