Film: styles and genres Books

Max Linder, born Gabriel Leuvielle in St. Loubes, France in 1883, started in films with the Pathe Brothers in Vincennes, just outside of Paris in 1905, making him one of the first film comedians that became world-renowned. In fact, there is evidence that...

Max Linder, born Gabriel Leuvielle in St. Loubes, France in 1883, started in films with the Pathe Brothers in Vincennes, just outside of Paris in 1905, making him one of the first film comedians that became world-renowned. In fact, there is evidence that...

Aren’t You Gonna Die Someday? explores the deceptions and veiled truths lurking within a film that has haunted author Patrick Cooper for nearly a decade: Elaine May’s Mikey and Nicky. Called both a “masterpiece” and a...

Ray Danton was an actor who exemplified a particular Hollywood period even though he was not famous. He was a contract player during the demise of the studio system, a precarious time for the grooming of stars. Like the big stars of his time, Ray Danton...

“B-B-B-B Bad… Bad to the bone…” Packed with interviews from director John Carpenter, screenwriter Bill Phillips, producer Richard Kobritz, stars Keith Gordon and Alexandra Paul, plus various members of the cast and crew...

Good Night, Whatever You Are! is the first-ever in-depth look at one of the show biz icons of the 1950s and ’60s: the dean of TV horror hosts, Zacherley. First on Philadelphia TV and then in New York, John Zacherle made himself a pop...

The Vanished World of Robert Youngson examines the life of the forgotten producer and writer who got his start making short subject films. His later features revived audience and critical interest in the 1920s silent film comedians, particularly Laurel...

Good Night, Whatever You Are! is the first-ever in-depth look at one of the show biz icons of the 1950s and ’60s: the dean of TV horror hosts, Zacherley. First on Philadelphia TV and then in New York, John Zacherle made himself a pop culture...

The Vanished World of Robert Youngson examines the life of the forgotten producer and writer who got his start making short subject films. His later features revived audience and critical interest in the 1920s silent film comedians, particularly Laurel...

This is the hardback COLOR edition. In all the vast and unknown depths of Hollywood - how could there be only one?  To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of one of the most popular and influential movie sequels, the updated and expanded...

The trailers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens made a strong impression on fans. Many were excited by what they saw as a return to the spirit of George Lucas's 1977 creation. Others--including several white supremacy groups--were upset and offended by key...

In Dining with Madmen: Fat, Food, and the Environment in 1980s Horror, author Thomas Fahy explores America's preoccupation with body weight, processed foods, and pollution through the lens of horror. Conspicuous consumption may have communicated...

Since the times of ancient Greece, popular culture has entertained stories of artificial humans. Our modern fears about the "otherness" of androids and human replicants have much in common with fears of the Doppelganger, a mythological harbinger of...

Greatly expanded and updated from the 1977 original, this new edition explores the evolution of the modern horror film, particularly as it reflects anxieties associated with the atomic bomb, the Cold War, 1960s violence, sexual liberation, the Reagan...

The "Gothic" style was a key trend in Italian cinema of the 1950s and 1960s because of its peculiar, often strikingly original approach to the horror genre. These films portrayed Gothic staples in a stylish and idiosyncratic way, and took a daring...

Horror has the magic to captivate...and enthrall.It hooks you with unnerving fiction stories of dread and evil, pushes your limits and pokes every phobia. People love to be scared but behind every dark mythology and muffled scream is something...

The reality of transnational innovation and dissemination of new technologies, including digital media, has yet to make a dent in the deep-seated culturalism that insists on reinscribing a divide between the West and Japan. The Oxford Handbook of...

Mae West is one of the true icons of show business, enjoying success on stage and in movies. She created her character, wrote her own dialog, and understood self-promotion. An innately talented entertainer, Mae began working on stage as a small child and...

Laura La Plante (1904-1996) was one of the most beloved stars of the silent era, known for her classic blonde bob haircut and dazzling screen presence. Although comedies were her specialty, she is best remembered for her role as Annabelle West in the...

Mae West is one of the true icons of show business, enjoying success on stage and in movies. She created her character, wrote her own dialog, and understood self-promotion. An innately talented entertainer, Mae began working on stage as a small child and...

«Une aventure du chevalier de Grammont » est une comédie en trois actes et en vers par Mme Sophie Gay. Elle fut représentée sur le théâtre-Français le 5 mars 1822.

For far too long, horror has been considered a male genre, made by men, marketed to men, and enjoyed by men. But in the last decade, we have seen an emergence of women as horror filmmakers, academics, and fans, all making sure their voices were heard!...

For far too long, horror has been considered a male genre, made by men, marketed to men, and enjoyed by men. But in the last decade, we have seen an emergence of women as horror filmmakers, academics, and fans, all making sure their voices were heard!...

