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General Film Criticism, Theory & History

See also: Film: General History New & Featured; Film: Criticism, Theory and History (more academic); On Individual Films and Media > Film Criticism

Backlist

Hollywood Cinema
Hollywood Cinema Second Edition
Richard Maltby
This comprehensive introduction to Hollywood cinema provides a fascinating account of the world's most powerful film industry and examines its cultural and aesthetic significance. For this new edition, the book has been extensively revised, with the historical material updated and references added to Hollywood movies after 1990. Softcover, 696 pp. $65.95.


Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip
Movies, Memory, and World War II
Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip
Movies, Memory, and World War II
Richard Schickel
In this beguiling memoir, film critic and biographer Richard Schickel recounts the details of the two most significant aspects of his childhood: the movies, and World War II. Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip begins as a personal treatise, but ultimately develops into a ubiquitous account of the role of popular culture during wartime. A timely and highly readable book. Hardcover, 329 pp. $44.00.


Videohound's Cult Flicks & Trash PicsVideohound's Cult Flicks & Trash Pics
Carol Schwartz and Jim Olenski
These 1,313 expertly written reviews bring you up close and personal with the underworld of fringe filmmaking. In addition, this volume contains informative side-bars detailing the contributions of key filmmakers and defining the pertinent terminology. Add an introduction written by Bruce Campbell and you have a indispensible guide to the best and worst in cult cinema. Softcover, 841 pp. $34.95.

Animals in FilmAnimals in Film
Jonathan Burt
From Salvador Dali to Walt Disney, animals have been a constant -- yet little considered -- presence in film. Animals in Film is a shrewd account of the politics of animals in cinema, of how movies and video have developed as weapons for animal rights' activists, and of the roles that animals have played in film, from the avant-garde to Hollywood. Softcover, 232 pp. $26.95.  

 
Fleshpot
Cinema's Sexual Myth Makers & Taboo BreakersFleshpot: Cinema's Sexual Myth Makers & Taboo Breakers
Jack Stevenson
Fleshpot
is an indispensible guide to the alternative realms of erotic cinema, and a delirious sampling of the genres, personalities and trends that have set screens aflame since the dawn of motion pictures. This anthology of texts by an international group of experts and cult film personalities provides a fascinating and informative introduction to this multifarious subject. Softcover, 256 pp. $32.95.

Disney
The First 100 YearsDisney: The First 100 Years
Dave Smith & Steven Clark
Disney: The First 100 Years
explores the Disney story -- the story of a man, a family, and a company. You'll meet the people who helped Walt make his dreams come true, see a museum's worth of classic photos, and be there for the opening of the most famous tourist attraction on the planet. Beautifully illustrated in colour and black & white. Softcover, 214 pp. $36.00.


The New Biographical Dictionary of Film
The New Biographical Dictionary of Film
David Thomson
More a bible than a dictionary, this revised edition of David Thomson's definitive classic is required reading for anyone with even a passing interest in film. With over 1300 concise yet astutely observed biographical sketches of the most significant personalities in film history, this book is as intelligent as it is comprehensive as it is entertaining. Essential. Hardcover, 963 pp. $53.00.


Afterglow: 
A Last Conversation with Pauline Kael
Afterglow: A Last Conversation with Pauline Kael
Francis Davis
Davis, a contributing editor to The Atlantic Monthly, shares a most illuminating and candid interview with the most passionate and iconoclastic of film critics shortly before her death in September 2001. She talks about her long life and love of and disenchantment with cinema. A fascinatingly thought provoking book for the movie fan. Hardcover, $27.50.


Nobody's PerfectNobody's Perfect
Anthony Lane
As a film critic for The New Yorker, Anthony Lane has established a reputation for himself as one of the wittiest and most astute in the business. Collected in this volume are some of his best critical reviews, of both films and books, as well as a selection of topical essays. This is both an indispensible primer and a rich resource to the verve and intelligence of one of today's most talented cultural critics. Softcover, 752 pp., $25.95.

