From Blood Simple and Raising Arizona to Inside Llewyn Davis and Hail, Caesar!, the films of Joel and Ethan Coen represent a sort of alternate reality of America. The author explores how the settings-geographical, cultural, and historical-of their films provide viewers with slightly skewed, though no less true, perspectives of life American life.
This is an accessible look at the films of Akira Kurosawa, whose movies are works of art and popular culture touchstones, influencing such directors as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The author examines all of the director's works and explains why that film is culturally significant and what makes it an enjoyable viewing experience.
A Critical Companion to Tim Burton is a comprehensive examination of Tim Burton's entire artistic career and film oeuvre. Each chapter in this book is scholarly yet accessible and the perspectives come from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
Alain Silver and James Ursini, the editors of numerous studies of film noir, present a new anthology of essays that examine the visual style of the filmmakers of cinema s classic period.
Although he was a visual stylist who once referred to actors as cattle, Alfred Hitchcock also had a remarkable talent for innovative and creative casting choices. The director launched the careers of several actors and completely changed the trajectory of others, many of whom created some of the most iconic screen performances in history. However, ......
Exploring a number of themes that form the foundation of villainy in Hitchcock's long and acclaimed career, Hitchcock's Villains also provides a detailed look at some of the director's most noteworthy villains and examine how these characters were often central to the enjoyment of the director's best films.
Encompassing the entire range of the director's career-from early influences and silent films to his decade-long television show and cameos in nearly every feature-this is a comprehensive overview of cinema's ultimate showman. A detailed and lively look at the director's work, ..
Since the early 1970s, Steven Spielberg has directed more than two dozen films, many of which have achieved classic status. In addition to critical and commercial successes that include E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, and Lincoln, Spielberg's name has become synonymous with such thrilling adventure films as Jaws, ......
James Stuart Blackton and the Birth of American Movies
A man of many film firsts, James Stuart Blackton promoted motion pictures as a mass commercial medium by creating the first true movie studio, adopting the star system, pioneering film animation, and publishing Motion Picture Magazine, one of the first film periodicals. As much of a seminal figure to the film industry as Thomas Edison and D.W. ......