Natalie Wood and “lovely� Richard Beymer, to the mercurial Jerome Robbins and “passionate� Rita Moreno, with whom Chakiris remains friends. “I know exactly where my gratitude belongs,� Chakiris writes, “and I still marvel at how, unbeknownst to me at the time, the joyful path of my life was paved one night in 1949 when Jerome Robbins sat Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents down in his apartment and announced, ‘I have an idea.’"

Movie studios are the wondrous, almost magical locales where not just films, but legends, are created. Unfortunately, these celebrity playgrounds are, and always have been, largely hidden from public view. Although some movie studios offer tours, few guests from outside the Hollywood community have ever been witness to the artistry, politics, and scandals that routinely go on behind the soundstage walls and away from the carefully orchestrated scenes visible to them from their tram carts. In this book, studio staff historian and Hollywood insider Steven Bingen throws open Hollywood’s iron gates and takes you inside the greatest and yet most mysterious movie studio of them all: Warner Bros. Long home to the world’s biggest stars and most memorable films and television shows, the Warner Bros. Studio lot functions as a small city and is even more fascinating, glamorous, and outrageous than any of the stars or movies that it has been routinely minting for more than ninety years. Accompanied by stunning behind-the-scenes photos and maps, and including a revealing backstory, this book is your ticket to a previously veiled Hollywood paradise.

Political humor and satire are, perhaps, as old as comedy itself, and they are crucial to our society and our collective sense of self. Satire is confrontational. It's about push back, descent, discord, disappointment, and demonstrating the absurdity of the status quo. This book is an attempt to explore the sane foundations of satire in our lives. Aristotle famously said that humans are naturally political animals. We need political community to flourish and live good lives. But politics also always entails unpopular decisions and power struggles. Satire is a form of humor that allows us to reflect on the irrational, incomprehensible, and intolerable nature of our lives without becoming totally despondent or depressed. In a poignant, pithy, but not a ponderous manner, Al Gini and Abraham Singer delve into the history of satire to rejoice in its triumphs and watch its development from ancient graffiti to the latest late night TV talk show.

En Grande Grèce, le bel Adonis a largement inspiré les peintres, en majorité apuliens, qui ont illustré les différents épisodes du mythe, dont la remontée des Enfers, assimilable au renouveau de la végétation, thème en rapport avec la destination funéraire des vases. Hormis l'arbre à myrrhe, qui lui a donné naissance, trois plantes sont particulièrement associées à Adonis, le myrte, le laurier et le grenadier. Leur représentation est le sujet de cette étude.

Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles depicts a decisive moment in the life of the great Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel: the moment when he doubted surrealism and contemplated embracing a more social type of cinema. At this crucial turning point in his career, he wanted to change the world by showing the hidden heart of reality. Buñuel was deeply affected by the harshness of Las Hurdes and the extreme misery of the people who live in this remote region, so with his friend, the movie producer Ramón Acín, he began work on the pseudo-documentary Land Without Bread. But in the mind of the great surrealist, reality inevitably clashed with dreams and childhood memories, threatening both the film and his friendship with Acín. It is at this moment that the Buñuel of the future was born.

The remarkable true story of an unrivalled journey to recreate the greatest run in film history: 15,621 miles, five-times across the United States. ‘Rob Pope has made his name revelling in challenges that range from the unconventional to the extraordinary.’ BBC News Becoming Forrest is the incredible story of Englishman Rob Pope, a veterinarian who left his job in pursuit of a dream – to become the first person ever to complete the epic run undertaken by one of Hollywood’s most beloved characters, Forrest Gump. After his momma urged him “to do one thing in life that made a difference�, he flew to Alabama, put on his running shoes, and sped off into the wilderness. His remarkable journey covered 15,600 miles, the distance from the North to the South Pole and a third of the way back. Over a grueling 18 months, braving injuries, blizzards, forest fires and deadly wildlife, he crossed the United States five times. During one of the most turbulent periods in recent American history, Rob immersed himself in American life. His time on the open road saw him forever changed, trying to make that difference, in the process of Becoming Forrest. This is a tale of one man who just wanted to make a difference.

