Film 78

This collection of interviews features American, British and Australian writers, directors and actors recounting their notable work in the action genre and the fun of blowing things up. Action movie……続きを見る

For well more than a century, Western films have embodied the United States' most fundamental doctrine--expansionism--and depicted, in a uniquely American way, the archetypal battle between good and……続きを見る

The great scientific, astronomical and technological advances of the 20th century inspired the science fiction genre to imagine distant worlds and futures, far beyond the discoveries of the here and……続きを見る

The films of the New French Extremity have been reviled by critics but adored by fans and filmmakers. Known for graphically brutal depictions of sex and violence, the subgenre emerged from the Frenc……続きを見る

The 1950s era of science fiction film effectively ended when space flight became a reality with the first manned orbit of Earth in 1962. As the genre's wildly speculative depictions of science and t……続きを見る

Death rays! Absurd idea peddled by con artists and amateurs and promoted by a sensationalist press? Not quite. Government and military leaders and mainstream scientists endorsed the possibility of s……続きを見る

During the Depression years, the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were second only to Laurel and Hardy at the box office. Each of their over 20 comedies are analyzed in detail here; fu……続きを見る

From the horrific to the heroic, cinematic werewolves are metaphors for our savage nature, symbolizing the secret, bestial side of humanity that hides beneath our civilized veneer. Examining acknowl……続きを見る

Robert E. Burns, a World War I veteran coerced into taking part in a petty crime in Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to hard labor on a chain gang in 1922. Twice escaping and on the lam for decades, ……続きを見る

The “Gothic” style was a key trend in Italian cinema of the 1950s and 1960s because of its peculiar, often strikingly original approach to the horror genre. These films portrayed Gothic staples in a……続きを見る

With more than 130 films and a career spanning four decades, Klaus Kinski (1926-1991) was one of the most controversial actors of his generation. Known for his wild tantrums on set and his legendary……続きを見る

The original script was sold to a major Hollywood studio virtually overnight; the screenwriter was working as a pool boy and driver for the producer; the director was considered an "acid freak" by t……続きを見る

From their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, B movies declined in popularity through the 1970s. As the big Hollywood studios began to make genre films with sky-high budgets, independent producers of lo……続きを見る

Character actor Richard Jaeckel worked five decades in Hollywood alongside the industry's biggest names. Noted for tough-guy portrayals, he appeared in such classic westerns and war films as Sands o……続きを見る

Some critics rank biographers just above serial murderers. The author of this book, a self-described member of the Samuel Johnson school, doesn't share this view. An account of a life, he believes, ……続きを見る

More horror movies are produced and released each year than any other film genre. While horror enjoys broad popularity, many hardcore fans voraciously consume films from their favorite subgenres whi……続きを見る

The 1950s were a transitional period for film comedians. The artistic suppression of the McCarthy era and the advent of television often resulted in a dumbing down of motion pictures. Cartoonist-tur……続きを見る

Prior to his premature death from tuberculosis in 1928, Larry Semon was one of the most popular comics on the silent screen. For a time he rivaled comedy legends Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Bu……続きを見る

Unlike such romanticized renegades as Robin Hood and Jesse James, there is another kind of outlaw hero, one who lives between the law and his own personal code. In times of crisis, when the law prov……続きを見る

America in the 1950s was a cauldron of contradictions. Advances in technology chafed against a grimly conservative political landscape; the military-industrial complex ceaselessly promoted the "Comm……続きを見る

In 1975, after his two Godfather epics, Francis Ford Coppola went to the Philippines to film Apocalypse Now. He scrapped much of the original script, a jingoistic narrative of U.S. Special Forces wi……続きを見る

Marvel Studios' approach to its Cinematic Universe--beginning with the release of Iron Man (2008)--has become the template for successful management of blockbuster film properties. Yet films featuri……続きを見る

Robert E. Howard penned a series of fantasy stories in 1932 featuring Conan, a hulking warrior from "Cimmeria" who roamed the mythical Hyborian Age landscape engaging in heroic adventures. More than……続きを見る

Public awareness of bullying has increased tremendously in recent years, largely through its representation in film, television and novels. In popular media targeted towards young readers and viewer……続きを見る

Much has been written (and rewritten) about classic horror and science fiction films like Nosferatu and Metropolis, as well as not-so-classic pictures like Bride of the Monster and The Hideous Sun D……続きを見る

As movie patrons sat in darkened theaters in January 1914, they were mesmerized by an alluring temptress with long sable hair and kohl-rimmed eyes. Theda Bara--"the vamp," as she would come to be kn……続きを見る

Neil Simon is the most successful American playwright on Broadway, and the winner of many awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Mark Twain Prize for Humor, and a Kennedy Center Honor fo……続きを見る

Tonino Valerii is one of Italy's best genre film directors. Starting out as Sergio Leone's assistant on For a Few Dollars More (1965), he went on to direct spaghetti westerns that stand out among th……続きを見る

Bill Warren's Keep Watching the Skies! was originally published in two volumes, in 1982 and 1986. It was then greatly expanded in what we called the 21st Century Edition, with new entries on several……続きを見る

This series of absorbing case studies focuses on the portrayal of Pakistani women in the global media. Analyzing Hollywood films, British documentaries, newspapers and mainstream U.S. magazines, the……続きを見る