Betty Comden and Adolph Green were the writers behind such classic stage musicals as On the Town, Wonderful Town, and Bells Are Ringing, and they provided lyrics for such standards as "New York, New York," "Just in Time," "The Party's Over," and "Make Someone Happy," to name just a few. This remarkable duo, the longest-running partnership in theatrical history, also penned the screenplays for such cinematic gems as Singin' in the Rain and The Band Wagon. In the process they worked with such artists as Leonard Bernstein, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Judy Holliday, and Jule Styne. They Made Us Happy is the first book to tell the full story of their careers, lives, and work, starting with their acclaimed appearances as part of the sketch troupe the Revuers and moving through their bi-coastal lives as a pair of Broadway's top writers and two of Hollywood's most valued scribes. The book takes readers on a trip through almost the entirety of the twentieth century, and along the way there are appearances by the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Greta Garbo, and Charlie Chaplin. Author Andy Propst brings both their produced work to life as well as many of the projects that that never made it to the stage or the screen, including an aborted musical version of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, a bio-pic about director-choreographer Busby Berkeley, and their version of the book for Cole Porter's musical Out of This World. Comden and Green's wit and deft satire inspired laughs during their lives, and their musicals and movies have endured, amusing generation after generation. It's work that will always be making audiences happy.

Memento is a remarkably layered psychological-puzzle film that explores the narrative possibilities of noir, at once turning its detective into a surrogate for the viewer while forcing the viewer to embark on the same kind of sleuthing its main character is up to. Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) is a former insurance investigator who, since his wife's rape and apparent murder, has suffered from a condition that renders him unable to form new memories. Despite his affliction, he's vowed to find his wife's killer and keeps track of his search with scribbled notes, Polaroids, clues tattooed on his body, and sheaves of documents. But as this original, intense, and widely acclaimed film progresses, everything Leonard holds as fact is undermined in a heart-pounding narrative that will keep audiences guessing until the final reel—and beyond.

Also offered in this edition is the screenplay for Following, Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed debut. This film follows an aspiring writer who finds an unlikely ally in a burglar who claims he breaks into houses only to experience other people's lives.

Finally, along with both screenplays, there is an interview with Christopher Nolan and Jeremy Theobald (in which they talk to James Mottram about the making of Following) as well as a jointly composed piece by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan (author of the story on which Memento was based) in which they recall the conception of the film.

A collection of the screenplays of Paddy Chayefsky which is part of a four-volume set of his work. The screenplays contained in this volume are Marty, The Goddess and The Americanization of Emily.

This definitive handbook explains how a script is transformed into a motion picture or television program. Readers will learn the methodology and craft of the script supervisor, who ensures that the continuity of a film, its logical progression, is coherent.

The book teaches all vital script supervising functions, including how to:
.prepare, or "break down" a script for shooting
.maintaining screen direction and progression
.matching scenes and shots for editing
.cuing actors
.recording good takes and prints
preparing time and log sheets for editing
This revision of an industry classic has been updated to reflect changes in the film industry in recent years, including the use of electronic media in the script supervisor's tasks. While it is written for the novice script writer, it can serve as a valuable resource for directors, film editors, scriptwriters and cinematographers.

There is no writer who excels at the art of adaptation for the screen so much as Harold Pinter. His consummate skill and unerring ear for dialogue, coupled with his sensitivity and understanding of the work of other authors, make the three volumes of his screenplays (of which this is the first) a collective masterclass in screenwriting. Included in this collection are the screenplays for The Servant, The Pumpkin Eater, The Quiller Memorandum, Accident, The Last Tycoon and Langrishe, Go Down.

- Presents the most important 20th-century criticism on major works from "The Odyssey through modern literature- The critical essays reflect a variety of schools of criticism- Contains critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index- Introductory essay by Harold Bloom

A gripping BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Neil Gaiman's bestselling and much-loved novel When his father dies, Fat Charlie Nancy discovers that not only was the late Mr Nancy actually the god Anansi, but that he also has a long-lost brother, Spider, who is everything Fat Charlie is not. When Spider begins to take over Fat Charlie's life, flat and even his fiancee Rosie, Fat Charlie is forced to make a pact that lands him in trouble with the gods themselves... Anansi Boys is a story of love, laughter, music and murder, old gods and new tricks that takes Fat Charlie from his home in South London to Florida, the Caribbean, and the very Beginning of the World itself. Or the End of the World. Depending on which direction you're coming from. Jacob Anderson stars as Charlie, and he has written and performed a specially commissioned song - 'Charlie's Song' - which forms part of the magical fabric of Anansi Boys. Dramatised for Radio 4 by the award-winning Dirk Maggs (Neverwhere, Good Omens, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), the stellar cast of this series also includes Joseph Marcell, Lenny Henry, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Adjoa Andoh,Julie Hesmondhalgh and Julian Rhind-Tutt, as well as a cameo appearance from Neil Gaiman himself. Duration: 3 hours 15 mins

