David O. Russell (b. 1958) boasts a diverse body of work as a writer and director, spanning multiple genres and featuring radically differing aesthetic styles. While his early work comically explored taboo subjects with unerring directness, he has also investigated politics with explosive satire. In his most recent films, including American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook, Russell examines characters and situations that are at once everyday and also extraordinary. Whatever the project, Russell is driven to explore the idiosyncrasies that make each character human, and he extends that curiosity to explore what makes each actor unique. His attentiveness to his cast members has earned him the label of ""actor's director,"" due in no small part to the many nominations and awards earned by a long list of Hollywood stars in his movies. Russell has also become one of our era's most interesting formal stylists as he adopts a visual design appropriate to each of his film's thematic concerns. The result may be a color palette resembling the washed-out pages of a newspaper achieved by manipulating the film stock for Three Kings or the tumultuous opening of The Fighter when an audacious, roving camera plunges viewers straight into the story from the very first shots of the film. Rather than building a signature style, Russell has instead tested the varied possibilities of cinematic expression. This career-spanning volume features conversations with scholars and journalists as well as filmmakers. Speaking to directors like Alexander Payne and Spike Jonze, Russell contextualizes each of his films, offers an intimate account of his evolving writing and directing process, and opens his life to reveal how a remarkable body of work has come to be.

Actor Richard Burton conquered British theater as Hamlet in 1953 at the Old Vic, and, after a series of theatrical triumphs launched a film career that earned him seven Academy Award nominations among other awards and tributes. This bio-bibliography captures the significant events of his multimedia performances in theater, film, television, radio, and recordings as well as the excitement of a tumultuous and rich life off-stage with Elizabeth Taylor. This is a comprehensive reference guide to Burton's international career, including his performances in 28 professional stage productions, 60 films, and many performances for television, radio and recordings. Additional features include a biography and a chronology of the important events of his life, and a comprehensive annotated bibliography that includes a list of magazine and newspaper articles that illustrate and disclose the notable moments of his life.

FLIGHT BEYOND THE STARS What is it you want? We struggle to become successful, to achieve. We learn as children to "wish upon a star." Flight Beyond the Stars suggests new heights to dream of, to desire, and to achieve. In a competitive and specialized society Dr. Kelsey offers expanses and freedom. The author believes and shows how the tangible, the here and now, is the take-off platform, for knowing and creating the journey to the metaphysical realities which the soul craves: self-satisfaction, right relationships, fulfillment, and a sense of truth and beauty in existence. Seeing clearly what is in front of one, transports to the beyond. The book illustrates story of places and things to help the reader focus on their value. Objects become talismans to cherish and experiences become testaments of a genuinely appreciated life with all of its challenges. It is as if the balance of negative and positive create the space necessary to see clearly for the flight. Crossing the equator and yet coming home to a known, genuine self is the journey. In paperback: "About the Author" at end of book in both books. In the paper back, flaps info will follow "About the Author."

The Postfeminist Biopic explores the influence of postfeminist culture on cinematic representations of female biographies. While earlier research has described the subgenres of the classical female biopic and the feminist biopic, Polaschek proposes a third subgenre, the postfeminist biopic, which has appeared as part of a broader trend of reviving and reconfiguring classical genre forms aimed at women. The book explores the conventions of the postfeminist biopic through a close analysis of four films that represent the lives of women who are established members of the second-wave feminist canon: Sylvia (Christine Jeffs, 2003), which depicts the life of the American poet Sylvia Plath; Frida (Julie Taymor, 2002), about the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo; The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002), which includes a biographical narrative about the English novelist and critic Virginia Woolf; and Becoming Jane (Julian Jarrold, 2006), a fictionalized interpretation of the coming of age of the English novelist Jane Austen.

The first time in paperback, this book is a personal biography of the beloved star of Casablanca. Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) was perhaps best known for her roles in Casablanca and Notorious, but she won three Oscars for Gaslight, Anastasia, and Murder on the Orient Express, and was a seven-time nominee. She also won two Emmy Awards and a Tony. In 1949, though married and a mother, she fell in love with director Roberto Rossellini and conceived a child with him. Her fans were shocked and she was denounced on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Chandler interviewed Bergman, Roberto Rossellini, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Cary Grant, Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, and Gregory Peck for the book, which contains synopses of all her films, including the Swedish ones.

Jason Statham has risen from street seller through championship diving and modelling to become arguably the biggest British male film star of the twenty-first century. This is the first book to offer a critical analysis of his work across a variety of media, including film, television, video games and music videos. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of Statham's career, from his distinctive screen presence to his style, branding and celebrity. Accessibly written, and featuring a contribution from Hollywood director Paul Feig, who worked with Statham on the 2015 action-comedy Spy, the collection will appeal to a wide audience of scholars, students and fans. -- .

