The Best Books About Film

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Florinaldo
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:38 pm
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1051 Post by Florinaldo » Sun Sep 15, 2019 9:28 pm

Of course, they would not take the gamble of releasing such an expensive product if there was not an expected market for it. There is a level of commercial hype at work here, sending a message along the lines of "look at this wonderful rediscovery we are so admirably bringing to you". But at one point PR puffery veers into ridiculousness and the "lapsed into obscurity" bit falls into that category for me. I wonder how they would describe Pierre Étaix? (Not that I believe there is any chance a publisher would ever assemble a similar set devoted to that other great French comic filmmaker.)

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colinr0380
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1052 Post by colinr0380 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:23 am

colinr0380 in February wrote:
Sat Feb 23, 2019 11:51 am
In other book news, Ian Christie was on BBC Radio 4's Film Programme last week to talk about the latest R.W. Paul films that have been uncovered and mentioned that he is working on a book about the filmmaker to come out at the end of the year, which is apparently getting a graphic novel version as well to try and introduce the early filmmaker to a new audience!
By the way, the R.W. Paul graphic novel unexpectedly turned up as a supplement in this month's edition of Sight & Sound. I don't know if this was just added in for subscribers or is actually a supplement in the magazine going out to newsstands though.

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filmyfan
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:50 am

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1053 Post by filmyfan » Sun Sep 22, 2019 5:05 am

Godot wrote:
Fri Jun 28, 2019 2:15 pm
black&huge wrote:
Fri Jun 28, 2019 4:17 am
How is Imogen Sara Smith's In Lonely Places? I only recently discovered her and wanted to check it out.
I'm a sucker for books on film noir, so I picked this up and have been slowly thumbing through it. I like her take on non-urban settings (the desert and Southwest, suburban domesticity, sleepy small towns, the road trip), and her writing voice is similar to her speaking voice, if you've enjoyed her appearances on podcasts or DVD interviews or commentaries. It's interesting to read her take on a few films that are usually discussed for their director or cinematographer and instead focus on their setting (Out of the Past, They Live By Night, Kiss Me Deadly, His Kind of Woman and other Farrows, a few of the Langs). I get her a bit confused with Farran Smith Nehme, their voices are somewhat similar to my ears, so the Columbia noir video essay piece on the Criterion Channel was helpful to separate them in my mind.
I have only recently "discovered" her on some CC discs-and like her...i notice she has written a book about Buster Keaton-anyone read that ?

alacal2
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1054 Post by alacal2 » Sun Sep 22, 2019 10:26 am

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the R W Paul graphic novel that colinr0380 refers to is directly related to the new editor who previously worked for the New Musical Express. His appointment, given his background, appears to have generated next to nil comment on this board but it certainly got Nick Wrigley in a tizz on Twitter!

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1055 Post by colinr0380 » Sun Sep 22, 2019 2:11 pm

I have to admit that I had not noticed that, as that edition of Sight & Sound was still featuring Nick James in the Editorial with no mention made of a new appointment at that point. Not really knowing backgrounds of those involved was Nick Wrigley in a good or bad tizz about this NME editor?

alacal2
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1056 Post by alacal2 » Sun Sep 22, 2019 3:13 pm

Colin, unfortunately I no longer get S@S and I see that Nick James is still listed as Editor on its website. The new guy is Mike Williams who describes himself on his Linked In page as Editor in Chief of S@S from August. I hope I'm interpreting Nick Wrigley's comments fairly but I believe he was expressing astonishment at the apparent lack of reaction in the wider film community to what he saw as a pretty left field appointment. There's a bfi press release from July stating “Mike’s experience as an editor, his track record in taking new and established titles into a digital-first future and his passion for film and television makes him a perfect choice to take Sight & Sound into the next stage of its evolution. We have great writers with a deep understanding of film and its context, and whilst we are committed to print and online, forging a new and dynamic relationship between the two is critical for reaching today’s readers and audiences. We look forward to Mike joining the team and capitalising on the magnificent legacy of Sight & Sound to grow
its audience.” I could have sworn I heard Nick spluttering! Anyhow, that's what made me think that your R W Paul comment and this were linked but who knows.

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Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1057 Post by Mr Sausage » Wed Nov 20, 2019 7:48 pm

Killers, Clients, and Kindred Spirits: the Taboo Cinema of Shohei Imamura, edited by Lindsay Coleman and David Desser.

Published just this year--finally, a full length English-language book devoted to Imamura that's worthy of its subject. The previous book edited by James Quandt was inadequate for a number of reasons, not least of which being that most of the authors seemed not to have watched the films under discussion in many years. Not only were there basic plot errors in every essay, but many of them made the exact same errors, leading one to conclude they were all relying on the same erroneous plot summary(ies) (probably Richie's essay).

