CINEMA 

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Mel Brooks: Genius and Loving It!

The Comic Art of Mel Brooks

The Cinema of Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki: Pocket Guide

Spirited Away: Hayao Miyazaki: Pocket Movie Guide

Princess Mononoke: Hayao Miyazaki: Pocket Movie Guide

The James Bond Movies of the 1980s

Ken Russell

Tommy: Ken Russell: The Who

Women In Love: Ken Russell: D.H. Lawrence

The Devils: Ken Russell

Cowboy Bebop: Pocket Guide

The Cinema of Donald Cammell

Performance: Pocket Movie Guide

Jean-Luc Godard: The Passion of Cinema

Jean-Luc Godard: Pocket Guide

Blade Runner and the Cinema of Philip K. Dick

Blade Runner: Pocket Guide

The Sacred Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky

Andei Tarkovsky: Pocket Guide

John Hughes and Eighties Cinema

The Christmas Movie Book

J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien: Pocket Guide

The Lord of the Rings Movies

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Pocket Movie Guide

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Pocket Movie Guide

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Pocket Movie Guide

Liv Tyler

Walerian Borowczyk

The Beast: Walerian Borowczyk

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The Cinema of Richard Linklater

Media Hell: Explorations of Radio, Television and the Press

Paul Bowles and Bernardo Bertolucci: Under Two Sheltering Skies

The Poetry of Cinema

Harry Potter: The Books, The Films, The Cultural Phenomenon

LIST OF SUBJECTS
ORDER INFO
 
 

by Thomas A. Christie

Beloved by his fans and equally praised and derided by the critics many times throughout his long career, Mel Brooks is a creative polymath, a comic talent to be reckoned with - influential, fearless and totally unafraid of his detractors.  Yet whether you admire his work or not, one thing remains absolutely certain: this larger-than-life character is a very difficult man to ignore.
Mel Brooks has been immortalised as the definitive maestro of big-screen bad taste, a pioneer of the cinematic spoof (and very influential, too - you can see Brooks’ influence in many places today). But throughout his film-making career, his ardent championship of personal liberty is too often neglected. Examining all eleven of the movies that Brooks directed, from The Producers (1968) to Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), this book examines the way that this most distinctive of cinematic visionaries came to earnestly and vigourously defend freedom in all of its forms, whether creative, individual, social, cultural or political.
 As well as famous films like The Producers (‘If you’ve got it, flaunt it, baby!’), Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein (‘Frankenstein?’ ‘Fronkensteen’), this book also looks at lesser-known Brooks movies such as 12 Chairs, Silent Movie and Life Stinks.
 Includes a detailed filmography, movie statistics, examples of critical opinions, a guide to further reading, and a bibliography.

Fully illustrated, with stills from all of Mel Brooks’ movies.
404 pages. www.crmoon.com

ISBN 9781861715203. HBK  £29.99 / $44.99

ISBN 9781861715104. PBK  £14.99 / $22.99
 
 

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The Comic Art of Mel Brooks

By Maurice Yacowar

Mel Brooks is a mystery. On the one hand, he is notorious for his wacky public behaviour and for his zany films. On the other, some of his public pronouncements show him to be a very serious fellow. While his audiences clutch their sides in helpless laughter, Madman Mel warns us that serious things are going on amid those wild goings-on.
There is a section on Mel Brooks’ background and origins, including his work on television, his early works, audio recordings, and how Brooks uses comedy. Each film directed by Brooks is analysed, with a brief plot summary to refresh the memory, a close reading of the films’ major themes and strategies, and a scattering of background information about the movies.

This book is a new, updated edition of Maurice Yacowar’s classic book on Brooks, first published in 1981.
 

MAURICE YACOWAR

In his academic career Maurice Yacowar served as Dean of Humanities at Brock University, Dean of Academic Affairs and Acting President at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, and Dean of Fine Arts at the University of Calgary, where he retired as professor emeritus of English and Film Studies.
Maurice Yacowar’s recent books are Roy and Me: This is Not a Memoir (2010), Hitchcock’s British Films (2010), the satire Mondays with Moishe (2009), The Great Bratby, a biography of the British painter (2008), The Sopranos Season Seven (2007), The Sopranos On the Couch: Analyzing TV’s Greatest Series (2003, 2005,and 2006), and the satiric novel The Bold Testament (1999). He is also the author of The Films of Paul Morrissey (1993), Studies in International Cinema (1992), Loser Take All: The Comic Art of Woody Allen (1991), Method in Madness (1981), I Found It at the Movies (1978), Tennessee Williams and Film (1977), and No Use Shutting the Door (1971). He provided the commentary for the Criterion laser disc editions of Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1987) and Paul Morrissey’s Blood for Dracula (1996; DVD 1998) and Flesh for Frankenstein (1996; DVD 1998).
 

Includes a detailed filmography and a bibliography.
Fully illustrated, with stills from all of Mel Brooks’ movies.
320 pages. www.crmoon.com
 

ISBN 9781861715210. HBK  £24.99 / $36.99

ISBN 9781861715111. PBK  £11.99 / $17.99
 
 

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The Cinema of Hayao Miyazaki

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by Jeremy Mark Robinson

Born on January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, Hayao Miyazaki is known as the ‘Japanese Disney’, a filmmaker as revered - and as popular - as Walt Disney or Steven Spielberg. Miyazaki, in short, is a true phenomenon in contemporary animation and in world cinema.
Hayao Miyazaki's movies include Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Laputa: Castle In the Sky and My Neighbor Totoro.
Hayao Miyazaki may be the most talented fantasy filmmaker of his generation: not even the finest filmmakers of Hollywood can rival his films when it comes to creating fantasy worlds, and fantastical characters and events. Miyazaki has millions of fans around the world, not least among fellow animators and filmmakers, for whom he is a genius.
What Hayao Miyazaki’s films do is to bring you completely into a fantasy world that is actually instantly recognizable and familiar. It’s as if these fantasy realms have always existed - very much like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth or Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea (both influences on Miyazaki). The visionary and magical elements are fused with the domestic and familial and social elements , so that it seems completely ordinary and believable that, say, flying machines soar overhead which have flapping wings like an insect, or that little white creatures pop up out of trees.
To write one hit animation movie is amazing, to write seven is remarkable. To write and direct one spectacular animated picture is very impressive, to write and direct seven features is almost unheard-of in the world of contemporary commercial animation.

This new study of Hayao Miyazaki considers all of his films and TV shows (and his manga work). It also includes chapters on Studio Ghibli • on fellow director Isao Takahata • Miyazaki's influences • his contemporaries and colleagues • his characters • his movies' relation to Western animation (including Disney) • his unmade films • and his themes and motifs.

The Cinema of Hayao Miyazaki also explores Japanese animation, its production and style, some classics of anime, and digital animation.
 

Includes quotes by Miyazaki; fans on Miyazaki; and resources.
The second edition has been completely updated and revised. There is a new chapter on The Wind Rises, and Ghibli’s latest films, including The Tale of Princess Kaguya.

