The Whole Durn Human Comedy

The Whole Durn Human Comedy

Author: Joseph McBride

Publisher:

Published: 2022-03

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 9781839983313

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The Coen Bros. have attracted a wide following and been rewarded with Oscars and other honors, and some of their films are cult favorites and boxoffice hits, such as FARGO, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Yet the team of filmmaking brothers remains misunderstood in some circles. Ethan and Joel Coen deliberately unsettle conventional expectations and raise disturbing questions about human nature while mischievously mixing film genres and styles. Their films display shocking tonal shifts as they blend comedy and drama and, most controversially, comedy and violence. This potent mélange of themes and stylistic approaches makes the Coens' films adventurous, unpredictable probes into contemporary social anxieties; as brilliant satirists they are heirs to Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. But they resist easy definition and raise the ire of some critics who like films to fit more comfortably into preexisting formats. Film historian and critic Joseph McBride -- author of acclaimed biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg, along with critical studies of Orson Welles, Ernst Lubitsch, and Wilder -- jousts with the Coens' detractors while defining the filmmakers' freshness and originality. The quirkily individualistic Coens are the kind of personal filmmakers the increasingly conglomerated American cinema rarely fosters anymore, and this critical study illuminates their artistic personalities and contributions.


Funny: The Book

Funny: The Book

Author: David Misch

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2012-04-01

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1557839662

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Funny: The Book is an entertaining look at the art of comedy, from its historical roots to the latest scientific findings, with diversions into the worlds of movies (Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers), television (The Office), prose (Woody Allen, Robert Benchley), theater (The Front Page), jokes and stand-up comedy (Richard Pryor, Steve Martin), as well as personal reminiscences from the author's experiences on such TV programs as Mork and Mindy. With allusions to the not-always-funny Carl Jung, George Orwell, and Arthur Koestler, Funny: The Book explores the evolution, theories, principles, and practice of comedy, as well as the psychological, philosophical, and even theological underpinnings of humor, coming to the conclusion that (Spoiler Alert!) Comedy is God.


Fresno Stories

Fresno Stories

Author: William Saroyan

Publisher: New Directions Publishing

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 9780811212823

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Eleven of William Saroyan's most delightful tales, Fresno Stories springs straight from the source of the author's vision--"the archetypal Armenian families who inhabit Saroyan country, in and around Fresno, California." (Chicago Tribune)


Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Author: Mary Roach

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2004-04-27

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0393324826

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A look inside the world of forensics examines the use of human cadavers in a wide range of endeavors, including research into new surgical procedures, space exploration, and a Tennessee human decay research facility.


It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Author: Ned Vizzini

Publisher: Disney Electronic Content

Published: 2010-09-25

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 1423141083

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Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job—Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That's when things start to get crazy. At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he's just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away.


Bad Monkey

Bad Monkey

Author: Carl Hiaasen

Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published: 2013-06-11

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0385350074

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Coming as an Apple Original series from Ted Lasso Executive Producer Bill Lawrence and starring Vince Vaughn • A wickedly funny novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Squeeze Me in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of what’s left of pristine Florida—now, of the Bahamas as well—get their comeuppance. “[A] comedic marvel … [Hiaasen] hasn’t written a novel this funny since Skinny Dip.”—The New York Times Andrew Yancy—late of the Miami Police and soon-to-be-late of the Monroe County sheriff’s office—has a human arm in his freezer. There’s a logical (Hiaasenian) explanation for that, but not for how and why it parted from its shadowy owner. Yancy thinks the boating-accident/shark-luncheon explanation is full of holes, and if he can prove murder, the sheriff might rescue him from his grisly Health Inspector gig (it’s not called the roach patrol for nothing). But first—this being Hiaasen country—Yancy must negotiate an obstacle course of wildly unpredictable events with a crew of even more wildly unpredictable characters, including his just-ex lover, a hot-blooded fugitive from Kansas; the twitchy widow of the frozen arm; two avariciously optimistic real-estate speculators; the Bahamian voodoo witch known as the Dragon Queen, whose suitors are blinded unto death by her peculiar charms; Yancy’s new true love, a kinky coroner; and the eponymous bad monkey, who with hilarious aplomb earns his place among Carl Hiaasen’s greatest characters.


Comedy Rules

Comedy Rules

Author: Jonathan Lynn

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2011-08-18

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 0571277977

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Jonathan Lynn's credits include creating and co-writing the long-running comedy series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, as well as hit films Clue, My Cousin Vinny, Nuns on the Run and The Whole Nine Yards. With experience as a comedy actor, writer and director, here Jonathan Lynn shares valuable and hilarious lessons in all aspects of creating great comedy, all illustrated with brilliantly insightful and revealing anecdotes about his work and the legedary actors, writers and comedians he's worked alongside.