Accidental Genius features intimate and laugh-out-loud commentary from The Room cast and crew, including interviews from its star Greg Sestero. What a story indeed! A rollicking recollection of experiences from the legendary "so bad it's good" film. This comprehensively chronicled book offers a fascinating glimpse into the cultural phenomenon that brings together die-hard fans and newcomers alike. Everything you could have possibly wondered about The Room all in one book! Take a look at Tommy Wiseau's infamous 2003 release through the eyes of the people who made it. Get the low-down on bizarre audition calls, film set antics, and accounts from the very first fans who experienced The Room at its earliest screenings. Also including interviews focusing on the aftermath of the movie: Sestero's The Disaster Artist, where are they now, and its lasting legacy. Here you will get a glimpse of how it all began, why it remains popular, and just what audiences still get out of this unusual film that people love to hate.

American crime novelist Elmore Leonard (1925-2013) has a voice that is original and immediately recognizable. This collection of original interviews with fellow authors, filmmakers, collaborators and critics covers all things Leonard, from analyses of characterization and dialogue in his writing to his many screen adaptations. What makes Leonard's work more cinematic than that of other talented contemporaries is his deceptively simplistic method of description that still manages to paint a vivid picture in the reader's mind. The unique perspectives in this collection discuss many of Leonard's 44 novels, including those that have been adapted to television and motion pictures like Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Jackie Brown.

Joe R. Lansdale (b. 1951), the award-winning author of such novels as Cold in July (1989) and The Bottoms (2000), as well as the popular Hap and Leonard series, has been publishing novels since 1981. Lansdale has developed a tremendous cult audience willing to follow him into any genre he chooses to write in, including horror, western, crime, adventure, and fantasy. Within these genres, his stories, novels, and novellas explore friendship, race, and life in East Texas. His distinctive voice is often funny and always unique, as characterized by such works as Bubba Ho-Tep (1994), a novella that centers on Elvis Presley, his friend who believes himself to be John F. Kennedy, and a soul-sucking ancient mummy. This same novella won a Bram Stoker Award, one of the ten Bram Stoker Awards given to Lansdale thus far in his illustrious career. Wielding a talent that extends beyond the page to the screen, Landsdale has also written episodes for Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series. Conversations with Joe R. Lansdale brings together interviews from newspapers, magazines, and podcasts conducted throughout the prolific author's career. The collection includes conversations between Lansdale and other noted peers like Robert McCammon and James Grady; two podcast transcripts that have never before appeared in print; and a brand-new interview, exclusive to the volume. In addition to shedding light on his body of literary work and process as a writer, this collection also shares Lansdale's thoughts on comics, atheism, and martial arts.

In 1973, early in their careers, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro collaborated for the first time. Over the next few decades, they worked together on seven more movies, many of which brought them both acclaim and awards. And while successful director and actor pairings have occurred throughout the history of film, few have fashioned so many works of enduring value as these two artists. In little more than two decades, Scorsese and De Niro produced eight features, including the classics Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and GoodFellas. In The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Andrew J. Rausch examines the creative output of this remarkable pair, from their initial offering, Mean Streets, to their most recent film together, Casino. Rausch looks at their relationship as individual artists who worked together to create cinematic magic, as well as the friendship that was forged nearly 40 years ago. Drawing upon interviews and other sources, Rausch goes behind the scenes of their eight films, providing insight and analysis on all their collaborations, including New York, New York, The King of Comedy, and Cape Fear. A rare glimpse into the moviemaking process of these two legends, The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro will appeal to both scholars and fans alike.

In 1958, Gary Graver moved from his hometown of Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles, California with dreams of an acting career in Hollywood. Soon after his arrival, he caught a double bill in a small theater on Hollywood Boulevard, the lower half of which was the recently released Touch of Evil. Upon viewing the B classic, Graver decided he wanted to be a director and spent many years honing his craft, as both a cinematographer and a director, not to mention writer, actor, and producer-much like his idol, Orson Welles. In 1970, when Graver learned that Welles was in town, he impulsively called up the director and offered him his services as a cameraman. It was only the second time in Welles's career that he had received such an offer from a cinematographer, the other being from Gregg Toland, who worked on one of the greatest films ever, Citizen Kane. In Making Movies with Orson Welles, Graver recounts the highs and lows of the moviemaking business as he and one of the most important and influential directors of all time struggled to get films produced. The two men collaborated on more than a dozen projects, including F for Fake, Filming Othello, and the still-unreleased The Other Side of the Wind. Their close friendship and creative filmmaking partnership would endure for 15 years, until Welles' death in 1985. Also including a filmography of works and 20 photos from Graver's personal collection, this fascinating memoir recalls what it was like to work with the legendary Welles and offers advice and tales of caution for future filmmakers.

"What is Hip-Hop?" In order to answer this question, author Andrew J. Rausch interviewed 24 individuals whose creative expressions are intimately associated with the world of hip-hop music and culture. Those interviewed include emcees, DJs, producers, graffiti artists, poets, and journalists. Topics of these conversations cover the careers of each of these people and their contributions/affiliations with hip-hop, as well as their views on different trends within the music. Intended as a celebration of hip-hop music and culture, this collection of interviews ranges from the up-and-coming (Akrobatik, Rob Kelly) to the legendary (Chuck D, Big Daddy Kane). Also interviewed are Eric B., Black Sheep Dres, Chip Fu, Michael Cirelli, Daddy-O, DJ JS-1, dream hampton, Kokane, Kool Keith, Kool Rock Ski, Keith Murray, 9th Wonder, Paradime, R.A. the Rugged Man, Sadat X, Shock G, Special Ed, Spinderella, Sticky Fingaz, and Young MC. Because many of these artists worked and performed in the so-called "golden age" of hip-hop, they offer insights on the merits and problems of what hip-hop has grown into today. From their candid observations, the reader will understand how each of these men and women have contributed to the culture and how each, in his or her own way, can rightly answer "I AM hip-hop."

