This book is devoted to the critical study of the cinema of John Milius, filling a major gap in the literature by combining the examination of the artistic, historical and cultural significance of Milius’ work, with an in-depth analysis of his films. Although most contemporary film-viewers have forgotten him, John Milius has been one of the most influential and controversial film-makers in the history of American cinema. Along with the likes of George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, Milius was a central figure of the so called ‘New Hollywood’. Milius, who gained an Academy Award nomination as screenwriter for Apocalypse Now (1979), reached the apex of his directorial career in the 1980s with films such as Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Red Dawn (1984). More recently, he was involved in a series of innovative projects such as the creation of the HBO series Rome (2005-2007) and the invention of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Introduction / by Barbara Morgan -- 1. Inspiration. A conversation with Randall Wallace -- 2. Story. What makes a great story : a conversation with Bill Wittliff ; Steven Zaillian on where the story originates ; Peter Hedges on crafting story ; Lawrence Kasdan on story and theme -- 3. Process. A conversation with John Lee Hancock ; Sacha Gervasi on getting started ; The basics with Nicholas Kazan ; Advice from Bill Wittliff ; Anne Rapp's writing routine ; Caroline Thompson's writing process ; Lawrence Kasdan on the challenges of writing -- 4. Structure. Structure and format : a conversation with Frank Pierson, Whit Stillman, Robin Swicord, and Nicholas Kazan ; Caroline Thompson on structure ; Lawrence Kasdan on the rules of script formatting ; Visual storytelling : a conversation with John August, John Lee Hancock, and Randall Wallace -- 5. Character and dialogue. Building characters and mapping their journeys : a conversation with Lawrence Kasdan and Anne Rapp ; Nicholas Kazan on writing characters ; Crafting characters : a conversation with Lawrence Kasdan ; Dialogue and finding the voice : a conversation with John August and John Lee Hancock -- 6. Rewritng. Writer's block : a conversation with Bud Shrake and Bill Wittliff ; Bill Wittliff on when to let something go ; Steven Zaillian on defining scenes : what to keep in, what to leave out ; Anne Rapp on keeping writing fresh ; Nicholas Kazan's rewriting process ; On rewriting : a conversation with Daniel Petrie Jr., Peter Hedges, and Sacha Gervasi ; Lawrence Kasdan on how to know when you're done -- 7. Collaboration. A conversation with Steven Zaillian ; Peter Hedges on collaborating ; Lawrence Kasdan on writing with a partner ; Randall Wallace on working with other writers -- 8. Go forth.
The novel that inspired the film starring James Franco and Seth Rogen: “One of a kind . . . a funny, unnervingly surreal page turner” (Newsweek). Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post Book World, Newsweek, and the Los Angeles Times Book Review Zeroville centers on the story of Vikar, a young architecture student so enthralled with the movies that his friends call him “cinéautistic.” With an intensely religious childhood behind him, and tattoos of Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift on his head, he arrives in Hollywood—where he’s mistaken for a member of the Manson family and eventually scores a job as a film editor. Vikar discovers the frames of a secret film within the reels of every movie ever made, and sets about splicing them together—a task that takes on frightening theological dimensions. Electrifying and “darkly funny,” Zeroville dives into the renegade American cinema of the 1970s and ’80s and emerges into an era for which we have no name (Publishers Weekly). “Funny, disturbing, daring . . . dreamlike and sometimes nightmarish.” —The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent.” —The Believer “[A] writer who has been compared to Vladimir Nabokov, Don DeLillo, and Thomas Pynchon.” —Bookmarks Magazine “Erickson is as unique and vital and pure a voice as American fiction has produced.” —Jonathan Lethem
The Movie Brats is about power in the American film industry - how the legendary moguls lost it, and how a new young generation of filmmakers came to inherit it. The authors submit that social changes in America - and not just the advent of television - were the true cause of Hollywood's decline and tell how the movie brats - the first film school graduates and movie buffs to gain real power in the industry - took over the demoralized Hollywood of the 1960s and 1970s. Six top directors show how they succeeded and how the deals were made: Francis Coppola, George Lucas, Brian DePalma, John Milius, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg.
Ranging from 1981 to 1997, the 15 conversations featured in this collection reveal a man frustrated by what he sees as the hypocrisies of American politics, of conservatism, and of the Hollywood film industry. Though the subjects of "Nixon, JFK, Born on the 4th of July, The Doors", and "Heaven and Earth" are rooted in the turbulent 1960s, Stone as interviewee and filmmaker is firmly entrenched in the present. Film stills.
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 winning an unwinnable war. Harvey Keitel, originally cast in the lead role, was fired and replaced by Martin Sheen, who had a heart attack. An overweight Marlon Brando, paid a huge salary, did more philosophizing than acting. It rained almost every day and a hurricane wiped out the set. The Philippine government promised the use of helicopters but diverted them at the last minute to fight communist and Muslim separatists. Coppola filmed for four years with no ending in the script. The shoot threatened to be the biggest disaster in movie history. Providing a detailed snapshot of American cinema during the Vietnam War, this book tells the story of how Apocalypse Now became one of the great films of all time.