The essays in Coleman and Desser's book are more careful and more substantive. Each one of Imamura's films is analyzed here, except Zegen (apparently no one was available to write on it); and with the exception of Imamura's four journeyman works from the 50s, which are analyzed in a single essay, the rest of Imamura's films receive a dedicated essay each.

For an academic work, the essays are refreshingly free of academic jargon. Not completely--Adam Bingham's essay on Intentions of Murder is near unreadable, and has so many incredible howlers and nonsensical phrases I found myself bothering my wife every five minutes with a new one. Yet even that essay is worthwhile, serving as a useful corrective to the misreadings in the earlier Quandt book and elsewhere that claim the heroine becomes sexually attracted to her rapist. It's a shame the reading I was most hoping someone would make came in the worst-written essay, but I think this shows the richness of the book. There are a lot of excellent readings and some needed analysis here, especially of Imamura's aesthetic. Michael Raine's essay on The Insect Woman is unmissable for how it dissects Imamura's so-called realistic, documentary aesthetic and places it squarely in the tradition of Brecht and the distancing effect. And I was happy to see Imamura's putative giving-over to Ozu in Black Rain refigured by Dolores P. Martinez into a criticism and finally a rejection of Ozu's techniques. Another reading I was satisfied to see someone make.

A terrific set of essays on probably Japan's best filmmaker.

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Orson Kane
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2019 12:07 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1058 Post by Orson Kane » Fri Nov 22, 2019 2:59 pm

alacal2 wrote:
Sun Sep 22, 2019 3:13 pm
Colin, unfortunately I no longer get S@S
Is there any reason you don't buy it anymore?

Would you recommend any other film review magazine with insightful reviews (Little White Lies perhaps?).

alacal2
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1059 Post by alacal2 » Sat Nov 23, 2019 7:31 am

Nothing sinister Orson Kane! It got too expensive to have shipped to France and I don't like the digital version. I try and puck up a copy if I'm ever back in the UK.

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Gregor Samsa
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1060 Post by Gregor Samsa » Sat Nov 23, 2019 8:23 pm

Palgrave Macmillan is currently holding a sale where prettymuch everything is 9.99 with free shipping. Haven't checked out the range fully, but there's plenty of academic film books included:

https://www.palgrave.com/gp/shop/cyberm ... cyber19pal

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1061 Post by senseabove » Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:28 pm

Gregor Samsa wrote:
Sat Nov 23, 2019 8:23 pm
Palgrave Macmillan is currently holding a sale where prettymuch everything is 9.99 with free shipping. Haven't checked out the range fully, but there's plenty of academic film books included:

https://www.palgrave.com/gp/shop/cyberm ... cyber19pal
Looks like this sale goes until December 3rd, and literally everything I've seen is $9.99—eBook, paperback, and hardback. Unfortunately, once you get to check out, it appears that they're all Print-on-Demand, but I suppose that's not much to complain about at the price. Some I noticed that might be of particular interest to folks here:
Visual and Other Pleasures by Laura Mulvey
Mise en Scène and Film Style by Adrian Martin
Film Restoration: The Culture and Science of Audiovisual Heritage by Leo Enticknap (which purports to be aimed at non-specialists)
The DVD and the Study of Film: The Attainable Text by Mark Parker and Deborah Parker (which apparently has a good history of Criterion)

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Orson Kane
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1062 Post by Orson Kane » Mon Dec 02, 2019 10:28 am

colinr0380 wrote:
Thu Jan 24, 2019 1:09 pm
I can confirm that Flowers of Perversion: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco Volume Two is available now as my copy has just arrived. Thank you for the heads up Cronenfly as I had honestly forgotten to check when the second volume would be released! It is a bit heftier than the first volume too, at 510 pages against the first volume's 430, but it makes a perfect companion to Murderous Passions (even down to the amusing updating on the back cover from "Stephen Thrower has devoted five years" to "ten years" for Volume Two!)

