The principal dancer of the Montreal-based company La La La Human Steps from 1981 to 1999, Louise Lecavalier was the single most iconic dancer of her generation, elevating the punk ballet art form to new heights. From a distinctly feminist angle, this critical study looks broadly at the figure of the dancer and their contributions to dance aesthetics and cultural politics. Importantly, this book prioritizes the dancer's voice and shines light on the generally unseen labour of (often women) dancers in producing the historical movements of the discipline. From a close examination of La La La Human Steps' and Lecavalier's evolving aesthetic, to a consideration of Lecavalier's public persona as rebel, conduit and saint, this study charts her growth as a dancer and as an icon. With analysis given to her appearance as bodyguard in Kathryn Bigelow's film Strange Days (1995), and her solo piece No No No I'm Not Mary Poppins (1982), Lecavalier’s work and legacy unfurls before the reader, highlighting the often-unrecognised presence of Africanist aesthetics in her company's repertoire. With extra materials, such as images of performance and street photography as well as a letter from the renowned dancer herself, Louise Lecavalier: Labour, Fandom and Cultural Politics is a celebratory and much-needed insight into the artistic motive and dancer's perspective.

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.

In 1982, Robert E. Howard's iconic literary anti-hero, Conan, slashed his way from page to screen after a perilous decades-long journey. With its potent mix of epic vistas and bloody battles, Conan the Barbarian thrilled moviegoers around the world and launched the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Forty years after its release, this cult-classic film is celebrated in Conan the Barbarian – The Official Story of the Film, a lush hardback volume that tells the full story of how the film was made. Brand new interviews with cast and crew, as well behind-the-scenes photography from the set and concept art created for the production, give fascinating insights into the development of one of the best-loved fantasy films of the 1980s.

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'.

Historical Dictionary of Spanish Cinema covers Spanish cinema, its treasures its constant attempts to break through internationally, reaching out towards universal themes and conventions, and the specific obstacles and opportunities that have shaped the careers of filmmakers and stars. This book contains a chronology, an introduction, an appendix and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 200 cross-referenced entries on titles, movements, filmmakers and performers, and genres (such as homosexuality, nuevo cine español or horror). This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Spanish cinema.

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

In 1974, "The Wall Street Journal" called this movie "grotesque, sadistic, irrational, obscene, incompetent," while "New York Magazine" declared it "a catastrophe." Upon its initial release, Sam Peckinpahs notorious work took a critical and commercial nosedive, but in later years, the work was heralded as a demented masterpiece--a violent, hallucinatory autobiography and a brilliant example of "pure Peckinpah." This study revisits the making of this controversial film, as well as its original reception and subsequent reassessment. It reads the project as an auteur work, a genre film, a confession, and a bizarre self-parody.

'In Dog We Trust'. The autobiography of cult hero Duane 'Dog' Chapman, the world's most successful bounty hunter. Duane 'Dog' Chapman entertains and inspires millions on DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER, his top-rated TV show, but there is more to his story. From troubled beginnings and tragedy to triumph and transformation, he reveals all in this no-holds-barred memoir. Dog spent the early years of his life on the wrong side of the law. In YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE, he offers an inside look at his days as a gang member, his dark years of addiction and abuse, and how serving eighteen months in prison for a murder he says he didn't commit helped him recommit to his faith. The proprietor of Da Kine Bail Bonds in Hawaii, he also shares stories of some of his most dangerous and exciting bounty hunts, and the reasons why he brings such passion and commitment to his chosen profession. An incredible story of a man who, against all odds, turned his life around and went from ex-con to American icon.

James Burstall runs one of the most successful TV production companies in the UK. But during his tenure at Argonon he has had to deal with a variety of existential crises. Through them all, he's managed to guide his team out the other side successfully. Whether it's been the credit crunch or terror attacks. Recessions. Natural disasters. Pandemics. The TV industry has felt the strain of these recurring events like all of us. And each time, James has put strategies in place in order to be prepared for the next time something like this happens: because it will happen again. Now you can be prepared as well. In 16 concise lessons, hard won from real-world experience, this book uses practical examples to demonstrate how we can turn disasters into opportunities. Though painful, shock events can actually be good for us. It is possible to turn venom into rocket fuel! We can survive crises and thrive. Rather than a dry 'to-do' list, this is a recognised thought leader's candid, personal account of steering a company through painful decisions, which resulted in successes that astonished the TV industry. It also highlights the experience of leaders in a range of industries including health, fitness, hospitality, travel, events and non-profit organisations. And despite the subject matter, the tone and message of his lessons are ultimately optimistic and uplifting as he takes readers on a journey through the darkest depths of crises to emerge fitter and stronger.

The director of twenty-five films, including My Night at Maud's (1969), which was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, and the editor in chief of Cahiers du cinema from 1957 to 1963, Eric Rohmer set the terms by which people watched, made, and thought about cinema for decades. Such brilliance does not develop in a vacuum, and Rohmer cultivated a fascinating network of friends, colleagues, and industry contacts that kept his outlook sharp and propelled his work forward. Despite his privacy, he cared deeply about politics, religion, culture, and fostering a public appreciation of the medium he loved. This exhaustive biography uses personal archives and interviews to enrich our knowledge of Rohmer's public achievements and lesser known interests and relations. The filmmaker kept in close communication with his contemporaries and competitors: Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette. He held a paradoxical fascination with royalist politics, the fate of the environment, Catholicism, classical music, and the French nightclub scene, and his films were regularly featured at New York and Los Angeles film festivals. Despite an austere approach to life, Rohmer had a voracious appetite for art, culture, and intellectual debate captured vividly in this definitive volume.

