Kirjahaku

"There was something about Robert Aldrich's artistic temperament that enabled him to transcend the apparent vulgarity of so many of his motion picutres. Besides the great films, such as Kiss Me Deadly which is certainly one of the finest examples of film noir, are several little-seen or underrated later works such as the revisionist Western, Ulzana's Raid, the gangster love story, The Grissom Gang, or the grim cop picture, Hustle. Aldrich's career has long deserved the detailed evaluation which this book provides." - Andrew Sarris

Generously includes film stills and essays on crime films, The Postman Always Rings Twice, "Hitchcock's Noire Landscape," "Samuel Fuller's Tabloid Cinema," "Son of Noir," "Noir Science," "Girl Power: Female Centered Neo-Noir," and "Abstract Expressionism and Film Noir."

Alain Silver and James Ursini now delve into the weird and terrifying terrain of the horror film. Its lineage extends from the silent screen to Scream 3 and, like most movie vampires, it remains defiantly, frighteningly alive. As do the earlier Silver-Ursini collections, Horror Film Reader begins with seminal essays, several dating back to the 1950s, that uncover the roots of the genre and explain its wide-ranging, indestructible appeal. These writings include, among many others, "Horror Is My Business" by Terence Fisher, "The Subconscious: From Pleasure Castle to Libido Motel" by Raymond Durgnat and "The Horror Film: Polanski and Repulsion" by Ivan Butler. The second part of the book, New Perspectives, focuses on such specific films as Tod Browning's Freaks and The Devil Doll, The Haunting, in both its 1963 and 1999 incarnations, and The Devil and Daniel Webster; and on such sequel-driven characters as Frankenstein's Monster and Freddy Krueger, the Wolf Man and the Candyman. In this section, too, are such unexpected finds as "Horrible Dr. Hitchcock," from the on-line periodical Images and "Jesus Franco," from Joan Hawkins' book on art and film, Cutting Edge: Art-Horror and the Horrific Avant-Garde. The scope of this collection is thus surprisingly broad, considering as it does the horror film genre from different times, different perspectives, different premises. But the book's purpose is unvarying: to increase our understanding of the often-hidden meanings of these movies and the ways in which they succeed (or do not) in making our flesh creep, our skin turn pale and our hair stand on end. Indeed, the stills alone -- about 100 of them -- may occasionally do that.

During the early 1930's, a burgeoning Hollywood film industry defined one of the most iconic genres of all time. With the release of three films, "Little Caesar" (1931), "The Public Enemy" (1931), and "Scarface" (1932), Hollywood established the style and audience expectations associated with gangster films that remain in force to the present day. "The Gangster Film Reader" brings together a group of essays, many of which were written specifically for this volume, which present an exhaustive overview of this seminal film genre. This is a thorough and informative volume that is a must-have for any self-respecting film fan.

This newest edition will track the form's evolution from such 1970s reinventions as ÊCount Yorga VampireÊ and ÊBlaculaÊ ÊThe HungerÊ and ÊVampire's KissÊ in the Eighties ÊInterview with the VampireÊ ÊBram Stoker's DraculaÊ and the ÊBladeÊ series in the Nineties through Ê30 Days of NightÊ ÊI Am LegendÊ and the ÊUnderworldÊ series in the first decade of the 21st century. All these films plus celebrated international examples such as ÊThirstÊ and ÊLet the Right One InÊ and the hit television series ÊBuffy the Vampire SlayerÊ ÊNew AmsterdamÊ ÊAngelÊ ÊThe Vampire DiariesÊ and ÊTrue BloodÊ are covered in this long-awaited completely revised expanded and redesigned fourth edition that follows the vampire figures both male and female through the millennium and beyond.

Departing from the approach of its Film Noir Reader predecessors, this third volume in the series assembles a collection of interviews with film noir directors and a cinematographer, few of whom are alive today. Interviewees include Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard), Otto Preminger (Laura), Joseph Lewis (Gun Crazy and The Big Combo), Curtis Bernhardt (Possessed and A Stolen Life), Edward Dmytryk (Murder, My Sweet and Crossfire), and Fritz Lang (Scarlet Street and The Woman in the Window).

