Will we ever get tired of watching Cher navigate Beverly Hills high school and discover true love in the movie Clueless? As if! Written by Amy Heckerling and starring Alicia Silverstone, Clueless is an enduring comedy classic that remains one of the most streamed movies on Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes even twenty years after its release. Inspired by Jane Austen's Emma, Cluelessis an everlasting pop culture staple. In the first book of its kind, Jen Chaney has compiled an oral history of the making of this iconic film using recollections and insights collected from key cast and crew members involved in the making of this endlessly quotable, ahead-of-its-time production. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how Emma influenced Heckerling to write the script, how the stars were cast into each of their roles, what was involved in creating the costumes, sets, and soundtrack, and much more. This wonderful twentieth anniversary commemoration includes never-before-seen photos, original call sheets, casting notes, and production diary extracts. With supplemental critical insights by the author and other notable movie experts about why Clueless continues to impact pop culture, As If!will leave fans new and old totally buggin' as they understand why this beloved film is timeless.

As the popularity of the genre increases and special effects are pushed to greater extremes of terror and cruelty, more and more people have begun to wonder, what is the attraction of horror films? Do they have any socially redeeming features? Rockett offers some surprising and provocative answers to these questions in his analysis of the cinema of cruelty. First commenting on our fascination with experiences that transcend the world of ordinary reality, he looks at film as a means of expressing the dark side of human nature. Next, he examines the essential ingredients that go into the making of a horror film, the variations that are found within the genre, and the links between the best horror cinema and Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty. Echoing Artaud, Rockett argues that human beings are attracted to horror in films because of an unconscious craving for a reality in which the demonic supernatural acts as a living whirlwind, devouring the darkness and bringing viewers closer to the transcendence they are actually seeking. The final chapter shows how the finest works in the horror genre achieve this underlying aim. He discusses filmmakers such as Roman Polanski, who have been able to provide the realism and artistic quality that contemporary audiences demand while preserving the ambiguity and terror necessary to experience the power of transcendent force. Rockett's skillful and imaginative exploration of the subject will be appreciated by scholars and general readers concerned with popular culture, film, literature, drama, and contemporary social issues.

1000-PIECE PUZZLE: Piece together the world of James Bond in this exciting jigsaw inspired by the iconic films. The perfect challenge for dedicated James Bond fans, lovers of cinema - or anyone who enjoys a good puzzle. FIND THE CHARACTERS: Featuring a cast of original Bonds, villains and supporting characters to spot as you race through shuttle launches and underwater lairs to island retreats and casinos. INCLUDES A PULL-OUT POSTER: With information about the featured characters, gadgets, locations and scenes on an illustrated poster bursting with 007 facts. SCREEN-FREE FUN: From one of the world's leading publishers of books and gifts on the creative arts. Laurence King works with the world's best illustrators, designers, artists and photographers to create beautiful books and gifts which are acclaimed for their inventiveness, beautiful design and authoritative texts. SUBSTANTIAL JIGSAW: Completed puzzle measures 48.5 x 68 cm (19 x 27 in.). "THE WORLD OF..." JIGSAWS are a fun way of celebrating the works of creative greats. Also available in the series: The World of Shakespeare, The World of Sherlock Holmes, The World of Jane Austen Welcome to The World of James Bond, MI6's most famous Secret Service agent. As you piece together this action-packed puzzle, spot some of the ground-breaking gadgets, breath-taking stunts and eccentric adversaries that make Bond films so iconic. Find your way through the scene with the help of a poster bursting with 007 knowledge.

"Opera Mediagraphy" lists operas released as motion pictures, both as theatrical feature films on 35mm film and educational films on 16mm film and videorecordings, including the VHS videotape format and optical video laser disc, though restricted to those that have been released in the United States in the American television standard video called NTSC (National Television Standards Committee). In addition to all possible information available concerning each opera, citations to reviews are included from over twenty-two sources ranging from opera journals to video review periodicals to general publications. Each review is given a rating based on the mediagrapher's reading and interpretation of the reviewer's intent. This scholarly listing will be of interest to academic and public libraries as well as to individual opera fans.

The American Left has produced a rich and varied cultural tradition that was largely suppressed during the Cold War but whose influence on the larger society has always been significant. Much of this tradition found its expression in film and despite the suppression of overtly leftist content in most Hollywood films, there is still a substantial amount of leftist material in American movies. Booker's study gives the attention to the films of the American Left that they have long deserved by examining the full range of their history. Such well known directors as Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, William Wellman, Fritz Lang, John Huston, Stanley Kubrick, Oliver Stone, and John Sayles often showed leftist inclinations in their work. Other films associated with the American Left have been produced in a number of modes and subgenres, including war films, historical films, detective films, and science fiction. Some of these directors have offered overt criticisms of capitalism in films dealing with labor and business. This reference book thoroughly explores leftist elements in American films.

