March 20, 2019 marked the end of an era -- Disney took ownership of the movie empire that was Fox. For almost a century before that historic date, Twentieth Century-Fox was one of the preeminent producers of films, stars, and filmmakers. Its unique identity in the industry and place in movie history is unparalleled -- and one of the greatest stories to come out of Hollywood. One man, a legendary producer named Darryl F. Zanuck, is the heart of the story. This narrative tells the complete tale of Zanuck and the films, stars, intrigue, and innovations of the iconic studio that was.

For over four decades, Martin Scorsese has been the chronicler of an obsessive society, where material possessions and physical comfort are valued, where the pursuit of individual improvement is rewarded and where male prerogative is respected and preserved.

Scorsese has often described his films as sociology and he has a point: his storytelling condenses complex information into comprehensible narratives about society. In this sense, he has been a guide through a dark world of nineteenth century crypto-fascism to a fetishistic twentieth century in which goods, fame, money and power are held to have magical power.

Author of "Tyson: Nurture of the Beast" and "Beckham," Ellis Cashmore turns his attention to arguably the most influential living film- maker to explore how Scorsese envisions America. Greed, manhood, the city and romantic love feature on Scorsese's landscape of secular materialism. They are among the themes Cashmore argues have driven and inform Scorsese's work. This is America, as seen through the eyes of Martin Scorsese and it is a deeply unpleasant place.

Cashmore's book discloses how, collectively, Scorsese's films present an image of America. It's an image assembled from the perspectives of obsessive people, whether burned-out paramedics, compulsive entrepreneurs, tortured lovers, or celebrity-fixated comedians. It's collected from pool halls, taxicabs, boxing rings and jazz clubs. It's an image that's specific, yet ubiquitous. It is "Martin Scorsese's America."

"The Stanley Kubrick Archives showed up one morning in our offices, where my editor and I circled it like curious apes." -Time Out, New York This is the first book to explore Stanley Kubrick's archives and the most comprehensive study of the filmmaker to date. In 1968, when Stanley Kubrick was asked to comment on the metaphysical significance of 2001: A Space Odyssey, he replied: "It's not a message I ever intended to convey in words. 2001 is a nonverbal experience.... I tried to create a visual experience, one that bypasses verbalized pigeonholing and directly penetrates the subconscious with an emotional and philosophic content." The philosophy behind Part 1 of The Stanley Kubrick Archives borrows from this line of thinking: from the opening sequence of Killer's Kiss to the final frames of Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick's complete films are presented chronologically and wordlessly via frame enlargements. A completely nonverbal experience. The second part of the book brings to life the creative process of Kubrick's filmmaking by presenting a remarkable collection of mostly unseen material from his archives, including photographs, props, posters, artwork, set designs, sketches, correspondence, documents, screenplays, drafts, notes, and shooting schedules. Accompanying the visual material are essays by noted Kubrick scholars, articles written by and about Kubrick, and a selection of Kubrick's best interviews.

ReFocus: The Films of Spike Jonze is the first collection of essays on this important and original contemporary filmmaker. It looks at his ground-breaking work in both features and short forms, exploring the impact of his filmmaking across a range of philosophical and cultural discussions. Each of Jonze's feature films, from Being John Malkovich (1999) to Her (2013), is discussed at length, focusing on issues of authorship, narration, genre and adaptation. As well as the textual aspects of Jonze's feature films, the contributors consider his work in music videos and shorts - investigating his position as a filmmaker on the blurred boundaries between studio and independent modes of production.

How do we experience theatre through film? Laura Sava critically engages with the filmic representation of theatre, focusing on a selection of art house and independent films which provide a sophisticated commentary on the interaction between the two media. Through an in-depth analysis of films such as Jacques Rivette's L'Amour fou, Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother and Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York, this book analyses the embedment of theatre in film and the notion of spectatorial address. Using textual analysis in conjunction with concepts derived from narratology, performance philosophy, and film and theatre phenomenology, it explores the mechanisms of representation involved in the intermedial diegetisation of theatre in film.

Spanning from obscurity to notoriety, the films of director, screenwriter, actor and comic Elaine May have recently experienced a long-overdue renaissance. Although she made only four films -- A New Leaf (1971), The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Mikey and Nicky (1976) and Ishtar (1987) -- and never reached the level of acclaim of her frequent collaborator Mike Nichols, May's work is as enigmatic, sophisticated and unceasingly fascinating as her own complicated, reluctant star persona. This collection focuses both on the films she has directed, and also emphasises her work with other high profile collaborators such as John Cassavetes, Warren Beatty and Otto Preminger.

