- Table View
- List View
Incongruous Entertainment: Camp, Cultural, and the MGM Musical
by Steven CohanWith their lavish costumes and sets, ebullient song and dance numbers, and iconic movie stars, the musicals that mgm produced in the 1940s seem today to epitomize camp. Yet they were originally made to appeal to broad, mainstream audiences. In this lively, nuanced, and provocative reassessment of the MGM musical, Steven Cohan argues that this seeming incongruity--between the camp value and popular appreciation of these musicals--is not as contradictory as it seems. He demonstrates that the films' extravagance and queerness were deliberate elements and keys to their popular success. In addition to examining the spectatorship of the MGM musical, Cohan investigates the genre's production and marketing, paying particular attention to the studio's employment of a largely gay workforce of artists and craftspeople. He reflects on the role of the female stars--including Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds, Esther Williams, and Lena Horne--and he explores the complex relationship between Gene Kelley's dancing and his masculine persona. Cohan looks at how, in the decades since the 1950s, the marketing and reception of the mgm musical have negotiated the more publicly recognized camp value attached to the films. He considers the status of Singin' in the Rain as perhaps the first film to be widely embraced as camp; the repackaging of the musicals as nostalgia and camp in the That's Entertainment! series as well as on home video and cable; and the debates about Garland's legendary gay appeal among her fans on the Internet. By establishing camp as central to the genre, Incongruous Entertainment provides a new way of looking at the musical.
Infinite Repertoire: On Dance and Urban Possibility in Postsocialist Guinea
by Adrienne J. CohenIn Guinea’s capital city of Conakry, dance is everywhere. Most neighborhoods boast at least one dance troupe, and members of those troupes animate the city’s major rites of passage and social events. In Infinite Repertoire, Adrienne Cohen shows how dance became such a prominent—even infrastructural—feature of city life in Guinea, and tells a surprising story of the rise of creative practice under a political regime known for its authoritarianism and violent excesses. Guinea’s socialist state, which was in power from 1958 to 1984, used staged African dance or “ballet” strategically as a political tool, in part by tapping into indigenous conceptualizations of artisans as powerful figures capable of transforming the social fabric through their manipulation of vital energy. Far from dying with the socialist revolution, Guinean ballet continued to thrive in Conakry after economic liberalization in the 1980s, with its connection to transformative power retrofitted for a market economy and a rapidly expanding city. Infinite Repertoire follows young dancers and percussionists in Conakry as they invest in the present—using their bodies to build a creative urban environment and to perform and redefine social norms and political subjectivities passed down from the socialist generation before them. Cohen’s inventive ethnography weaves the political with the aesthetic, placing dance at the center of a story about dramatic political change and youthful resourcefulness in one of the least-studied cities on the African continent.
Infinite Repertoire: On Dance and Urban Possibility in Postsocialist Guinea
by Adrienne J. CohenIn Guinea’s capital city of Conakry, dance is everywhere. Most neighborhoods boast at least one dance troupe, and members of those troupes animate the city’s major rites of passage and social events. In Infinite Repertoire, Adrienne Cohen shows how dance became such a prominent—even infrastructural—feature of city life in Guinea, and tells a surprising story of the rise of creative practice under a political regime known for its authoritarianism and violent excesses. Guinea’s socialist state, which was in power from 1958 to 1984, used staged African dance or “ballet” strategically as a political tool, in part by tapping into indigenous conceptualizations of artisans as powerful figures capable of transforming the social fabric through their manipulation of vital energy. Far from dying with the socialist revolution, Guinean ballet continued to thrive in Conakry after economic liberalization in the 1980s, with its connection to transformative power retrofitted for a market economy and a rapidly expanding city. Infinite Repertoire follows young dancers and percussionists in Conakry as they invest in the present—using their bodies to build a creative urban environment and to perform and redefine social norms and political subjectivities passed down from the socialist generation before them. Cohen’s inventive ethnography weaves the political with the aesthetic, placing dance at the center of a story about dramatic political change and youthful resourcefulness in one of the least-studied cities on the African continent.