Both are outstanding volumes for such an overwhelming amount of films. Volume Two takes the Franco filmography from 1974 up to Franco's final post-Lina Romay film in 2013 (Al Pereira vs The Alligator Ladies, which Thrower describes as Franco's best film in 25 years, along with Revenge of the Alligator Ladies, completed by Antonio Mayans as a kind of meta-film from the footage left after Franco's death. There is also an interview with Mayans to cap off the discussion of the films)
In case anyone hasn't seen it but Volume One of this book was going for ridiculous prices on eBay but thankfully Strange Attractor press are reissuing it in a revised edition

MURDEROUS PASSIONS: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco

STEPHEN THROWER
with Julian Grainger

HB, 270 x 240 mm


512pp, 599 images, 326 in colour

£45
/ £55 + signed insert (100 only)
/ £60 + 7″ & insert (40 only)

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Ovader
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1063 Post by Ovader » Sat Dec 07, 2019 12:33 pm

senseabove wrote:
Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:28 pm
Looks like this sale goes until December 3rd, and literally everything I've seen is $9.99—eBook, paperback, and hardback. Unfortunately, once you get to check out, it appears that they're all Print-on-Demand, but I suppose that's not much to complain about at the price.
Picked up Post-War Modernist Cinema and Philosophy by Hamish Ford and it doesn't look like a Print-on-Demand edition unless I'm overlooking certain features.ImageImage

WmS
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1064 Post by WmS » Sat Dec 07, 2019 6:06 pm

It looks like it could be print-on-demand. If there is a bar code or a text block on the lower lefthand side of the very last page facing the interior rear cover, that would indicate POD.

The quality of POD books has gotten a lot better, but I hate having a glued binding in a hardcover.

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Ovader
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1065 Post by Ovader » Sat Dec 07, 2019 6:27 pm

WmS wrote:
Sat Dec 07, 2019 6:06 pm
It looks like it could be print-on-demand. If there is a bar code or a text block on the lower lefthand side of the very last page facing the interior rear cover, that would indicate POD.
This is on the second to last page of the book. I'm happy with the book so no harm done.Image

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bearcuborg
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1066 Post by bearcuborg » Thu Dec 19, 2019 3:14 am

Jonas Mekas: Conversations with Filmmakers - so this came out last year but I just discovered it today. It’s a who’s who of avant- garde filmmakers, and so far I’ve already torn through Michael Snow, Jerome Hill and Ken Jacobs.

Orson Welles Portfolio: Sketches and Drawings from the Welles Estate - Don’t waste you’re money or time on that annoying documentary about Orson’s sketches, this is worth every penny. The reproductions are beautiful, and the annotations quite informative.

I picked up both of these in the basement at the National Gallery in DC, it has a very hip film section down there-take a ganders on your next visit.

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Godot
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1067 Post by Godot » Fri Dec 27, 2019 4:54 pm

J Wilson wrote:
Sun Sep 15, 2019 5:38 pm
Has anyone checked out the listing for Taschen's Jacques Tati: The Complete Works? It looks like a suitcase-sized box set with five volumes:
Designed by M/M (Paris), the set includes:

Volume I, ‘Tati films’: stills from all six feature films
Volume II, ‘Tati writes’: the complete screenplays, plus those of two unmade films
Volume III, ‘Tati works’: a comprehensive survey of his life and work
Volume IV, ‘Tati explores’: essays on important themes in his films
Volume V, ‘Tati speaks’: quotations and interviews

Not exactly cheap at $225, but it looks pretty impressive.
The Definitive Jacques Tati Taschen book is $140 on halfpricebooks.com (listed as Jacques Tati: The Complete Works); with their 20% off sale (EXTRA20) through Dec. 29, that's half price. If you miss that window, you can use NEWYEAR20 in Dec/Jan for same 20% off.

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soundchaser
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1068 Post by soundchaser » Sat Dec 28, 2019 12:36 am

Is there a good book that covers the history of Technicolor stock? I’m particularly interested in learning about the Fox junkings of the 70s.

WmS
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1069 Post by WmS » Sat Dec 28, 2019 3:14 am

Barbara Flueckiger's astonishing Timeline of Historical Film Colors has these entries:

Technicolor IV:
https://filmcolors.org/timeline-entry/1301/

Technicolor V:
https://filmcolors.org/timeline-entry/1445/

which include extensive (exhaustive?) bibliographies. I see a lot about the development of the process (standout title: "The Way of All Flesh Tones") and little about its demise. The 1993 Richard Haines book Technicolor Movies. The History of Dye Transfer Printing has a brief table of contents entry called "Purge" referencing a 30 December 1974 Village Voice article by John Belton and another contemporary article in Variety. The Haines book is largely about Technicolor the company and the processes involved, not the studios.

Skimming the bibliography, I don't see anything specifically related to Fox or the end of the process, but I'm just skimming. Some entries are in German and Italian, which I can't read.

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soundchaser
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1070 Post by soundchaser » Mon Dec 30, 2019 1:44 am

Wow, thanks, this looks great. I’ll probably order the Haines book anyway — it sounds interesting enough even if it doesn’t specifically cover the Fox junkings.