Jeremy Mark Robinson's books include Jean-Luc Godard (2009), J.R.R. Tolkien (2010) and Andrei Tarkovsky (2012). He edits two magazines, Passion and Pagan America (a journal of American poetry).

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I hope this book offers readers some new insights into the films of the incredible filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, so they can go back and enjoy them all over again. I have looked at all of the key research for this book, which was begun years ago. I have focussed mainly on the movies themselves, exploring each one in detail. The book also includes technical info on animation, a chapter on the animation industry in Japan, and comparisons between Miyazaki’s films and those in the West, including Walt Disney’s work. I have also included chapters on the output of Studio Ghibli, and also Isao Takahata, Miyzaki’s colleague.
 

The second edition has been completely revised and updted.
Fully illustrated, with images from the films of Miyazaki, Takahata, Ghibli, influences, and other anime. With filmography, bibliography and notes. 664 pages.
The hardcover edition comes in a case laminate cover, with a matte finish, in full colour.
 

PAPERBACK     ISBN 9781861715159.

£19.99 / $29.99   (Trade terms: 35%).
 

HARDBACK    ISBN 9781861713360.

£39.99 / $59.99   (Trade terms: 35%).
 

Link for this book to Amazon.com
 

To write one hit animation movie is amazing, to write eleven is remarkable. To write and direct one spectacular animated picture is very impressive, to write and direct eleven features, each one a hit (and some enormous hits), is unheard-of in the world of contemporary commercial anim-ation. Then add to that storyboarding each movie (a huge undertaking in itself). Then add to that personally overseeing drawings and cels, including drawing key anim-ation, and you simply cannot believe one man can do it all! And of Hayao Miyazaki's 11 movies as director, five are widely acknowledged as masterpieces ? Nausicaä, Totoro, Mononoke, Spirited and Wind. You could add Laputa, Kiki, Porco and Ponyo. Some would add Cagliostro. Which only leaves Howl! (And Howl has plenty of admirers!).

Hayao Miyazaki's movies include Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Laputa: Castle In the Sky and My Neighbor Totoro.
This new study of Hayao Miyazaki considers all of his films and TV shows (and his manga work). It also includes chapters on Studio Ghibli • on fellow director Isao Takahata • Miyazaki's influences • his contemporaries and colleagues • his characters • his movies' relation to Western animation (including the Walt Disney Company) • his unmade films • and his themes and motifs.
Includes quotes by Miyazaki; fans on Miyazaki; and resources.

Fully illustrated. With filmography, bibliography and notes. 424 pages.

The hardcover edition comes in a smart case laminate cover, with a matte finish, in full colour.
www.crmoon.com

ISBN 9781861715173.   £14.99 / $22/99  Pbk

ISBN 9781861715166.   £24.99 / $36.99  Hbk
 
 

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by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A new study of Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki's and Studio Ghibli's hit 2001 movie.
Born on January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, Hayao Miyazaki is known as the ‘Japanese Disney’, a filmmaker as revered - and as popular - as Walt Disney or Steven Spielberg. Miyazaki, in short, is a true phenomenon in contemporary animation and in world cinema.
Hayao Miyazaki's movies include Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Laputa: Castle In the Sky and My Neighbor Totoro.
 

Includes chapters on Japanese animation, its production and style, some classics of anime, and digital animation.

Includes critics on Miyazaki; fans on Miyazaki; and resources.

The hardcover edition comes in a case laminate cover, with a matte finish, in full colour. For the hardcover edition, 20 extra pages of illustrations have been added.

Fully illustrated. With filmography, bibliography and notes. 284 pages.
Paperback.   ISBN 9781861715197.
Hardback. . ISBN 9781861715265.
www.crmoon.com

PAPERBACK     £9.99/ 15.99
HARDBACK     £19.99 / $29.99
 
 

...

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A new study of Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki's and Studio Ghibli's hit 1997 movie.
Born on January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, Hayao Miyazaki is known as the ‘Japanese Disney’, a filmmaker as revered - and as popular - as Walt Disney or Steven Spielberg. Miyazaki, in short, is a true phenomenon in contemporary animation and in world cinema.
Hayao Miyazaki's movies include Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Laputa: Castle In the Sky and My Neighbor Totoro.
Includes chapters on Japanese animation, its production and style, some classics of anime, and digital animation.

Includes quotes by Miyazaki;  critics on Miyazaki; reviews by fans; and resources.
The hardcover edition comes in a case laminate cover, with a matte finish, in full colour. For the hardcover edition, 20 extra pages of illustrations have been added.

Fully illustrated. 264 pages. With filmography, bibliography and notes.
ISBN 9781861715180. Pbk
ISBN 9781861715258. Hardcover
www.crmoon.com
 

PAPERBACK     £9.99/ $15.99
HARDBACK     £19.99/ $29.99
 
 

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by Thomas A. Christie

A survey of the James Bond films of the Eighties. Thomas Christie explores topics such as the political backgrouind and context of the movies (such as the Cold War), the critical reception of the films, and how the Bond franchise has changed over time.
The James Bond Movies of the 1980s includes a scene-by-scene analysis of The Living Daylights.

The James Bond films have long been considered among the most popular and successful of British movies, and have also come to be regarded as a useful barometer of Western geopolitical attitudes throughout the series’ long-running duration. This new book from Thomas A. Christie takes a look at all of the Bond films produced during the 1980s, and investigates the series’ changing approach to its subject matter during this most socially turbulent of decades.
Moving from the East-West tension plotlines of the later Roger Moore James Bond films into a conscious deviation towards less conventional subject areas during the Timothy Dalton era, Bond’s evolving role as a Cold War hero is examined in order to ascertain just how the character was adapted to meet the demands of rapidly changing world affairs.
The Eighties saw a more nuanced approach to the Iron Curtain in comparison to earlier films in the series, with the films covering topics as wide-ranging as free-market capitalism and the home electronics boom, and the movie producers’ ongoing efforts to ensure the cycle’s continuing relevance to contemporary audiences are considered in detail.
Drawing on statistical data and a wide range of research material, The James Bond Movies of the 1980s considers issues such as the films’ cultural impact, the series’ radical shifts in style, and its often subtle approach to issues of ideology both domestic and international. Assessing this multifaceted era of the Bond series, this book evaluates differences in contemporary critiques and asks to what extent these motion pictures succeeded in charting the seismic shifts in the global balance of power which took place during that eventful period of history.

Fully illustrated, featuring film posters and stills from the movies. 340 pages.

ISBN 9781861714848   £14.99 / $22.99   PBK

ISBN 9781861714855   £29.99 / $44.99  HBK
 

REVIEW ON AMAZON

Tom Christie's latest book is undoubtedly the best written and most intellectual tome ever written about the James Bond films. What makes the book so enjoyable to read is that Christie is such a good writer. An excellent wordsmith, possessing a formidable vocabulary , Christie expertly makes his points in a way that lesser writers with average skills would be unable to do .His mastery of grammar, punctuation and syntax elevates this tome to the level of a masterpiece .
There is also a highly detailed scene-by-scene description of The Living Daylights, arguably one of the finest films in the series, which features John Barry's final composition for Eon Productions. This book will appeal to serious film historians, Bond fans and ordinary members of the public and I would recommend it most highly.