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.

French film noir has long been seen as a phenomenon distinct from its Hollywood counterpart. This book - an innovative departure from conventional noir scholarship - now adopts a biocultural approach to exploring the French genre through the years 1941-1959. Chapters reveal noir as a product of the social and cultural factors at play in occupied, liberated and post-war France: marked by malaise at military defeat, Nazi collaboration and the impact of industrialisation. Furthermore, the book uncovers the evolutionary mechanisms of sexuality and reproduction beneath the national context that drive gendered behaviour on screen. During this period, for example, the emerging urgent demand for population growth, coupled with the severe shortage of eligible males, rendered the mating game particularly perilous for traditional women beginning to enter the workplace. This explains the cynical yet seductive behaviour of the femme fatale. Deborah Walker-Morrison focuses on the dangerous, often deadly, desires of an array of male and female character-types: moving past the celebrated, fatal `femme' to tragic heroines, psychopathic narcissists, fatal `hommes' and gangster anti-heroes. The book re-examines productions by directors such as Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jacques Becker and Jules Dassin and pulls together strands of sociological, biological, psychological and evolutionary science to create an illuminating study of the cut-throat world of noir.

This is the first full-length biography of the American dancer, singer and actress Gwen Verdon (1925-2000). Winner of four successive Tony Awards for her work in the theatre, she also appeared in films and on television. The book covers her life as well as her career, as an individual and also in her collaborations with choreographers Jack Cole and Bob Fosse, who was also her husband. A brief appendix of her work is supplied, with information about DVD and video availability.

On January 10, 1999, a mobster walked into a psychiatrist’s office and changed TV history. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell, The Sopranos launched our current age of prestige television, paving the way for such giants as Mad Men, The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones. As TV critics for Tony Soprano’s hometown paper, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz were among the first to write about the series before it became a cultural phenomenon.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the show’s debut, Sepinwall and Seitz have reunited to produce The Sopranos Sessions, a collection of recaps, conversations, and critical essays covering every episode. Featuring a series of new long-form interviews with series creator David Chase, as well as selections from the authors’ archival writing on the series, The Sopranos Sessions explores the show’s artistry, themes, and legacy, examining its portrayal of Italian Americans, its graphic depictions of violence, and its deep connections to other cinematic and television classics.

Laurent Durieux is a famous Belgian illustrator who is well known by pop culture fans and collectors for his cult movie poster reinterpretations. Every one of his American exhibitions was sold out on opening night and attended by thousands of enthusiastic fans. This book will be his first monograph and will cover his entire career, with particular focus on his most iconic alternative movie posters (including Jaws, The Birds, Vertigo, and The Master). The book includes a 6-page section of rejected and unpublished poster art and a foreword by filmmaker and Durieux collector Francis Ford Coppola.

Beyond the stereotypical expectation of glitter and sequins, comes a personal and inspirational journey of overcoming fear, rejection and insecurity. This story isn't solely about a drag-queen, but rather, it's a journey of real life experiences which many of us have faced throughout life, written by a gay man who happens to be a drag-queen. It's a story which is relevant in today's society, regardless of one's own sexuality. This book was written to bring inspiration and hope to anyone who may need positive affirmation to love the life they live, or for anyone who needs to understand first-hand what it can be like to fight, a sometimes losing battle, for self acceptance. Whoever the reader, it shows that it is possible to overcome extreme adversity and survive those horrendous experiences which seem determined to destroy us. "In a world where society dictates 'right' from 'wrong', a young boy struggles with the pressure of living up to the expectations of others. Desperately seeking acceptance and finding only rejection, he is isolated and on the brink of despair. There seems to be no escape from the years of relentless school-ground bullying and victimization he suffers, which at times, is almost too much to bear. He feels as though his spirit has been crushed, but this young scared boy still harbors a burning desire to break free and be true to himself. Later in life, a tremendous gut-wrenching loss would set him on another course, and a journey of true self-discovery. Armed with the knowledge of his past experiences, his eyes are opened to a wonderland of pleasures, and through determination and sacrifice, he leaves a life of secrecy and sexual defiance behind him. Discovering the world of drag, he becomes more of a man than he thought he would be, and more of a woman than he thought he ever could be. From Darkness to Diva is an empowering tale of overcoming fear and insecurity, with an uplifting message of triumph."

Dark-haired siren Pamela Tiffin debuted in Summer and Smoke (1961) and was a scene-stealing comedienne in Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three (1961) before becoming the queen of teenage camp in Come Fly with Me (1963), For Those Who Think Young (1964) and The Pleasure Seekers (1964). After landing a sexy adult role in Harper (1966), she went blonde and ran away to Italy to star in such films as Kiss the Other Sheik (1965), The Fifth Cord (1971) and Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears. Stardom eluded her, though she remains a 60s cult icon. This thoroughly researched career retrospective pays tribute to Tiffin, adored by critics and hailed by James Cagney for her ""remarkable flair for comedy."" Interviews offer a behind-the-scenes look at her most popular films.