The American Film Institute Desk ReferenceThe American Film Institute Desk Reference
Melinda Corey and George Ochoa
The American Film Institute Desk Reference is the most complete one-volume source of everything you need to know about movies and the people behind them. Comprehensive, informative, and visually appealing, it is the perfect companion for anyone interested in movies. Hardcover, 608 pp., $60.


All About Thelma and Eve: Sidekicks and Third WheelsAll About Thelma and Eve: Sidekicks and Third Wheels
Judith Roof
A meticulous rereading of Hollywood from the margins, All About Thelma and Eve offers an inventive look at female comic secondary characters who, though never on center stage, play an indispensible role in enriching and complicating the course of the narrative. Softcover, 212 pp. $28.95.

 

Film FactsFilm Facts
Patrick Robertson
For anyone interested in films and their history, this book is a treasure trove of the curious, the unexpected, the mind-boggling, and the unimportant-but-nevertheless-intriging. If you are curious about the first novelization of a movie script, the greatest number of retakes of a single scene, the title of the top-grossing silent film, or the identity of the actress who has taken the starring role in over 1,000 movies, you will find the answers, and thousands of other, in this fascinating book. Softcover, 256 pp. $29.95.


Silent PlayersSilent Players

Anthony Slide
100 of the best, brightest, and most unusual silent film actors and actresses are profiled in this illuminating collection of biographical and autobiographical sketches. Silent Players also offers fascinating insight into silent film performance, from makeup to acting techniques and pantomine to the role of the director. A remarkable resource for fans of the silent cinema. Hardcover, 439 pp. $65.95.


The Big TomorrowThe Big Tomorrow
Lary May
In this daring reexamination of the connections between national politics and Hollywood movies, Lary May offers a fresh interpretation of American culture from the New Deal through the Cold War -- one in which a populist, egalitarian ethos found itself eventually supplanted by a far different view of the nation. Softcover, 348 pp. $29.95.


MGM's Greatest Musicals: 
The Arthur Freed UnitMGM's Greatest Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit
Hugh Fordin
A turbulent, behind-the-scenes, film-by-film account of the making of the most outstanding series of musicals in motion picture history. From 1940 to 1970, M-G-M producer Arthur Reed produced The Wizard Of Oz, Show Boat, Singin' In The Rain, Meet Me In St. Louis, An American In Paris, Kismet and many others. Softcover, $34.95.

Miller's Movie CollectiblesMiller's Movie Collectibles
Rudy & Barbara Franchi
This book is both a catalogue of movie memorabilia and a beginner's guide to the hobby and business of collecting. More than 300 photographs show wide range of movie collectibles, from Gone With The Wind posters, to Dorothy's ruby slippers. Hardcover, $36.95.

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The GrossThe Gross
Peter Bart
It's summer and the stakes are high. Summertime is a season of career-endangering gambles based on high concept plots and past track records. Bart's insider report of one summer in Hollywood is better than any of the blockbusters he dissects. The hits, the flops from the summer that ate Hollywood. $22.99.


Hollywood ArchiveHollywood Archive: The Hidden History of Hollywood In The Golden Age
Paddy Calistro and Fred E. Basten
This lavish book is a collection of gorgeous photos and accompanying articles about Hollywood in the era between it's birth in 1896 and it's last glamour years in1960. Featuring original text from the children of celebrated personalities such as Cecil B.DeMille, the notoriously fervent director, and Jesse L. Lasky, the first Hollywood film studio mogul, this book offers an engaging look at the heyday of the silver screen and everything that was kept behind closed doors. Hardcover, $85.00.


Hollywood's Revolutionary DecadeHollywood's Revolutionary Decade
Charles Champlin
In 1968 Hollywood adopted a ratings system that revolutionized the form and content of movies, allowing them to explore areas like sex, politics, and violence with bold visual images, shocking language, and new ideas about how films are made. As American movies in the 1970s captured a society in upheaval, Charles Champlin captured the movies in his reviews. Here are 50 reviews of what he considers the most important films of that decade. Softcover, $23.95.