Infinite Repertoire: On Dance and Urban Possibility in Postsocialist Guinea
by Adrienne J. CohenIn Guinea’s capital city of Conakry, dance is everywhere. Most neighborhoods boast at least one dance troupe, and members of those troupes animate the city’s major rites of passage and social events. In Infinite Repertoire, Adrienne Cohen shows how dance became such a prominent—even infrastructural—feature of city life in Guinea, and tells a surprising story of the rise of creative practice under a political regime known for its authoritarianism and violent excesses. Guinea’s socialist state, which was in power from 1958 to 1984, used staged African dance or “ballet” strategically as a political tool, in part by tapping into indigenous conceptualizations of artisans as powerful figures capable of transforming the social fabric through their manipulation of vital energy. Far from dying with the socialist revolution, Guinean ballet continued to thrive in Conakry after economic liberalization in the 1980s, with its connection to transformative power retrofitted for a market economy and a rapidly expanding city. Infinite Repertoire follows young dancers and percussionists in Conakry as they invest in the present—using their bodies to build a creative urban environment and to perform and redefine social norms and political subjectivities passed down from the socialist generation before them. Cohen’s inventive ethnography weaves the political with the aesthetic, placing dance at the center of a story about dramatic political change and youthful resourcefulness in one of the least-studied cities on the African continent.
The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look at a Shallow Year
by Andy CohenA year in the whirlwind life of the beloved pop icon Andy Cohen, in his own cheeky, candid, and irreverent words<P> As a TV Producer and host of the smash late night show Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen has a front row seat to an exciting world not many get to see. In this dishy, detailed diary of one year in his life, Andy goes out on the town, drops names, hosts a ton of shows, becomes codependent with Real Housewives, makes trouble, calls his mom, drops some more names, and, while searching for love, finds it with a dog. We learn everything from which celebrity peed in her WWHL dressing room to which Housewives are causing trouble and how. Nothing is off limits – including dating. We see Andy at home and with close friends and family (including his beloved and unforgettable mom). Throughout, Andy tells us not only what goes down, but exactly what he thinks about it. Inspired by the diaries of another celebrity-obsessed Andy (Warhol), this honest, irreverent, and laugh-out-loud funny book is a one-of-a-kind account of the whos and whats of pop culture in the 21st century.
The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up
by Andy CohenThe Instant New York Times Bestseller!New York Times bestselling author Andy Cohen goes from bottle service to baby bottles in a hilarious, heartwarming, and name-dropping account of the most important year of his life.Andy Cohen has taken on the most important job of his life—father— and boy (and girl!) does he have a lot to say about it!One of Andy Cohen’s most momentous years starts off with a hangover the morning after an epic New Year’s Eve broadcast. But Andy doesn’t have time to dwell on the drama, as his role as media mogul is now matched with the responsibilities, joys, and growing pains of parenthood.This fast-paced, mile-a-minute look behind the scenes of living the so-called glamorous life in Manhattan now takes firm aim at life at home. With a three-year-old son, Ben, and a daughter, Lucy, born in May, stories of late-night parties are replaced by early mornings with Ben, drama at the play-ground, and the musings of a single dad trying to navigate having it all. All this is set against the backdrop of constant Housewives drama, hijinks behind the scenes at Watch What Happens Live, a revolving door of famous faces, and a worried mother (and newly minted grandmother) in St. Louis.Buckle up, bottle up, and get ready for a laugh-out-loud and surprisingly poignant look at the ways in which family changes everything and the superficial gets very real. Watch what happens!
Glitter Every Day: 365 Quotes from Women I Love
by Andy CohenThe Instant New York Times BestsellerFrom Andy Cohen, the New York Times bestselling author and host of Watch What Happens Live comes an inspiring collection of daily quotes from the larger-than-life women that defined his life, offering inspiration, affirmation, and (just enough) intoxication to make any day shine bright – the perfect gift for the holidays! Andy Cohen has made a career, and a life, out of making the ordinary extraordinary. The inspiration for this fabulous view of the world has always come from the incredible women (from his mother to Madonna) he loves. In Glitter Every Day Andy shares his most needed words of wisdom from his favorite icons for every day, just in time to kick off the new year!Andy not only gathers 365 sayings and quotes from the icons, thought leaders, Real Housewives and legendary celebs that fuel his fun, he writes about the people and experiences that have made him live one of the most joyous lives that any little boy growing up in St. Louis could dream of so that you can, too. And like Andy himself, Glitter Every Day is irresistible, infusing your day with a laugh, a pep talk and a shot(ski) of fun.So pour a drink, put on your heels, and always remember to let yourself shine.
Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture
by Andy CohenIn a witty, no-holds-barred style, Cohen tells tales of absurd network-news mishaps, hilarious encounters with the heroines of his youth, and the real stories behind the "Real Housewives."
Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries
by Andy CohenThe star-studded and sidesplitting follow up to The Andy Cohen Diaries<P><P> The megapopular host of Watch What Happens: Live and executive producer of The Real Housewives franchise is back, better than ever, and telling stories that will keep his publicist up at night.<P> Since the publication of his last book, Andy has toured the country with his sidekick Anderson Cooper, hit the radio waves with his own Sirius station, Radio Andy, appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher despite his mother’s conviction he was not intellectually prepared, hosted NBC’s Primetime New Year’s Eve special, guest edited Entertainment Weekly, starred in Bravo’s Then & Now with Andy Cohen, offended celebrities with his ongoing case of foot-in-mouth disease, and welcomed home Teresa “Namaste” Giudice, from a brief stint in jail. Hopping from the Hamptons to the Manhattan dating world, the dog park to the red carpet, Cardinals superfan and mama’s boy Andy Cohen, with Wacha in tow, is the kind of star that fans are dying to be friends with. This book gives them that chance.<P> If The Andy Cohen Diaries was deemed “the literary equivalent of a Fresca and tequila” by Jimmy Fallon, Superficial is a double: dishier, juicier, and friskier. In this account of his escapades―personal, professional, and behind-the-scenes―Andy tells us not only what goes down, but exactly what he thinks of it.
Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries
by Andy CohenThe megapopular host of Watch What Happens: Live and executive producer of The Real Housewives franchise is back, better than ever, and telling stories that will keep his publicist up at night. Since the publication of his last book, Andy has toured the country with his sidekick Anderson Cooper, hit the radio waves with his own Sirius station, Radio Andy, appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher despite his mother’s conviction he was not intellectually prepared, hosted NBC’s Primetime New Year’s Eve special, guest edited Entertainment Weekly, starred in Bravo’s Then & Now with Andy Cohen, offended celebrities with his ongoing case of foot-in-mouth disease, and welcomed home Teresa “Namaste” Giudice, from a brief stint in jail. Hopping from the Hamptons to the Manhattan dating world, the dog park to the red carpet, Cardinals superfan and mama’s boy Andy Cohen, with Wacha in tow, is the kind of star that fans are dying to be friends with. This book gives them that chance.
William & Catherine: Their Romance and Royal Wedding in Photographs
by David Elliot CohenExperience the fairytale romance and historic wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales in this volume of more than 200 spectacular photographs.Few events capture the worlds heart and imagination like a British royal wedding. Through more than two hundred photographs—including 80 pages of their wedding alone—William & Catherine recounts the couple’s wildly different childhoods, their romance and engagement, the events leading up to the wedding, and the grand affair itself.Here are the massive crowds lining the parade route, the sparkling celebrities at Westminster Abbey, the brides spectacular gown, “The Kisses” on the Buckingham Palace balcony, and the worldwide celebrations. Also included is a brief pictorial history of British royal weddings from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840 to Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981. With informative and fascinating captions, as well as a foreword by renowned royal watcher Robert Jobson, this book magnificently illustrates the pomp, the pageantry, the history and enchantment of the romance that charmed the world.
