Best Movie Theory Books
Here you will get Best Movie Theory Books For you.This is an up-to-date list of recommended books.
1. Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood
Author: by Mark Harris
Penguin Books
English
512 pages
The New York Times bestseller that follows the making of five films at a pivotal time in Hollywood history In the mid-1960s, westerns, war movies, and blockbuster musicals like Mary Poppins swept the box office. The Hollywood studio system was astonishingly lucrative for the few who dominated the business.
That is, until the tastes of American moviegoers radically- and unexpectedly-changed. By the Oscar ceremonies of 1968, a cultural revolution had hit Hollywood with the force of a tsunami, and films like Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, and box-office bomb Doctor Doolittle signaled a change in Hollywood-and America.
And as an entire industry changed and struggled, careers were suddenly made and ruined, studios grew and crumbled, and the landscape of filmmaking was altered beyond all recognition.
2. The Devil's Candy: The Anatomy Of A Hollywood Fiasco
Author: by Julie Salamon
Da Capo Press
English
448 pages
“A definitive portrait of the madness of big-time moviemaking” (Newsweek), now the basis for the new season of TCM’s hit podcast, “The Plot Thickens”When Brian De Palma agreed to allow Julie Salamon unlimited access to the film production of Tom Wolfe’s best-selling book The Bonfire of the Vanities, both director and journalist must have felt like they were on to something big.How could it lose?
But instead Salamon got a front-row seat at the Hollywood disaster of the decade. She shadowed the film from its early stages through the last of the eviscerating reviews, and met everyone from the actors to the technicians to the studio executives.
They’d all signed on for a blockbuster, but there was a sense of impending doom from the start-heart-of-gold characters replaced Wolfe’s satiric creations; affable Tom Hanks was cast as the patrician heel; Melanie Griffith appeared mid-shoot with new, bigger breasts.
With a keen eye and ear, Salamon shows us how the best of intentions turned into a legendary Hollywood debacle. The Devil’s Candy joins John Gregory Dunne’s The Studio, Steven Bach’s Final Cut, and William Goldman’s Adventures in the Screen Trade as a classic for anyone interested in the workings of Hollywood.
3. Looking at Movies (Sixth Edition)
Author: by Dave Monahan
English
528 pages
039367469X
Students love watching movies. Help them understand why. Building on students’ enthusiasm for movies, this text is more successful than any other at motivating students to understand and analyze film. In the new Sixth Edition, author Dave Monahan has thoroughly revised the book for clarity and currency, while adding new interactive learning tools to support student learning.
The best book and media package for introductory film just got better.
4. Sculpting in Time: Tarkovsky The Great Russian Filmaker Discusses His Art
Author: by Andrey Tarkovsky
University of Texas Press
English
254 pages
Andrey Tarkovsky, the genius of modern Russian cinemahailed by Ingmar Bergman as “the most important director of our time”died an exile in Paris in December 1986. In Sculpting in Time, he has left his artistic testament, a remarkable revelation of both his life and work.
Since Ivan’s Childhood won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1962, the visionary quality and totally original and haunting imagery of Tarkovsky’s films have captivated serious movie audiences all over the world, who see in his work a continuation of the great literary traditions of nineteenth-century Russia.
Many critics have tried to interpret his intensely personal vision, but he himself always remained inaccessible. In Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky sets down his thoughts and his memories, revealing for the first time the original inspirations for his extraordinary filmsIvan’s Childhood, Andrey Rublyov, Solaris, The Mirror, Stalker, Nostalgia, and The Sacrifice.
He discusses their history and his methods of work, he explores the many problems of visual creativity, and he sets forth the deeply autobiographical content of part of his oeuvremost fascinatingly in The Mirror and Nostalgia. The closing chapter on The Sacrifice, dictated in the last weeks of Tarkovsky’s life, makes the book essential reading for those who already know or who are just discovering his magnificent work.
5. The Making of Casablanca: Bogart, Bergman, and World War II
Author: by Aljean Harmetz
Hachette Books
English
416 pages
Critically acclaimed when published in 1992 as Round Up the Usual Suspects, The Making of Casablanca offers the ultimate insider’s look at the politics and personalities behind the most celebrated movie of all time-Casablanca. Updated and timed for the 60th anniversary (Thanksgiving Day, 1942) of this movie, this critically acclaimed book draws upon years of research, including access to Ingrid Bergman’s personal acting diaries and the vast Warner Brothers archives, as well as interviews with many of those close to the film, including the late Paul Henreid, Lauren Bacall, and scriptwriters Howard Koch and Julius Epstein.