Embargoed to 30th March 2017 The Art of Smurfs presents hundreds of storyboards, character design, and location concept pieces. With a foreword by Veronique Culliford, daughter of Pierrot "Peyo" Culliford, this insider's guide celebrates her father's cherished Smurfs and provides a glimpse into the creative process that turned his popular comics into a feature-length, animated film. In this fully animated, all-new take on the Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty on an exciting race through the Forbidden Forest leading to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history.

George A. Romero (b. 1940) has achieved a surprising longevity as director since his first film, "Night of the Living Dead" (1968). After recently relocating to Canada, he shows no signs of slowing up: his recent film, "Survival of the Dead" (2009), is discussed in a new interview conducted by Tony Williams for this volume, and still other films are awaiting release. Although commonly known as a director of zombie films, a genre he himself launched, Romero's films often transcend easy labels. His films are best understood as allegorical commentaries on American life that just happen to appropriate horror as a convenient vehicle. Romero's films encompass works as different as "The Crazies," "Hungry Wives," "Knightriders," and "Bruiser."

The interviews in this collection cover a period of over forty years. In whatever format they originally appeared-the printed page, the internet, or the video interview-these discussions illustrate both the evolution of Romero's chosen forms of technology and the development of his thinking about the relationship between cinema and society. They present Romero as an independent director in every sense of the word.

In late autumn 1968, Dorian Bond was tasked with travelling to Yugoslavia to deliver cigars and film stock to the legendary Hollywood director Orson Welles. The pair soon struck up an unlikely friendship, and Welles offered Bond the role of his personal assistant - as well as a part in his next movie. No formal education could prepare him for the journey that would ensue. This fascinating memoir follows Welles and Bond across Europe during the late 1960s as they visit beautiful cities, stay at luxury hotels, and reminisce about Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, among others. It is filled with Welles' characteristic acerbic wit - featuring tales about famous movie stars such as Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich and Steve McQueen - and is a fresh insight into both the man and his film-making. Set against the backdrop of the student riots of '68, the Vietnam War, the Manson killings, the rise of Roman Polanski, the Iron Curtain, and Richard Nixon's presidency, Me and Mr Welles is a unique look at both a turbulent time and one of cinema's most charismatic characters.

In the summer of 1947, "Crossfire," a controversial thriller exposing American anti-Semitism, was a critical and box-office hit, and RKO producer Adrian Scott was at the pinnacle of his career. Within several months, however, Scott became infamous as a member of the Hollywood Ten, blacklisted for his refusal to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee.

"Caught in the Crossfire: Adrian Scott and the Politics of Americanism in 1940s Hollywood" reconstructs the production and reception of Scott's major films, exploring the political and creative challenges faced by Hollywood radicals within the studio system and reassessing the relationship among film noir, antifascism, anticommunism, and the politics of Americanism.

Since 2007 Mia Hansen-Love has directed a series of meditative film dramas about families, love, vulnerability and growing up, all of them exceptionally attentive to film's ability to convey the passing of time, separation and loss. As the first book-length study of the films of Mia Hansen-Love, this volume introduces her cinema to both an academic and a general readership. Exploring her move from acting, via criticism, to directing, the book first investigates the complexity of her situation as a female auteur based in France. With detailed readings of her films up to Maya (2018), it then examines the precariousness of their families, their emphasis on vulnerability, failure, adversity and resilience, the particular candour of Hansen-Love's filming style, and the vital parts played by music and time in her cinema. It concludes that her cinema may best be regarded as a thoroughly contemporary one, distinguished by a tendency to transcendence that is both ethical and aesthetic.

"The Cinema of Nanni Moretti" provides an analysis and interpretation of the work of the most important Italian film-maker of the past thirty years and an outstanding figure in contemporary European cinema. Interdisciplinary and wide-ranging, the book uses Moretti's films as a lens to view and discuss contemporary phenomena such as the crisis of masculinity and authority, the crisis of the political Left and the transformation of the citizen's relationship to the State. Films discussed include "Aprile, Dear Diary" and "The Son's Room," winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2001.