With the rise of 3D, CGI, and nine-figure budgets, the movie business has never seemed more expensive than it does today. But, in reality, making a movie for next to nothing has never been easier. In "Movies Without Baggage," longtime filmmaker Alain Silver shows how twenty-first-century technology makes it possible to produce high-quality, full-length feature films for less than $50,000, $25,000, or even $10,000. There has never been a book like this written by a filmmaker with so much experience on both sides of the camera. Silver covers everything from finding/creating the right script; budgeting, casting, and signing contracts; scheduling, crewing, and shooting; post-production; and finally marketing and securing distribution. Richly illustrated with stills from his own ultra-low-budget films, "Movies Without Baggage" is the ultimate guide for the aspiring guerilla filmmaker.

After scores of books and commentaries on film noir and its classic period experts Alain Silver and James Ursini turn their full attention to neo-noir the self-conscious mannered sometimes ersatz and often surprising genre that sprang from the original movement. This volume surveys the full breath of American neo-noir its style and substance its evolution over succeeding generations of filmmakers from activist through postmodern to millennial and on with extensive illustrations in black-and-white and full-color that capture the genre's dramatic and visual essence.

Despite a glut of black and white filters the digital revolution in videography has all but abandoned the art science beauty and power of cinematic lighting that literally illuminated the Golden Age of motion pictures. ÊFilm Noir Light and ShadowÊ explores an era before CGI ä a time when every photon mattered and the lighting of a set served a grander purpose than simply rendering its subjects visible. Edited by Alain Silver and James Ursini the duo behind numerous critically acclaimed studies of other aspects of noir this anthology presents a series of essays that examine the visual style of the filmmakers of cinema's classic period. Some focus on individual pictures or directors; others discuss elements of style or sub-groups of movies within the movement. All are sharply focused on what makes the noir phenomenon unique in American ä and global ä cinematic history. Aside from highlighting the innovative work of its editors and their late colleague Robert Porfirio ÊFilm Noir Light and ShadowÊ also shares its light with a bevy of contributors who have written and edited their own books on the subject ä a list of luminaries that includes Sheri Chinen Biesen Shannon Clute and Richard Edwards Julie Grossman Delphine Letort Robert Miklitsch R. Barton Palmer Homer Pettey Marlisa Santos Imogen Sara Smith and Tony Williams. As befits the topic this volume is lavishly illustrated with 500 images that capture the richness and breadth of the classic period's imagery making it an ideal companion for students of the genre film historians sprocket fiends and the retrospectively inclined.

In this essential study of film noir editors Alain Silver and James Ursini select the most significant and influential articles on the movement from their highly respected Film Noir Reader series and assemble them into a single convenient heavily illustrated volume. Still included of course are many rare early articles and such seminal essays as Borde and Chaumeton's Towards a Definition of Film Noir from ÊPanorama du Film Noir AmericainÊ Paul Schrader's Notes on Film Noir and Paint It Black: the Family Tree of the Film Noir by Raymond Durgnat. With newer studies such as Lounge Time by Vivian Sobchack Manufacturing Heroines in Classic Noir Films by Sheri Chinen Biesen and Voices from the Deep: Film Noir as Psychodrama J. P. Telotte this collection of over 30 articles probes this most influential American film movement from varying angles: formalist feminist structuralist sociological and stylistic; narrative-thematic historical and even from the point of view of a pure aficionado. There is something in this volume for every student or devotee of film noir. Plus like the readers that have proven an invaluable tool for academics planning a syllabus it can serve as the most complete core text for any of the myriad of film noir courses taught throughout the world.

With todays proliferation of nine-figure film budgets, filmmaking may seem more out of reach than ever for the average person. In fact, producing a feature-length movie for next to nothing has never been easier. In MOVIES WITHOUT BAGGAGE, long-time filmmakers Alain Silver, Obren Bokich, and sundry others recount their experiences in the micro-budget arena and detail how 21st-century technology makes it possible to create high-quality, full-length features for less than $30,000 or $15,000 or even $7,500. Through in-the-trenches tales detailing the making of a dozen micro-budget features, this book covers all aspects of making movies without baggage: finding/creating the right script, budgeting, casting, dealmaking with actors and crew, scheduling, shooting, post-production, and finally marketing and securing distribution. This entertainingly illustrated volume also includes samples of the paperwork from five of the ultra-low-budget films it profiles. This is the ultimate guide for the aspiring guerrilla filmmaker. Never before has a book like this come from filmmakers with such varied experience and with credits that include features ranging in budget from over $10 million to under $5,000.

