Collects literary works integrating the worlds of film and fiction, incorporating original essays and featuring stories by Jennifer Egan, Pinckney Benedict, Peter Greenaway, Rick Moody, and Francine Prose.
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA: A FILM-MAKERS LIFE is the first complete picture of the flawed cinematic genius who directed the GODFATHER trilogy, APOCALYPSE NOW, THE CONVERSATION, and other distinctive films - some wildly successful, some disastrous.
From a master of cinema comes this “gold mine of a book . . . a rocket ride to the potential future” of filmmaking (Walter Murch). Celebrated as an “exhilarating account” of a revolutionary new medium (Booklist), Francis Ford Coppola’s indispensable guide to live cinema is a boon for moviegoers, film students, and teachers alike. As digital movie-making, like live sports, can now be performed by one director—or by a collaborative team online— it is only a matter of time before cinema auteurs will create “live” movies to be broadcast instantly in faraway theaters. “Peppered with brilliant personal observations” (Wendy Doniger), Live Cinema and Its Techniques offers a behind-the-scenes look at a consummate career: from Coppola’s formative boyhood obsession with live 1950s television shows and later attempts to imitate the spontaneity of live performance on set, the book usefully includes a guide to presenting state-of-the-art techniques on everything from rehearsals to equipment. A testament to Coppola’s prodigious enthusiasm for reinvigorating the form, Live Cinema is an indispensable guide that “reenergizes . . . the search for a new way of storytelling” (William Friedkin).
Francis Ford Coppola's career has spanned five decades, from low budget films he produced in the early 1960s to more personal films of recent years. Because of the tremendous popular success of The Godfather and the tremendous critical success of its sequel, Coppola is considered to be one of the best directors of all time. The entries in this encyclopedia focus on all aspects of Coppola's work—from his early days with producer Roger Corman to his films as the director of the 1970s. This extensive reference contains material on all of the films Coppola has played a role in, from screenwriter to producer to director, including such classics as Patton, The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, and Apocalypse Now. Each entry is followed by a bibliography of published sources, both in print and online, making The Francis Ford Coppola Encyclopedia the most comprehensive reference on this director's body of work.
THE PUBLISHING SENSATION OF THE YEAR FOR EVERY FILM FAN The never-before-published edition of Francis Ford Coppola’s notes and annotations on The Godfather novel by Mario Puzo reveals the story behind one of the world’s most iconic films. The most important unpublished work on one of the greatest films of all time, The Godfather, written before filming, by the man who wrote and directed it—Francis Ford Coppola, then only thirty-two years old—reveals the intense creative process that went into making this seminal film. With his meticulous notes and impressions of Mario Puzo’s novel, the notebook was referred to by Coppola daily on set while he directed the movie. The Godfather Notebook pulls back the curtain on the legendary filmmaker and the film that launched his illustrious career. Complete with an introduction by Francis Ford Coppola and exclusive photographs from on and off the set, this is a unique, beautiful, and faithful reproduction of Coppola’s original notebook. This publication will change the way the world views the iconic film—and the process of filmmaking at large. A must-have book of the season. Nothing like it has ever been published before
In March 1980 Francis Coppola purchased the dilapidated Hollywood General Studios facility with the hope and dream of creating a radically new kind of studio, one that would revolutionize filmmaking, challenge the established studio machinery, and, most importantly, allow him to make movies as he wished. With this event at the center of Whom God Wishes to Destroy, Jon Lewis offers a behind-the-scenes view of Coppola's struggle--that of the industry's best-known auteur--against the changing realities of the New Hollywood of the 1980s. Presenting a Hollywood history steeped in the trade news, rumor, and gossip that propel the industry, Lewis unfolds a lesson about power, ownership, and the role of the auteur in the American cinema. From before the success of The Godfather to the eventual triumph of Apocalypse Now, through the critical upheaval of the 1980s with movies like Rumble Fish, Hammett, Peggy Sue Got Married, to the 1990s and the making of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein, Francis Coppola's career becomes the lens through which Lewis examines the nature of making movies and doing business in Hollywood today.
On a hot July night on Cape Cod, at the age of 14, Brodeur became a confidante to her mother's affair with her husband's closest friend. Malabar came to rely on her daughter to help, but when the affair had calamitous consequences for everyone involved, Brodeau was driven into a precarious marriage of her own, and then into a deep depression. In her memoir she examines how the people close to us can break our hearts simply because they have access to them, and the lies we tell in order to justify the choices we make. -- adapted from jacket
This fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at a Hollywood dynasty offers an in-depth study of the films and artistry of iconic director Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter, Sofia, exploring their work and their impact on each other, both personally and professionally. The Coppolas: A Family Business examines the lives, films, and relationship of two exemplary filmmakers, Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia. It looks at their commonalities and differences, as artists and people, and at the way those qualities are reflected in their work. Much of the book is devoted to Francis and his outstanding achievements—and equally notable failures—as a screenwriter, director, producer, and presenter of landmark works of cinema. The narrative goes beyond the heyday of his involvement with Hollywood to analyze his more recent projects and the choices that led him to create small, independent films. In Sofia's case, the story is one of women's growing independence in the arts, revealing how Sofia developed her craft to become a cinematic force in her own right. In addition to its insightful commentary on their contributions to cinema past and present, the volume provides intriguing hints at what fans might anticipate in the future as both Coppolas continue to expand their artistry.
A Kafkaesque and darkly humorous “suburban gothic” that tracks the unraveling of man’s body, mind, and life. James Orr—husband, father, reliable employee and all-around model citizen—awakes one morning to find half his face paralyzed. Waiting for the affliction to pass, he stops going to work and wanders his idyllic estate, with its woodland, uniform streets and perfectly manicured lawns. But there are cracks in the veneer. And as his orderly existence begins to unravel, it appears that James may not be the man he thought he was. A deeply unsettling story of creeping horror that consistently confounds expectations, The Alarming Palsy of James Orr introduces a writer of extraordinary and disturbing talents.
In this entertaining and insightful essay, Mario Puzo chronicles his rise from struggling writer to overnight success after the publication of The Godfather. With equal parts cynicism and humor, Puzo recounts the book deal and his experiences in Hollywood while writing the screenplay for the movie. Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Evans, Peter Bart, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino all make appearances-as does Frank Sinatra, in his famous and disastrous encounter with Puzo. First published in 1972, the essay is now available as an ebook for the first time. A must-have for every Godfather fan! Featuring a foreword by Ed Falco, author of The Family Corleone.