East Asian cinema has become a worldwide phenonemon, and directors such as Park Chan-wook, Wong Kar Wai, and Takashi Miike have become household names. "Dekalog 4: On East Asian Filmmakers" solicits scholars from Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland, North America, and the U.K. to offer unique readings of selected East Asian directors and their works. Directors examined include Zhang Yimou, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Rithy Panh, Kinji Fukasaku, and Jia Zhangke, and the volume includes one of the first surveys of Japanese and Chinese female filmmakers, providing singular insight into East Asian film and the filmmakers that have brought it global recognition.

One hundred key artefacts that encapsulate the Marvel Cinematic Universe in all its multifaceted magnificence.

Explore Marvel Studios’ prop archives and discover the compelling stories of iconic items such as Iron Man’s Mark I Armor, Ant-Man’s cybernetic helmet, and Cap’s vibranium shield―as well as less well known but highly intriguing items…

Full-colour images illustrate every entry, while the accompanying essay provides in-world insights into crucial events and characters’ lives that will captivate MCU fans old and new.

© 2024 MARVEL

Werner Herzog is renowned for pushing the boundaries of conventional cinema, especially those between the fictional and the factual, the fantastic and the real. "The Cinema of Werner Herzog: Aesthetic Ecstasy and Truth" is the first study in twenty years devoted entirely to an analysis of Herzog's work. It explores the director's continuing search for what he has described as 'ecstatic truth, ' drawing on over thirty-five films, from the epics "Aguirre: Wrath of God" (1972) and "Fitzcarraldo" (1982) to innovative documentaries like "Fata Morgana" (1971), "Lessons of Darkness" (1992), and "Grizzly Man" (2005). Special attention is paid to Herzog's signature style of cinematic composition, his "romantic" influences, and his fascination with madmen, colonialism, and war.

Lois Weber (1879-1939) was one of early Hollywood's most successful screenwriter-directors. A one-time Church Army worker who preached from street corners, Weber began working in the American film industry as an actress around 1908 but quickly ascended to the positions of screenwriter and director. She wrote, directed, starred in, edited, and titled hundreds of movies during her career and is believed to be the first woman to direct a feature film. At the height of her influence, Weber used her medium to address pressing social issues such as birth control, abortion, capital punishment, poverty, and drug abuse. She gained international fame in 1915 with her controversial Hypocrites, a complex film that featured full female nudity as part of its important moral lesson. Her most famous film, Where Are My Children?, was the Universal studio's biggest box-office hit the following year and played to enthusiastic audiences around the globe. These productions and many others contributed to her standing as a truly world-class filmmaker. Despite her many successes, Weber was pushed out of the business in the 1930s as a result of Hollywood's institutionalized sexism. Shoved into the corners of film history, she remained a largely forgotten figure for decades. Lois Weber: Interviews restores her long-muted voice by reprinting more than sixty items in which she expressed her views on a range of filmic subjects. The volume includes interviews, articles that Weber wrote, the text of a speech she gave, and reconstructed conversations with her Hollywood coworkers. Lois Weber: Interviews provides key insights into one of our first great writer-directors, her many films, and the changing business in which she worked.

"The Cinema of Robert Lepage" is the first critical study of one of the most striking artists of Quebecois and Canadian independent filmmaking. The book examines Lepage's creative methods of filmmaking in their cultural and social context and argues that his work cannot be seen separately from his oeuvre as a multidisciplinary artist. Further, this study demonstrates that like Jean Cocteau, Mike Leigh, and Alain Resnais, Lepage is a multifaceted artist who works with a group of actors on very personal themes, building his films, such as "Le Confessionnal" and "Possible Worlds," during months or years of a perpetual rehearsal process; thus it challenges the notions that Lepage should be considered only in the terms of Quebecois film tradition. The author explores such themes with Lepage in a new exclusive and detailed interview.

Empire of Dreams is the first definitive look at all of the science fiction (SF), fantasy, and horror films directed by Steven Spielberg, one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the world today. In the 1970s and 1980s, along with George Lucas, Spielberg helped spark the renaissance of American SF and fantasy film, and he has remained highly productive and prominent in these genres ever since. SF, fantasy, and horror films form the bulk of his work for over thirty years; of the twenty-six theatrical features he directed from 1971 to 2005, sixteen are of these genres, a coherent and impressive body of work. His films have become part of a global consciousness and his cinematic style part of the visual vocabulary of world media.

