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Steve Mcqueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon
by Marshall Terrill Peter O. WhitmerSteve McQueen takes us on a journey as his harrowing and painful childhood is laid bare, through his glittering career, and right up to his heroic battle with cancer and dramatic death in Mexico. It chronicles the good with the ugly, revealing the great power McQueen wielded. It features numerous behind-the-scenes stories from some of his cinema's greatest films, including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, and Papillon. The book's triumph is the way in which the author explores McQueen in full through his larger-than-life exploits but as important, the lesser known, humanitarian side of the Hollywood legend. It also captures the fundamental essence of what made McQueen cinema's grave King of Cool.
Steven Soderbergh (Contemporary Film Directors)
by Aaron BakerSteven Soderbergh's feature films present a diverse range of subject matter and formal styles: from the self-absorption of his breakthrough hit Sex, Lies, and Videotape to populist social problem films such as Erin Brockovich, and from the modernist discontinuity of Full Frontal and filmed performance art of Gray's Anatomy to a glossy, star-studded action blockbuster such as Ocean's Eleven. Using a combination of realism and expressive stylization of character subjectivity, Soderbergh's films diverge from the contemporary Hollywood mainstream through the statements they offer on issues including political repression, illegal drugs, violence, environmental degradation, the empowering and controlling potential of digital technology, and economic inequality. Arguing that Soderbergh practices an eclectic type of moviemaking indebted both to the European art cinema and the Hollywood genre film, Aaron Baker charts the common thematic and formal patterns present across Soderbergh's oeuvre. Almost every movie centers on an alienated main character, and Soderbergh has repeatedly emphasized place as a major factor in his narratives. Formally, he represents the unconventional thinking of his outsider protagonists through a discontinuous editing style. Including detailed analyses of major films as well as two interviews with the director, this volume illustrates Soderbergh's hybrid flexibility in bringing an independent aesthetic to wide audiences.
Steven Soderbergh: Interviews, Revised and Updated (Conversations with Filmmakers Series)
by Anthony KaufmanThe long and prolific career of Steven Soderbergh (b. 1963) defies easy categorization. From his breakout beginnings in 1989 with sex, lies, and videotape to 2013, when he retired from big-screen studio movie making to focus on other pursuits including television, the director's output resembles nothing less than an elaborate experiment. Soderbergh's Hollywood vehicles such as the Ocean's Eleven movies, Contagion, and Magic Mike appear just as risky and outside-the-box as low-budget exercises such as Schizopolis, Bubble, and The Girlfriend Experience. This updated edition details key career moments: his creative crisis surrounding his fourth film, The Underneath; his rejuvenation with the ultra-low-budget free-style Schizopolis; the mainstream achievements Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the Ocean's Eleven films; and his continuing dedication to pushing his craft forward with films as diverse as conspiracy thrillers, sexy dramas, and biopics on Che Guevara and Liberace. Spanning twenty-five years, these conversations reveal Soderbergh to be as self-effacing and lighthearted in his later more established years as he was when just beginning to make movies. He comes across as a man undaunted by the glitz and power of Hollywood, remaining, above all, a truly independent filmmaker unafraid to get his hands dirty and pick up the camera himself.
Steven Spielberg All the Films: The Story Behind Every Movie, Episode, and Short
by Olivier Bousquet Arnaud Devillard Nicolas SchallerA first-of-its-kind deep dive into Steven Spielberg's decades-long career, covering everything from early short films and television episodes to each of his more than 30 feature length-films. Organized chronologically and covering every short film, television episode, and blockbuster movie that Steven Spielberg has ever directed, Steven Spielberg All the Films draws upon years of research to tell the behind-the-scenes stories of how each project was conceived, cast, and produced; from the creation of the costumes to the search for perfect locations; details about Spielberg's work with longtime collaborators like George Lucas, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and composer John Williams; and of course, the direction of some of Hollywood's most memorable scenes. Spanning more than fifty years, this book details the creative processes that resulted in numerous classic films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, The Color Purple, Schindler's List, and Saving Private Ryan (to name just a few). Newer work like Lincoln, The Post, and The Fabelmans is also featured alongside awards stats, original release dates, box office totals, casting details, and other insider scoops that will keep fans turning pages. Celebrating one of cinema's most iconic artists, Steven Spielberg All the Films is the authoritative guide to the man who invented the Hollywood blockbuster.
