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The Studio
by John Gregory DunneIn 1967, John Gregory Dunne asked for unlimited access to the inner workings of Twentieth Century Fox. Miraculously, he got it. For one year Dunne went everywhere there was to go and talked to everyone worth talking to within the studio. He tracked every step of the creation of pictures like "Dr. Dolittle," "Planet of the Apes," and "The Boston Strangler." The result is a work of reportage that, thirty years later, may still be our most minutely observed and therefore most uproariously funny portrait of the motion picture business.Whether he is recounting a showdown between Fox's studio head and two suave shark-like agents, watching a producer's girlfriend steal a silver plate from a restaurant, or shielding his eyes against the glare of a Hollywood premiere where the guests include a chimp in a white tie and tails, Dunne captures his subject in all its showmanship, savvy, vulgarity, and hype. Not since F. Scott Fitzgerald and Nathanael West has anyone done Hollywood better."Reads as racily as a novel...(Dunne) has a novelist's ear for speech and eye for revealing detail...Anyone who has tiptoed along those corridors of power is bound to say that Dunne's impressionism rings true."--Los Angeles Times
The Studios after the Studios: Neoclassical Hollywood (1970-2010)
by J. D. ConnorModern Hollywood is dominated by a handful of studios: Columbia, Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal, and Warner Bros. Threatened by independents in the 1970s, they returned to power in the 1980s, ruled unquestioned in the 1990s, and in the new millennium are again beseiged. But in the heyday of this new classical era, the major studios movies — their stories and styles — were astonishingly precise biographies of the studios that made them. Movies became product placements for their studios, advertising them to the industry, to their employees, and to the public at large. If we want to know how studios work—how studios think—we need to watch their films closely. How closely? Maniacally so. In a wide range of examples, The Studios after the Studios explores the gaps between story and backstory in order to excavate the hidden history of Hollywood's second great studio era.
The Stuff of Spectatorship: Material Cultures of Film and Television
by Caetlin Benson-AllottFilm and television create worlds, but they are also of a world, a world that is made up of stuff, to which humans attach meaning. Think of the last time you watched a movie: the chair you sat in, the snacks you ate, the people around you, maybe the beer or joint you consumed to help you unwind—all this stuff shaped your experience of media and its influence on you. The material culture around film and television changes how we make sense of their content, not to mention the very concepts of the mediums. Focusing on material cultures of film and television reception, The Stuff of Spectatorship argues that the things we share space with and consume as we consume television and film influence the meaning we gather from them. This book examines the roles that six different material cultures have played in film and television culture since the 1970s—including video marketing, branded merchandise, drugs and alcohol, and even gun violence—and shows how objects considered peripheral to film and television culture are in fact central to its past and future.
The Subject of Torture: Psychoanalysis and Biopolitics in Television and Film
by Hilary NeroniConsidering representations of torture in such television series as 24, Alias, and Homeland; the documentaries Taxi to the Dark Side (2007), Ghosts of Abu Ghraib (2007), and Standard Operating Procedure (2008); and "torture porn" feature films from the Saw and Hostel series, Hilary Neroni unites aesthetic and theoretical analysis to provide a unique portal into theorizing biopower and its relation to the desiring subject. Her work ultimately showcases film and television studies' singular ability to expose and potentially disable the fantasies that sustain torture and the regimes that deploy it.
The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution
by David O. StewartSuccessful creation of the Constitution is a suspense story. The Summer of 1787 takes us into the sweltering room in which delegates struggled for four months to produce the flawed but enduring document that would define the nation -- then and now. George Washington presided, James Madison kept the notes, Benjamin Franklin offered wisdom and humor at crucial times. The Summer of 1787 traces the struggles within the Philadelphia Convention as the delegates hammered out the charter for the world's first constitutional democracy. Relying on the words of the delegates themselves to explore the Convention's sharp conflicts and hard bargaining, David O. Stewart lays out the passions and contradictions of the often painful process of writing the Constitution. It was a desperate balancing act. Revolutionary principles required that the people have power, but could the people be trusted? Would a stronger central government leave room for the states? Would the small states accept a Congress in which seats were allotted according to population rather than to each sovereign state? And what of slavery? The supercharged debates over America's original sin led to the most creative and most disappointing political deals of the Convention. The room was crowded with colorful and passionate characters, some known -- Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, Edmund Randolph -- and others largely forgotten. At different points during that sultry summer, more than half of the delegates threatened to walk out, and some actually did, but Washington's quiet leadership and the delegates' inspired compromises held the Convention together. In a country continually arguing over the document's original intent, it is fascinating to watch these powerful characters struggle toward consensus -- often reluctantly -- to write a flawed but living and breathing document that could evolve with the nation.