Joe R. Lansdale (b. 1951), the award-winning author of such novels as Cold in July (1989) and The Bottoms (2000), as well as the popular Hap and Leonard series, has been publishing novels since 1981. Lansdale has developed a tremendous cult audience willing to follow him into any genre he chooses to write in, including horror, western, crime, adventure, and fantasy. Within these genres, his stories, novels, and novellas explore friendship, race, and life in East Texas. His distinctive voice is often funny and always unique, as characterized by such works as Bubba Ho-Tep (1994), a novella that centers on Elvis Presley, his friend who believes himself to be John F. Kennedy, and a soul-sucking ancient mummy. This same novella won a Bram Stoker Award, one of the ten Bram Stoker Awards given to Lansdale thus far in his illustrious career. Wielding a talent that extends beyond the page to the screen, Landsdale has also written episodes for Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series. Conversations with Joe R. Lansdale brings together interviews from newspapers, magazines, and podcasts conducted throughout the prolific author's career. The collection includes conversations between Lansdale and other noted peers like Robert McCammon and James Grady; two podcast transcripts that have never before appeared in print; and a brand-new interview, exclusive to the volume. In addition to shedding light on his body of literary work and process as a writer, this collection also shares Lansdale's thoughts on comics, atheism, and martial arts.

Stephen King is one of the most successful authors in the history of American literature. His books-including 55 novels, 12 novellas, nine short story collections and a children's book-have sold 350 million copies worldwide. Over the past five decades his broader impact on popular culture has been immense. Most of his works have been adapted for film or television (some of them by King himself) and he may fairly be credited with single-handedly reinventing horror, once considered a B movie genre, for mainstream audiences. This collection of original interviews with fellow authors, collaborators and critics covers all things King, from analysis of his best writing to his many screen adaptations to recurring themes in his stories.

Exploitation filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis is credited with single-handedly creating the gore genre with the 1963 release Blood Feast. This low-budget shocker would ultimately influence nearly every horror movie which has followed, as well as "high-brow" films as varied The Wild Bunch and Reservoir Dogs. Lewis, dubbed "The Godfather of Gore," crafted more than thirty-five films in his ongoing career (the exact number varies depending on whom you talk to). Lewis would ultimately work in a number of genres, including gothic horror, drama, sexploitation, blaxploitation, and even musicals, and each of his low-budget productions features a singular style and vision that cannot be ignored. No matter what genre Lewis worked in, he remained at the forefront of cinematic trends and movements. In The Godfather of Gore Speaks: Herschell Gordon Lewis Discusses His Films, the filmmaker explains his choices and motivations - from concept to finished product - in much more detail than ever before. Assisted by noted film historian Andrew J. Rausch, Lewis shares often hilarious anecdotes and provides analysis for the thirty-nine films which he either directed or assisted with direction. "Herschell Gordon Lewis is known all over the world as 'The Wizard of Gore.' He's a whiz of a wiz in just about everything else, too, including, but not limited to, brain surgery, moonshine making, international diplomacy, auto body work, nuclear physics, and siding sales. He writes textbooks and does windows, and don't ever challenge him to a game of Scrabble." --David F. Friedman "Herschell Gordon Lewis is the man who put red meat into the American cinematic diet. Ultimately Herschell made Quentin Tarantino possible." --Joe Bob Briggs

Dirty Talk: Conversations with Porn Stars is the result of nearly a decade of interviews with many of adult cinema's hottest stars. These candid conversations include such topics as working conditions in the porn industry, childhood and family life, career goals, industry trends, and the subjects' views on their work and on the adult film industry itself. The stars interviewed for this project include Seymore Butts, Mary Carey, Asia Carrera, Nina Hartley, Jill Kelly, Hyapatia Lee, Evelyn Lin, Mari Possa, Linda Roberts, and Kyle Stone.

Stephen King is one of the finest and most successful novelists in the history of American literature. Here, for the first time, is a one-of-a-kind collection of quotations by King on subjects as varied as writing, Hollywood, God and religion, his work, popular culture, critics, success, money, the supernatural, censorship, and Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of The Shining. These bon mots were culled from hundreds of print and television interviews, as well as essays and assorted works of nonfiction. Edited by Andrew J. Rausch, The Wit and Wisdom of Stephen King contains an entertaining selection of observations both comic and profound.

"Grindhouse" is a term that refers to theaters that primarily showed exploitation films. There were a handful of these theaters on 42nd Street in New York City. These theaters showed a variety of films that generally featured sex, violence, and bizarre subject matter. These included slasher films, X-rated movies, badly-dubbed Hong Kong chop socky pictures, blaxploitation, and general exploitation films. The period most generally associated with these types of movie houses stretches from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. Since the demise of these theaters, and with them certain types of film, an enthusiasm and appreciation for them has developed. Hollywood films such as Black Dynamite, Machete, and Hobo with a Shotgun have since payed homage to them. Gods of Grindhouse: Interviews with Exploitation Filmmakers contains conversations with a variety of filmmakers associated with such films. The book contains interviews with key figures such as Roger Corman, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Larry Cohen, David F. Friedman, William Lustig, Ted V. Mikels, and others. It also contains interviews with Bill Rebane and Russ Meyer that have never appeared in print before This is a one-of-a-kind collection of interviews that gets as down and dirty as the films themselves.