Only EntertainmentOnly Entertainment
Richard Dyer
The idea of entertainment is a guiding principle for both makers and audiences of films, television programs and other media. Yet, while entertainment is often derided or praised, the concept itself is often taken for granted. Only Entertainment explores entertainment as entertainment, asking how and whether an emphasis on the primacy of pleasure sets it apart from other forms of art. Softcover, $34.95.
 

Great MoviesThe Great Movies
Roger Ebert
" This is a wonderful book, an appreciation of the greatest movies by the greatest movie enthusiast - and also the shrewdest, the most humane and clear-sighted. I read this book with pleasure, enlightenment, and a desire to see many of the movies again, because I had missed what Roger saw." Paul Theroux
Hardcover, $41.95.


I Hated, Hated, Hated This MovieI Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie
Roger Ebert
New from Roger Ebert...More scathing than a thumbs down, more inflamed than burning film in an overheated projector, such are the reviews that Roger Ebert has penned about bad movies. I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie collects more than two hundred of this most biting, sarcastic and funny critiques, selected from those unlucky movies that garnered a rating of a mere two stars or less. Softcover, $22.95.


Roger Ebert's Book of FilmRoger Ebert's Book of Film
Roger Ebert
From Tolstoy to Tarantino, the finest writing from a century of film. Roger Ebert has selected and introduced an international treasury of more than one hundred selections that touch on every aspect of film-making and film going. There are the stars (Capote on Monroe), the directors (John Huston on himself), the makers and shakers (Darryl F. Zanuck), the critics and theorists (Pauline Kael) and the novelists (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Larry McMurtry). Hardcover, $44.95.

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Film Studies
Biographies
Director Biographies
Producer Biographies
Canadian Film Studies
National Film Studies

Film Criticism
Film Noir
Gay, Lesbian & Queer Criticism, Theory and History
Horror Films
Women, Gender & Feminist Criticism, Theory & History

Film History
On Individual Films
Manuals, Dictionaries & Guides
Reference/Annuals
Directing & Producing
Media
Screenplays & Screenwriting
Technical Film
Actors & Acting


MGM's Greatest Musicals: 
The Arthur Freed UnitMGM's Greatest Musicals:
The Arthur Freed Unit

Hugh Fordin
A turbulent, behind-the-scenes, film-by-film account of the making of the most outstanding series of musicals in motion picture history. From 1940 to 1970, M-G-M producer Arthur Reed produced The Wizard Of Oz, Show Boat, Singin' In The Rain, Meet Me In St. Louis, An American In Paris, Kismet and many others. Softcover, $34.95.


Miller's Movie CollectiblesMiller's Movie Collectibles
Rudy & Barbara Franchi
This book is both a catalogue of movie memorabilia and a beginner's guide to the hobby and business of collecting. More than 300 photographs show wide range of movie collectibles, from Gone With The Wind posters, to Dorothy's ruby slippers. Hardcover, $36.95.


Cinema Year by Year 1894 - 2000Cinema Year by Year 1894 - 2000
Robyn Karney, Editor-in-chief
In this absorbing, fully up-to-date millenium edition, Cinema Year by Year takes you on a voyage through the world of movies. "Film addicts will wallow in thee 3,000-plus posters, film stills and star portraits which fill this ostentatiously lavish volume to overflowing. " The London Times. $69.95.

 
Sleazoid ExpressSleazoid Express
Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford
In this nostalgic look back to the bygone era of Times Square's grindhouse cinemas, authors Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford pay tribute to the best in exploitation filmmaking from the 60's and 70's. It's all here, gore epics, Euro-sleaze, shockumentaries, soft-core sex romps, and much more. Not simply a catalogue of a select group of films, this book manages to capture the zeitgeist of the period and the people who were invloved. For dedicated lovers of extreme cinema, this book is essential reading. Softcover, 315 pp. $25.00.


Dangerous MenDangerous Men
Nick LaSalle
In the five years preceding the implementation of the Production Code in 1934, the representation of masculinity in Hollywood films took a drastic turn. The smiling, confident hero of just a few years before fell out of favour, and the new heroes who emerged were gangsters, oppurtunists, sleazy businessmen, shifty lawyers, and shell-shocked soldiers. In this intriging account, Mick LaSalle chronicle this period in film, and highlights the contributions of several key figures. Hardcover, 258 pp. $36.95.