Widely considered the darkest and most intriguing of the central Star Wars trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back deepens the exploration of mythic themes first essayed in A New Hope. From its opening amid a besieged Rebel stronghold on the ice planet Hoth to its finale on Bespin, the floating city run by gambler Lando Calrissian, Empire charts Luke Skywalker's travails on the arduous path to becoming a Jedi Knight - a journey that culminates in a punishing face-off with Imperial warlord Darth Vader, and Luke's realisation of the dreadful truth about the fate which befell his father Anakin. Derived from George Lucas's original story, the screenplay was composed by Leigh Brackett (veteran writer for Howard Hawks and Robert Altman) and Lawrence Kasdan (who soon afterwards established himself as a director with Body Heat and The Big Chill). Together, they produced a psychologically complex piece of epic storytelling, treasurably enhanced by the verbal jousting - and the affecting romance - between Han Solo and Princess Leia.

Mark Renton is an unrepentant drug abuser, doing his level best to elude the claims and responsibilities Life throws up to him. His pals - Spud, Sick Boy, Tommy and Begbie - are devoted to much the same heroically seedy existence. Both harrowing and hilarious, Trainspotting charts the disintegration of this unlikely gang, as their appetites for intoxication and mayhem lead them unerringly into the worst kinds of trouble. Adapted by Shallow Grave screenwriter John Hodge from the novel by Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting was an international hit in 1996, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner and Robert Carlyle.

The Writing Dead features original interviews with the writers of today's most frightening and fascinating shows. They include some of television's biggest names--Carlton Cuse (Lost and Bates Motel), Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies), David Greenwalt (Angel and Grimm), Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead, The Terminator series,Aliens, and The Abyss), Jane Espenson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica), Brian McGreevy (Hemlock Grove), Alexander Woo (True Blood), James Wong (The X-Files, Millennium, American Horror Story, and Final Destination), Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files and Millennium), Richard Hatem (Supernatural, The Dead Zone, and The Mothman Prophecies), Scott Buck (Dexter), Anna Fricke (Being Human), and Jim Dunn (Haven). The Writing Dead features thought-provoking, never-before-published interviews with these top writers and gives the creators an opportunity to delve more deeply into the subject of television horror than anything found online. In addition to revealing behind-the-scene glimpses, these writers discuss favorite characters and storylines and talk about what they find most frightening. They offer insights into the writing process reflecting on the scary works that influenced their careers. And they reveal their own personal fascinations with the genre. The thirteen interviews in The Writing Dead also mirror the changing landscape of horror on TV--from the shows produced by major networks and cable channels to shows made exclusively for online streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Studios. The Writing Dead will appeal to numerous fans of these shows, to horror fans, to aspiring writers and filmmakers, and to anyone who wants to learn more about why we like being scared.

A story inspired by the life and times of Jimmy Gralton and a country hall in Ireland. Jimmy Gralton's sin was to build a dance hall on a rural crossroads in Ireland where young people could come to learn, to argue, to dream...but above all to dance and have fun. Jimmy's Hall celebrates the spirit of these free thinkers. Features Full screenplay Photos from the film Production notes from cast and crew, including Paul Laverty, Ken Loach and Rebecca O'Brien Historical context for Jimmy Gralton

Since 1979, China has been undergoing a period of immense social and economic change, transitioning from state-run economics to free market capitalism. This book focuses on how the 'Reform Era' has been constructed in the work of the director Jia Zhangke, analysing the archetypal class figures of worker, peasant, soldier, intellectual and entrepreneur that are found in his films. Examining how these figures are represented, and how Jia's cinematography creates those 'structures of feeling' that concretise around a particular time and place, the book argues that Jia's cinema should be understood not just as narratives that represent Chinese social transition, but also as an effort to engage the audience's emotional responses through representation, symbolism and the affective experience of specific cinematic tropes. Making an important contribution to scholarship about the Reform Era, and opening up many new areas in the larger fields of Chinese visual culture, cultural studies and the affective qualities of film, this is groundbreaking work about a cinematic culture in a period of profound transformation.

Death is always the issue-in life, and in the Western. Joel and Ethan Coen's The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a movie of six Western stories. In each, our common destination is approached by a different road. Through each, diverse characters hurry for their final appointment: Oregon Trail-travelers, a gold prospector, a motley crew of stagecoach passengers, a high-plains drifting bank robber, even a singing cowboy. These six stories escort them with a care that either respects, or mocks, the dignity of all. The film stars Tom Waits, James Franco, Liam Neeson, Tim Bake Nelson and Zoe Kazan and is shot with the harsh grandeur of the classic John Ford westerns.