An NPR "Books We Love" 2022
"Age of Cage might be the closest we will get to understanding the singular beauty of each of Nic Cage's always electric performances. You are holding the Rosetta Stone for Cage. Enjoy it."--Paul Scheer, actor, writer and host of the How Did This Get Made? and Unspooled podcasts Icon. Celebrity. Artist. Madman. Genius. Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there's no denying two things: you've seen one of his many films, and you certainly know his name. But who is he, really, and why has his career endured for over forty years, with more than a hundred films, and birthed a million memes? Age of Cage is a smart, beguiling book about the films of Nicolas Cage and the actor himself, as well as a sharp-eyed examination of the changes that have taken place in Hollywood over the course of his career. Critic and journalist Keith Phipps draws a portrait of the enigmatic icon by looking at--what else?--Cage's expansive filmography. As Phipps delights in charting Cage's films, Age of Cage also chronicles the transformation of film, as Cage's journey takes him through the world of 1980s comedies (Valley Girl, Peggy Sue Got Married, Moonstruck), to the indie films and blockbuster juggernauts of the 1990s (Wild at Heart, Leaving Las Vegas, Face/Off, Con Air), through the wild and unpredictable video-on-demand world of today. Sweeping in scope and intimate in its profile of a fiercely passionate artist, Age of Cage is, like the man himself, surprising, insightful, funny, and one of a kind. So, snap out of it, and enjoy this appreciation of Nicolas Cage, national treasure.
An urgent, erudite, and practical book that redefines literacy to embrace how we think and communicate now
We live in a world that is awash in visual storytelling. The recent technological revolutions in video recording, editing, and distribution are more akin to the development of movable type than any other such revolution in the last five hundred years. And yet we are not popularly cognizant of or conversant with visual storytelling's grammar, the coded messages of its style, and the practical components of its production. We are largely, in a word, illiterate.
But this is not a gloomy diagnosis of the collapse of civilization; rather, it is a celebration of the progress we've made and an exhortation and a plan to seize the potential we're poised to enjoy. The rules that define effective visual storytelling much like the rules that define written language do in fact exist, and Stephen Apkon has long experience in deploying them, teaching them, and witnessing their power in the classroom and beyond. In "The Age of the Image," drawing on the history of literacy from scroll to codex, scribes to printing presses, SMS to social media on the science of how various forms of storytelling work on the human brain, and on the practical value of literacy in real-world situations, Apkon convincingly argues that now is the time to transform the way we teach, create, and communicate so that we can all step forward together into a rich and stimulating future."
Hitchcock's--he includes an incredible amount of detail and in doing so reveals what mattered the most to Hitchcock in the process of making his movies.
Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light is the definitive biography of the Master of Suspense and the most widely recognized film director of all time.
In a career that spanned six decades and produced more than 60 films - including The 39 Steps, Vertigo, Psycho, and The Birds - Alfred Hitchcock set new standards for cinematic invention and storytelling. Acclaimed biographer Patrick McGilligan re-examines his life and extraordinary work, challenging perceptions of Hitchcock as the "macabre Englishman" and sexual obsessive, and reveals instead the ingenious craftsman, trickster, provocateur, and romantic.
With insights into his relationships with Hollywood legends - such as Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ingrid Bergman, and Grace Kelly - as well as his 54-year marriage to Alma Reville and his inspirations in the thriller genre, the book is full of the same dark humor, cliffhanger suspense, and revelations that are synonymous with one of the most famous and misunderstood figures in cinema.
Alice's Wonderland dives down the rabbit hole and looks at the dazzling ways that Wonderland has been imagined by artists, filmmakers, writers, and more. Get a behind-the-scenes looks at how the books were created, meet Alice Liddell, the inspiration for the fictional Alice, and view the original manuscript copy of Alice in Wonderland, illustrated in Carroll's own hand.
The fantastical world imagined by Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) - where a white rabbit carries a pocket watch, a crying baby morphs into a squealing pig, and a flamingo is used as a croquet mallet - has inspired countless artists to produce some of their best work. Illustrators such as John Tenniel, chose to tackle the work directly, producing illustrations, films, and shows that strive to accurately depict Wonderland. Others, such as artist Salvador Dali and director Tim Burton, freely adapted Dodgson's creation, using it as a springboard for their own incredible interpretations. Lushly illustrated paintings, artwork, and sketches, Alice's Wonderland explores how artists in different fields like art, music, theater, film, and more have interpreted Carroll's works through the ages. A must-have book for any Alice fan.
From the author of Borne and Annihilation comes the one-volume hardcover reissue of his cult classic Ambergris Trilogy.