The book begins with a brief historical survey of the development of this important cultural phenomenon. It then provides detailed entries for more than 260 films associated with the American Left. The entries are arranged chronologically, so that the reader may trace the cinematic representation of the American Left across time. The entries include not only plot summaries, but also critical examinations of the political content and implications of the films. Included are discussions of such classic works as "Citizen Kane" and "The Grapes of Wrath, " along with considerations of more recent films, such as "Apocalypse Now, Taxi Driver, " and "Men with Guns." Two appendixes and index provide alphabetical access to the entries. The individual entries provide brief bibliographical citations, while the volume closes with a bibliography.

This book explores the aesthetic and ethical ways in which history and daily life are filmically represented and witnessed in Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien's movies. From the era of the Japanese Occupation to the White Horror and then to the lifting of martial law, the author shows how Hou Hsiao-hsien uses visual media to evoke the rhythms of daily life through the emotional memory of the characters and communities he explores. In particular, the book focuses on the ways in which Hou Hsiao-hsien seeks to reflect the strong dilemmas of identity and the traumatic emotions associated with witnessing history. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it investigates the concepts of daily life, representation and historical trauma in order to focus on how these films represent history and political trauma through the nature of daily life and personal memories, and the resulting historical responsibility and ethics. This is the first academic monography about Hou Hsiao-hsien's films.

In this groundbreaking collection, Dr. Jenna Ng brings together academics and award-winning artists and machinima makers to explore the fascinating combination of cinema, animation and games in machinima (the use of computer game engines to produce animated films in cost- and time-efficient ways). Book-ended by a preface by Henry Lowood (curator for history of science and technology collections at Stanford University) and an interview with Isabelle Arvers (machinima artist, trainer, critic, and curator), the collection features wide-ranging discussions addressing machinima not only from diverse theoretical perspectives, but also in its many dimensions as game art, First Nations media art, documentary, and pedagogical tool. Making use of interactive multimedia to enhance the text, each chapter features a QR code which leads to a mobile website cross-referencing with its print text, integrating digital and print content while also taking into account the portability of digital devices in resonance with machinima's mobile digital forms. Exploring the many dimensions of machinima production and reception, Understanding Machinima extends machinima's critical scholarship and debate, underscoring the exciting potential of this emerging media form.

The Vietnam War was one of the most painful and divisive events in American history. The conflict, which ultimately took the lives of 58,000 Americans and more than three million Vietnamese, became a subject of bitter and impassioned debate. The most dramatic--and frequently the most enduring--efforts to define and articulate America's ill-fated involvement in Vietnam emerged from popular culture. American journalists, novelists, playwrights, poets, songwriters, and filmmakers--many of them eyewitnesses--have created powerful, heartfelt works documenting their thoughts and beliefs about the war. By examining those works, this book provides readers with a fascinating resource that explores America's ongoing struggle to assess the war and its legacies.

This encyclopedia includes 44 essays, each providing detailed information on an important film, song, or literary work about Vietnam. Each essay provides insights into the Vietnam-era experiences and views of the work's primary creative force, historical background on issues or events addressed in the work, discussion of the circumstances surrounding the creation of the work, and sources for further information. This book also includes an appendix listing of more than 275 films, songs, and literary works dealing with the war.

How do we identify the "queer auteur" and their queer imaginings? Is it possible to account for such a figure when the very terms "queer" and "auteur" invoke aesthetic surprises and disorientations, disconcerting ironies and paradoxes, and biographical deceits and ambiguities? In eighteen eloquent chapters, David A. Gerstner traces a history of ideas that spotlight an ever-shifting terrain associated with auteur theory and, in particular, queer-auteur theory. Engaging with the likes of Oscar Wilde, Walter Benjamin, James Baldwin, Jean Louis Baudry, Linda Nochlin, Jane Gallop, Cael Keegan, Luce Irigaray, and other prominent critical thinkers, Gerstner contemplates how the queer auteur in film theory might open us to the work of desire. Queer Imaginings argues for a queer-auteur in which critical theory is reenabled to reconceptualize the auteur in relation to race, gender, sexuality, and desire. Gerstner succinctly defines the contours of a history and the ongoing discussions that situate queer and auteur theories in film studies. Ultimately, Queer Imaginings is a journey in shared pleasures in which writing for and about cinema makes way for unanticipated cinematic friendships.