 “Man, I believe the older generation doesn’t want the younger generation have any fun,” complained one Arizona high school student in the midst of what has often been called “The Fabulous Fifties.” For the first time...

 “Man, I believe the older generation doesn’t want the younger generation have any fun,” complained one Arizona high school student in the midst of what has often been called “The Fabulous Fifties.” For the first time...

When I was born, I weighed two pounds, three ounces. The doctor who examined me told my mother, "Congratulations, Mrs. Pryor, you have a boy! No, wait, it's a girl! No, it is a boy!"Mom cried, "What did I have? A...

When I was born, I weighed two pounds, three ounces. The doctor who examined me told my mother, "Congratulations, Mrs. Pryor, you have a boy! No, wait, it's a girl! No, it is a boy!"Mom cried, "What did I have? A...

Bigger! Better! Bolder! This is an affectionate, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny look at the movies your parents didn't want you to see, the monster movies from Science Fiction's Golden Age. It's also about some of the fans who...

Three men go on a risky journey through a forbidden Zone in search of fulfillment. They fail. They come home. The end. The plot of Tarkovsky's Stalker is a joke. Taking its title from 2 Corinthians, Perfect in Weakness explores Stalker as a ludic parable...

Perhaps because of the wisdom received from our Romantic forbears about the purity of the child, depictions of children as monsters have held a tremendous fascination for film audiences for decades. Numerous social factors have influenced the...

In what ways is comedy subversive? This vital new book critically considers the importance of comedy in challenging and redefining our relations to race and racism through the lens of political correctness.By viewing comedy as both a constitutive feature...

There was no one like her. A self-taught performer who redefined screen comedy, Mabel Normand rose from a humble background to become one of the most popular and wealthy entertainers on earth. Here was a woman who did her own stunts, directed, and...

Being provocative and challenging the mores of society always informed Mae West's playbook. Her controversial and hugely entertaining nightclub act in the 1950s reminded fans and critics alike that she remained a thoughtful social critic. "Pushing...

Being provocative and challenging the mores of society always informed Mae West's playbook. Her controversial and hugely entertaining nightclub act in the 1950s reminded fans and critics alike that she remained a thoughtful social critic. "Pushing...

WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING TO PROMOTE ME? Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy were THE movie comedy duo of the 1930' s bringing laughter and joy to Depression-weary audiences across the country. Promotional Pandemonium Book One - The Hal Roach Studios...

Where Darkness Bends“We went down into the silent garden. Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves.”- Leonora Carrington Welcome to The Silent Garden.The Silent Garden is...

This is the record of the pilgrimage of one great artist, reflected in the experience of one small audience.When Sam Peckinpah died in 1984, I spent some time working out my responses to his work as a whole and, more generally, puzzling over the...

In 1932, The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff, introduced another icon to the classic monster pantheon, beginning a journey down the cinematic Nile that has yet to reach its end. Over the past century, movie mummies have met everyone from Abbott and...

At the dawn of the 1980s, there was one serious name in horror and exploitation film criticism: Bill Landis. While other magazines were concerned with behind-the-scenes information, tributes, and SFX tutorials, Landis' Sleazoid Express was one part film...

All Things Shining: An Oral History of the Films of Terrence Malick is a collection of interviews and recollections--part history, part anecdote--detailing the journey of American film director Terrence Malick, from his boyhood in Oklahoma and Texas to...

"Billy Selesnick tells all (well, almost all) in Memoirs of an Artist, the meandering story of his life. While outlining his artistic growth, his druggie lifestyle, and sexual peccadillos, Selesnick doesn't shy away from talking about his old pal Chuck...

《镜花水月怀旧事》是一本唯美浪漫的电影笔记， 从作者纽约桃花的视角讲述了她观影的各种感想，以及这些感想背后的故事。 如果说，电影就是一部流动的历史， 那么这本电影笔记就是这些流动历史的一个微小的部分，犹如一个窗口， 从里面可以窥见整部历史长河的蜿蜒。 纽约桃花的父亲曾是中国电影家协会内部专刊《外国电影》的主编，母亲曾是中国戏剧家协会的杂志《外国戏剧》主编，俩人撰写过大量外国电影与戏剧的介绍和评论，对纽约桃花的影响至深。纽约桃花是电视制作人，曾在美国CBS和MTV电视台工作。...

Released in May 1977, the original Star Wars movie inaugurated the age of the movie blockbuster. It also redefined the use of cinematic special effects, creating a new textual universe that now stretches through three decades, two trilogies and...

In his film noir second volume, Bernie Dowling reviews films about ordinary jobs in a greedy crime-ridden society. Fate Vs The Working Stiff explores an ignored noir sub-genre in five pictorial essays and hundreds of photos.The 2023 extended Hollywood...