Steven Spielberg and Philosophy: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Book
by Dean A. KowalskiHas any film director had a greater impact on popular culture than Steven Spielberg? Whether filming Holocaust heroes and villains, soldiers, dinosaurs, extraterrestrials, or explorers in search of the Holy Grail, Spielberg has given filmgoers some of the most memorable characters and wrenching moments in the history of cinema. Whatever his subject -- war, cloning, slavery, terrorism, or adventure -- all of Spielberg's films have one aspect in common: a unique view of the moral fabric of humanity. Dean A. Kowalski's Steven Spielberg and Philosophy is like a remarkable conversation after a night at the movie theater, offering new insights and unexpected observations about the director's most admired films. Some of the nation's most respected philosophers investigate Spielberg's art, asking fundamental questions about the nature of humanity, cinema, and Spielberg's expression of his chosen themes. Applying various philosophical principles to the movies, the book explores such topics as the moral demands of parenthood in War of the Worlds; the ultimate unknowability of the "other" in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Schindler's List; the relationship between nature and morality in Jurassic Park; the notion of consciousness in A. I. : Artificial Intelligence; issues of war theory and ethics in Munich; and the foundation of human rights in Amistad. Impressive in scope, this volume illustrates the philosophical tenets of a wide variety of thinkers from Plato to Aquinas, Locke, and Levinas. Contributors introduce readers to philosophy while simultaneously providing deeper insight into Spielberg's approach to filmmaking. The essays consider Spielberg's movies using key philosophical cornerstones: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, axiology, aesthetics, and political philosophy, among others. At the same time, Steven Spielberg and Philosophy is accessible to those new to philosophy, using the philosophical platform to ponder larger issues embedded in film and asking fundamental questions about the nature of cinema and how meanings are negotiated. The authors contend that movies do not present philosophy -- rather philosophy is something viewers do while watching and thinking about films. Using Spielberg's films as a platform for discussing these concepts, the authors contemplate questions that genuinely surprise the reader, offering penetrating insights that will be welcomed by film critics, philosophers, and fans alike.
Steven Spielberg and Philosophy: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Book (The Philosophy of Popular Culture #Ppcs)
by Dean A. Kowalski&“This lively collection of essays on the ideas underpinning his films enriches and enlarges our understanding of Spielberg&’s complex body of work.&” —Joseph McBride, author of Steven Spielberg: A Biography Few directors have had as powerful an influence on the film industry and the movie-going public as Steven Spielberg. Whatever the subject—dinosaurs, war, extra-terrestrials, slavery, the Holocaust, or terrorism—one clear and consistent touchstone is present in all of Spielberg&’s films: an interest in the human condition. In movies ranging from Jaws to Schindler&’s List to Amistad to Jurassic Park, he has brought to life some of the most popular heroes—and most despised villains—of all time. In Steven Spielberg and Philosophy, Dean A. Kowalski and some of the nation&’s most respected philosophers investigate Spielberg&’s art to illuminate the nature of humanity. The book explores rich themes such as cinematic realism, fictional belief, terrorism, family ethics, consciousness, virtue and moral character, human rights, and religion in Spielberg&’s work. Avid moviegoers and deep thinkers will discover plenty to enjoy in this collection.
Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films
by Molly HaskellA film-centric portrait of the extraordinarily gifted movie director whose decades-long influence on American popular culture is unprecedented “Everything about me is in my films,” Steven Spielberg has said. Taking this as a key to understanding the hugely successful moviemaker, Molly Haskell explores the full range of Spielberg’s works for the light they shine upon the man himself. Through such powerhouse hits as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Jurassic Park, and Indiana Jones, to lesser-known masterworks like A.I. and Empire of the Sun, to the haunting Schindler’s List, Haskell shows how Spielberg’s uniquely evocative filmmaking and story-telling reveal the many ways in which his life, work, and times are entwined. Organizing chapters around specific films, the distinguished critic discusses how Spielberg’s childhood in non-Jewish suburbs, his parents’ traumatic divorce, his return to Judaism upon his son’s birth, and other events echo in his work. She offers a brilliant portrait of the extraordinary director—a fearful boy living through his imagination who grew into a man whose openness, generosity of spirit, and creativity have enchanted audiences for more than 40 years.
Steven Spielberg: A Little Golden Book Biography (Little Golden Book)
by Geof SmithDream big with a Little Golden Book biography about Hollywood's most famous director Steven Spielberg. It's the perfect introduction to nonfiction for young readers—as well as fans of all ages!This Little Golden Book about Steven Spielberg—the Academy Award-winning director of iconic films such as Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and the Indiana Jones original film trilogy—is an inspiring read-aloud for young children and fans of any age.Look for more Little Golden Book biographies:Betty WhiteDwanye JohnsonOprah WinfreyCarol BurnettJulie Andrews
Steven Spielberg: Interviews, Revised and Updated (Conversations with Filmmakers Series)
by Steven SpielbergMore than four decades after the premiere of his first film, Steven Spielberg (b. 1946) continues to be a household name whose influence on popular culture extends far beyond the movie screen. Now in his seventies, Spielberg shows no intention of retiring from directing or even slowing down. Since the publication of Steven Spielberg: Interviews in 2000, the filmmaker has crafted some of the most complex movies of his extensive career. His new movies consistently reinvigorate entrenched genres, adding density and depth. Many of the defining characters, motifs, tropes, and themes that emerge in Spielberg’s earliest movies shape these later works as well, but often in new configurations that probe deeper into more complicated subjects—dangerous technology rather than man-eating sharks, homicidal rather than cuddly aliens, lethal terrorism instead of rampaging dinosaurs. Spielberg's movies continue to display a remarkably sophisticated level of artistry that matches, and sometimes exceeds, the memorable visual hallmarks of his prior work. His latest series of films continue to demonstrate an ongoing intellectual restlessness and a willingness to challenge himself as a creative artist. With this new collection of interviews, which includes eleven original interviews from the 2000 edition and nine new interviews, readers will recognize the themes that motivate Spielberg, the cinematic techniques he employs to create his feature films, and the emotional connection he has to his movies. The result is a nuanced and engaging portrait of the most popular director in American cinema history.
Stick With Me
by Jennifer BlecherAn ice skater without a rink. An artist without a place to draw. Two misfit girls who become unlikely friends over the course of an unusual week. Readers of Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Rebecca Stead, and Lisa Graff will adore Stick with Me.Izzy’s best friend seems to be ditching her for the Queen of Mean, Daphne Toll. Izzy wants to fit in and have some real friends, but all she really has are her drawings. And then her family rents out their house during winter break for some extra cash—and that family’s daughter is sleeping in Izzy’s room and attending the same camp!Wren is focused on perfecting her ice-skating routine after tanking at sectionals last year. But when her sister qualifies for a life-changing treatment for her epilepsy, Wren is carted off to stay in a rented home near Boston. It doesn’t help that she’s forced to attend the local theater camp, where it seems like the mean girls have it out for her.Will Izzy and Wren’s shared status as targets of Phoebe and Daphne bring them closer? Or will middle school drama prevent them from ever becoming friends?Jennifer Blecher, the author of the acclaimed Out of Place, writes with a pitch-perfect ear for tween girls about the ups and downs of middle school friendships. Told from dual perspectives, Stick with Me is a story about fitting in and figuring yourself out.
Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine
by Joe HaganThe first and only biography of Jann Wenner, the iconic founder of Rolling Stone magazine, and a romp through the hothouses of rock and roll, politics, media, and Hollywood, from the Summer of Love to the Internet age.Lennon. Dylan. Jagger. Belushi. Leibovitz. The story of Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone's founder, editor, and publisher, is an insider's trip through the backstages of storied concert venues, rock-star hotel rooms, and the political ups and downs of the latter half of the Twentieth Century, right up through the digital age: connecting the counterculture of Haight Ashbury to the "straight world." Supplemented by a cache of extraordinary documents and letters from Wenner's personal archives, Sticky Fingers is the story of a mercurial, wide-eyed rock and roll fan of ambiguous sexuality but unambiguous ambition who reinvents youth culture, marketing the libertine world of the late sixties counterculture in a stylish, glossy package that would stand for decades as a testament to the cultural power of American youth. Joe Hagan captures in stunning detail the extraordinary lives constellated around a magazine that began as a scrappy rebellion and became a locus of power, influence, and access--using hundreds of hours of reporting and exclusive interviews. The result is a fascinating and complex portrait of Jann Wenner that is also a biography of popular culture, celebrity, music, and politics in America over the last fifty years.
Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine
by Joe HaganThe first and only biography of Jann Wenner, the iconic founder of Rolling Stone magazine, and a romp through the hothouses of rock and roll, politics, media, and Hollywood, from the Summer of Love to the Internet age.Lennon. Dylan. Jagger. Belushi. Leibovitz. The story of Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone's founder, editor, and publisher, is an insider's trip through the backstages of storied concert venues, rock-star hotel rooms, and the political ups and downs of the latter half of the Twentieth Century, right up through the digital age: connecting the counterculture of Haight Ashbury to the "straight world." Supplemented by a cache of extraordinary documents and letters from Wenner's personal archives, Sticky Fingers is the story of a mercurial, wide-eyed rock and roll fan of ambiguous sexuality but unambiguous ambition who reinvents youth culture, marketing the libertine world of the late sixties counterculture in a stylish, glossy package that would stand for decades as a testament to the cultural power of American youth. Joe Hagan captures in stunning detail the extraordinary lives constellated around a magazine that began as a scrappy rebellion and became a locus of power, influence, and access--using hundreds of hours of reporting and exclusive interviews. The result is a fascinating and complex portrait of Jann Wenner that is also a biography of popular culture, celebrity, music, and politics in America over the last fifty years.
Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine
by Joe HaganA delicious romp through the heyday of rock and roll and a revealing portrait of the man at the helm of the iconic magazine that made it all possible, with candid look backs at the era from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elton John, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and others. The story of Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone's founder, editor, and publisher, and the pioneering era he helped curate, is told here for the first time in glittering, glorious detail. Joe Hagan provides readers with a backstage pass to storied concert venues and rock-star hotel rooms; he tells never before heard stories about the lives of rock stars and their handlers; he details the daring journalism (Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, P.J. O’Rourke) and internecine office politics that accompanied the start-up; he animates the drug and sexual appetites of the era; and he reports on the politics of the last fifty years that were often chronicled in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine. Supplemented by a cache of extraordinary documents and letters from Wenner's personal archives, Sticky Fingers depicts an ambitious, mercurial, wide-eyed rock and roll fan of who exalts in youth and beauty and learns how to package it, marketing late sixties counterculture as a testament to the power of American youth. The result is a fascinating and complex portrait of man and era, and an irresistible biography of popular culture, celebrity, music, and politics in America.
Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy
by Steven PeacockUniquely placed to explore the worldwide phenomenon of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy beginning with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the book offers the first full-length study of Larsson's work in both its written and filmed forms.