 

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Ken Russell

England's Great Visionary Film Director and Music Lover

By Jeremy Mark Robinson

Foreword by actress Sammi Davis (star of The Rainbow)

A filmmaker like no other, Ken Russell remains one of cinema’s extraordinary talents, a creator of masterpieces such as The Devils, Tommy and The Music Lovers, and a body of work that flies from the pastoral, Romantic lyricism of Delius: Song of Summer and Elgar to the wild extremes of Lisztomania, Altered States and Mahler.
Ken Russell is the greatest living filmmaker in Britain. Even though he died on November 27, 2011, he’s still somehow very much alive. After the death of Michael Powell in 1990, who else was there? As an image-maker, Russell is not only a total natural, he has very few peers among filmmakers ? not only in Britain; but also around the globe. Russell’s inventiveness seems to know no bounds, and his films are cascades of images, so much that it can’t all be taken in on the first viewing of a picture. Russell does everything a great director and a great artist should do, and then he does so much more.
Why do we love Ken Russell’s movies so much? For many reasons: the spirituality, such a rare commodity in recent British cinema: Russell’s films are not afraid of addressing spiritual issues. • The poetry. • The music ? no other filmmaker of the same era in Britain has been such a tireless and enthusiastic promoter of music. • The dancing ? no other British film director has included so much dance in their output (and very few directors anywhere!). • The British popular culture elements. • The English landscape. • The romance and romantic sensibility • His stories of artists and creativity. • His interviews and public persona, appearing on everything from websites and YouTube to silliness like British TV’s Big Brother. • His encouragement to young filmmakers and his teaching.
Ken Russell has been dubbed ‘a fish and chips Fellini’, ‘the enfant terrible of British cinema’ and ‘the Wild Man of the BBC’. The two periods of ‘classic’ Ken Russell work would be the TV documentaries of the early-to-mid 1960s (with 1962’s Elgar as the highpoint that everyone remembers), and the feature films of the late 1960s to late 1970s (with Women in Love and Tommy being the high watermarks among audiences if not critics).

This book explores all of Ken Russell’s key movies and television productions, his themes and symbols, his filmic style and direction, and his use of music and visuals.
Plus chapters on Russell’s unmade productions, a biography of the director, quotes by Russell, resources, video and DVD availability, and the fans on Russell.

Fully illustrated, with 290 images from all of Russell’s films. Bibliography and notes. 820 pages.
 

PBK  ISBN 9781861715081. £19.99 / $29.99

HBK  ISBN 9781861714923. £39.99 / $59.99
 

By Jeremy Mark Robinson.

Tommy is a 1975 movie based on the rock opera by the British pop band the Who and directed by British genius Ken Russell. Shamelessly over-the-top, silly, wild, dynamic, primitive, glitzy and violent, Tommy ain’t subtle: it presents pop psychology which’s crude as a sledgehammer, symbolism which’s heavy-handed like a pinball machine hurled out of a hotel onto Sunset Strip; it’s decked out in Pop Art colours and costumes by way of glam rock; it’s proudly and bizarrely English and parochial and provincial; it’s perverse and kinky; it’s shrill and hysterical; and it contains some of the finest music ever included in a musical movie.
If Richard Wagner was making movies out of his music in the 1970s, this is what it would look like.

Tommy would have to rank in the top three of anyone’s Ken Russell films. It’s one of those movies where every element comes together beautifully, and where everyone in the production seems to be working at their best. Tommy’s not perfect, but you wouldn’t want to change anything.

Includes chapters on the Who; appendices on Quadrophenia; filmographies and discographies; and bibliography; quotes by Ken Russell, resources, video and DVD availability, and fans on Tommy.

Fully illustrated, including images of the Who, musicals of Tommy, and inspirations. Bibliography and notes.

ISBN 9781861715050. 308 pages.

£11.99 / $17.99
 
 

By Jeremy Mark Robinson.

Women In Love (1969) is the most well-known film of a D.H. Lawrence novel. It was included in the British Film Institute’s Top 100 British movies. People always cited Women In Love as their favourite Ken Russell film. Russell complained that he has made better films than Women In Love, his third feature as director, but recognized that it seemed to chime with the public. Russell is right there: The Devils, Savage Messiah, and The Music Lovers are better movies cinematically, but it’s Women In Love that people remember more than those three pictures.

There are lengthy chapters on every aspect of director Ken Russell.

A filmmaker like no other, Russell remains one of cinema’s extraordinary talents, a creator of masterpieces such as The Devils, Tommy and The Music Lovers, and a body of work that flies from the pastoral, Romantic lyricism of Delius to the wild extremes of Lisztomania and Gothic.
 

Plus chapters on the novel of Women in Love; on D.H. Lawrence, and film adaptions of his work; appendices on The Rainbow (1989) and Lady Chatterley (1993), both directed by Ken Russell; filmographies; resources, video and DVD availability, and fans on Women In Love.

Fully illustrated, including many images of the movie, and Ken Russell’s cinema. Bibliography and notes.

ISBN 9781861715074. 264 pages.

£11.99 / $17.99
 
 

By Jeremy Mark Robinson.

The Devils is a celebrated 1971 picture based on the Loudun demonology trials in the 17th century, scripted by Ken Russell from Aldous Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun (1952) and the 1961 play by John Whiting (1918-63). The Devils was undoubtedly director Russell’s most notorious hour. It was the site of conflicts between the filmmakers, the American film studio (Warners), the censors and the critics.
A tour-de-force of direction (and organization and production), the most significant contribution to The Devils may well be the screenplay ? and Ken Russell has the screen credit for the script. Which makes The Devils all the more remarkable. (And as if writing the script and directing the movie wasn’t enough, Russell also co-produced it.)
Who would open a savage exploration of religious and political hypocrisy set in plague-ridden 17th century France with a dance number featuring the King of France dressed as the Goddess Venus?! Only Ken Russell!

This book about The Devils contains lengthy chapters on every aspect of director Ken Russell.

Includes: filmographies; resources; video and DVD availability; quotes from Russell; and fans on The Devils.
Fully illustrated, including many images of the movie, and Ken Russell’s cinema.
Bibliography and notes.

ISBN 9781861715067. 240 pages.