Richly detailed and full of surprises, The Making of Casablanca debunks many cherished myths about the casting, script, story, and stars, to reveal the realities of the highly pressured Hollywood studio system during World War II.
6. You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation
Author: by Susannah Gora
Crown (February 22, 2011)
English
384 pages
You can quote lines from Sixteen Candles (Last night at the dancemy little brother paid a buck to see your underwear), your iPod playlist includes more than one song by the Psychedelic Furs and Simple Minds, you watch The Breakfast Club every time it comes on cable, and you still wish that Andie had ended up with Duckie in Pretty in Pink.
You’re a bonafide Brat Pack devoteeand you’re not alone. The films of the Brat Packfrom Sixteen Candles to Say Anythingare some of the most watched, bestselling DVDs of all time. The landscape that the Brat Packmemorializedwhere outcasts and prom queens fall in love, preppies and burn-outs become buds, and frosted lip gloss, skinny ties, and exuberant optimism made us feel invincibleis rich with cultural themes and significance, and has influenced an entire generation who still believe that life always turns out the way it is supposed to.
You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried takes us back to that era, interviewing key players, such as Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, and John Cusack, and mines all the material from the movies to the music to the way the films were made to show how they helped shape our visions for romance, friendship, society, and success.
7. Film Art: An Introduction
Author: by David Bordwell
McGraw-Hill Education
English
544 pages
Film is an art form with a language and an aesthetic all its own. Since 1979, David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson and now, Co-Author, Jeff Smith’s Film Art has been the best-selling and most widely respected introduction to the analysis of cinema.
Taking a skills-centered approach supported by examples from many periods and countries, the authors help students develop a core set of analytical skills that will enrich their understanding of any film, in any genre. In-depth examples deepen students’ appreciation for how creative choices by filmmakers affect what viewers experience and how they respond.
Film Art is generously illustrated with more than 1,000 frame enlargements taken directly from completed films, providing concrete illustrations of key concepts. Along with updated examples and expanded coverage of digital filmmaking, the eleventh edition of Film Art delivers SmartBook, first and only adaptive reading experience currently available, designed to help students stay focused, maximize study time and retain basic concepts.
8. Off the Back of a Truck: Unofficial Contraband for the Sopranos Fan
Author: by Nick Braccia
English
368 pages
1982139064
Unleash your inner Soprano and relive all your favorite moments with this companion guide to the award-winning television series The Sopranos. We all know and love The Sopranos, one of the most important television dramas to ever hit the small screen, having run for six seasons on HBO.
The story of the Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano balancing his family life with his role as the leader of a criminal organization pioneered decades of genre-bending peak TV. Now, Off the Back of a Truck takes you one step further into the world of Tony Soprano and his families, offering an Italian potluck of fresh and fun takes that any true fan can get lost in for hours.
Off the Back of a Truck includes: -New looks at everyone’s favorite episodes, scenes, and characters -All 92 deaths analyzed, evaluated, and ranked -An investigation of true crimes behind the families’ schemes -An exploration of movies and shows that inspired The Sopranos -Reflections on the use of music, food, and fashion from writers who are also huge fans -A provocative conversation about what happens in the controversial ending This book takes you on a journey through the six seasons you have watched time and time againbut it’s organized so you can dip in at any time, at any place.
9. Harry Swotter: A Harry Potter Quiz Book
Author: by Rich Jepson
English
100 pages
1549697137
2021 BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARDS – WINNER – ACTIVITY BOOKOn a scale from one to ten, how obsessed with the Harry Potter films are you? About nine and three-quarters?Thought so. Inside this book you will find 400 questions covering all 8 of the Harry Potter movies.
Questions are separated into 25 individual quizzes, there are 15 rounds on general knowledge and 10 rounds on specific subjects such as: School HousesQuidditchSpells PatronusAnagramsFantastic Beasts & Where To Find ThemQuestions range from Siriusly easy to Riddikulusly difficult. There’s also a round of tiebreakers to settle any disputes.
Will you score 10 points for Gryffindor or will you Slytherin to last place?
10. Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film – Updated Edition (Princeton Classics, 73)
Author: by Carol J. Clover
Princeton University Press
English
280 pages
From its first publication in 1992, Men, Women, and Chain Saws has offered a groundbreaking perspective on the creativity and influence of horror cinema since the mid-1970s. Investigating the popularity of the low-budget tradition, Carol Clover looks in particular at slasher, occult, and rape-revenge films.
Although such movies have been traditionally understood as offering only sadistic pleasures to their mostly male audiences, Clover demonstrates that they align spectators not with the male tormentor, but with the females tormentednotably the slasher movie’s “final girls”as they endure fear and degradation before rising to save themselves.
The lesson was not lost on the mainstream industry, which was soon turning out the formula in well-made thrillers. Including a new preface by the author, this Princeton Classics edition is a definitive work that has found an avid readership from students of film theory to major Hollywood filmmakers.
11. The Star Wars Archives. 1977–1983
Author: by Paul Duncan
English
604 pages
3836563401
Star Wars exploded onto our cinema screens in 1977, and the world has not been the same since. After watching depressing and cynical movies throughout the early 1970s, audiences enthusiastically embraced the positive energy of the Star Wars universe as they followed moisture farmer Luke Skywalker on his journey through a galaxy far, far away, meeting extraordinary characters like mysterious hermit Obi-Wan Kenobi, space pirates Han Solo and Chewbacca, loyal droids C-3PO and R2-D2, bold Princess Leia and the horrific Darth Vader, servant of the dark, malevolent Emperor.
Writer, director, and producer George Lucas created the modern monomyth of our time, one that resonates with the child in us all. He formed Industrial Light & Magic to develop cutting-edge special effects technology, which he combined with innovative editing techniques and a heightened sense of sound to give audiences a unique sensory cinematic experience.
In this first volume, made with the full cooperation of Lucasfilm, Lucas narrates his own story, taking us through the making of the original trilogyEpisode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI: Return of the Jediand bringing fresh insights into the creation of a unique universe.
12. The Film Experience
Author: by Timothy Corrigan
Bedford/St. Martin's
English
512 pages
Enjoy a more poignant film experience by diving into the details which built modern-day cinema as Film Experience combines, technology, business, the visual language of film, and its history into a single, cohesive presentation of this ever-evolving medium.
13. Writing About Movies
Author: by Karen Gocsik
English
280 pages
0393664902
The only writing guide a film student will ever need Two books in one: a handy guide to the process of academic writing and a brief but thorough introduction to the basics of film form, film theory, and film analysis.
Clear, accessible, and surprisingly affordable, it’s the only writing guide a student of film will ever need.
14. A History of Narrative Film
Author: by David A. Cook
English
864 pages
0393920097
A trusted reference, a popular teaching text, and a well-written history is now bolder, briefer, and better than ever. Sophisticated in its analytical content, current in its coverage, and informed throughout by fascinating historical and cultural contexts, A History of Narrative Film is one of the most respected and widely read texts in film studies.
This Fifth Edition features a new chapter on twenty-first century film, and includes refreshed coverage of contemporary digital production, distribution, and consumption of film. Now 20% shorter, with new four-color design and an updated art program, A History of Narrative Film is also the only film history text available as an ebook.
15. Teaching Film (Options for Teaching)
Author: by Lucy Fischer
English
424 pages
1603291148
Film studies has been a part of higher education curricula in the United States almost since the development of the medium. Although the study of film is dispersed across a range of academic departments, programs, and scholarly organizations, film studies has come to be recognized as a field in its own right.
In an era when teaching and scholarship are increasingly interdisciplinary, film studies continues to expand and thrive, attracting new scholars and fresh ideas, direction, and research. Given the dynamism of the field, experienced and beginning instructors alike need resources for bringing the study of film into the classroom.
This volume will help instructors conceptualize contemporary film studies in pedagogical terms. The first part of the volume features essays on theory and on representation, including gender, race, and sexuality. Contributors then examine the geographies of cinema and offer practical suggestions for structuring courses on national, regional, and transnational film.
16. Moving Into Pictures
Author: by Barry Salt
English
448 pages
0950906646
Articles on early film history, the style of the films of Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Cecil B. DeMille, Josef von Sternberg, and Ernst Lubitsch. Also pieces on the analysis of film style, on cartoon animation style, television drama over the last 50 years, film style and technology in the ‘nineties, and much more.