The Sun Will Come Out
by Joanne LevyKey Selling Points A sweet summer camp story about a painfully shy girl who meets a boy with a rare genetic condition. The book explores themes of facing your fears and the nature of true friendship. One of the main characters has progeria, a genetic condition that causes premature aging. Most children who have this don’t live past age 14. This story had its genesis in a terrible summer camp experience for the author. The book has a happy ending. Bea and her new friends stay in touch after summer is over.
The Sun and Her Stars: Salka Viertel and Hitler's Exiles in the Golden Age of Hollywood
by Donna RifkindThe little-known story of screenwriter Salka Viertel, whose salons in 1930s and 40s Hollywood created a refuge for a multitude of famous figures who had escaped the horrors of World War ll. Hollywood was created by its &“others&”; that is, by women, Jews, and immigrants. Salka Viertel was all three and so much more. She was the screenwriter for five of Greta Garbo's movies and also her most intimate friend. At one point during the Irving Thalberg years, Viertel was the highest-paid writer on the MGM lot. Meanwhile, at her house in Santa Monica she opened her door on Sunday afternoons to scores of European émigrés who had fled from Hitler—such as Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht, and Arnold Schoenberg—along with every kind of Hollywood star, from Charlie Chaplin to Shelley Winters. In Viertel's living room (the only one in town with comfortable armchairs, said one Hollywood insider), countless cinematic, theatrical, and musical partnerships were born.Viertel combined a modern-before-her-time sensibility with the Old-World advantages of a classical European education and fluency in eight languages. She combined great worldliness with great warmth. She was a true bohemian with a complicated erotic life, and at the same time a universal mother figure. A vital presence in the golden age of Hollywood, Salka Viertel is long overdue for her own moment in the spotlight.
The Sundance Reader (6th edition)
by Mark ConnellyThis edition has been updated to include over two dozen new readings, a four-part questioning strategy that follows each entry, expanded descriptions of the writing process to include thesis statements and outlines, sample student essays, a sample MLA-documented essay, materials on social issues, new visuals, expanded coverage on analyzing media, critiques of how writers use more than one method of development, and information on writing beyond the classroom. Connelly (Milwaukee Area Technical College) works thematically, focusing on the writing context and process, critical reading, narration, description, definition, comparison and contrast, analysis, division and classification, process, cause and effect, argument and persuasion. Along with a range of worthy readings, Connelly provides useful samples of writing students can analyze and many tips on organizing ideas and getting them down on paper. The result would work in survey literature and composition undergraduate courses.
The Super Cool Science of Harry Potter: The Spell-Binding Science Behind the Magic, Creatures, Witches, and Wizards of the Potter Universe!
by Mark BrakeDiscover the scientific secrets of Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, and more in J. K. Rowling&’s universe.Movie-goers and young readers the world over have been spellbound by the tales of &“the boy who lived.&” J. K. Rowling&’s stories have conjured ideas of magic and sorcery into our minds like no other book series before. But nature is its own magic. And Muggle scientists have uncovered answers for the weird and wonderful questions from the magic world. Questions such as: Who was the real Merlin?Who really was the last great wizard?Do real-life love potions work?Platform 9¾: are there real hidden railway stations in London?And many more!The Super Cool Science of Harry Potter is for any young fan of Harry Potter. You don&’t need to be a witch or wizard to weave your magical way through the facts about your favorite characters, potions, spells, and mysteries from the boy wizard&’s world!