£11.99 / $17.99
 
 

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

Sex + drugs + rock music + comedy + Westerns + crime + drifter lifestyles + space battles + bars + casinos + fashion ? and more music ? what’s not to like in Cowboy Bebop?! ? and how it wittily and cleverly mixes all of those elements, and many more. That Cowboy Bebop (first broadcast in 1998, and produced by Sunrise (a subsidiary of Bandai) and TV Tokyo), is a fan favourite goes without saying. It is a masterpiece of storytelling, invention, design and production on every level. It is unique. It regularly features in top ten lists of anime favourites, and sometimes tops the lists. Easy to see why: it’s got everything, and then some.
This book focusses on the celebrated, hugely entertaining, cult 26-episode Japanese anime TV series Cowboy Bebop (1998), as well as the 2001 movie of the series. Cowboy Bebop is one of the masterpieces of animation of recent times.
Includes chapters on the Japanese animation industry; on the personnel and the production of Cowboy Bebop; on the style, world and music of the series; and its many cultural links.
At the centre of this book is an episode guide to Cowboy Bebop, running through every show in great detail.
There is a chapter on the movie of Cowboy Bebop, released in 2001.

The appendices include accounts of shows and manga linked to Cowboy Bebop (such as Macross Plus, Samurai Champloo and samurai manga).
Includes: filmographies; resources; video and DVD availability; quotes from fans on  I.

Fully illustrated, including many images of the series and the movie, the actors and personnel, and related animé shows. Bibliography and notes.

ISBN 9781861714961. 436 pages.  £14.99 / $22.99
 
 

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

Although Donald Cammell’s credits consist of a very few titles as a film director ? Performance (1970), Demon Seed (1977), White of the Eye (1987) and Wild Side (1995) ? he remains one of the most fascinating of British filmmakers.
This book explores all of Donald Cammell’s key movies, his themes and symbols, his cinematic style and direction, and his use of music and visuals.
As a writer and director, Donald Cammell directed Performance (1970), a masterpiece combining the British gangster genre with the world of rock ’n’ roll, starring Mick Jagger, James Fox and Anita Pallenberg; Demon Seed (1977), a sci-fi chiller starring Julie Christie; White of the Eye (1987), a bizarre American thriller; Wild Side (1995), a kind of erotic thriller; and the unfinished The Argument (1999). Cammell’s scripts which were made into films include the above five movies, plus Duffy (Robert Parrish, 1968), Tilt (Rudy Durand, 1978) and R.P.M. (Ian Sharp, 1997).
Otherwise, Donald Cammell’s film career is a story of scripts that didn’t get made, a series of setbacks, false starts, possible then abandoned projects (but that’s a familiar story with most filmmakers ? every filmmaker has a drawer full of unmade projects).
Performance, Demon Seed, White of the Eye and Wild Side form the centre of this new book. There is also chapter on Cammell’s unmade productions; his other movie projects; a biography; and sections on his influences and collaborators (including Kenneth Anger, Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones, Aleister Crowley, and Jean-Luc Godard).

Appendices include films and artists linked to Donald Cammell, including: Nic Roeg; The Man Who Fell To Earth; Fitzcarraldo; Syd Barrett; and Sympathy For the Devil.

Fully illustrated (including images from Cammell’s movies, from Roeg’s films, of the Rolling Stones, and from the 1960s period of Performance).
Bibliography, filmographies and notes. 368 pages.

ISBN 9781861715227  Pbk.  £14.99 / $22/99

ISBN 9781861714998. Hbk. £29.99 / $44.99
 
 

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

This book explores Performance, a classic movie co-directed by Donald Cammell and Nic Roeg and starring Mick Jagger, James Fox and Anita Pallenberg, released in 1970. Among the supporting cast were Michele Breton, Ann Sidney, Johnny Shannon and Anthony Valentine. ‘A perverted love affair between Homo Sapiens and Lady Violence’, was how Jagger and Cammell described Performance in their telegram to the president of Warners, Ted Ashley.

The book includes chapters on the culture, gangster and pop music worlds of Performance, on directors Nic Roeg and Donald Cammell, on Mick Jagger, and on links to the movie, such as Kenneth Anger and Aleister Crowley.

Fully illustrated (including images from the movie, from Cammell’s and Roeg’s films, from the Rolling Stones, and from the 1960s period of Performance).

Bibliography, filmographies and notes. 270 pages.

ISBN 9781861715012.   £11.99 / $17/99
 
 

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by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A new study of the French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard (b. 1930), director of iconic films such as Breathless, Weekend, Pierrot le Fou, Passion and Vivre Sa vie. This book explores 27 of Godard's major films, from Breathless to Notre Musique, and includes a scene by scene analysis of Godard's controversial 1985 film of the Virgin Mary, Je Vous Salue, Marie.

There's no one else quite like Jean-Luc Godard. You could take a few frames from one of his films and know they were by the maestro and nobody else. Where the flood of movies globally now runs into many thousands, Godard's works stand out as original, acerbic, romantic, ironic, humorous and explorative.
Also includes an exploration of art cinema and Godard's contemporaries.

Jeremy Mark Robinson's books include Jean-Luc Godard (2009), J.R.R. Tolkien (2010) and Detonation Britain: Nuclear War In the U.K. (1997). He edits two magazines, Passion and Pagan America (a journal of American poetry).
 
 

Fully illustrated   Bibliography, notes, illustrations   420pp
 

HARDBACK   ISBN 9781761712271   £39.99 / $59.99

PAPERBACK   ISBN 9781761712981   £17.99 / $26.99
 
 

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by Jeremy Mark Robinson

Jean-Luc Godard is one of the two or three most significant filmmakers of the contemporary era. An extraordinarily inventive and challenging filmmaker, his series of movies in the 1960s remain some of the richest
works in the history of cinema.

There’s no one else quite like Godard. Where the flood of movies globally now runs into many thousands, Godard’s works stand out as original, acerbic, romantic, ironic, humorous and explorative.
This pocket guide includes chapters on all of Godard’s output.
 

Bibliography, notes, illustrations   316pp
 

PAPERBACK   ISBN 9781761712998    £14.99 / $22.99
 
 

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by Jeremy Mark Robinson

Foreword by Sheena Duggal and a chapter by Thomas A. Christie

Blade Runner is among the most popular cult movies of recent years, with critics as well as fans. Few films have been analyzed in such detail, by so many writers.
This book considers the films made from the fiction of Philip K. Dick, focussing on Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly, as well as movies such as Next, Impostor, Screamers and Paycheck. The book also includes chapters on filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Paul Verhoeven and Ridley Scott.
A thorough exploration of Blade Runner forms the core of the book, looking at the conception, production, themes and influence of the 1982 Warner Brothers film in every detail.
Philip Kindred Dick (1928-1982) was a key figure in 20th century science fiction, famous for embracing drugs and the counter-culture in his work. Dick's fiction includes The Man In the High Castle, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, A Scanner Darkly, The Game Players of Titan, Clan of the Alphane Moon, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Valis, The Divine Invasion, Martian Time-Slip, The Minority Report, and We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. Dick's themes included perception and reality, drugs, state control, global capitalism, surveillance, and paranoia.
Four films are explored here: Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly (in a chapter by Thomas Christie). The other films based on Phil Dick's fiction, which are discussed in the final chapter, include Confessions d'un Barjo (a French movie based on Confessions of a Crap Artist), a Canadian film, Screamers, based on Dick's Second Variety story, Paycheck, directed by John Woo, Next (Lee Tamahori, 2007), based on TheGoldenMan, and Impostor (Gary Fleder, 2002).