What Just Happened?: Bitter Hollywood Tales From The Front LineWhat Just Happened? Bitter Hollywood Tales From The Front Line
Art Linson
Art Linson has been behind some of the best and worst of Hollywood movies over the past decade, from the acidic dark comedy of Fight Club, to the less-than-successful Great Expectations. In this book, he talks about the bizarre, bitter-sweet world of producing: pitch-meetings, package deals, and casting problems galore. Full of behind-the-scenes stories and tantalizing gossip. Hardcover, 181 pp. $39.95.


Oscar Fever
Oscar Fever: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards
Emanuel Levy
As the senior film critic for Variety and twice president of the LA Film Critics Association and author of many critically acclaimed books on the movies, Mr. Levy won many plaudits for the prequel (And The Winner Is...) to this book. This new book is a far more popular approach to the movies and their annual award fenzy and is filled with inside stories and little-known facts. Hardcover $45.00, Paperback $29.95.


Weird Sex and SnowshoesWeird Sex and Snowshoes and other Canadian film phenomenon
Katherine Monk
with a foreward by Atom Egoyan
The title alone is worth the price...Monk, film critic for the Vancouver Sun and CBC radio has compiled the first study in more than 20 years on Canadian film in all its warped and struggling glory written a general audience. Screening the past few decades, she pries apart the themes (weird sex and snowshoes among them), the personalities and the movies themselves that have shaped and set what our national cinema is. For those looking for names, they're not listed comprehensively in the index; you're better flipping though the book itself. $26.95.

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Movie WarsMovie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Limit What Movies We Can See
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Rosenbaum covers dozens of fascinating topics in Movie Wars, including: how weekly box office reports hurt many movies' chances, how many high-profile critics know little about films, and how Hollywood ensures that people get to see only what it wants them to see. Hardcover, $36.00; softcover $25.95.


Great Hollywood WitGreat Hollywood Wit
Gene Shalit
For this hilarious volume, Gene Shalit has collected a glorious cavalcade of wisecracks, zingers, japes, quips, slings, jests, snappers, and sass from Hollywood's biggest and brightest stars, past and present. This one-of-a-kind book is certain to provide hours of entertainment. Hardcover, 213 pp. $29.95.

 

Guts & Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in FilmGuts & Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film
Lawrence H. Suid
Guts & Glory
is the definitive examination of the relationship between the film industry and the United States armed services. In this expanded edition, which contains over 400 pages of new material, Suid meshes his study of the classic war films -- Wings, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Longest Day, Patton, Apocalypse Now -- with his views on the most recent additions to the genre such as, Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down , and Windtalkers. Softcover, 748 pp. $49.50.

The Encyclopedia of Great FilmmakersThe Encyclopedia of Great Filmmakers
John C. Tibbetts and James M. Welsh
Here is a comprehensive A-Z of the world's greatest filmmakers. Each entry includes a biographical sketch, a filmography, and a bibliography for further reading. Softcover, 392 pp. $29.95.

 

 Republic of Dreams: Greenwich Village, The American Bohemia 1910-1960
Republic of Dreams: Greenwich Village, The American Bohemia 1910-1960

Ross Wetzsteon
The stories of the people and events that took place in Greenwich Village, which has been called the most significant square mile in American cultural history, are retold here in biography form by Village Voice veteran, Ross Wetzsteon. This captivating book tells the tales of such American legends as Jackson Pollock, Eugene O'Neill, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Hardcover, $53.50.


Hollywood RememberedHollywood Remembered: An Oral History of Its Golden Age
Paul Zollo
Hollywood Remembered is an oral history of the city from the turn of the 20th century through 2002, as told by the people who lived, worked, and dreamed there. In the words of the people who have lived Hollywood's rich history, this book presents the memories of thirty-seven actors, directors, cinematographers, agents, studio executives, screenwriters, and various other film personnel. Candid, anecdotal, and engrossing. Hardcover, 376 pp. $44.95.

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Last modified July 15, 2003 .
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