Showing titles in History & Criticism

Warner Bros charts the rise of an unpromising film studio from its shaky beginnings in the early 20th century through its ascent to the pinnacle of Hollywood influence and popularity. The Warner Brothers - Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack - arrived in America as unschooled Jewish immigrants, yet they founded a studio that became the smartest, toughest, and most radical in all of Hollywood.

Owen Gleiberman has spent his life watching movies-first at the drive-in, where his parents took him to see wildly inappropriate adult fare like Rosemary's Baby when he was a wide-eyed 9 year old, then as a possessed cinemaniac who became a film critic right out of college. In Movie Freak, his enthrallingly candid, funny, and eye-opening memoir, Gleiberman captures what it's like to live life through the movies, existing in thrall to a virtual reality that becomes, over time, more real than reality itself.

“See Dean Martin Save the World!” – trailer for “Murderer’s Row’ Matt Helm, the literary creation of author Donald Hamilton, was America’s answer to 007 – a two-fisted, hardboiled assassin whose exploits sold millions of paperbacks. Dean Martin was an Italian crooner who rose to fame as the straight man of the comedy duo Martin & Lewis before embarking on a solo singing and acting career that made him one of the most popular performers of the 1960s, appearing in movies and TV and selling millions of records. Martin’s easygoing, boozy. lounge lizard persona was far from ...

A presence in Third Reich cinema, Adolf Hitler also personally financed, ordered, and censored films and newsreels and engaged in complex relationships with their stars and directors. Here, Bill Niven offers a powerful argument for reconsidering Hitler's fascination with film as a means to further the Nazi agenda. In this first English-language work to fully explore Hitler's influence on and relationship with film in Nazi Germany, the author calls on a broad array of archival sources. Niven also explores Hitler's representation in Third Reich cinema, personally and through films focusing on historical figures with whom he was associated

Throughout this audiobook's various chapters, listeners will explore the historical context of the Joker's creation, delve into the character's symbolic and iconic qualities, examine the psychological profile of the Joker, and analyze his relation to various philosophical theories such as Carl Jung's trickster and Nietzsche's will to power.

Gus Van Sant’s film and the ’90s cult of the alternative Gus Van Sant’s 1991 indie darling My Own Private Idaho perplexed and provoked, inspiring a new ethos for a new decade: being different was better than being good. Gentlemen of the Shade examines how the film was a coming-of-age for a generation of young people who would embrace the alternative and bring their outsider perspectives to sustainability, technology, gender constructs, and social responsibility.

Everyone has an idea of what Star Trek represents, but all such ideas now have fifty years and several television series and movies influencing them. But what was it like at the beginning, when the first Star Trek series was just getting started, when the Enterprise was only on the verge of going where no man had gone before? Along with valuable introductory material to place the story in its original historical context, Star Trek Genesis takes you step by step through all 78 Star Trek Original Series episodes in the order they originally appeared to trace how it all began.

In 1978, Kim "Howard" Johnson ran away to join the circus - Monty Python's Flying Circus, that is. The Pythons converged on Tunisia to film their timeless classic Life of Brian, and Howard found himself in the thick of it, doubling for nearly all the Pythons, playing more roles in the film than John Cleese, and managing to ruin only one shot. He became the unit journalist, substitute still photographer, Roman soldier, peasant, near-stalker, and, ultimately, friend and confidant of the comedy legends.

Lovers of old-time radio hold a special place in their heart for Agnes Moorehead. She was one of the busiest and most definitive actresses of that medium. The bottom line is that Agnes Moorehead is one of the few actresses who succeeded in every realm of show business: stage, radio, film, and television. This impressive biography proves to listeners and scholars alike that she was much more than the witch of Endor! This is the second edition of the best-selling book, with new material!

"Anatomía del crimen: Guía de la novela y el cine negros" es una completa guía del escritor de novela negra y, al mismo tiempo, teórico del género Mariano Sánchez Soler, quien ha diseccionado la narrativa criminal, sus orígenes, el salto a la literatura española y su relación con el cine nacional e internacional. Subjetivo, apasionado y visceral, su visión compone una guía completa de este tipo de novelas y películas.

Utilizing a series of essays examining the broad philosophical concepts embedded in Rod Serling's series, The Twilight Zone, Philosophy in The Twilight Zone provides a platform for further philosophical discussion.

Moviegoers know her as the housekeeper in White Christmas, the nurse in Now, Voyager, and the crotchety choir director in Sister Act. This audiobook, filled with never-published behind-the-scenes stories from Broadway and Hollywood, chronicles the life of a complicated woman who brought an assortment of unforgettable nurses, nuns, and housekeepers to life on screen and stage.

In 1926, the American version of the film classic Metropolis was cut in half, now for the first time in seventy years you can experience the whole story. A very important book in the development of the audiobook industry. The music and sound effects are piped through differant speakers so the listener gets the surround sound or 3-D effect. The futuristic music alone (and the listener's imagination) tells part of the story without any words describing the action.

George R. R. Martin's New York Times best-selling epic fantasy book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, and the HBO television show adapted from it, have earned critical acclaim and inspired fanatic devotion. This book delves into the many philosophical questions that arise in this complex, character-driven series, including: Is it right for a "good" king to usurp the throne of a "bad" one and murder his family? How far should you go to protect your family and its secrets?

According to Cox, the key to understanding The Prisoner is to view the series in the order in which the episodes were made - and not in the rearranged order of the UK or US television screenings. In this book he provides an innovative and controversial "explanation" for what is perhaps the best, the most original, and certainly the most perplexing TV series of all time.

Narrating his riveting memoir, beloved actor Dick Van Patten reflects on his prolific career, vibrant life, and the people who shaped both. From growing up during the Great Depression when poverty and racially biased ideologies dominated America, to witnessing the advent of television and its subsequent influence on culture, Dick Van Patten's life is a rich record of change and progress in America and Hollywood.

Star Wars dominates the film world. The combined box office revenue of the Star Wars movies equates to over $10 billion, making it the second highest-grossing film franchise of all time. But this franchise is no blaster from the past. Its fantastically successful films have now been followed by multiple television series set in that same galaxy far, far away. The franchise’s flagship television series, and likely the firmest fan favorite for some time to come, is The Mandalorian.

One hundred and thirty years ago Eadweard Muybridge invented stop-motion photography, anticipating and making possible motion pictures. He was the first to capture time and play it back for an audience, giving birth to visual media and screen entertainments of all kinds. Yet the artist and inventor Muybridge was also a murderer who killed coolly and meticulously, and his trial is one of the early instances of a media sensation.

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee rudely interrupted the successful career and life of Edward Dmytryk, citing him with contempt of Congress. As a result, Dmytryk was fired by RKO and spent three years in England before returning to the United States to serve a six-month jail sentence and undergo a second round of hearings, during which he recanted and provided evidence against several of his former colleagues.

Danny Plotnick showcases the history of Super 8 filmmaking in this must-listen audiobook. Super 8 offers a detailed look at the beloved medium - one not only embraced by suburban dads, the target audience of the format, but by the art world, punk rockers, and ultimately popular culture. Filmmakers who got their start in Super 8 include Robert Zemeckis, Jim Jarmusch, Todd Haynes, Sam Raimi, Wes Anderson, and Alex Gibney.