Jeremy Mark Robinson's books include Jean-Luc Godard (2009), J.R.R. Tolkien (2010) and Detonation Britain: Nuclear War In the U.K. (1997). He edits two magazines, Passion and Pagan America (a journal of American poetry).
 
 

Fully illustrated, with a newly revised text for this edition. Bibliography, filmography and notes. 240pp
 
 

PAPERBACK    ISBN 9781761713568      £14.99 / $22.99

HARDBACK    ISBN 9781761713575    £34.99 / $52.99
 
 
 

Buy this book at Amazon.com

Buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
 
 
 

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

This book is a guide to the 1982 movie made from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick - Blade Runner. A thorough exploration of Blade Runner forms the core of the book, looking at the conception, production, themes, critical reception and influence of the 1982 Warner Brothers movie in every detail.

On its initial release, Blade Runner grossed $27 million in the United States, placing it no. 16 in that year’s box office chart (it was released on June 25, 1982, in 1,290 theatres in the U.S.A.). 1982 was the year, of course, of E.T. Many reviewers and critics came out against Blade Runner on its first release, including Roger Ebert, Pauline Kael, Sheila Benson, and Janet Maslin. ‘Muddled’, ‘gruesome’, ‘pretentious’ and ‘overheated’ were some of the words used to describe it.
Since then, Blade Runner has rightly achieved cult as well as classic status. Its influence on science fiction and sci-fi cinema has been enormous (this book looks at some of the movies inspired by Blade Runner, including Ghost In the Shell, Akira, Brazil and Batman).

Fully illustrated. Pocket size. Bibliography, filmography and notes.

ISBN 971861714466.

ISBN 971861714251    £9.99 / $15..99
 
 

...

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A major new study of Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986), director of seven feature films, including Mirror, Andrei Roublyov, Solarisand The Sacrifice.
Exploring every aspect of Andrei Tarkovsky’s output, including scripts, budget, production, shooting, editing, camera, sound, music, acting, themes, motifs, and spirituality. His films are analyzed in depth, with scene-by-scene discussions.
Andrei Tarkovsky is one of the most fascinating of filmmakers. He is supremely romantic, an old-fashioned, traditional artist - at home in the company  Leonardo da Vinci, Pieter Brueghel, Aleksandr Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoievsky and Byzantine icon painters. Tarkovsky is a magician, no question, but argues for demystification (even while  films celebrate mystery). His films are full of magical events, dreams, memory sequences, multiple viewpoints, multiple time zones and bizarre occurrences.

This is an important addition to film studies, the most detailed study of Tarkovsky's work available. It contains 150 illustrations, of Tarkovsky’s films, Tarkovsky at work, his contemporaries, and his favourite painters.

Jeremy Mark Robinson's books include Jean-Luc Godard (2009), J.R.R. Tolkien (2010) and Detonation Britain: Nuclear War In the U.K. (1997). He edits two magazines, Passion and Pagan America (a journal of American poetry).
 

Bibliography, notes, illustrations   720pp
 

Hardback     ISBN 1861710968 and 1861712332      £49.99 / $74.99

Paperback     ISBN 1-86171-028-3      £29.99 / $44.99
 
 

Orders for this title to our distributor:

Gardners Books, 1, Whittle Drive,  Willingdon Drove, Eastbourne,  East Sussex, BN23 6QH, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1323 525631 or +44 (0)1323 521777. GARDCALL: +44 (0)1323 521444. Fax: +44 (0)1323 521666.
Web: www.gardners.com. E-mail: sales@gardners.com.
 
 

•
 

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A pocket guide to Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) and his 7 films: Ivan's Childhood, Andrei Roublyov, Solaris, Stalker, Mirror, Nostalghiaand The Sacrifice.
This book explores every aspect of Andrei Tarkovsky's output, including scripts, budget, production, shooting, editing, camera, sound, music, acting, themes, symbols, motifs, and spirituality. Tarkovsky's films are analyzed in depth, with scene-by-scene discussions.
Andrei Tarkovsky is one of the most fascinating of filmmakers. He is supremely romantic, an old-fashioned, traditional artist - at home in the company  Leonardo da Vinci, Pieter Brueghel, Aleksandr Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoievsky and Byzantine icon painters. Tarkovsky is a magician, no question, but argues for demystification (even while  films celebrate mystery). His films are full of magical events, dreams, memory sequences, multiple viewpoints, multiple time zones and bizarre occurrences.
 

The book has been revised for the new editions. Fully illustrated.
 

Bibliography, notes, illustrations   288pp     NEW

Paperback     ISBN 9781861713957   £14.99 / $23.99

Hardback     ISBN 9781861713834   £29.99 / $44.99
 
 

•

by Thomas A. Christie

John Hughes’s teen dramas are still fondly remembered today - not least by members of Generation X, who grew up through the eighties and many of whom now look back on generation-defining films like Pretty in Pink (1986) and Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) with considerable nostalgic affection.

Although it is easy to remember John Hughes for his meteorically successful teen movies right the way through the decade, including The Breakfast Club (1985) and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), he was every bit as adroit in his handling of madcap suburban satires such as Mr Mom (1983) and Uncle Buck (1989), his wry observations of the great American holiday in National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) and The Great Outdoors (1988), the trials of an exasperated everyman commuter in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and the expectation of anxious new parents in She’s Having a Baby (1988).
 

 ‘Thomas Christie’s scholarship is as always immaculate. Full marks to him for another informative, well written and erudite guide to a neglected director and episode of film history.'

Review of John Hughes and Eighties Cinema
Douglas J. Allen (Lecturer in Social Sciences, Motherwell College)
 

The new edition has been updated and revised in the wake of John Hughes' death in 2009.

Bibliography, notes, illustrations   372pp
 

PAPERBACK   ISBN 9781761713896   £14.99 / $22.99
 

HARDBACK   ISBN 9781761713988   £39.99 / $59.99
 
 

Buy this book at Amazon.com

Buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
 
 

Thomas Christie's website

Thomas Christie at Amazon Author Central
 
 
 

REVIEW FROM AMAZON:

If like me, you were fortunate enough to live through and grow up during the 80's and early 90's, you'll remember just how rich comedy was back then. This book on it's own puts most comedies of the modern era to shame as it is a homage to one of the most talented minds in the game. I am of course speaking of none other than the late great John Hughes. This is a great book for getting into the details of how a master of his art came about and created such cinematic gems. Hughes will be sorely missed which is why books like this keep his spirit and work alive!   <P> I'd say this book is for people who are nostalgic 20-somethings or cinema buffs, but all-round a good book for just about anyone who would like to know what made one of the funniest minds of Hollywood tick.

