Film

In this book, 35 directors champion their favorite overlooked or critically savaged gems. Among these guilty pleasures, almost-masterpieces, and undeniable classics in need of revival are unsung noirs (Murder by Contract), famous flops (Can't Stop the Music, Joe Versus the Volcano), art films (L'ange), theatrical adaptations (The Iceman Cometh), B-movies (Killer Klowns from Outer Space), and even a few Oscar-winners (Some Came Running). In these conversations, the filmmakers defend their choices. These films, they argue, deserve a larger audience and for their place in movie history to be reconsidered. But the conversations' tangents, diversions, and side trips provide as much insight into the directors' own approach to moviemaking as into the film they're discussing. The filmmakers are the perfect hosts, often setting the tone, managing expectations, and giving advice about how you should watch each movie. They're often brutally honest about a film's shortcomings or the reasons why it was lost in the first place. The Best Film You've Never Seen is not only a guide to some badly overlooked movies but a bold attempt to rewrite film history.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Fifth Avenue, Five A.M. and Fosse comes the revelatory account of the making of a modern American masterpiece

Chinatown

is the Holy Grail of 1970s cinema. Its twist ending is the most notorious in American film and its closing line of dialogue the most haunting. Here for the first time is the incredible true story of its making.

In Sam Wasson's telling, it becomes the defining story of the most colorful characters in the most colorful period of Hollywood history. Here is Jack Nicholson at the height of his powers, as compelling a movie star as there has ever been, embarking on his great, doomed love affair with Anjelica Huston. Here is director Roman Polanski, both predator and prey, haunted by the savage death of his wife, returning to Los Angeles, the scene of the crime, where the seeds of his own self-destruction are quickly planted. Here is the fevered dealmaking of The Kid Robert Evans, the most consummate of producers. Here too is Robert Towne's fabled script, widely considered the greatest original screenplay ever written. Wasson for the first time peels off layers of myth to provide the true account of its creation.

Looming over the story of this classic movie is the imminent eclipse of the '70s filmmaker-friendly studios as they gave way to the corporate Hollywood we know today. In telling that larger story, The Big Goodbye will take its place alongside classics like Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and The Devil's Candy as one of the great movie-world books ever written.

Praise for Sam Wasson:
Wasson is a canny chronicler of old Hollywood and its outsize personalities...More than that, he understands that style matters, and, like his subjects, he has a flair for it. - The New Yorker
Sam Wasson is a fabulous social historian because he finds meaning in situations and stories that would otherwise be forgotten if he didn't sleuth them out, lovingly. - Hilton Als

"The Big Screen "tells the enthralling story of the movies: their rise and spread, their remarkable influence over us, and the technology that made the screen smaller now, but ever more ubiquitous as important as the images it carries.

"The Big Screen "is not another history of the movies. Rather, it is a wide-ranging narrative about the movies and their signal role in modern life. At first, film was a waking dream, the gift of appearance delivered for a nickel to huddled masses sitting in the dark. But soon, and abruptly, movies began transforming our societies and our perceptions of the world. The celebrated film authority David Thomson takes us around the globe, through time, and across many media moving from Eadweard Muybridge to Steve Jobs, from "Sunrise "to "I Love Lucy," from John Wayne to George Clooney, from television commercials to streaming video to tell the complex, gripping, paradoxical story of the movies. He tracks the ways we were initially enchanted by movies as imitations of life the stories, the stars, the look and how we allowed them to show us how to live. At the same time, movies, offering a seductive escape from everyday reality and its responsibilities, have made it possible for us to evade life altogether. The entranced audience has become a model for powerless and anxiety-ridden citizens trying to pursue happiness and dodge terror by sitting quietly in a dark room.

Does the big screen take us out into the world, or merely mesmerize us? That is Thomson's question in this grand adventure of a book. Books about the movies are often aimed at film buffs, but this passionate and provocative feat of storytelling is vital to anyone trying to make sense of the age of screens the age that, more than ever, we are living in."

Black Panther: The Official Movie Special is a complete visual and behind-the-scenes guide to Marvel Studios' highly anticipated next movie.

With exclusive behind the scenes photos from the movie sets, stunning concept art revealing the beautiful, secretive nation of Wakanda, interviews with the stars of the film, including Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, Forest Whitaker and Danai Gurira, this stunning collector's book is a must-have for all fans of everything Marvel!

Bohemian Rhapsody will look at all aspects of the making of the Queen biopic and the story of Freddie Mercury and Queen. Foreword by Brian May and Roger Taylor.

The author has full access to key cast and crew members who recount how Freddie Mercury (and Queen's) story was brought to life. See how 1970s London, Live Aid and many other pivotal moments and places in the history of the band were recreated for the film, with then-and-now imagery highlighting how carefully the people, events, music and costumes were recreated for this hotly anticipated movie.

From the fictional towns of Hill Valley, CA, and Shermer, IL, to the beautiful landscapes of the "Goondocks" in Astoria and the "time of your life" dirty dancing resort still alive and well in Lake Lure, NC, '80s teen movies left their mark not just on movie screen and in the hearts of fans, but on the landscape of America itself. Like few other eras in movie history, the '80s teen movies has endured and gotten better with time. In Brat Pack America, Kevin Smokler gives virtual tours of your favorite movies while also picking apart why these locations are so important to these movies.

Including interviews with actors, writers, and directors of the era, and chock full of interesting facts about your favorite '80s movies, Brat Pack America is a must for any fan. Smokler went to Goonies Day in Astoria, OR, took a Lost Boys tour of Santa Cruz, CA, and deeply explored every nook and cranny of the movies we all know and love, and it shows.

AMC's Breaking Bad is among the most beloved, critically acclaimed American television series of our time. Created by Vince Gilligan, the series charts the transformation of high school science teacher Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) into a cold, calculating meth kingpin. Breaking Bad 101 collects esteemed critic Alan Sepinwall's (Uproxx) popular Breaking Bad recaps in book form, featuring new, exclusive essays and completely revised and updated commentary--as well as insights from and interviews with the creative masterminds behind Breaking Bad. The ultimate critical companion for one of the greatest television dramas of all time, Breaking Bad 101 offers fans Sepinwall's smart, funny, and incisive analysis of the psychology and filmmaking craft behind each episode and celebrates the series' unique place in pop-culture history.

Are you ready to be strong? Inspired by the badass ladies of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this is the ultimate guide for living your most killer life.

Buffy turned tired, sexist tropes on their head when it debuted in the '90s and introduced a truly empowered heroine (and a kickass roster of female supporting roles). So who better than Buffy and her fellow babes -- Willow, Cordelia, Faith, Anya, Tara, and others -- to teach us how to slay our own personal demons? The ladies have much to offer in terms of savvy insights, observations, and life lessons.

Slay Like a Girl examines the groundbreaking female paradigms presented in Buffy and offers digestible, entertaining lessons for slaying at work, in love, and beyond. Also featuring photos from the show, memorable quotes, and fresh input from modern ladies who slay, Slay Like a Girl is an indispensable handbook for fans, feminists, and all other fierce folk.