With a career spanning over five decades, Tess Jaray has continually explored geometry, colour, pattern and repetition, often inspired by architectural structures. Unlike the certainties of mathematical geometry, Jaray focuses on what she describes as the 'geometry of human relationships', challenging the viewers' perception and relationship with the space surroundings us. Accompanies the exhibition, Tess Jaray: Into Light at Marlborough Fine Art, London (25 May - 17 June 2017) and is co-published by Marlborough Fine Art and Ridinghouse.

A full color collection of over 325 images- covering ALL the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft arranged in the order in which the stories were written. The book also features notes. sketches and an intro by S. T. Joshi. Pete Von Sholly has storyboarded over 100 films including THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, MARS ATTACKS!, DARKMAN, and THE MIST. His work has also been seen in his satiric magazines as well as Last Gasp's FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE and NEUROCOMICS, which he did with Timothy Leary.

Taiwan is a peculiar place resulting in a peculiar cinema, with Hou Hsiao-hsien being its most remarkable product. Hou's signature long and static shots almost invite critics to give auteurist readings of his films, often privileging the analysis of cinematic techniques at the expense of the context from which Hou emerges. In this pioneering study, James Udden argues instead that the Taiwanese experience is the key to understanding Hou's art. The convoluted history of Taiwan in the last century has often rendered fixed social and political categories irrelevant. Changing circumstances have forced the people in Taiwan to be hyperaware of how imaginary identity-above all, national identity-is. Hou translates this larger state of affairs in such masterpieces as City of Sadness, The Puppetmaster, and Flowers of Shanghai, which capture and perhaps even embody the elusive, slippery contours of the collective experience of the islanders. Making extensive uses of Chinese sources from Taiwan, the author shows how important the local matters for this globally recognized director. In this new edition of No Man an Island, James Udden charts a new chapter in the evolving art of Hou Hsiao-hsien, whose latest film, The Assassin, earned him the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. Hou breaks new ground in turning the classic wuxia genre into a vehicle to express his unique insight into the working of history. The unconventional approach to conventions is quintessential Hou Hsiao-hsien.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the second film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is often cited as the ‘best’ and most popular Star Wars movie. In her compelling study, Rebecca Harrison draws on previously unpublished archival research to reveal a variety of original and often surprising perspectives on the film, from the cast and crew who worked on its production through to the audiences who watched it in cinemas. Harrison guides readers on a journey that begins with the film’s production in 1979 and ends with a discussion about its contemporary status as an object of reverence and nostalgia. She demonstrates how Empire’s meaning and significance has continually shifted over the past 40 years not only within the franchise, but also in broader conversations about film authorship, genre, and identity. Offering new insights and original analysis of Empire via its cultural context, production history, textual analysis, exhibition, reception, and post-1980 re-evaluations of the film, the book provides a timely and relevant reassessment of this enduringly popular film.

The treatment—and mistreatment—of women throughout history continues to be a necessary topic of discussion, in order for progress to be made and equality to be achieved. While current articles and books expose troubling truths of the gender divide, modern cinema continues to provide problematic depictions of such behavior—with a few heartening exceptions. The Encyclopedia of Sexism in American Films closely examines the many, pervasive forms of sexism in contemporary productions—from clueless comedies to superhero blockbusters. In more than 130 entries, this volume explores a number of cinematic grievances including: ·the objectification of women’s bodies ·the limited character types available for female performers ·the lack of sexual diversity on the screen ·the limited range of desirable traits for female performers ·the use of gratuitous sex ·the narrow focus on heteronormative depictions of courtship and romance The films discussed here include As Good as It Gets (1999), Beauty and The Beast (2017), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Do the Right Thing (1989), Easy A (2010), The Forty-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Hidden Figures (2016), Lost in Translation (2003), Mulholland Drive (2001), Showgirls (1995), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Star Wars (1977), Thelma & Louise (1991), Tootsie (1982), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), and 9 to 5 (1980). By digging deeply into more insidious forms of sexual/gender discrimination, this book illuminates one more aspect of women’s lives that deserves to be understood. Offering insights and analysis from more than fifty contributors, The Encyclopedia of Sexism in American Films will appeal to scholars of cinema, gender studies, women’s studies, and cultural history.