Still Alive: A Wild Life of Rediscovery
by Forrest GalanteThrilling adventures in wildlife conservation from &“the Indiana Jones of Biology&” (Entrepreneur)Very few individuals can truthfully say that their work impacts every person on earth. Forrest Galante is one of them. As a wildlife biologist and conservationist, Galante devotes his life to studying, rediscovering, and protecting our planet&’s amazing lifeforms. Part memoir, part biological adventure, Still Alive celebrates the beauty and determined resiliency of our world, as well as the brave conservationists fighting to save it. In his debut book, Galante takes readers on an exhilarating journey to the most remote and dangerous corners of the world. He recounts miraculous rediscoveries of species that were thought to be extinct and invites readers into his wild life: from his upbringing amidst civil unrest in Zimbabwe to his many globetrotting adventures, including suspenseful run-ins with drug cartels, witch doctors, and vengeful government officials. He shares all of the life-threatening bites, fights, falls, and jungle illnesses. He also investigates the connection between wildlife mistreatment and human safety, particularly in relation to COVID-19. Still Alive is much more than just a can&’t-put-down adventure story bursting with man-eating crocodiles, long-forgotten species rediscovered, and near-death experiences. It is an impassioned, informative, and undeniably inspiring examination of the importance of wildlife conservation today and how every individual can make a difference.
Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys?
by Billy Crystal<P>Hilarious and heartfelt observations on aging from one of America's favorite comedians as he turns 65, and a look back at a remarkable career in this New York Times bestseller. <P>Billy Crystal is turning 65, and he's not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like "Buying the Plot" and "Nodding Off," Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life, from entertaining his relatives as a kid in Long Beach, Long Island, his years doing stand-up in the Village, up through his legendary stint at Saturday Night Live, When Harry Met Sally, and his long run as host of the Academy Awards. Readers get a front-row seat to his one-day career with the New York Yankees (he was the first player to ever "test positive for Maalox"), his love affair with Sophia Loren, and his enduring friendships with several of his idols, including Mickey Mantle and Muhammad Ali. He lends a light touch to more serious topics like religion ("the aging friends I know have turned to the Holy Trinity: Advil, bourbon, and Prozac"), grandparenting, and, of course, dentistry. As wise and poignant as they are funny, Crystal's reflections are an unforgettable look at an extraordinary life well lived.
Still Foolin' 'em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, And Where The Hell Are My Keys?
by Billy CrystalHilarious and heartfelt observations on aging from one of America's favorite comedians as he turns 65, and a look back at a remarkable career Billy Crystal is turning 65, and he's not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like "Buying the Plot" and "Nodding Off," Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life, from entertaining his relatives as a kid in Long Beach, Long Island, his years doing stand-up in the Village, up through his legendary stint at Saturday Night Live, When Harry Met Sally, and his long run as host of the Academy Awards. Readers get a front-row seat to his one-day career with the New York Yankees (he was the first player to ever "test positive for Maalox"), his love affair with Sophia Loren, and his enduring friendships with several of his idols, including Mickey Mantle and Muhammad Ali. He lends a light touch to more serious topics like religion ("the aging friends I know have turned to the Holy Trinity: Advil, bourbon, and Prozac"), grandparenting, and, of course, dentistry. As wise and poignant as they are funny, Crystal's reflections are an unforgettable look at an extraordinary life well lived.
Still Friends: 25 Years of the TV Show That Defined an Era
by Saul AusterlitzTwenty-five years on from when it first aired, Still Friends is an entertaining, fascinating and deeply researched behind-the-scenes look at the success of the hit show, Friends, featuring exclusive interviews with the show's creators, cast members and industry insiders. In September 1994, six friends sat down in their favourite coffee shop and began bantering. A quarter of a century later, new fans are still finding their way into the lives of Rachel, Ross, Joey, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe, and thanks to a combination of talented creators, its intimate understanding of its youthful audience, and its reign during network television's last moment of dominance, Friends has become the most influential and beloved show of its era. Noted pop culture historian Saul Austerlitz is here to tell us how it happened. Utilizing exclusive interviews with creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, executive producer Kevin Bright, director James Burrows, and many other producers, writers, and cast members, Still Friends tells the story of Friends' creation, its remarkable decade-long run, and its astonishing Netflix-fuelled afterlife. Readers will learn how the show was developed and cast, written and filmed. They'll be reminded of episodes like the one about the trivia contest, the prom video, and the London trip. And, of course, the saga of Ross and Rachel. They'll also discover surprising details: that Monica and Joey were the show's original romantic couple, how Danielle Steel probably saved Jennifer Aniston's career, and why Friends is still so popular today. On the 25th anniversary of this truly groundbreaking show, it's clear that Friends has a legacy that has endured beyond wildest expectations. And in this hilarious, informative, and entertaining book, readers will now understand why.As published in the US as Generation Friends.
Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela
by Hugh Masekela D. Michael CheersHugh Masekela, a prodigiously talented giant of jazz and world music and one of today's few living world-class artists narrates a magical journey around the world in this epic, music-soaked tale of love, excess, exile, and home. Unfolding against the backbeat of the most revolutionary musical movements of the last forty years and one of the most inspiring political transformations of the twentieth century, this is the utterly engrossing and deeply effecting chronicle of a remarkable, one-of-a-kind life.
Still Here: The Madcap, Nervy, Singular Life of Elaine Stritch
by Alexandra JacobsA New Yorker Favorite Nonfiction Book of the Year: A “genuinely irresistible” biography of Broadway legend Elaine Stritch (Buffalo News).A New York Times Book Review Editors’ ChoiceStill Here is the first full telling of Elaine Stritch’s life. Rollicking but intimate, it tracks one of Broadway’s great personalities from her upbringing in Detroit during the Great Depression to her fateful move to New York City, where she studied alongside Marlon Brando, Bea Arthur, and Harry Belafonte. We accompany Elaine through her jagged rise to fame, to Hollywood and London, and across her later years, when she enjoyed a stunning renaissance, punctuated by a turn on the popular television show 30 Rock. We explore the influential—and often fraught—collaborations she developed with Noël Coward, Tennessee Williams, and above all Stephen Sondheim, as well as her courageous yet flawed attempts to control a serious drinking problem. And we see the entertainer triumphing over personal turmoil with the development of her Tony Award–winning one-woman show, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, which established her as an emblem of spiky independence and Manhattan life for an entirely new generation of admirers.Following years of meticulous research and interviews, Alexandra Jacobs conveys the full force of Stritch’s sardonic wit and brassy charm while acknowledging her many dark complexities—and creates a portrait of a powerful, vulnerable, honest, and humorous star of stage and screen.“Studded with juicy anecdotes.” —The Washington Post“Provides a marvelous trip back in time to a Broadway that’s gone forever . . . compulsively readable.” —The Wall Street Journal“A chronicle of one impossible brilliant actor and the community around her, this biography provides a thoroughly entertaining and vividly drawn picture of show business in the 20th century.” —The New York Times Book ReviewIncludes photographs
Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story
by Tim Stafford Caroline WrightWelcome to the world of guitarist Tony Rice and his music. Some of you are devoted acoustic music lovers who have waited years for this biography. Some of you are casual fans who are curious about Tony Rice. Still others will be completely unfamiliar with our subject and his music. We hope our presentation of Tony's story provides an informative, inspirational and entertaining experience for all.
Still Just a Geek: An Annotated Memoir
by Wil WheatonA New York Times bestseller!Celebrated actor, personality, and all-around nerd, Wil Wheaton updates his memoir of collected blog posts with all new material and annotations as he reexamines one of the most interesting lives in Hollywood and fandom--and now for the first time in audio, narrated by Wil himself!From starring in Stand by Me to playing Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation to playing himself, in his second (third?) iconic role of Evil Wil Wheaton in The Big Bang Theory, to becoming a social media supernova, Wil Wheaton has charted a career course unlike anyone else, and has emerged as one of the most popular and well respected names in science fiction, fantasy and pop culture.Back in 2001, Wil began blogging on wilwheaton.net. Believing himself to have fallen victim to the curse of the child actor, Wil felt relegated to the convention circuit, and didn’t expect many would want to read about his random experiences and personal philosophies.Yet, much to his surprise, people were reading. He still blogs, and now has an enormous following on social media with well over 3 million followers.In Still Just a Geek, Wil revisits his 2004 collection of blog posts, Just a Geek, filled with insightful and often laugh-out-loud annotated comments, additional later writings, and all new material written for this publication. The result is an incredibly raw and honest memoir, in which Wil opens up about his life, about falling in love, about coming to grips with his past work, choices, and family, and finding fulfillment in the new phases of his career. From his times on the Enterprise to his struggles with depression to his starting a family and finding his passion--writing--Wil Wheaton is someone whose life is both a cautionary tale and a story of finding one’s true purpose that should resonate with fans and aspiring artists alike.