....

by Thomas A. Christie

Christmas and the world of cinema: two things that go together like mincemeat pies and mulled wine. There are few categories of film which have captured the imagination of young and old for so many years, or which have brought with them such nostalgic charm and warm sentiment. But what is it about the Christmas movie that has proven to be so creatively adaptive over the years, and why has the genre remained so perennially popular amongst audiences all across the world?
This new study charts the evolution of the Christmas film, starting in 1945 with The Bells of St Mary’s (Leo McCarey), and continuing up to the present day with the 3D version of A Christmas Carol (Robert Zemeckis, 2009). From the silver screen magic of It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street to the madcap seasonal comedy of Home Alone and Elf, by way of White Christmas and Black Christmas, this book considers a wide selection of some of the most enduring festive movies from the past seven decades.

With a detailed exploration of each film’s themes and cultural influences, The Christmas Movie Book also features a comprehensive timeline of key works in the genre, a filmography, notes, and illustrations, and examines why it is that these well-loved classics continue to enrapture generations of movie-goers.
 

Fully illustrated   With filmography, timeline, bibliography and notes.

PAPERBACK    412 pages.     ISBN 97818617133346    £14.99 / $22.99
 
 

...

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A new cultural analysis of J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of Middle-earth and author of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and other books.
This new critical study explores Tolkien's major writings (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Beowulf: The Monster and the Critics, The Letters, The Silmarillion and The History of Middle-earth volumes), Tolkien and fairy tales, the mythological, political and religious aspects of Tolkien's Middle-earth, the critics' response to Tolkien's fiction over the decades, the Tolkien industry (merchandizing, toys, role-playing games, posters, Tolkien societies, conferences and the like), Tolkien in visual and fantasy art, the cultural aspects of The Lord of the Rings (from the 1950s to the present), Tolkien's fiction's relationship with other fantasy fiction, such as C.S. Lewis and Harry Potter, and the TV, radio and film versions of Tolkien's books, including the new Hollywood interpretations of The Lord of the Rings. The 2001-03 Hollywood films are discussed in great detail, with a scene-by-scene analysis of each film (including the extended cuts, and omissions, additions, alterations, etc).

This new book draws on contemporary cultural theory and analysis and offers a sceptical but sympathetic and illuminating account of the Tolkien phenomenon. This book is designed to appeal to the general reader (and viewer) of Tolkien: it is written in a clear, jargon-free and easily-accessible style.

Jeremy Mark Robinson's books include Jean-Luc Godard (2009), J.R.R. Tolkien (2010) and Detonation Britain: Nuclear War In the U.K. (1997). He edits two magazines, Passion and Pagan America (a journal of American poetry).
 
 

The book has been completely updated and revised for the second edition.
 

826pp    Illustrations, bibliography, notes.

PAPERBACK   ISBN 9781861712804   £24.99 / $36.99

HARDBACK   ISBN 9781861713208    £39.99 / $59.99
 
 

When Bilbo, son of Bungo, of the respectable family of Baggins prepared to celebrate his seventy-first birthday there was some little talk in the neighbourhood, and people polished up their memories. Bilbo had once had some brief notoriety among the hobbits of Hibbiton and Bywater - he had disappeared after breakfast one April 30th and had not reappeared until lunch-time on June 22nd in the following year. A very odd proceeding, and one for which he had never accounted satisfactorily. He wrote a book about it, of course: but even those who had read it never took that seriously.

(J.R.R. Tolkien, from an early draft of the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings)
 
 
 

To read extracts from the J.R.R. Tolkien book, click here

...

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A new guide to the life and work of J.R.R. Tolkien, the premier British fantasy author of the 20th century, and his great works: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. This guide is clearly written for the general reader, offering an all-round introduction to this hugely popular writer. The book is full of illuminating facts and details about Tolkien and his works.The text has been revised for this edition.
 

The book has been newly revised.

272pp    Illustrations, bibliography, notes

PBK   ISBN 9781861712783    £14.99 / $22.99

HBK   ISBN 9781861713797    £29.99 / $44.99

E-BOOK   ISBN 9781861713445    £5.99 / $8.99
 
 

10% educational discount for schools, colleges,universities.

FREE SHIPPING

....

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A Pocket Guide to the popular Lord of the Rings movies movies, Hollywood’s live action version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1954-55 book The Lord of the Rings, released in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
The book tells you everything you need to know about these very popular films, from writing the script through casting and financing, to shooting and performances, to visual effects, editing and theatrical distribution.
The pocket guide includes discussions of every single scene in the three movies, including the Special Extended Editions (some scenes are explored in great detail, as well as some key individual shots). There are sections on the all of the important differences between The Lord of the Rings book and the Hollywood movies (including numerous details), as well as a chapter exploring the additions and the omissions. Looks at behind the scenes stories, and also the critical response to the movies.
There are chapters on the visual effects, on the casting and key personnel of the movies, on the studio and the financing of the films, on the music and sound, and the marketing and release of the movies in 2001-2003 (including the home entertainment releases on DVD and video). There is also a chapter on the critical response to the movies.

There is also an appendix on other adaptions of J.R.R. Tolkien's books.

Includes bibliography, 63 illustrations, appendices and notes. 496 pages.
 

PAPERBACK   ISBN 9781861712790    £14.99 / $22.99

HARDBACK   ISBN 9781861713780    £29.99 / $44.99
 
 

....

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A pocket guide to the Hollywood adaption of the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's 1950s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, released in 2001. The book tells you everything you need to know about this popular film, from writing the script through casting and financing, to shooting and performances, to visual effects, editing and theatrical distribution.
The pocket guide includes discussions of every single scene in The Fellowship of the Ring, including the Special Extended Edition (including some key individual shots). There are sections on the all of the important differences between The Lord of the Rings book and the movie adaption of The Fellowship of the Ring (including numerous details), as well a chapter exploring the additions and the omissions. Looks at behind the scenes stories, and also the critical response to the 2001 picture.
There are chapters on the visual effects, on the casting and key personnel of The Fellowship of the Ring, on the studio and the financing of the production, on the music and sound, and the marketing and release of the movie in 2001 (including the home entertainment releases on DVD and video). There is also a chapter on the critical response to the movie.
There is also an appendix on other adaptions of J.R.R. Tolkien's books, a detailed filmography, plus info on availability and websites.

Jeremy Robinson has written many critical studies, including Steven Spielberg, Arthur Rimbaud, Jean-Luc Godard, Hayao Miyazaki, Ken Russell, Walerian Borowczyk, and The Sacred Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky, plus literary monographs on: J.R.R. Tolkien; J.M.W. Turner; Samuel Beckett; Thomas Hardy; Arthur Rimbaud; André Gide; John Cowper Powys; Robert Graves; and Lawrence Durrell.

Includes bibliography, 51 illustrations, appendices and notes. ISBN 9781861713803. 292 pages.

ISBN 9781861713803   £14.99 / $22.99
 
 

....