More than twenty years ago, Jeff VanderMeer first introduced the world to the fictional city of Ambergris, a beautiful and sinister sprawling metropolis populated by artists and thieves, composers and murderers, geniuses and madmen. Ambergris bristles with intellectual fervor and religious rivalries; it thrives on cultural upheaval, and its politics are never short on intrigue, conspiracy, and even terror. There are stories within stories, mystery, mayhem, and a dark history that threatens to consume the city itself as the gray caps, the mysterious and deadly mushroom people who once ruled Ambergris and have since been driven underground, now threaten to rise again. Ultimately, the fate of Ambergris comes to lie in the hands of John Finch, a beleaguered detective with a murder on to solve and too many loyalties for one man to bear. The city is bursting at its seams, seemingly held together only by the tense, fraying tendrils of his investigation. The Ambergris trilogy is made up of three novels, each of which has become a cult classic in its own right: City of Saints and Madmen, Shriek: An Afterword, and Finch. It is a marvelous, unparalleled feat of imagination. And yet the books themselves, as celebrated and influential as they have become, have a publishing history as arcane and elaborate as Ambergris itself. Over the years they have slipped in and out of print and have never before been available as a complete trilogy. Until now. For fans both new and old of the work of Jeff VanderMeer, Ambergris is essential reading. Welcome to Ambergris. We can't promise you'll leave untransformed.
America's Film Legacy is a guide to the most significant films ever made in the United States. Unlike opinionated Top 100 and arbitrary Best of lists, these are the real thing: groundbreaking films that make up the backbone of American cinema. Some are well-known, such as Citizen Kane, The Jazz Singer, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Birth of a Nation, and Boyz n the Hood. Others are more obscure, such as Blacksmith Scene, The Blue Bird, The Docks of New York, Star Theatre, and A Bronx Morning. Daniel Eagan's beautifully written and authoritative book is for anyone who loves American movies and who wants to learn more about them.
"I can hardly believe that it is more than half a century since I first stepped on to the stage of the Old Vic Theatre and into a way of life that has brought me the most rewarding professional relationships and friendships. I cannot imagine now ever doing anything else with my life except acting..." - Judi Dench"
From London's glittering West End to Broadway's bright lights, from her Academy Award-winning role as Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love to "M" in the James Bond films, Judi Dench has treated audiences to some of the greatest performances of our time. She made her professional acting debut in 1957 with England's Old Vic theatre company playing Ophelia in Hamlet, Katherine in Henry V (her New York debut), and then, Juliet. In 1961, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company playing Anya in The Cherry Orchard with John Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft. In 1968, she went beyond the classical stage to become a sensation as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, adding musical comedy to her repertoire. Over the years, Dench has given indelible performances in the classics as well as some of the greatest plays and musicals of the twentieth century including Noel Coward's Hay Fever, Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, Kaufman and Hart's The Royal Family and David Hare's Amy's View (for which she won the Tony Award). Recently, she made a triumphant return to A Midsummer Night's Dream as Titania, a role she first played in 1962, now played as a theatre-besotted Queen Elizabeth I. Her film career has been filled with unforgettable performances of some unforgettable women: Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown, the terrifying schoolteacher Barbara Covett in Notes on a Scandal and the writer Iris Murdoch in Iris. And, for the BBC, Dench created another unforgettable woman when she brought her great comic timing and deeply felt emotions to the role of Jean Pargetter in the long-running BBC series As Time Goes By.
And Furthermore is, however, more than the story of a great actress's career. It is also the story of Judi Dench's life: her early days as a child in a family that was in love with the theatre; her marriage to actor Michael Williams; the joy she takes in her daughter, the actress Finty Williams, and her grandson, Sammy. Filled with Dench's impish sense of humor, diamond-sharp intelligence and photos from her personal archives, And Furthermore is the book every fan of the great Judi Dench will cherish.
Bird brings a novel approach to his dissection of Tarkovsky's wholly original techniques and sensibilities, arranging the films into elemental categories of Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. Solaris, Ivan's Childhood, Mirror, Nostalgia, Andrei Rublev, and Sacrifice all get their due here; through them, Bird explores how the filmmaker probed the elusive correlation between cinematic representation and a more primeval perception of the world. Though the book also considers Tarkovsky's work in radio, theatre, and opera--as well as his work as an actor, screenwriter, and film theorist--Bird throughout keeps his focus firmly on Tarkovsky as a consummate filmmaker. Anchored by a wealth of film stills and photographs, Andrei Tarkovsky is a must-read for all film buffs and admirers of European cinema.