The behind-the-scenes story of the quintessential film noir and cult classic, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity-its true crime origins and crucial impact on film history-is told for the first time in this riveting narrative published for the film's 80th anniversary.From real crime to serial to novel to movie, the history of Double Indemnity is as complex and exciting as the plot of any to hit the screen during film noir's classic period. Born of a true crime that inspired reporter and would-be crime writer James M. Cain's novella, Hollywood quickly bid on the rights but throughout the 1930s a strict code of censorship made certain that no studio could green-light a murder melodrama based on real events. Then World War II loosened some strictures, and director-writer Billy Wilder-before his prime as director of sparkling comedies-could hire hardboiled novelist Raymond Chandler and revamp the story enough to pass the censors.Overcoming strong resistance, Wilder then lined up a star cast led by the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck in her unforgettable turn as the ultimate femme fetale, alongside Fred MacMurray, cast against type as her partner in crime, and Edward G. Robinson as a bloodhound claims adjuster. With these skilled actors set against a low-key look, Wilder's final film became one of the earliest studio noirs to gain critical and commercial success (nominated for 7 Oscars!), to influence the entire noir movement, and to impact filmmakers and audiences to this day.Authors Alain Silver and James Ursini tell the complete history of Double Indemnity in their latest and most provocative work on film noir: From the Moment They Met It Was Murder.

From Alain Silver and James Ursini, authors of The Noir Style and Film Noir Graphics and editors of the seven-volume Film Noir Reader series, comes Film Noir Fatal Women -- their latest exploration of the key elements that define Americas only homegrown film movement. 400 illustrations reveal the graphic and sensory core of the classic noir Femme Fatale, the visual icon and dramatic persona that underlies countless doomed narratives of the genre. From torch singers to gun molls, secretaries to sociopaths, black widows to B-girls, both blondes and brunettes, abused and empowered -- they all haunt these vivid pages.

Explore the dark and brooding elegance of Film Noir with this essential handbook to the genre, exploring key noir themes and their most representative movies. Copiously illustrated with film stills as well as original posters, the book also lists TASCHENâ??s top 50 noir classics. A must for amateurs and aficionados alike.

Whether it’s Double Indemnity, Kiss Me Deadly, or The Big Sleep, roam a screen world of dark and brooding elegance with this essential handbook to Film Noir. From private eyes and perfect crimes to corrupt cops and doomed affairs, editors Paul Duncan and Jürgen Müller examine noir’s key themes and their most representative movies from 1940 to 1960. Copiously illustrated with film stills as well as original posters, this book offers page after page of noir’s masterful visual compositions while exploring the narrative paradigms of this cryptic, compelling, and evolving genre. If that weren’t enough to tickle your cinematic appetite, the volume concludes with TASCHEN’s top 50 pick of noir classics. Brimming with the enigmatic dames, desperate gangsters, and psycho killers that continue to cast a long and captivating shadow over cinema, this is a must-have handbook for noir aficionados and amateurs alike.

Whether it’s Double Indemnity, Kiss Me Deadly, or The Big Sleep, roam a screen world of dark and brooding elegance with this essential handbook to Film Noir. From private eyes and perfect crimes to corrupt cops and doomed affairs, editors Paul Duncan and Jürgen Müller examine noir’s key themes and their most representative movies from 1940 to 1960. Copiously illustrated with film stills as well as original posters, this book offers page after page of noir’s masterful visual compositions while exploring the narrative paradigms of this cryptic, compelling, and evolving genre. If that weren’t enough to tickle your cinematic appetite, the volume concludes with TASCHEN’s top 50 pick of noir classics. Brimming with the enigmatic dames, desperate gangsters, and psycho killers that continue to cast a long and captivating shadow over cinema, this is a must-have handbook for noir aficionados and amateurs alike.

This bountiful anthology combines all the key early writings on film noir with many newer essays, including some published here for the first time. The collection is assembled by the editors of the Third Edition of Film Noir: An Enclyclopedic Reference to the American Style, now regarded as the standard work on the subject.