When Hammer Productions was formed in the 1920s, no one foresaw the impact this small, independent studio would have on the international film market. Christopher Lee's mesmerizing, animalistic, yet gentlemanly performance as Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Mummy were celebrated worldwide, and the Byronic qualities of Peter Cushing's Dr. Frankenstein, among his many other Hammer characters, proved impossible to forget. Hammer maintained consistant period settings, creating a timeless and enchanting aesthetic. "Studying Hammer Horror" treats Hammer as a quintessentially British product and through a study of its work investigates larger conceptions of national horror cinemas. The book examines genre, auteur theory, stardom, and representation within case studies of "Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), "Twins of Evil" (1971), and Hammer's latest film, "Beyond the Rave" (2008), and weighs Hammer's impact on the British film industry, past and present. Intended for students, fans, and general readers, this book transcends superficial preconceptions of Hammer horror in order to reach the essence of Hammer.

You had to decide to let yourself be turned upside down, you had to accept to see the idea you had forged about yourself progressively shatter. In the summer of 1969, at 19 years old, Didier Mouturat gave up on college, shattering his parents hopes that he follow a safe and conventional course. Fresh from the wild Parisian student revolt of 1968, with its street battles and slogans, he set out to find a life that would be truly alive, deciding to be a classical actor. When he met Cyrille Dives, however, the universe of masks quietly turned his world upside down. This book describes Mouturats apprenticeship to a unique theater artist. In the 1970s and early 80s, Dives created a theater of masks, a Western parallel to Japanese Noh. Dives was a true bohemian artist, a sculptor of masks, a painter and theatrical director. Cyrille Dives was also a spiritual master. Mouturats apprenticeship encompassed everything from walking in a way that brings a mask to life to cultivating a beginners mind. Slowly and subtly, the theater apprenticeship became an encounter with the deeper truth of his own being. I am speaking of an intimate, progressive discovery that we are not masters of our own being that it is only the result of a system of reactions that tyrannize us. Mouturat becomes Divess right-hand man, helping establish a theater and a school of masks. That work is evident here in enchanting illustrations, as well as words. Yet as translated by the scholar and author Roger Lipsey, Mouturat also offers a pithy chronicle of a search for meaning and inner being.

*A memoir and self-help manual by one of the country's most treasured comedians - for anyone who feels stuck in a rut but doesn't have the tools or self-belief to shake things up* In his mid-twenties, Jimmy was bored, boring, unfulfilled and underachieving. He wasn't exactly depressed, but he was very sad. Think of a baby owl whose mum has recently died in a windmill accident. He was that sad. This book tells the story of how Jimmy turned it around and got happy, through the redemptive power of dick jokes. Written to take advantage of the brief window between the end of lockdown and Jimmy getting cancelled for saying something unforgivable to Lorraine Kelly, this book is as timely as it is unnecessary. Because you might be interested in Jimmy's life but he's damn sure you're a lot more interested in your own, Before & Laughter is about both of you. But mainly him. It tells the story of Jimmy's life - the transformation from white-collar corporate drone to fake-toothed donkey-laugh plastic-haired comedy mannequin - while also explaining how to turn your own life around and become the you you've always dreamt of being. At just GBP20, it's cheaper than Scientology, quicker than therapy, and significantly less boring than church. Before & Laughter contains the answers to all the big questions in life, questions like: * What's the secret to happiness? * Is Jimmy wearing a wig? * What happened with that tax thing? * What's the meaning of life? * Is Jimmy's laugh real? * Can those teeth bite through vibranium? And for readers in the West Country: yes, there are pictures (actually, sorry, there are no pictures, but there's a book about a hungry caterpillar you'll love). Because it's Jimmy Carr - recently scientifically proved to be the funniest comedian in the UK - there are jokes, jokes and more jokes throughout. If laughter really was the best medicine, the NHS would be handing out this book in Nightingale Hospitals. Fascinating, thoughtful and insightful - are all words that appear in the book.