Whether you're posting a clip on Facebook, making a presentation video, introducing yourself to others online, or just sending out a greeting to friends, today everyone is a filmmaker. This book cuts away the jargon to offer a highly accessible, no-fuss guide to getting the best results from the kit you already own. In just 39 steps, it offers essential instructions and tips to help amateur movie-makers – filming anything from family celebrations to no-budget horror movies – make their creations look and feel more cinematic. Drawing on its vast network of professional filmmakers as well as on its unique style, (with a compelling illustration language and direct, quotation-rich approach) Little White Lies presents the definitive, fun, and straightforward handbook for making films.

In It's Not a Proper Job, TV legend Chris Tarrant regales the reader with hilarious and heart-warming stories from his stellar 50-year career in television and radio. With trademark wit and self-mockery, Chris not only recalls his behind-the-scenes capers with fellow celebrities, but also shows us how, as a man of the people, he has relished rubbing shoulders with ordinary folk on his way to becoming one of the nation's favourite TV faces. A former teacher and ATV newsreader, Chris soon established himself at the forefront of trailblazing telly as the host of Tiswas, and here recounts this 1970s, anarchic, flan-flinging children's show that spearheaded a fresh format and a new era for Saturday morning TV, packed with pranks, full of fun, and which remains a benchmark to this day. For later audiences, Chris will be more familiar as the face of yet another groundbreaking show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? which he presented for sixteen gripping years, and which grew into a global phenomenon exported to over one hundred countries. Here Chris remembers the joyous highs of contestants' life-changing winnings, the frustrating lows of loss, the cringing embarrassment of ignorance, and the infamous cheating of the 'Coughing Major'. Spanning five decades, Chris's television credits are the envy of aspirational TV stars, but reading his laugh-out-loud anecdotes - akin to having a chat with the man himself over a pint, or listening to one of his entertaining, after-dinner speeches - reveals a man still amused by life, by the people he meets, and by his own humble assertion that none of his glittering career can, in any way, be called 'a proper job'.

People who saw the first moving pictures at the end of the nineteenth century were delighted by a new art that communicated without words – yet they were also alarmed to be witnessing events in a strange, mute, spectral realm, where the laws of time and space were suspended and magical transformations could occur. Some early commentators hailed cinema as a blessing and praised it for resurrecting the dead; others likened it to a hypnotic trance or a hallucinogenic drug. The medium has always been excited by speed, and it enjoys sending the body on furious kinetic chases; at the same time, it stealthily probes our minds, invading our dreams and titillating our desires. Although this is an art kindled by light and inflamed by colour, it is nurtured by darkness and can reduce life to an insubstantial shadow play. Either way, as Peter Conrad argues in this brilliant book, the movie camera has given us new eyes and changed forever our view of reality. The Mysteries of Cinema sets out to map this ambiguous territory by taking readers on a thematic roller-coaster ride through movie history. Directors and critics speculate about the nature of cinematic vision, and there are contributions to the debate from writers like Kafka, Virginia Woolf and Joan Didion, artists including Salvador Dalí, George Grosz and Fernand Léger, and the composers Arnold Schoenberg and Dmitri Shostakovich. The book begins from the audacious innovations of silent film, and examines the influence of French surrealism and German expressionism; it accounts for the appeal of Hollywood genres like the Western, the horror film and the musical, and ends by considering the fate of the moving image in our visually glutted society. Combining contagious enthusiasm with an eye for the subjective quirks of filmmakers and the allure of favourite performers, Conrad delivers an astonishing addition to the literature on the seventh art. With 61 illustrations