Explores how Armstrong's films re-work conventions about literary adaptation, biography and realist storytelling Examines Armstrong's work in light of new media scholarship and philosophies, including feminist cinematic ethics Situates Armstrong's achievements in the context of Australian film policies and history Provides an examination of never-before-studied elements, including Armstrong's short films Includes a never-before-utilised oral history project with Armstrong A commercially successful Australian director of over eighteen feature films and documentaries, including My Brilliant Career (1979), Gillian Armstrong is an early, notable example of a woman director connecting with mass audiences. Armstrong's films are unique in their aesthetic expression and in the ethical relationships that they depict, framed through the language of gender inclusivity and due in part to her foregrounding of original, complex and nuanced female characters. This important book fills a gap in the literature on women screen practitioners and is a long overdue response to demands for new insight into the work of this significant director.

From his early days as a film editor at RKO studios, where he helped Orson Welles shape Citizen Kane, to his success as a director and producer of musical blockbusters of the 1960s, Robert Wise had a long and illustrious film career. Unlike contemporaries such as Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford or Howard Hawks, however, Wise's films lack any clearly discernible characteristics to signify his work. There are few striking camera angles or visual flourishes that might distract from the primary obligation to present the story. And like Hawks, Wise never specialized in one or two genres, but brought his directing skills to all manner of films. His work as a director resists auteur categorization, and that is a chief reason why some critics have been unduly negative in their consideration of his work. In The Films of Robert Wise, Richard Keenan examines the nearly forty features that represent the director's career-from Curse of the Cat People in 1944 to A Storm in Summer (2001), the only television production Wise ever directed. Keenan offers a reappraisal of Wise's films so that the true quality of his work can be better appreciated. Keenan argues that if there was a flaw in Robert Wise as a director, it was that he lacked the ego and temperament of the artist, which was not necessarily a flaw at all. Indeed, Wise was a conscientious craftsman who saw his work not primarily as a vehicle for his own ideas and visual style, but as an opportunity to present narrative that-quite simply-engages, informs, and entertains. It was this perspective that helped produce a number of memorable films over the years, including the gritty noir Born to Kill, the one-two punch of The Set-Up and Somebody Up There Likes Me, the sci-fi prophecy The Day the Earth Stood Still, and the gripping indictment of capital punishment, I Want to Live!-classics all. Wise also won a pair of Oscars for two of the most memorable-not to mention successful-musicals of all time: West Side Story and The Sound of Music. Drawing on more than 30 hours of interviews with Wise-as well as additional interviews with a number of his collaborators-Keenan offers a welcome reassessment of the director's work. In his analysis of each film, Keenan reveals both Wise the craftsman and the artist. In doing so, The Films of Robert Wise finally confers upon this underappreciated director the recognition he deserves.

ReFocus: The Films of Rachid Bouchareb is the first book-length study of the internationally recognized director's films. Bouchareb was one of France's first filmmakers of North African descent and his career as a director and producer now spans over 35 years. Remarkably varied in their themes, formal elements and narrative settings, Bouchareb's work has engaged with and reflected on a variety of crucial social, political and historical issues; from the role of colonial troops in the French army during the Second World War, to terrorism in contemporary Europe. This volume examines Bouchareb's films from an interdisciplinary perspective, exploring key influences on his output and considering new theoretical approaches to his filmmaking.

This collection showcases the best essays from the six issues of film studies' leading platform for Hitchcock scholarship. Contributions include works by Charles Barr, Thomas Elsaesser, Mark Rappaport, Michael Walker, and Slavoj Žižek, among others, covering Hitchcock's entire oeuvre, from his early silent films to his late American masterpieces. It contains an overview of Hitchcock criticism, a screenwriter's forum on "Working with Hitch," and early essays on film by both Hitchcock and Alma Reville.

A lavish hardback containing Orson Welles' Portfolio, much of which has never been seen before. Orson Welles, famous as an accomplished actor, writer, producer and visionary director, had originally aspired to become a musician or artist. Having studied at the Art Institute of Chicago for one summer, he continued to draw and paint throughout his life. The majority of his artwork, including costume and set designs and caricatures, has been unavailable to the public. Until now.