Screen Plays: How 25 Scripts Made It to a Theater Near You--for Better or Worse
by David S. CohenIn this fascinating survey of contemporary screen craft, David Cohen of Script and Variety magazines leads readers down the long and harrowing road every screenplay takes from idea to script to screen. In interviews with Hollywood screenwriters from across the board-Oscar winners and novices alike-Cohen explores what sets apart the blockbuster successes from the downright disasters. Tracing the fortunes of twenty-five films, including Troy, Erin Brockovich, Lost in Translation, and The Aviator, Cohen offers insider access to back lots and boardrooms, to studio heads, directors, and to the over-caffeinated screenwriters themselves. As the story of each film evolves from the drawing board to the big screen, Cohen proves that how a script is written, sold, developed, and filmed can be just as dramatic and intriguing as the movie itself-especially when the resulting movie is a fiasco. Covering films of all kinds-from tongue-in-cheek romps like John Waters's A Dirty Shame to Oscar winners like Monster's Ball and The Hours-Screen Plays is an anecdote-filled, often inspiring, always revealing look at the alchemy of the movie business. With Cohen as your expert guide, Screen Plays exposes how and why certain films (such as Gladiator) become "tent poles," those runaway successes every studio needs to survive, and others become train wrecks. Full of critical clues on how to sell a script-and avoid seeing it destroyed before the director calls Action!-it's the one book every aspiring screenwriter will find irresistible.
Investing in Movies: Strategies for Investors and Producers
by Joseph N. CohenInvesting in Movies: Strategies for Investors and Producers is a useful guide for investors and producers looking for an analytical framework to assess the opportunities and pitfalls of film investments. The book traces macroeconomic trends and the globalization of the business, as well as the impact these have on potential returns. It offers a broad range of guidelines on how to source interesting projects and advice on what kinds of projects to avoid, as well as numerous ways to maximize risk-adjusted returns. While focusing primarily on investments in independent films, industry veteran and author Joseph Cohen also provides valuable insights into the studio and independent slate deals that have been marketed to the institutional investment community. Features of this book include: A guide to the minefield of film investing for the potential investor, giving students and aspiring professionals an insider perspective; A detailed explanation of the risk and rewards inherent in the film business and how to evaluate projects; Thorough coverage of the cast of characters that populate the film space, and advice on building relationships to optimize opportunities.
Investing in Movies: Strategies for Investors and Producers (American Film Market Presents)
by Joseph N. CohenIn this second edition of Investing in Movies, industry veteran Joseph N. Cohen provides investors and producers with an analytical framework to assess the opportunities and pitfalls of film investments. The book traces macroeconomic trends and the globalization of the business, including the rise of streamers, as well as the impact these have on potential returns. It offers a broad range of guidelines on how to source interesting projects and advice on what kinds of projects to avoid, as well as numerous ways to maximize risk-adjusted returns. While focusing primarily on investments in independent films, Cohen also provides valuable insights into the studio and independent slate deals that have been marketed to the institutional investment community. As well, this new edition has been updated to fully optimize the current film industry climate including brand new chapters on the Chinese film market, new media/streaming services, and the effects of COVID-19 on the global film market. Written in a detailed and approachable manner, this book is essential for students and aspiring professionals looking to gain an insider perspective against the minefield of film investing.
Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs
by Leonard CohenThe selected work of the legendary singer, poet, and performer. Stranger Music presents a magnificent cross-section of Cohen's work--including 11 previously unpublished poems--and demonstrates definitively that Cohen is a writer of dazzling intelligence and a force that transcends genres.
The Lee Strasberg Notes
by Lola CohenThe Lee Strasberg Notes reproduces the original teachings of a unique voice in actor training, for the very first time. It is a stunning document in the history and ongoing practice of Strasberg’s Method. Compiled and edited by Lola Cohen, the book is based on unpublished transcripts of Strasberg’s own classes on acting, directing and Shakespeare. It recreates his theoretical approach, as well as the practical exercises used by his students, and brilliantly conveys his approach and personality. The book features Strasberg’s teachings on: • Training and exercises • Characters and scenes • Directing and the Method • Shakespeare and Stanislavski • The theater, acting and actors. Including a Preface by Anna Strasberg and a Foreword by Martin Sheen, this illuminating book brings the reader closer to Strasberg’s own methods than any other, making it a phenomenal resource for students, actors, and directors.