Creating a sensation with her risque nightclub act and strolls down the Champs Elysees, pet cheetah in tow, Josephine Baker lives on in popular memory as the banana-skirted siren of Jazz Age Paris. In Josephine Baker and the Rainbow Tribe, Matthew Pratt Guterl brings out a little known side of the celebrated personality, showing how her ambitions of later years were even more daring and subversive than the youthful exploits that made her the first African American superstar. Her performing days numbered, Baker settled down in a sixteenth-century chateau she named Les Milandes, in the south of France. Then, in 1953, she did something completely unexpected and, in the context of racially sensitive times, outrageous. Adopting twelve children from around the globe, she transformed her estate into a theme park, complete with rides, hotels, a collective farm, and singing and dancing. The main attraction was her Rainbow Tribe, the family of the future, which showcased children of all skin colors, nations, and religions living together in harmony. Les Milandes attracted an adoring public eager to spend money on a utopian vision, and to worship at the feet of Josephine, mother of the world. Alerting readers to some of the contradictions at the heart of the Rainbow Tribe project--its undertow of child exploitation and megalomania in particular--Guterl concludes that Baker was a serious and determined activist who believed she could make a positive difference by creating a family out of the troublesome material of race.

Ever see any of these movies: "Beauty Shop," "Die Hard 2," or "Demolition Man"? Tim Cooney was working on the set of each one of those movies. He hobnobbed with dozens of those famous actors you have heard of; from enlightened souls to obnoxious jerks, he's seen them all on the movie sets.

Ever dreamed of being on a set and doing what he does? Ever dreamed of acting in a movie? Or working as a producer or director? He certainly did. But unlike most, he didn't abandon his dream of being in the movie industry when the normal paths turned out to be fruitless.

First, he tried to get in using information that was available out there; books, agencies, and the schools. One option after another turned out to be a dead end. Instead of quitting, he invented his own method of getting the type of work that he was really interested in Guess what? It worked.

So did he go out and get a bunch of college degrees? Did he enroll in the top film schools? No, but what he did do has been included in this helpful guide, along with stories about how to start and maintain a career in the film and television business.

"Knowing how much Mom liked Michael Stern, I knew his book would be honest-and it is. "I HAD A BALL" is full of stories no one but Michael would know. His friendship with Mom is evident on every page. A good read. Thank you Michael."
-DESI ARNAZ J R .

"Michael's memories are my memories, only clearer. What a talent for details It was very moving for me to relive so much of our lives through Michael's eyes. Very entertaining. Charming. And, more importantly, true. As Mom wrote on one of her photos to him, 'Happy Thoughts.'"
-LUCIE ARNAZ

In 1971, ten-year-old Michael Stern thought he had died and gone to heaven as he watched a filming of "Here's Lucy." He was enthralled with a redhead gifted with beauty, stage presence, and the ability to make others laugh. Over the next few years, he would attend several more filmings, meet Lucy, and eventually become (in Lucy's own words) her "number-one fan."

In his memoir, Michael Stern offers a refreshing glimpse into the life of a natural comedienne and actress as he provides a fascinating narrative on what it was like to become first a fan and then a friend with one of the biggest television personalities of all time. Known to fans simply as Lucy, she entertained millions of people across the world with shows like "I Love Lucy," " The Lucy Show," and "Here's Lucy." But to Michael, who was eventually allowed access into her private world, she was a fascinating woman with whom he would share many unforgettable adventures.

"I Had a Ball" is a unique tribute to Lucy's legacy, her spirit, her talent, and her enthusiasm for life-sure to entertain Lucy fans, television aficionados, and comedy lovers around the world.

For Ellen Terry, actress-manager Lena Ashwell (1869-1957) was 'a passionate voice'. From her first appearance on stage in 1891 to the end of her life, Ashwell was determined to make the theatre accessible and relevant to everyone, prompting G.B. Shaw to describe her as possessing an 'awakeningly truthful mind as well as an engaging personality.' An inspiring and strong woman in a rapidly changing world, she was crucial both for the advancement of women in the English theatre and for the formation of the National Theatre. She presented 'new drama' at the Kingsway and Savoy Theatres and was active in the Actresses' Franchise League, as well as being committed to the British Drama League. From the outbreak of World War 1 she initiated and raised money for thousands of concert-party troop entertainments at the Front; when peace was declared, her Lena Ashwell Players set about taking regular theatre performances into local communities throughout London and beyond. Long before educational drama and public subsidy for the arts were realities, she engaged local authorities in the provision of facilities and support for her work.Although she wrote four books about her work, her achievements have been largely unsung. Margaret Leask's book, however, skilfully presents Ashwell in the historical and cultural contexts in which she worked and which she helped to transform. Immaculately researched, abundantly illustrated and lucidly written, this biography is the first book-length treatment of its subject and will be the definitive account for many years to come.