Fans of this rising star of several recent major motion pictures ("Pearl Harbor, Blackhawk Down, 40 Days and 40 Nights")--who has been compared to Gary Cooper and Leonardo DiCaprio--can get the inside scoop on Hartnett's life story and his insights on his meteoric rise as an actor. Packed with full-color photos.
Whats it like to be an Oscar-winning director up against the machinations of modern-day Hollywood with its stars who want to write their own roles, producers who dont read scripts, highly dubious money men who promise unlimited funds: the mad, the bad and the downright notorious? In this no-holds-barred account Bruce Beresford takes us through the highs and lows of the screen trade from deals at dinner tables to dressing downs in backlots, from far-flung locations, to the centres of power, with a cast of characters that includes Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Jodie Foster, Jeffrey Archer, Morgan Freeman and many others. Delightfully literate and sharply observed, this is a candid look at the world of film-making from one of its most accomplished practitioners.
At the nexus of high finance and sophisticated computer programming, a terrifying future may be unfolding even now. Dr. Alex Hoffmann’s name is carefully guarded from the general public, but within the secretive inner circles of the ultrarich he is a legend. He has developed a revolutionary form of artificial intelligence that predicts movements in the financial markets with uncanny accuracy. His hedge fund, based in Geneva, makes billions. But one morning before dawn, a sinister intruder breaches the elaborate security of his lakeside mansion, and so begins a waking nightmare of paranoia and violence as Hoffmann attempts, with increasing desperation, to discover who is trying to destroy him. Fiendishly smart and suspenseful, The Fear Index gives us a searing glimpse into an all-too-recognizable world of greed and panic. It is a novel that forces us to confront the question of what it means to be human—and it is Robert Harris’s most spellbinding and audacious novel to date.
An anthology of essays that deal with Witchcraft and the figure of the Witch, as they have been presented in motion pictures, television, and popular culture, in order to understand how, why, and when the common anti-Witchcraft/ anti-Witch attitude evolved. Mainstream tales of Witchcraft, including modern movies, novels, TV series, and other examples of our popular culture, more often than not express the traditional notion of a Witch as a wild, dangerous, untamable, “nasty” woman, obsessed with a desire for power to control all around her, in most narratives such a hunger presented as a negative. In truth, The Witch is a symbol of 'threatening evil' only to those men and women who accept a conservative sensibility. For members of either gender who do not, The Witch is perceived as hero and role model. This collection begins with the Biblical figure of Lilith, followed by Morgan le Fey from Arthurian legend/ myth in literature as well as in popular culture, followed by the more contemporary depictions of the Witch that start to appear in the 1960s; for example, in the Bewitched sitcom, the Star Wars franchise, Harry Potter, and even the television show Scooby-Doo. International depictions of the Witch are discussed, including Italy's Dario Argento's films, Suspiria and Inferno. The final section of this collection focuses on the most iconic depictions of the Witch produced during the 21st century, including A Discovery of Witches, Penny Dreadful, Game of Thrones and the history of the Witch in films by the Walt Disney studio, from its origins more than a century ago to the latest releases, arguing that here, if perhaps surprisingly, we discover the most fair and balanced portraits of Witches in the history of film and TV.
As a novelist who has spent years crafting and refining his intense and oft outrageous “Demon Dog of American Crime Fiction” persona, James Ellroy has used interviews as a means of shaping narratives outside of his novels. Conversations with James Ellroy covers a series of interviews given by Ellroy from 1984 to 2010, in which Ellroy discusses his literary contribution and his public and private image. Born Lee Earle Ellroy in 1948, James Ellroy is one of the most critically acclaimed and controversial contemporary writers of crime and historical fiction. Ellroy's complex narratives, which merge history and fiction, have pushed the boundaries of the crime fiction genre: American Tabloid, a revisionist look at the Kennedy era, was Time magazine's Novel of the Year 1995, and his novels L.A. Confidential and The Black Dahlia were adapted into films. Much of Ellroy's remarkable life story has served as the template for the personal obsessions that dominate his writing. From the brutal, unsolved murder of his mother to his descent into alcohol and drug abuse, his sexual voyeurism, and his stints at the Los Angeles County Jail, Ellroy has lived through a series of hellish experiences that few other writers could claim. In Conversations with James Ellroy, the author talks extensively about his life, his literary influences, his persona, and his attitudes towards politics and religion. In interviews with fellow crime writers Craig McDonald, David Peace, and others, including several previously unpublished interviews, Ellroy is at turns charismatic and eloquent, combative and enigmatic.
Film reviews from the pages of The Advocate by Alan F. Farrell. By special arrangement with the author, third and expanded edition. This is a collection of reviews written as durable and significant essays, not as newspaper fillers. They are artful and re-readable, funny and highly memorable social-cultural commentary, not plot-description and pro-Studio puff-pieces. Nominated for the 2006 Library of Virginia Literary Awards in Nonfiction
This book is the assembly of various texts that are freely available on the web, especially from Wikipedia. The next obvious question is: why buy this book? The answer: because it means you avoid having to carry out long and tedious internet searches. (13 different topics grouped in one book) The topics are all linked to each other organically, and as a function of the subject and, in most cases, contain additional unpublished topics, not found on the web. Moreover, the inclusion of images completes the work so as to make it unique and unrepeatable. (Over 100 poster and film scenes). In addition, each film is linked to Youtube and in most cases the films are viewed in full Movie. Contents of the book: 25 films that made Horror Cinema: Halloween (1978), The Brood (1979), Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979), The Fog (1980), ...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà (1981), Sien lui yau wan (1987), Dracula (1992), Interview with the Vampire (1994), The Others (2001), The Village (2004), El orfanato (2007), 30 Days of Night (2007), Sinister (2012). Of each film: Plot, Production, Background and development, Pre-production, Production, Release, Home media, Critical reception, Aftermath and influence, References, Footnotes, Posters and Film Scenes.
In today’s world, the use of numbers grows by the day, and we depend on them for so much. This book contains a series of lists that contain information about numbers and their use in society. They will be most useful to those with a quizzical nature but should be of general interest to all. ‘Schrödinger’s cat’ was an infamous and cruel thought experiment dreamt up in the last century to expose one of the mistaken ideas current in science at that time. Since escaping from the box Felix has taken up writing and, in collaboration with retired water engineer Pyotr Stilovsky, he has compiled this factual compendium.
Every significant U.S. and international film released from January 1 to December 31, 2002, along with complete filmographies: cast, characters, credits, production company, month released, rating and running time. Also included are biographical entires: an unmatched reference of over 2,250 living stars, including real name, school, place and date of birth.