The Super Cool Science of Star Wars: The Saber-Swirling Science Behind the Death Star, Aliens, and Life in That Galaxy Far, Far Away!
by Mark BrakeLearn about the science used by Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and more in the Star Wars galaxy.Star Wars has captured the hearts and imaginations of sci-fi fans worldwide. We all marvel at its dazzling variety of aliens, spaceships, and planets. That&’s because there&’s something revolutionary about the actual science in Star Wars. These painted pictures from the movies make us see the universe in a new light. They inspire us to ask questions such as:How much would it cost to build a Death Star?Did Star Wars predict the existence of exoplanets?Could a single blast from the Death Star destroy the earth?Could Starkiller Base suck the energy from a star?And many more!The Super Cool Science of Star Wars is a book for any young Star Wars fan. You don&’t need to be a Jedi scientist to make the jump to light speed and find the facts behind the Star Wars galaxy!
The Superhero Blockbuster: Adaptation, Style, and Meaning
by James C. TaylorThe Superhero Blockbuster: Adaptation, Style, and Meaning builds an innovative framework for analyzing one of the most prominent genres in twenty-first-century Hollywood. In combining theories of adaptation with close textual analysis, James C. Taylor provides a set of analytical tools with which to undertake nuanced exploration of superhero blockbusters’ meanings. This deep understanding of the films attends to historical, sociopolitical, and industrial contexts and also illuminates key ways in which the superhero genre has contributed to the development of the Hollywood blockbuster. Each chapter focuses on a different superhero or superhero team, covering some of the most popular superhero blockbusters based on DC and Marvel superheroes. The chapters cover different aspects of the films’ adaptive practices, exploring the adaptation of stylistic strategies, narrative models, and modes of seriality from superhero comic books, while being attentive to the ways in which the films engage with the wider networks of texts in various media that comprise a given superhero franchise. Chapter 1 looks back to the first superhero blockbuster, 1978’s Superman: The Movie, examining its cinematic re-envisioning of the quintessential superhero and role in establishing Hollywood’s emerging model of blockbuster filmmaking. Subsequent chapters analyze the twenty-first-century boom in superhero blockbusters and examine digital imaging and nostalgia in Spider-Man films, Marvel Studios’ adaptation of a shared universe model of seriality in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the use of alternate timeline narratives in X-Men films. The book concludes by turning its analytical toolkit to analysis of DC Studios’ cinematic universe, the DC Extended Universe.
The Superhero Reader
by Charles HatfieldWith contributions from Will Brooker, Jeffrey A. Brown, Scott Bukatman, John G. Cawelti, Peter Coogan, Jules Feiffer, Charles Hatfield, Henry Jenkins, Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence, Gerard Jones, Geoff Klock, Karin Kukkonen, Andy Medhurst, Adilifu Nama, Walter Ong, Lorrie Palmer, Richard Reynolds, Trina Robbins, Lillian Robinson, Roger B. Rollin, Gloria Steinem, Jennifer Stuller, Fredric Wertham, and Philip Wylie Despite their commercial appeal and cross-media reach, superheroes are only recently starting to attract sustained scholarly attention. This groundbreaking collection brings together essays and book excerpts by major writers on comics and popular culture. While superhero comics are a distinct and sometimes disdained branch of comics creation, they are integral to the development of the North American comic book and the history of the medium. For the past half-century, they have also been the one overwhelmingly dominant market genre. The sheer volume of superhero comics that have been published over the years is staggering. Major superhero universes constitute one of the most expansive storytelling canvases ever fashioned. Moreover, characters inhabiting these fictional universes are immensely influential, having achieved iconic recognition around the globe. Their images and adventures have shaped many other media, such as film, videogames, and even prose fiction. The primary aim of this reader is twofold: first, to collect in a single volume a sampling of the most sophisticated commentary on superheroes, and second, to bring into sharper focus the ways in which superheroes connect with larger social, cultural, literary, aesthetic, and historical themes that are of interest to a great many readers both in the academy and beyond.
