The Films That Made Me...

Author: Peter Bradshaw
Publisher: Bloomsbury Caravel
ISBN: 1448217555
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 561

Book Description
Peter Bradshaw's finest film reviews--the good, the bad, and the ugly. Peter Bradshaw is an excellent film reviewer for intelligent, curious filmgoers. He's a true journalist who has served as The Guardian's film critic for 20 years and who understands what his readers want to know. His reviews carry his deep experience, knowledge, and understanding of film lightly. Films That Made Me... allows Peter Bradshaw to share his knowledge and guidance directly with readers. His reviews are the substance of this book--from 20 years-worth of Guardian reviewing. Selections are themed, each with a personalized entry-point introduction. Sample contents include: Films that make me sad. Films that make me laugh. Films that make me think. Films that made me feel. Films that make me run for the hills. Films that I want to show to my son. Films that make me think about my parents. Films that make me squirm (in a good way). Films that make me scared. Films that make me Google the real-life people involved (and think about true-life stories.) Films that have me on the edge of my seat.

The Films That Made Me...

Author: Peter Bradshaw
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1448217563
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 561

Book Description
'Like a pizza delivery driver who travels everywhere by moped, or a volcanologist who keeps turning the central heating up, I'm a film critic who loves going to the cinema.' - Peter Bradshaw. Peter Bradshaw is the film reviewer for intelligent, curious cinemagoers; he has worked at the Guardian for twenty years. The Films That Made Me collates his finest reviews from the last two decades, which carry with them his deep experience, knowledge and understanding of film. Introducing each section with a brief introductory article in his light, humorous tone, and ranging from The Cat in the Hat and the Twilight Saga to Synecdoche: New York, Bradshaw shares the films that he loved, the films that he hated, the films that made him laugh, cry, swoon and scared. Bradshaw's reviews range from the insightful and introspective to the savage and funny. The Films That Made Me is a must read for all film fanatics.

Making Movies

Author: Sidney Lumet
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307763668
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Book Description
Why does a director choose a particular script? What must they do in order to keep actors fresh and truthful through take after take of a single scene? How do you stage a shootout—involving more than one hundred extras and three colliding taxis—in the heart of New York’s diamond district? What does it take to keep the studio honchos happy? From the first rehearsal to the final screening, Making Movies is a master’s take, delivered with clarity, candor, and a wealth of anecdote. For in this book, Sidney Lumet, one of our most consistently acclaimed directors, gives us both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on forty years of experience on movies that range from Long Day’s Journey into Night to Network and The Verdict—and with such stars as Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino—Lumet explains how painstaking labor and inspired split-second decisions can result in two hours of screen magic.

When We Were Young: Magical Films That Made Us Dream

Author: Eva Minguet
Publisher: Monsa Publications
ISBN: 9788417557195
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 112

Book Description
Whether adventure, comedy, action or fantasy, the films of the 80s (late 70s and early 90s included) are simply magical. It doesn't matter if some have aged better than others, films like The Goonies, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, Rocky, etc. were created not only for financial gain, but also with tremendous passion, conveying a mystique that is difficult to describe, and which only those who lived through that period can fully appreciate. When We Were Young does not include all of them (that would be impossible), but it does offer a carefully chosen and representative selection. And if you were terrified by the Gremlins, if you learned from Mr. Miyagi, if you cried when little Elliot said goodbye to E.T. or when Thelma & Louise started flying in their convertible, we invite you to embark on this nostalgic tour of superb illustrations and alternative posters by world-class artists, accompanied by curiosities and legendary quotes from the best movies of a wonderful era.

Films of Endearment

Author: Michael Koresky
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 1488078351
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
An Esquire Best Book About Hollywood A USA TODAY Best Book of 2021 “A lovely and loving book.”—Will Schwalbe, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Your Life Book Club "I'm not sure I have ever read a book about movies that is as tender and open-hearted as Films of Endearment."—Mark Harris, New York Times bestselling author of Mike Nichols: A Life A poignant memoir of family, grief and resilience about a young man, his dynamic mother and the '80s movies they shared together Michael Koresky's most formative memories were simple ones. A movie rental. A mug of tea. And a few shared hours with his mother. Years later and now a successful film critic, Koresky set out on a journey with his mother to discover more about their shared cinematic past. They rewatched ten films that she first introduced to him as a child, one from every year of the '80s, each featuring women leads. Together, films as divergent as 9 to 5, Terms of Endearment, The Color Purple and Aliens form the story of an era that Koresky argues should rightly be called "The Decade of the Actress." Films of Endearment is a reappraisal of the most important and popular female-driven films of that time, a profound meditation on loss and resilience, and a celebration of the special bond between mothers and their sons.