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A pocket guide to the Hollywood adaption of the second part of J.R.R. Tolkien's 1950s fantasy epic book The Lord of the Rings, released in 2002. The book tells you everything you need to know about this popular movie, from writing the script through casting and financing, to shooting and performances, to visual effects, editing and theatrical distribution.
The pocket guide includes discussions of every single scene in The Two Towers, including the Special Extended Edition (including some key individual shots). There are sections on the all of the important differences between The Lord of the Rings book and the movie adaption of The Two Towers (including numerous details), as well a chapter exploring the additions and the omissions. Looks at behind the scenes stories, and also the critical response to the 2002 picture.
There are chapters on the visual effects, on the casting and key personnel of The Two Towers, on the studio and the financing of the production, on the music and sound, and the marketing and release of the movie in 2002 (including the home entertainment releases on DVD and video). There is also a chapter on the critical assessment of the movie.
There is also an appendix on other adaptions of J.R.R. Tolkien's books, a detailed filmography, plus info on availability and websites.

Jeremy Robinson has written many critical studies, including Steven Spielberg, Arthur Rimbaud, Jean-Luc Godard, Hayao Miyazaki, Ken Russell, Walerian Borowczyk, and The Sacred Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky, plus literary monographs on: J.R.R. Tolkien; J.M.W. Turner; Samuel Beckett; Thomas Hardy; Arthur Rimbaud; André Gide; John Cowper Powys; Robert Graves; and Lawrence Durrell.

Includes bibliography, 54 illustrations, appendices and notes. 308 pages.

ISBN 9781861713810.    £14.99 / $22.99
 
 

....

by Jeremy Mark Robinson
 

A pocket guide to the Hollywood adaption of the third part of J.R.R. Tolkien's 1950s fantasy epic book The Lord of the Rings, released in 2003. The book tells you everything you need to know about this popular movie, from writing the script through casting and financing, to shooting and performances, to visual effects, editing and theatrical distribution.
The pocket guide includes discussions of every single scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, including the Special Extended Edition (including some key individual shots). There are sections on the all of the important differences between The Lord of the Rings book and the movie adaption of The Return of the King (including numerous details), as well a chapter exploring the additions and the omissions. Looks at behind the scenes stories, and also the critical response to the 2003 picture.
There are chapters on the visual effects, on the casting and key personnel of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, on the studio and the financing of the production, on the music and sound, and the marketing and release of the movie in 2003 (including the home entertainment releases on DVD and video). There is also a chapter on the critical assessment of the movie.
There is also an appendix on other adaptions of J.R.R. Tolkien's books, a detailed filmography, plus info on availability and websites.

Jeremy Robinson has written many critical studies, including Steven Spielberg, Arthur Rimbaud, Jean-Luc Godard, Hayao Miyazaki, Ken Russell, Walerian Borowczyk, and The Sacred Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky, plus literary monographs on: J.R.R. Tolkien; J.M.W. Turner; Samuel Beckett; Thomas Hardy; Arthur Rimbaud; André Gide; John Cowper Powys; Robert Graves; and Lawrence Durrell.
 

Includes bibliography, 56 illustrations, appendices and notes. . 300 pages.

ISBN 9781861713827   £14.99 / $22.99
 
 

...

by Thomas A. Christie

A new study of the films of Hollywood star Liv Tyler, charting all of her film career up to the present - including Armageddon (1998), Cookie's Fortune (1999), One Night at McCool's (2001) and the Lord of the Rings movies (2001-03).

This is the only in-depth exploration of Liv Tyler's films available anywhere.
 

Thomas Christie's pioneering account of Liv Tyler's film career to date is a truly impressive product, combining a wide-ranging knowledge of the film world with a strong, readable narrative style. His meticulous approach has resulted in a work that is factually informative, while his judgements and opinions are scrupulously fair and even-handed. For anyone looking for an authoritative account of Liv Tyler's film career, drawn from an impressively wide-ranging selection of international sources, moving easily between the worlds of high art and popular culture, this volume can be thoroughly recommended.

Douglas J. Allen

Lecturer in Social Sciences, Motherwell College, Scotland.

REVIEW FROM AMAZON:

At last a proper examination of Liv Tyler the actress by someone who has taken the time to view her work and give sensible opinions of what she has achieved rather than what you read on don't read in the tabloids. A good introduction to her work and recommended for those with an interest in all things hollywood and acting.

REVIEW FROM AMAZON:

You wont find any redtop gutter-monkey style ‘scandals’ in this offering! This is a well constructed easy to read publication,On one of Hollywood’s finest talents.the book has 284 pages,wich has been carefully put together by the author to give the reader an easy and enjoyable read.Its refreshing to have a book wich has clearly had time and effort put into it.So if you want the FACTS on Liv Tyler this is the book for you,Its a must have for fans of cinematography!!!

Bibliography, notes, colour illustrations   240pp

Pbk    ISBN 1-86171-131-X      £14.99 / $22.99
 
 

E-Book   ISBN 9781861713377   £5.99 / $8.99
 

To read extracts from Liv Tyler, click here
 
 

...

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

Walerian Borowczyk (1923-2006) was a Polish artist, animator and filmmaker who lived in France for much of his life. He is the author of European art cinema masterpieces Goto: Island of Love, Blanche and Immoral Tales, some surreal animated shorts, and controversial films such as The Beast. This new book concentrates on Borowczyk's feature films, from Goto to Love Rites, which contain some of the most extraordinary images and scenes in recent cinema. Erotica for some, porn for others, Borowczyk's films are highly idiosyncratic and unforgettable.
 

Jeremy Mark Robinson's books include Jean-Luc Godard (2009), Lawrence Durrell (1995) and Detonation Britain: Nuclear War In the U.K. (1997). He edits two magazines, Passion and Pagan America (a journal of American poetry).

Fully illustrated, with stills from Walerian Borowczyk's movies, and from the history of erotica, a bibliography, filmography and notes. 252pp.
The text has been updated for this new (2nd) edition.
 
 

Paperback     ISBN 9781861713674      £14.99 / $23.99

Hardback     ISBN 9781861713124      £34.99 / $52.99
 
 
 

Buy this book at Amazon.com

Buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
 
 

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

La Bête (a.k.a. The Beast, The Beast in Heat and Death’s Ecstasy, 1975) was Walerian Borowczyk’s most controversial film, a mixture of French farce, surrealism, and a lot of sex (including bestiality).

The story of La Bête involves an American heiress Lucy Broadhurst (Lisbeth Hummel) being brought to a French chateau with her aunt Virginia (Elisabeth Kaza) by the scheming owners (in particular the marquis, Pierre de l’Esperance [played by Guy Tréjan]), who need to marry her to the earthy, degenerate (and somewhat backward) son of the family Mathurin (Pierre Benedetti) in order to circumvent a will which’ll keep the family home intact.
That’s the framing story, about grasping aristocrats, decadent morality, degenerate priests and sexually repressed young women. This part of the film’s set in the 20th century, though it’s not the conventional modern, urban world of most movies. La Bête takes place exclusively at the French chateau and its grounds (the film is in French, but there is English dialogue - Virginia, Lucy and their chauffeur speak English).