The Method Acting Exercises Handbook
by Lola CohenThe Method Acting Exercises Handbook is a concise and practical guide to the acting exercises originally devised by Lee Strasberg, one of the Method's foremost practitioners. The Method trains the imagination, concentration, senses and emotions to ‘re-create’ – not ‘imitate’ – logical, believable and truthful behavior on stage and in film. Building on nearly 30 years of teaching internationally and at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York and Los Angeles, Lola Cohen details a series of specific exercises in order to provide clear instruction and guidance to this preeminent form of actor training. By integrating Strasberg's voice with her own tried and tested style of teaching, Cohen demonstrates what can be gained from the exercises, how they can inform and inspire your learning, and how they might be applied to your acting and directing practice. As a companion to The Lee Strasberg Notes (Routledge 2010), a transcription of Strasberg's own teaching, The Method Acting Exercises Handbook offers an unparalleled and updated guide to this world renowned technique.
The Underwater Eye: How the Movie Camera Opened the Depths and Unleashed New Realms of Fantasy
by Margaret CohenA rich history of underwater filmmaking and how it has profoundly influenced the aesthetics of movies and public perception of the oceansIn The Underwater Eye, Margaret Cohen tells the fascinating story of how the development of modern diving equipment and movie camera technology has allowed documentary and narrative filmmakers to take human vision into the depths, creating new imagery of the seas and the underwater realm, and expanding the scope of popular imagination. Innovating on the most challenging film set on earth, filmmakers have tapped the emotional power of the underwater environment to forge new visions of horror, tragedy, adventure, beauty, and surrealism, entertaining the public and shaping its perception of ocean reality.Examining works by filmmakers ranging from J. E. Williamson, inventor of the first undersea film technology in 1914, to Wes Anderson, who filmed the underwater scenes of his 2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou entirely in a pool, The Underwater Eye traces how the radically alien qualities of underwater optics have shaped liquid fantasies for more than a century. Richly illustrated, the book explores documentaries by Jacques Cousteau, Louis Malle, and Hans Hass, art films by Man Ray and Jean Vigo, and popular movies and television shows such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Sea Hunt, the Bond films, Jaws, The Abyss, and Titanic. In exploring the cultural impact of underwater filmmaking, the book also asks compelling questions about the role film plays in engaging the public with the remote ocean, a frontline of climate change.
Performing Otherness
by Matthew Isaac CohenA far-reaching examination of exoticism, cultural internationalism and modernism's encounters with Indonesian tradition, Performing Otherness examines how Indonesia entered world stages through imperialism as an antimodern phantasm and through nationalism became a means of intercultural communication and cultural diplomacy.
All These Things That I've Done: My Insane, Improbable Rock Life
by Mitchell Cohen Matt Pinfield"The most trusted opinion in rock music" (Billy Corgan, The Smashing Pumpkins), Matt Pinfield offers the ultimate music fan's memoir, a chronicle of the songs and artists that inspired his improbable career alongside some of the all-time greats, from The Beatles to KISS to U2 to The Killers.Matt Pinfield is the ultimate music fan. He's the guy who knows every song, artist, and musical riff ever recorded, down to the most obscure band's B-side single on its vinyl-only EP import. As a child, music helped Pinfield make sense of the world. Later, as a teenager, Pinfield would approach his music idols after concerts and explain why he loved their music. As an adult, rock music inspired his career, fueled relationships, and, at times, became a life raft. In this expansive, no-holds-barred memoir Pinfield traces his lifelong music obsession--from the heavy metal that infused his teenage years, to his first encounters with legends like Lou Reed and The Ramones and how, through his post-MTV years, he played a major role in bringing nineties alt rock mainstream. Over his long career Pinfield has interviewed everyone from Paul McCartney to Nirvana to Jay-Z, earning the trust and admiration of artists and fans alike. Now, for the first time, Pinfield shares his five decades of stories from the front lines of rock and roll, exploring how, with nothing more than passion and moxy, he became a sought-after reporter, unlikely celebrity, and the last word in popular music. Featuring a rousing collection of best-of lists, favorite tracks, and artist profiles, All These Things That I've Done explains how a born outsider wound up in the inner circle.