The Superhero Symbol: Media, Culture, and Politics
by Henry Jenkins Dan Golding Ian Gordon Neal Curtis John McGuire Steven Conway Liam Burke Jason Bainbridge Mitchell Adams Tara Lomax Claire Langsford Vladislav Iouchkov Naja Later Paul M. Malone Shan Mu Zhao Kevin Patrick“As a man, I'm flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed; but as a symbol... as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting”. In the 2005 reboot of the Batman film franchise, Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne articulates how the figure of the superhero can serve as a transcendent icon. It is hard to imagine a time when superheroes have been more pervasive in our culture. Today, superheroes are intellectual property jealously guarded by media conglomerates, icons co-opted by grassroots groups as a four-color rebuttal to social inequities, masks people wear to more confidently walk convention floors and city streets, and bulletproof banners that embody regional and national identities. From activism to cosplay, this collection unmasks the symbolic function of superheroes. Bringing together superhero scholars from a range of disciplines, alongside key industry figures such as Harley Quinn co-creator Paul Dini, The Superhero Symbol provides fresh perspectives on how characters like Captain America, Iron Man, and Wonder Woman have engaged with media, culture, and politics, to become the “everlasting” symbols to which a young Bruce Wayne once aspired.
The Supernatural Sublime: The Wondrous Ineffability of the Everyday in Films from Mexico and Spain (New Hispanisms)
by Raúl Rodríguez-Hernández Claudia SchaeferThe Supernatural Sublime explores the long-neglected element of the supernatural in films from Spain and Mexico by focusing on the social and cultural contexts of their production and reception, their adaptations of codes and conventions for characters and plot, and their use of cinematic techniques to create the experience of emotion without explanation. Deploying the overarching concepts of the supernatural and the sublime, Raúl Rodríguez-Hernández and Claudia Schaefer detail the dovetailing of the unnatural and the experience of limitlessness associated with the sublime.The Supernatural Sublime embeds the films in the social histories of twentieth- and twenty-first-century Mexico and Spain, both of which made a forced leap into modernity after historical periods founded on official ideologies and circumscribed visions of the nation. Evoking Kant’s definition of the experience of the sublime, Rodríguez-Hernández and Schaefer concentrate on the unrepresentable and the contradictory that oppose purported universal truths and instead offer up illusion, deception, and imagination through cinema, itself a type of illusion: writing with light.
The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington
by Joanna MoorheadIn 2006 journalist Joanna Moorhead discovered that her father's cousin, Prim, who had disappeared many decades earlier, was now a famous artist in Mexico. Although rarely spoken of in her own family (regarded as a black sheep, a wild child; someone they were better off without) in the meantime Leonora Carrington had become a national treasure in Mexico, where she now lived, while her paintings are fetching ever-higher prices at auction today.Intrigued by her story, Joanna set off to Mexico City to find her lost relation. Later she was to return to Mexico ten times more between then and Leonora's death in 2011, sometimes staying for months at a time and subsequently travelling around Britain and through Europe in search of the loose ends of her tale. They spent days talking and reading together, drinking tea and tequila, going for walks and to parties and eating take away pizzas or dining out in her local restaurants as Leonora told Joanna the wild and amazing truth about a life that had taken her from the suffocating existence of a debutante in London via war-torn France with her lover, Max Ernst, to incarceration in an asylum and finally to the life of a recluse in Mexico City.Leonora was one of the last surviving participants in the Surrealist movement of the 1930s, a founding member of the Women's Liberation Movement in Mexico during the 1970s and a woman whose reputation will survive not only as a muse but as a novelist and a great artist. This book is the extraordinary story of Leonora Carrington's life, and of the friendship between two women, related by blood but previously unknown to one another, whose encounters were to change both their lives.
