A rich companion volume to George Stevens, Jr.'s much admired book of American Film Institute seminars with the pioneering moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age, this time with a focus on filmmakers of the 1950s to present day.
The Next Generation brings together conversations with moviemakers at work from the 1950s--during the studios' decline--to today's Hollywood. Directors, producers, writers, actors, cinematographers, composers, film editors, and independent filmmakers appear within these pages, including Steven Spielberg, Nora Ephron, George Lucas, Sidney Poitier, Meryl Streep, David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, and more. We see how the filmmakers of today and those of Hollywood's Golden Age face the same challenges of both art and craft--to tell compelling stories on the screen. And we see the ways in which actors and directors work together, how each director has his or her own approach, and how they share techniques and theories."The Next Generation "brings together AFI's conversations with moviemakers at work from the 1950s--during the studios' decline--to today's Hollywood. Directors, producers, writers, actors, cinematographers, composers, film editors, and independent filmmakers. Among them: Steven Spielberg, Nora Ephron, George Lucas, Sidney Poitier, and Darren Aronofsky.
Richard Schickel's canny and intelligent interviews guide us through Scorsese's life and work, from the child who escaped the realities of Little Italy in the 1950s through movies to the man whose increasingly encyclopedic knowledge of film shaped his ambitions and art. Scorsese reveals which films are most autobiographical and which have been forays into unknown territory in content or aesthetics. He talks about his lesser-known movies, those already considered classics, his documentaries, and his influences. He explains his personal style, the close attention he pays to detail, and his attraction to genre films. And he discusses what being a lifelong student of film has taught him about acting, directing, music, and camerawork, among many other topics.
The result is a vivid, immensely enlightening history of modern Hollywood seen through the eyes of one intrepid filmmaker. We see audiences' expectations tested by what Scorsese was willing to put on the screen in explorations of prostitution, institutionalized violence, and religion. We see the unavoidable frustrations and exhilarating rewards of filming live concerts for The Band and at Woodstock. And we see many of the rewarding artistic and personal relationships of Scorsese's career, including collaborations with Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Jack Nicholson, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
An invaluable appreciation of one of our most admired film directors.
In this eye-opening companion to seasons 2 and 3 of Netflix's acclaimed series The Crown, renowned biographer and historical consultant Robert Lacey takes us through the real history that inspired the drama. Covering two tumultuous decades in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, Lacey looks at the key social, political, and personal moments and their effects--not only on the royal family but also on the world around them. From the Suez Crisis and the U.S.-Soviet space race to the legacy of the Duke of Windsor's collaboration with Hitler, along with the rumored issues with the royal marriage, the book provides a thought-provoking insight into the historic decades that the show explores, revealing the truth behind the on-screen drama. Fascinating and fast-paced, this is a unique look behind the history that inspired the show and the years that would prove to be the making of the Queen. The Crown is now available to watch on Netflix. The Crown is produced by Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television for Netflix.
The legendary Hollywood star blazes a fiery trail in this enthralling portrait of a brilliant actress and the movies her talent elevated to greatness
In Dark Victory, noted film critic and biographer Ed Sikov paints the most detailed picture ever delivered of Bette Davis, the intelligent, opinionated, and unusual woman who was--in the words of a close friend--one of the major events of the twentieth century. Drawing on new interviews with friends, directors, and admirers, as well as archival research and a fresh look at the films, this stylish, intimate biography depicts Davis's personal as well as professional life in a way that is both revealing and sympathetic. With his wise and well-informed take on the production and accomplishments of such movie milestones as Jezebel, All About Eve, and Now, Voyager, as well as the turbulent life and complicated personality of the actress who made them, Sikov's Dark Victory brings to life the two-time Academy Award-winning actress's unmistakable screen style, and shows the reader how Davis's art was her own dark victory.Film scholar Mark Browning examines Cronenberg's literary aesthetic not only in relation to his films' obvious source material, but by comparing his movies to the writings of Vladimir Nabokov, Angela Carter, and Bret Easton Ellis. This groundbreaking volume addresses Cronenberg's narrative structures and his unique conception of auteurism, as well as his films' shocking psychological frameworks, all in the broader context of film adaptation studies. David Cronenberg is an essential read for anyone interested in the symbiotic relationship between literature and filmmaking. "David Cronenberg is a work that attempts to illuminate and unravel the connection between the great Canadian auteur and his literary influences."--Film Snob Weekly "David Cronenberg is an essential read for anyone interested in the symbiotic relationship between literature and filmmaking."--Video Canada
Few directors in the past three decades have produced movies more compelling, controversial, or confounding than David Lynch (b. 1946). And fewer still have been so reluctant to talk about what they do. In this collection, editor Richard A. Barney has chosen the rare interviews in which Lynch opens up to questions rather than deflecting them. Whether Lynch is talking about his earliest film shorts such as The Grandmother or the break-out surrealist feature Eraserhead, the hit TV series Twin Peaks or his Oscar-nominated The Elephant Man or Blue Velvet or his most recent experimental tours de force, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire, he stresses the power of image and sound to communicate his vision.
David Lynch: Interviews is the first survey of conversations with the director covering the broad spectrum of his artistic activities throughout his career, including filmmaking, painting, music production, and furniture design. It documents the evolution of Lynch's role in discussing his movies, from his self-described "pre-verbal stage" in the early years to his increasingly elaborate, though persistently elusive, articulations. It also registers the intense international interest in Lynch�s work, with interviews from French and Spanish sources translated here for the first time.