Robert Zemeckis has risen to the forefront of American filmmaking with a string of successes: Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future I, II, & III, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Forrest Gump, and Castaway. Herein, Norman Kagan unlocks the mind behind the making of these diverse and groundbreaking hits—appraising each work’s public and critical appeal while placing the films in the context of Zemeckis’s career.
In 1969, a low-budget biker movie, Easy Rider, shocked Hollywood with its stunning success. An unabashed celebration of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll (onscreen and off), Easy Rider heralded a heady decade in which a rebellious wave of talented young filmmakers invigorated the movie industry. In Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Peter Biskind takes us on the wild ride that was Hollywood in the '70s, an era that produced such modern classics as The Godfather, Chinatown, Shampoo, Nashville, Taxi Driver, and Jaws. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls vividly chronicles the exuberance and excess of the times: the startling success of Easy Rider and the equally alarming circumstances under which it was made, with drugs, booze, and violent rivalry between costars Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda dominating the set; how a small production company named BBS became the guiding spirit of the youth rebellion in Hollywood and how, along the way, some of its executives helped smuggle Huey Newton out of the country; how director Hal Ashby was busted for drugs and thrown in jail in Toronto; why Martin Scorsese attended the Academy Awards with an FBI escort when Taxi Driver was nominated; how George Lucas, gripped by anxiety, compulsively cut off his own hair while writing Star Wars, how a modest house on Nicholas Beach occupied by actresses Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt became the unofficial headquarters for the New Hollywood; how Billy Friedkin tried to humiliate Paramount boss Barry Diller; and how screenwriter/director Paul Schrader played Russian roulette in his hot tub. It was a time when an "anything goes" experimentation prevailed both on the screen and off. After the success of Easy Rider, young film-school graduates suddenly found themselves in demand, and directors such as Francis Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, George Lucas, and Martin Scorsese became powerful figures. Even the new generation of film stars -- Nicholson, De Niro, Hoffman, Pacino, and Dunaway -- seemed a breed apart from the traditional Hollywood actors. Ironically, the renaissance would come to an end with Jaws and Star Wars, hugely successful films that would create a blockbuster mentality and crush innovation. Based on hundreds of interviews with the directors themselves, producers, stars, agents, writers, studio executives, spouses, and ex-spouses, this is the full, candid story of Hollywood's last golden age. Never before have so many celebrities talked so frankly about one another and about the drugs, sex, and money that made so many of them crash and burn. By turns hilarious and shocking, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is the ultimate behind-the-scenes account of Hollywood at work and play.
Quentin Tarantino’s long-awaited first work of fiction—at once hilarious, delicious and brutal—is the always surprising, sometimes shocking, novelization of his Academy Award winning film. RICK DALTON—Once he had his own TV series, but now Rick’s a washed-up villain-of-the week drowning his sorrows in whiskey sours. Will a phone call from Rome save his fate or seal it? CLIFF BOOTH—Rick’s stunt double, and the most infamous man on any movie set because he’s the only one there who might have got away with murder. . . . SHARON TATE—She left Texas to chase a movie-star dream, and found it. Sharon’s salad days are now spent on Cielo Drive, high in the Hollywood Hills. CHARLES MANSON—The ex-con’s got a bunch of zonked-out hippies thinking he’s their spiritual leader, but he’d trade it all to be a rock ‘n’ roll star.
“On Story is film school in a box, a lifetime’s worth of filmmaking knowledge squeezed into half-hour packages.” —Kenneth Turan, film critic for the Los Angeles Times Austin Film Festival (AFF) is the first organization focused on the writer’s creative contribution to film. Its annual Film Festival and Conference offers screenings, panels, workshops, and roundtable discussions that help new writers and filmmakers connect with mentors and gain advice and insight from masters, as well as refreshing veterans with new ideas. To extend the festival’s reach, AFF produces On Story, a television series currently airing on PBS-affiliated stations and streaming online that presents footage of high-caliber artists talking candidly and provocatively about the art and craft of screenwriting and filmmaking, often using examples from their own films. On Story—Screenwriters and Filmmakers on Their Iconic Films presents renowned, award-winning screenwriters and filmmakers discussing their careers and the stories behind the production of their iconic films such as L.A. Confidential, Thelma & Louise, Groundhog Day, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Silence of the Lambs, In the Name of the Father, Apollo 13, and more. In their own lively words transcribed from interviews and panel discussions, Ron Howard, Callie Khouri, Jonathan Demme, Ted Tally, Jenny Lumet, Harold Ramis, and others talk about creating stories that resonate with one’s life experiences or topical social issues, as well as how to create appealing characters and bring them to life. Their insights, production tales, and fresh, practical, and proven advice make this book ideal for film lovers, screenwriting students, and filmmakers and screenwriters seeking inspiration.