The Survivor Manual: An Official Book of the Hit CBS Television Show
by John BoswellThe Survivor Manual is the real deal--based on techniques taught to the U.S. Armed Forces and tested in actual survival situations over decades, the information in this book could help you beat any weather condition, any circumstance, any odds. This fully illustrated guide will show you how to:--find direction and orienteer --perform first aid--travel over every type of terrain from glaciers to quicksand--identify edible plants--fish and trap--spot poisonous plants and snakes--withstand a blizzard--build a raft--construct a shelter--live through an avalanche--survive in groups--and much, much more CBS' "Survivor" is the most successful new television show of the 21st century. Mark Burnett is the show's Executive Producer along with creator Charlie Parsons.
The Survivor Wants to Die at the End (They Both Die at the End series #3)
by Adam SilveraThe third book in the No. 1 global bestselling They Both Die at the End series. What if you could find out your death date from a single phone call? Death-Cast is calling . . . will you answer? &‘If They Both Die at the End broke your heart and put it back together again, be prepared for this novel to do the same. A tender, sad, hopeful and youthful story that deserves as much love as its predecessor.&’ Culturefly &‘[A] heart-pounding story [full] of emotion and suspense.&’ Kirkus &‘An extraordinary book with a riveting plot.&’ Booklist Two strangers, each with their own complicated relationship to Death-Cast, help each other learn to live. Paz Dario stays up every night, waiting for the Death-Cast call that would mean he doesn&’t have to keep faking his way through this lonely life. After a devastating day, Paz decides he&’s done waiting around for Death-Cast. If they say he&’s not dying, he&’ll just have to prove them wrong. But right before Paz can die, a boy saves his life. Alano Rosa is heir to the Death-Cast empire that encourages everyone to live their best lives, but he doesn&’t feel in control of his own existence thanks to his father. And with a violent organisation called the Death Guard threatening Alano, his End Day might be closer than he thinks. It&’s time to live. Fate brings Paz and Alano together. But they must survive the tragic trials ahead so no one dies at the end. This book contains themes that some readers may find difficult. PRAISE FOR ADAM SILVERA: &‘There isn&’t a teenager alive who won't find their heart described perfectly on these pages.&’ Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go &‘Adam Silvera is a master at capturing the infinite small heartbreaks of love and loss and grief.&’ Nicola Yoon, author of Everything, Everything &‘A phenomenal talent.&’ Juno Dawson, author of Clean and Wonderland &‘Bold and haunting.&’ Lauren Oliver, author of Delirium
The Swan Family: Individual Student Edition Blue (levels 9-11)
by Beverley RandellA Father swan protects his family with his neck, feathers, and wide wing span. Swan Family Grade 1: Rigby PM Plus Blue, Student Reader (Level 10)
The Swans of Harlem (Adapted for Young Adults): Five Black Ballerinas, a Legacy of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History
by Karen ValbyA full accounting of five incredibly talented Black ballerinas from The Dance Theater of Harlem, founding members among them, that illuminates their hard-fought, historic, and overlooked contributions to the world of classical dance at a time when racism shut out Black dancers from major dance companies.At the peak of the civil rights movement, Lydia Abarca was the first ballerina in a Black ballet company to grace the cover of Dance magazine. Alongside founding members Shelia Rohan and Gayle McKinney-Griffith and first-generation dancers Karlya Shelton and Marcia Sells, Abarca invited a bright light to shine on Black professional classical dancers. Grit, determination, and exquisite artistry propelled these swans of Harlem to dizzying heights as they performed around the world for audiences that included celebrities, dignitaries, and royalty.Now, decades later, these trailblazing ballerinas and longtime friends are giving voice to their stories on- and offstage, reclaiming their past so that it is finally recorded, acknowledged, and lauded, never to be lost again.* "This powerful account is part cultural history, part biography as it traces the formation, rise, and decline of DTH through the experiences of these five ballerinas, as well as their continued importance to dancers of color today....this will appeal equally to fans of forgotten histories." —Booklist, starred review"A poignant and gripping piece of little-known history." —Kirkus Reviews
The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History
