Showing titles in History & Criticism

The 1930s was a magical age in Hollywood, with Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney, Bette Davis, and Clark Gable lighting up the silver screen. But Deanna Durbin’s fame surpassed them all. Born in Canada, Deanna was “discovered” by star-maker Eddie Cantor, producer Joe Pasternak, and director Henry Koster, and she quickly became the world’s most celebrated star. She saved Universal Studios from ruin, she was a favorite of Winston Churchill and Anne Frank, and she became the highest-paid woman in America.

Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990) rose from the ranks of chorus girl to become one of Hollywood's most talented leading women-and America's highest paid woman in the mid-1940s. Shuttled among foster homes as a child, she took a number of low-wage jobs while she determinedly made the connections that landed her in successful Broadway productions. Stanwyck then acted in a stream of high-quality films from the 1930s through the 1950s. Directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang, and Frank Capra treasured her particular magic

Serenity Found takes the contents of Finding Serenity even further, exploring not just the show but the events of the film as well, to create an anthology that's even more thought-provoking, fascinating, and far-thinking than its predecessor.

When Dave Hickey was 12, he rode the surfer's dream: the perfect wave. And, like so many things in life we long for, it didn't quite turn out - he shot the pier and dashed himself against the rocks of Sunset Cliffs in Ocean Beach, which just about killed him. Fortunately, for Hickey and for us, he survived, and continues to battle, decades into a career as one of America's foremost critical iconoclasts, a trusted, even cherished no-nonsense voice commenting on the all-too-often nonsensical worlds of art and culture.

A no-holds-barred look at the rise (and eventual fall) of the raunchy, blockbuster “Frat Pack” comedy films of the early 2000s—including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Old School, Wedding Crashers, and Knocked Up—and how the effects of that raucous era are still felt even in the fractured media...

Television shows have now eclipsed films as the premier form of visual narrative art of our time. This new book by one of our finest critics explains—historically, in depth, and with interviews with the celebrated creators themselves—how the art of must-see/binge-watch television evolved...

Arrested Development earned six Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, critical acclaim, and a loyal cult following. Fortunately, this book explores the fascinating philosophical issues at the heart of the quirky Bluths and their comic exploits. Whether it's reflecting on Gob's self-deception or digging into Tobias's double entendres, you'll watch your favorite scenes and episodes of the show in a whole new way.

I was a “Monster Kid” and “The Weird Kid, The Horror Movie Kid.” I found out early…horror is always personal. Now I make horror for a living. It shouldn’t just be WATCHED. Horror should be ENJOYED. This isn’t some stuffy analysis telling you what’s good or bad. Instead, it’s a tour of the 1930s through the 1980s—a personal account of how the best and worst of this era gave us so many memories and experiences that impacted our own lives. It’s fun…just how horror should always be.

In many ways, Kamal Haasan is unique. One of the greatest actors India has ever produced, he has usually gone further than just enacting a role to completely immersing himself in it. Kamal Haasan: A Cinematic Journey explores some 50 films out of the 245 Haasan has been associated with and analyses his cinematic journey from his beginnings as a child star all the way to his latest blockbusters.

A poignant, heartfelt, and funny memoir about how, in 1985, Michael J. Fox brought to life two iconic roles simultaneously—Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties and Marty McFly in Back to the Future. Read by Michael J. Fox, this program features renowned clips from Back to the Future, plus interviews...

Reality TV's influence is seismic: twenty-five years ago, the concept didn't exist. Yet today, it is one of the most powerful cultural forces on earth; a multi-billion-dollar machine. Despite that, it is often derided as "trash"; a cultural McDonalds not worthy of examination. The truth is that reality TV offers a profound insight into who we are as human beings, questioning the very nature of what we deem to be entertaining. Writer, broadcaster and reality TV-obsessive Jacques Peretti goes behind the scenes of a world that has entranced and consumed him for two decades.

Relive reality TV’s golden age with Please Do Not Swear, the explosive oral history of a decade that redefined celebrity and reshaped pop culture. From the groundbreaking early days of Big Brother to the rise of ‘living soaps’ like The Only Way is Essex, culture critic Louis Staples takes...

Trans woman and screenwriter Tilly Bridges takes you through the trans allegories of the Matrix franchise, with deep dives into The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Animatrix, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Matrix Resurrections, tracking one person’s transition journey—from Thomas Anderson, to Neo… to Trinity. Each movie’s allegory is deeply layered, building from movie to movie, and speaks to a different aspect of trans existence.

Once, in a theater long ago and far, far away, young audiences who watched the nostalgic space epic of yesteryear, known then only as Star Wars, were duly enthralled. So much goodwill, so much affection, and so much love has rarely been lavished on any franchise. So much money from so many eager fans was never so readily available. Yet, with one potent death star-like blast of mind-breakingly awful filmmaking, the Disney Corporation has managed to alienate that goodwill, spurn that affection, and lose that money.

Salka Viertel's autobiography tells of a brilliant, creative, and well-connected woman's pilgrimage through the darkest years of the 20th century, a journey that would take her from a remote province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Hollywood. The Kindness of Strangers is, to quote the New Yorker writer S. N. Behrman, "a very rich book. It provides a panorama of the dissolving civilizations of the 20th century. In all of them the author lived at the apex of their culture and artistic aristocracies."

For years, Akira Kurosawa resisted writing about himself. The memoir he finally started serializing in 1978, Something like an Autobiography, ended with Rashomon, the film that launched him on the world's stage in 1950. Long Take, first published in Japan shortly after Kurosawa's death in 1998, at last tells the story of the rest of his life.

This “one-of-a-kind” (Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author) cultural history of the beloved nineties sitcom that launched Will Smith to superstardom—The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air—is perfect for fans of Seinfeldia and Best Wishes, Warmest Regards. More than thirty years have...

In 1926, the American version of the film classic Mertopolis was cut in half, now for the first time in 70 years you can experience the whole story.

Week after week, SNL has produced unforgettable sketches and provocative political satire, adapting to changing times while staying true to its original vision of performing timely topical humor. With essays that address issues ranging from race and gender to authorship and comedic performance, Saturday Night Live and American TV follows the history of this 36-time Emmy-winning show and its place in the shifting social and media landscape of American television.

You might not know the name Tyrus Wong, but you probably know many of the images he shaped, including scenes from the beloved Disney classic Bambi. Yet when he came to this country as a child, Tyrus was an illegal immigrant locked up in an offshore detention center. How did he go on to a long and prosperous career drawing animation cels, storyboards, and greeting cards that shaped the American imagination?