As the leading fan magazine in the postwar era, Photoplay constructed female stars as social types who embodied a romantic and leisured California lifestyle. Addressing working- and lower-middle-class readers who were prospering in the first mass consumption society, the magazine published not only publicity stories but also beauty secrets, fashion layouts, interior design tips, recipes, advice columns, and vacation guides. Postwar femininity was constructed in terms of access to commodities in suburban houses as the site of family togetherness. As the decade progressed, however, changing social mores regarding female identity and behavior eroded the relationship between idolized stars and worshipful fans. When the magazine adopted tabloid conventions to report sex scandals like the Debbie-Eddie-Liz affair, stars were demystified and fans became scandalmongers. But the construction of female identity based on goods and performance that resulted in unstable, fragmented selves remains a legacy evident in postmodern culture today.

Lauded by his peers, Van Heflin won a place in the hearts of cinemagoers with his portrayal of a resolute homesteader in George Stevens' timeless classic Shane. But there was far more to this superlative actor than one role. He impressed in all genres and could convincingly portray every kind of character from a heel to a hero and each shade in between. This first full-length work about him provides a full commentary of all his films with insights into his life as a sailor and his stage career. The aim is to restore him to his rightful place among the gallery of stars of Hollywood's Golden Age to whose luster he added a stage craftsman's unique talent. He first caught the public attention as the sensitive drink-addicted friend of gangster Johnny Eager for which he won the Academy Award and contributed notable performances in a string of terrific noirs, dramas and westerns. He was especially memorable as the psychotic cop in Joseph Losey's masterpiece The Prowler but equally at home as the doubtful executive in Negulesco's smart satire Woman's World. A restless spirit whose heart never left the sea he learned early on about life and human motivations sailing the oceans of the world; this undoubtedly informed his natural acting instinct. A versatile risk-taking actor he was never concerned with popularity or comfortable with the trappings of stardom. However he brought to every role a rare emotional intensity which made all his portrayals real and ensured they should live for all time.

In the minds of today's audiences, George Burns was a solo act. But in the history of show business, he will long be remembered for his work with Gracie Allen. Few performers have enjoyed so much popular and critical acclaim. Together they enjoyed phenomenal success in vaudeville, radio, television, and film. Although they were celebrities, the two performers enjoyed a life remarkably free of scandal. After the death of Allen in 1964, Burns made commercials, a music video, and an exercise video. He wrote books and won numerous awards, and his nightclub and convention appearances did not stop until shortly before his death.

Through a thoughtful biography and detailed entries, this book serves as a comprehensive reference to the careers of Burns and Allen together and individually. The biography summarizes their rise as vaudeville performers, their work in a range of media, and Burns' continued achievements after Allen's death. Sections of the book cover their work on the stage, on radio, on television, and in films. Each section provides detailed entries for their performances, including cast and credit information, plot synoposes, and review excerpts. Appendices list their awards, personal appearances, and archives; and an extensive annotated bibliography cites and discusses sources of additional information.

One of the most significant contributors to the early years of the motion picture industry, Harold Lloyd was also a shrewd businessman and became the wealthiest man in Hollywood at the peak of his career. Perhaps more than any other major star of the silent era, his characters mirrored his times and captivated his contemporaries. His experiments with camera placement and motion were vital to the evolution of filmmaking techniques. This book includes a short biography of Lloyd and detailed information about all of his performances. The biography overviews his childhood, his adolescent stage career, his work in silent and talking pictures, his family life, and the work of his major contemporaries. A chapter on his film work includes entries for all of his shorts and features, including cameo roles and newsreels. Other chapters describe Lloyd's radio and television work, sheet music and recordings inspired by his films, and his many awards and honors. An annotated bibliography cites books, magazines, newspapers, oral histories, and interviews. Eleven photographs illustrate his work.

Hybrid Heritage on Screen provides a long overdue thorough analysis of the 1980s 'Raj Revival'. It examines imperial nostalgia and troubled ethnic, gender and class relations during the Thatcher Era as represented in cinema and television.

Our studies of aesthetics and knowledge have long tended to privilege the visual - at the expense, Wolfgang Ernst argues, of the aural. Sonic Time Machines aims to correct that, presenting a striking new approach to theorising sound that investigates its split existence: as a temporal effect in a techno-cultural context and as a source of knowledge and information. Ernst creates a new term for the concept at the heart of the book, "sonicity," a flexible and powerful term that allows him to consider sound with all its many physical, philosophical, and cultural valences.