Britney: A Life in Music (Want to know More about Rock & Pop?)
by Nadia CohenFree Britney became the clarion call for a generation of super-fans. Now read her whole story.It&’s the smile, it&’s the struggle, Britney is a teen sensation. Over 20 years in the bright lights of fame, the harsh glare of public adoration and the ever-present danger of sliding into the mocking pens of jealous critics but still she carries on. Somehow she has survived the Michael Jackson effect of early success and now commands the respect of a new generation of teens. Since 2004, she has released numerous fragrances, adding up to over 1.5 billion (yes, billion) in perfume sales and the director&’s cut version of her 'Womanizer' video is her most-watched video on YouTube, with 330 million views and counting. From Glee to X-factor, Britney is a fabulous, popular and enduring star with everyday qualities that make her fans love her and her music more and more as the years go by.
Soldiers, Rebels, and Drifters: Gay Representation in Israeli Cinema
by Nir CohenA cultural history of gay filmmaking in Israel that explores its role in the rise of gay consciousness over the past three decades.
She Made Me Laugh: My Friend Nora Ephron
by Richard CohenNora Ephron, one of the most famous writers, film makers, and personalities of her time is captured by her long-time and dear friend in a hilarious, blunt, raucous, and poignant recollection of their decades-long friendship.Nora Ephron (1941-2012) was a phenomenal personality, journalist, essayist, novelist, playwright, Oscar-nominated screenwriter, and movie director (Sleepless in Seattle; You've Got Mail; When Harry Met Sally; Heartburn; Julie & Julia). She wrote a slew of bestsellers (I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman; I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections; Scribble, Scribble: Notes on the Media; Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women). She was celebrated by Hollywood, embraced by literary New York, and adored by legions of fans throughout the world. Award-winning journalist Richard Cohen, wrote this about his "third-person memoir": "I call this book a third-person memoir. It is about my closest friend, Nora Ephron, and the lives we lived together and how her life got to be bigger until, finally, she wrote her last work, the play, Lucky Guy, about a newspaper columnist dying of cancer while she herself was dying of cancer. I have interviewed many of her other friends--Mike Nichols, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Arianna Huffington--but the book is not a name-dropping star turn, but an attempt to capture a remarkable woman who meant so much to so many other women."
Acting One (4th edition)
by Robert CohenUsed to teach beginning acting on more campuses than any other text, Acting One contains twenty-eight lessons based on experiential exercises. The text covers basic skills such as talking, listening, tactical interplay, physicalizing, building scenes, and making good choices.
Acting Power: The 21st Century Edition
by Robert Cohen‘Robert Cohen’s book, Acting Power, follows the tradition of his other book, Acting One, and has been the veritable bible for acting teachers for the last quarter century.’ – David Krasner, Emerson College ‘This book, above all else, is an attempt to explore the qualities of acting power.... to suggest to you, the actor, an approach toward not merely good acting but powerful acting. Great actors display the power to frighten – and the power to seduce – and can shift between the one and the other like a violinist can her notes.’ – From the Preface The first edition of Acting Power was a groundbreaking work of acting theory which applied sociological and psychological principles to actor training. The book went on to influence a generation of theatre and performance studies students and academics, and was translated into five languages. This carefully revised 21st Century Edition (re)considers, in the context of today’s field: questions such as ‘should actors act from the inside or the outside?’ and ‘should the actor live the role or present the role?’; contemporary research into communication theory, cybernetics, and cognitive science; brilliantly illuminating and witty exercises for solo study and classroom use, and a through-line of useful references to classic plays; penetrating observations about the actor’s art by more than 75 distinguished professional actors and directors. Cohen’s elegant and rigorous updates emphasise the continuing relevance of his uniquely integrated and life-affirming approach to this field. The new edition draws on his extraordinarily rich career as teacher, scholar, director, translator and dramaturg. It is a recipe for thrilling theatre in any genre.