Still Life in Real Time: Theory After Television
by Richard DienstTelevision can be imagined in a number of ways: as a profuse flow of images, as a machine that produces new social relationships, as the last lingering gasp of Western metaphysical thinking, as a stuttering relay system of almost anonymous messages, as a fantastic construction of time. Richard Dienst engages each of these possibilities as he explores the challenge television has posed for contemporary theories of culture, technology, and media.Five theoretical projects provide Still Life in Real Time with its framework: the cultural studies tradition of Raymond Williams; Marxist political economy; Heideggerian existentialism; Derridean deconstruction; and a Deleuzian anatomy of images. Drawing lessons from television programs like Twin Peaks and Crime Story, television events like the Gulf War, and television personalities like Madonna, Dienst produces a remarkable range of insights on the character of the medium and on the theories that have been affected by it.From the earliest theorists who viewed television as a new metaphor for a global whole, a liberal technology empty of ideological or any other content, through those who saw it as a tool for consumption, making time a commodity, to those who sense television's threat to being and its intimate relation to power, Dienst exposes the rich pattern of television's influence on philosophy, and hence on the deepest levels of contemporary experience.A book of theory, Still Life in Real Time will compel the attention of all those with an interest in the nature of the ever present, ever shifting medium and its role in the thinking that marks our time.
Still Moving: Between Cinema and Photography
by eds. Karen Beckman Jean MaIn Still Moving noted artists, filmmakers, art historians, and film scholars explore the boundary between cinema and photography. The interconnectedness of the two media has emerged as a critical concern for scholars in the field of cinema studies responding to new media technologies, and for those in the field of art history confronting the ubiquity of film, video, and the projected image in contemporary art practice. Engaging still, moving, and ambiguous images from a wide range of geographical spaces and historical moments, the contributors to this volume address issues of indexicality, medium specificity, and hybridity as they examine how cinema and photography have developed and defined themselves through and against one another. Foregrounding the productive tension between stasis and motion, two terms inherent to cinema and to photography, the contributors trace the shifting contours of the encounter between still and moving images across the realms of narrative and avant-garde film, photography, and installation art. Still Moving suggests that art historians and film scholars must rethink their disciplinary objects and boundaries, and that the question of medium specificity is a necessarily interdisciplinary question. From a variety of perspectives, the contributors take up that challenge, offering new ways to think about what contemporary visual practice is and what it will become. Contributors: George Baker, Rebecca Baron, Karen Beckman, Raymond Bellour, Zoe Beloff,Timothy Corrigan, Nancy Davenport, Atom Egoyan, Rita Gonzalez, Tom Gunning, Louis Kaplan, Jean Ma, Janet Sarbanes, Juan A. Surez
Still Open All Hours: The Story of a Classic Comedy
by Graham McCannFrom its first episode in 1973, Open All Hours was an instant hit. Audiences around Britain loved its familiar setting, good natured humour, and the hilarious partnership of Ronnie Barker and David Jason. Whilst it only ran for 26 episodes, it firmly cemented itself as a British comedy classic.To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the show in 2014, the BBC revived it for a one-off Christmas Special. Still Open All Hours was swamped by a tsunami of audience affection and the BBC promptly commissioned a full series. The first episode of the fifth series is expected to air in late 2014.With recollections from David Jason, his fellow cast members, and from the scriptwriter Roy Clarke, plus never before seen BBC archive material, acclaimed popular TV historian Graham McCann tells the inside story of this very British sitcom, with wit, insight and affection.