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soundchaser
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1072 Post by soundchaser » Mon Dec 30, 2019 2:04 am

Oh, THAT Richard. Well, whoops.

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Rayon Vert
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Re:

#1073 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Jan 03, 2020 2:01 am

Dr Amicus wrote:
Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:44 am
There are tons of books about Hammer; most of them are just the same old stories with some colorful pictures. Denis Meikle's A History of Horrors is a good industrial history of the studio with plenty of production information. He's pretty critical of most of the films, however, especially the mid-to-late period. The Hammer Story by Hearn & Barnes also looks OK as an introduction, but I've only skimmed through it.

The most comprehensive work on Hammer is probably Wayne Kinsey's two volume history: Hammer Films: The Bray Studio Years and The Elstree Studio Years.
I'd back that up. I read almost every book available on Hammer for my thesis and these are probably the way to go. The Meikle is the best single volume history (although might be a bit pricey), but the Hearn & Barnes (new edition appears to be out) has some fantastic pictures and looks lovely, at the expense of depth. However, as it's organised by film (most of the horrors get a page or 2 each), it's possibly easier to navigate if you want to know about a particular one.

The depth of information in the Kinsey (I've only read the 1st) is astonishing - and particularly good about censorship battles. However, it is strictly chronological - which means it can be a bit tricky trying to follow the ins & outs of one particular film. It's an off-shoot of a fanzine Kinsey has been producing over they years, "The House That Hammer Built" - and that too comes highly recommended.

In fact, another fanzine, the US based 'Little Shoppe of Horrors' is an absolute must for Hammer fans. HUGE amounts of detail (nobody in Hammer is considered too minor to be interviewed) and a valuable resource.
I'm (unsurprisingly) interested in acquiring a Hammer book myself. Reading those very old posts, I wonder if anyone has had time to browse recent volumes, Hammer Complete by Howard Maxford in 2018, and Chris Fellner's The Encyclopedia of Hammer Films from 2019. The Amazon links don't allow perusing the contents. Both are them are very expensive (over $100), but that's still cheaper than the out-of-print Kinsey volumes (I'd love to see maps or pictures of the studios, and I know these volumes contain them - I don't know about the new ones). I'm personally tempted to get Hammer Complete because of its greater length (near 1000 pages) and the comments (e.g. "Hammer bible") of the reviewers. Marcus Hearn directs all those Hammer documentaries for the recent Indicator and Shout blu-rays, but I was surprised to see his authorized Hammer Story is less than 200 pages, which makes it less appealing for me. I'm also tempted to get the three Rigby Gothic books.

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Dr Amicus
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1074 Post by Dr Amicus » Fri Jan 03, 2020 6:18 am

It really depends on what you want from a book on Hammer, these are both encyclopedias - not narrative or critical studies. I've heard very patchy things re the Maxford, indeed his earlier book on Hammer from the 90s is very average - a surface level (without any obvious howlers that I can recall) narrative history with a redundant appendix with capsule Halliwell / Maltin-esque reviews (most films getting 0 stars!). I haven't got either - they might be tempting at a much lower price but certainly not at their current prices...

I see Meikle has revised his book into a glossier, larger format book from Dark Side - from a quick look it seems it's been abridged text wise with a lot of extra illustrations. It looks more like the Hearn - which is (based on the first edition) a film-by-film (at least, the more important ones) history of Hammer with, again, a lot of illustrations. As a history it's OKish, but it's a nicely put together book - indeed, I have seen several fans use it as a glorified autograph book. What I haven't got but is high on my list is Hearn's Hammer Vault - which looks like an updated version of the earlier book with some added goodies. I wouldn't be surprised if this had studio pictures / maps.

Also - one of the best sources for really in depth material is Little Shoppe of Horrors, a fantastic fanzine which has been running for almost 50 years by now. Each issue (after the first few) has a VERY detailed making of for (usually) a Hammer film and several other articles. The full range is available - earlier OOP issues have been reprinted in a slightly lesser format - and well worth dipping into (issue 19 has an overview of Fisher's work for Hammer and so might be a good taster).

However, avoid Sinclair McKay's A Thing of Unspeakable Horror: The History of Hammer Films - it's very poor with numerous mistakes and little critical sense.

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Rayon Vert
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Re: The Best Books About Film

#1075 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Jan 03, 2020 12:53 pm

Thanks a lot for that comprehensive appreciation! Ideally I'd want both the history and everything else, but I guess I'll have to choose or double-dip, the latter being most likely. (Kind of frustrating that none of these books on Amazon except the Meikle affords you a look inside.)

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