Memory and Movies

Author: John Seamon
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262029715
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
How popular films from Memento to Slumdog Millionaire can help us understand how memory works. In the movie Slumdog Millionaire, the childhood memories of a young game show contestant trigger his correct answers. In Memento, the amnesiac hero uses tattoos as memory aids. In Away from Her, an older woman suffering from dementia no longer remembers who her husband is. These are compelling films that tell affecting stories about the human condition. But what can these movies teach us about memory? In this book, John Seamon shows how examining the treatment of memory in popular movies can shed new light on how human memory works. After explaining that memory is actually a diverse collection of independent systems, Seamon uses examples from movies to offer an accessible, nontechnical description of what science knows about memory function and dysfunction. In a series of lively encounters with numerous popular films, he draws on Life of Pi and Avatar, for example, to explain working memory, used for short-term retention. He describes the process of long-term memory with examples from such films as Cast Away and Groundhog Day; The Return of Martin Guerre, among other movies, informs his account of how we recognize people; the effect of emotion on autobiographical memory is illustrated by The Kite Runner, Titanic, and other films; movies including Born on the Fourth of July and Rachel Getting Married illustrate the complex pain of traumatic memories. Seamon shows us that movies rarely get amnesia right, often using strategically timed blows to the protagonist's head as a way to turn memory off and then on again (as in Desperately Seeking Susan). Finally, he uses movies including On Golden Pond and Amour to describe the memory loss that often accompanies aging, while highlighting effective ways to maintain memory function.

A Light in the Dark

Author: David Thomson
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0593318153
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
From the celebrated film critic and author of The Biographical Dictionary of Film--an essential work on the preeminent, indispensable movie directors and the ways in which their work has forged, and continues to forge, the landscape of modern film. Directors operate behind the scenes, managing actors, establishing a cohesive creative vision, at times literally guiding our eyes with the eye of the camera. But we are often so dazzled by the visions on-screen that it is easy to forget the individual who is off-screen orchestrating the entire production--to say nothing of their having marshaled a script, a studio, and other people's money. David Thomson, in his usual brilliantly insightful way, shines a light on the visionary directors who have shaped modern cinema and, through their work, studies the very nature of film direction. With his customary candor about his own delights and disappointments, Thomson analyzes both landmark works and forgotten films from classic directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Jean Renoir, and Jean-Luc Godard, as well as contemporary powerhouses such as Jane Campion, Spike Lee, and Quentin Tarantino. He shrewdly interrogates their professional legacies and influence in the industry, while simultaneously assessing the critical impact of an artist's personal life on his or her work. He explores the male directors' dominance of the past, and describes how diversity can change the landscape. Judicious, vivid, and witty, A Light in the Dark is yet another required Thomson text for every movie lover's shelf.

The Camera Lies

Author: Dan Callahan
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0197515320
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
The first book on Hitchcock that focuses exclusively on his work with actors Alfred Hitchcock is said to have once remarked, "Actors are cattle," a line that has stuck in the public consciousness ever since. For Hitchcock, acting was a matter of contrast and counterpoint, valuing subtlety and understatement over flashiness. He felt that the camera was duplicitous, and directed actors to look and act conversely. In The Camera Lies, author Dan Callahan spotlights the many nuances of Hitchcock's direction throughout his career, from Cary Grant in Notorious (1946) to Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960). Delving further, he examines the ways that sex and sexuality are presented through Hitchcock's characters, reflecting the director's own complex relationship with sexuality. Detailing the fluidity of acting -- both what it means to act on film and how the process varies in each actor's career -- Callahan examines the spectrum of treatment and direction Hitchcock provided well- and lesser-known actors alike, including Ingrid Bergman, Henry Kendall, Joan Barry, Robert Walker, Jessica Tandy, Kim Novak, and Tippi Hedren. As Hitchcock believed, the best actor was one who could "do nothing well" - but behind an outward indifference to his players was a sophisticated acting theorist who often drew out great performances. The Camera Lies unpacks Hitchcock's legacy both as a director who continuously taught audiences to distrust appearance, and as a man with an uncanny insight into the human capacity for deceit and misinterpretation.

The Shadow of the Wind

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101147067
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 512

Book Description
The New York Times bestseller “The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero.” —Entertainment Weekly (Editor's Choice) “One gorgeous read.” —Stephen King Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

Once an Eagle

Author: Anton Myrer
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062039091
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1312

Book Description
“Once an Eagle is simply the best work of fiction on leadership in print.” —General Martin E. Dempsey, 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Required reading for West Point and Marine Corps cadets, Once An Eagle is the story of one special man, a soldier named Sam Damon, and his adversary over a lifetime, fellow officer Courtney Massengale. Damon is a professional who puts duty, honor, and the men he commands above self-interest. Massengale, however, brilliantly advances by making the right connections behind the lines and in Washington's corridors of power. Beginning in the French countryside during the Great War, the conflict between these adversaries solidifies in the isolated garrison life marking peacetime, intensifies in the deadly Pacific jungles of World War II, and reaches its treacherous conclusion in the last major battleground of the Cold War—Vietnam. Now reissued with a new foreword by acclaimed historian Carlo D'Este, here is an unforgettable story of a man who embodies the best in our nation—and in us all.