by Karen ValbyTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK • The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history—until now.&“This is the kind of history I wish I learned as a child dreaming of the stage!&” —Misty Copeland, author of Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy &“Utterly absorbing, flawlessly-researched…Vibrant, propulsive, and inspiring, The Swans of Harlem is a richly drawn portrait of five courageous women whose contributions have been silenced for too long!&” —Tia Williams, author of A Love Song for Ricki WildeAt the height of the Civil Rights movement, Lydia Abarca was a Black prima ballerina with a major international dance company—the Dance Theatre of Harlem, a troupe of women and men who became each other&’s chosen family. She was the first Black company ballerina on the cover of Dance magazine, an Essence cover star; she was cast in The Wiz and in a Bob Fosse production on Broadway. She performed in some of ballet&’s most iconic works with other trailblazing ballerinas, including the young women who became her closest friends—founding Dance Theatre of Harlem members Gayle McKinney-Griffith and Sheila Rohan, as well as first-generation dancers Karlya Shelton and Marcia Sells.These Swans of Harlem performed for the Queen of England, Mick Jagger, and Stevie Wonder, on the same bill as Josephine Baker, at the White House, and beyond. But decades later there was almost no record of their groundbreaking history to be found. Out of a sisterhood that had grown even deeper with the years, these Swans joined forces again—to share their story with the world.Captivating, rich in vivid detail and character, and steeped in the glamour and grit of professional ballet, The Swans of Harlem is a riveting account of five extraordinarily accomplished women, a celebration of both their historic careers and the sustaining, grounding power of female friendship, and a window into the robust history of Black ballet, hidden for too long.
The Swing Book
by Degen PenerThe complete guide to the history, music, style, lingo and steps of swing, from the golden era to today's new popularity. Ten years ago a revival of swing took place, originating in San Francisco, snowballing into today's international resurgence. This book presents the complete history of swing music and dancing, then and now.
The Swish of the Curtain: Blue Door 1 (Blue Door #1)
by Pamela BrownThe classic story of seven children with a longing to be on stage: the inspiration for actors from Maggie Smith to Eileen AtkinsIn the town of Fenchester, seven resourceful children are yearning to be famous. One day, they come across a disused chapel, and an idea is formed. With a lick of paint and the addition of a beautiful curtain (which, however much they try, won't "swish" as stage curtains ought), the chapel becomes a theatre - and The Blue Door Theatre Company is formed.The children go from strength to strength, writing, directing and acting in their own plays. But their schooldays are numbered, and their parents want them to pack it in and train for sensible jobs. It seems that The Blue Door Theatre Company will have to go the way of all childhood dreams. But with a bit of luck, and the help of some influential friends, perhaps this is not the end, but only the beginning of their adventures in show business...
The Switch
by Anthony HorowitzTad Spencer lives a life of luxury: a mansion, servants, exotic vacations, and all the toys he could dream of. But when his father denies him a trip to a theme park, Tad wishes he were someone else. The next day, he wakes up as Bob Snarby, a carnival worker living in abject conditions in a criminal world. This terrifying body swap is just the beginning of an adventure that will lead Tad to uncover a secret that will change his life forever.
The Synergy of Music and Image in Audiovisual Culture: Half-Heard Sounds and Peripheral Visions
by K.J. DonnellyThe Synergy of Music and Image in Audiovisual Culture: Half-Heard Sounds and Peripheral Visions asks what it means to understand music as part of an audiovisual whole, rather than separate components of music and film. Bringing together revised and updated essays on music in a variety of media – including film, television, and video games – this book explores the importance of partially perceived and registered auditory and visual elements and cultural context in creating unique audiovisual experiences. Critiquing traditional models of the film score, The Synergy of Music and Image in Audiovisual Culture enables readers across music, film, and cultural studies to approach and think about audiovisual culture in new ways.
The T. V. Kid
by Betsy ByarsFor Lennie too much Television is not enough. Lennie loves television. He's addicted to it. Even reruns are more exciting than real life And Lennie likes to pretend he's the one winning money on game shows, meeting fascinating people and having adventures. But Lennie's daydreams lead him into a real situation that could cost him his life. And suddenly he's in trouble, more terrifying and dangerous than he's ever seen on T V