 AUTHOR’S NOTE: This book is expanded from my book on Walerian Borowczyk. The book includes an introduction relating Borowczyk to many other filmmakers and movies, from the European art movie tradition, but also the horror genre, and animation; an assessment the critical reception of Borowczyk, and the current perception of Borowczyk as a director. There are many illustrations (some of which are rare). And it contains a useful bibliography and list of sources.
The aim is to offer an introduction the extraordinary 1975 movie The Beast, in a clearly written in an entertaining style, which I hope will encourage the reader to seek out some of Borowczyk's strange, lyrical, hallucinatory and erotic movies. I hope my book will offer some fresh insights into Borowczyk and The Beast.

The appendices include a note on fairy tales, and on other versions of Beauty and the Beast (including the Jean Cocteau movie, and the 1991 Walt Disney musical movie).
Fully illustrated, with stills from The Beast, and Walerian Borowczyk's movies, plus influences, a bibliography, filmography, appendices, quotes from Borowczyk and notes. 168pp.

ISBN 9781861714244       £9.99 / $15.99    PAPERBACK.

...

by Thomas A. Christie

One of John Hughes’s most charmingly offbeat films, 1986's Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is certainly among the most overtly humorous of his canon of teen movies. It is also one of his best-remembered, its profile challenged only by the acclaimed The Breakfast Club which was released the year beforehand. Contrasting perfectly with the more serious, issue-based tone of Pretty in Pink which immediately preceded it in the same year, Hughes’s wittily incisive dialogue was never as razor-sharp as when delivered by the smart-mouthed high school slacker Ferris Bueller.
 
 

Bibliography, notes, illustrations   132pp
 

PAPERBACK   ISBN 9781761713063   £10.00 / $16.00
 
 

...

by Thomas A. Christie

Richard Linklater (b. 1960) is an important American film director whose movies include School of Rock, Dazed and Confused, Slacker, A Scanner Darkly and Before Sunrise. Also includes Orson Welles and Me, and a scene-by-scene analysis of Before Sunrise.

This new edition - the only full-length appreciation of Richard Linklater's work available anywhere - includes his latest films - Me and Orson Welles and Inning By Inning, and an in-depth, scene-by-scene analysis of Before Sunrise.
 

FROM THE FOREWORD:

Welcome to the world of Richard Linklater, the extraordinary US movie director from Austin, whose broad range of films - from indie (Slacker) to mainstream (School of Rock) - makes it impossible to pigeonhole him. What is not open to debate is  quality of his output - his films are entertaining, intelligent, philosophical, innovative, adventurous, unpredictable, eclectic... to be honest, the adjectives could go on ad infinitum.

Bibliography, notes, illustrations   292pp

HARDBACK    ISBN 9781861712387    £39.99 / $59.99

PAPERBACK   ISBN 9781761712486   £14.99 / $22.99
 
 

...

by Oliver Whitehorne

A new edition, including a new bibliography and introduction.

An incisive analysis of the 'megavisual' hyperspace that is global media. Whitehorne's wry overview takes in juicy, hypocrisy-rich topics such as censorship in the media; consensus politics and the news; the religious dimensions of advertizing; excessive consumerism; media narratives; radio voices; soap operas; pornography; adverts in print, radio and television; tabloid and broadsheet newspapers; Cosmopolitan and 'women's magazines'; violence and bad language; 'family' viewing; British radio, including a detailed study of Radio 1; the Madonna phenomenon; pop promos, MTV and pop music; feminism and the media.

Oliver Whitehorne is a freelance writer who has written extensively on the media. His previous books include TV Texts (1985), Eat the Media: Advertizing and Consumerism (1989), and Media Hell: Explorations of Radio, Television and the Press (Crescent Moon (1995).
 
 

Bibliography, illustrations, notes  ISBN 1-871846-28-5  £21.99 / $34.50
 

...

by Cassidy Hughes

American ex-pat writer Paul Bowles and New Wave Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci collaborated on the 1990 film The Sheltering Sky, based on Bowles' 1949 novel. Hughes looks at Bowles' fiction, which is concerned with exile, alienation, violence and social collapse, often in a vividly portrayed North African setting. Next, Hughes analyzes Bertolucci's provocative cinema, which ranges from the New Wave and politically-conscious art movies The Conformist and Last Tango in Paris to the more 'mainstream' Hollywood epic treatments of The Last Emperor and Little Buddha.

Cassidy Hughes is a writer and photographer. His previous books include Images of India (1982), Petrarch, Dante and the Troubadours (1992) and Sex in Art (1993). His photographs have been exhibited in London, Rome, Hong Kong and New York (among others). He lives near St Just in West Penwith, Cornwall.
 
 

Filmography and bibliography, notes. 76pp  ISBN 1-871846-66-8  £8.99 / $13.50
 

...

by John Madden

The 'cinema of poetry' studied here includes filmmakers such as Welles, Ozu, Bresson, Cocteau, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Kurosawa, Godard, Bertolucci, Pasolini and Mizoguchi. Though the (mainly European) art film is the chief field of Madden's enquiry, his analysis takes in the whole of the history of cinema, from the Lumiere brothers, through the silent era and golden age of Hollywood to avant garde filmmakers such as Anger, Snow and Brakhage. Madden reappraises the æsthetics of cinema and its affinities with poetry, mythology, religion, magic and narrative art.
 
 

Bibliography, illustrations, notes  87pp  ISBN 1-871846-52-8  £10.99 / $17.00
 

...

by Jeremy Mark Robinson

A new critical study of Harry Potter, the Harry Potter cultural phenomenon, the Harry Potter books, the Harry Potter films and the Harry Potter franchise.
This new critical analysis explores the Harry Potter cultural phenomenon, the most remarkable event publishing of the past ten, twenty, thirty or more years. Since 1997, J.K. Rowling's books have sold nearly 200 million copies, selling more than Stephen King, John Grisham and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Topics studied include: the relation of Harry Potter to fantasy fiction, and to British literature and culture;   the history of children's literature and Harry Potter; Rowling's literary sources. Rowling's literary and narrative strategies;  the use of magic and witchcraft in the books; issues of gender, race, class and  psychology in Harry Potter;  analyses of each book;  the Harry Potter phenomenon in book publishin and the story of the publication of the books;  the Harry Potter films: the making of the films, the scripts, the adaption process, casting, production, critical reception; the relationship of the Harry Potter films to other contemporary Hollywood movies;  the economic and business aspects of the Harry Potter phenomenon;  the marketing of the Harry Potter franchise;  the audiences of Harry Potter products;   merchandizing, licensing, toys, etc;  J.K. Rowling as author (and celebrity).
This book is written for the general reader (and viewer) of Harry Potter.

Jeremy Robinson's books include Glorification: Religious Abstraction in Renaissance and 20th Century Art (1990), Arthur Rimbaud (1992), Lawrence Durrell (1995) and Detonation Britain: Nuclear War in the UK (1997). He edits two magazines, Passion and Pagan America (a journal of American poetry).
 
 

Bibliography, notes, illustrations   142pp   ISBN 1-861-058-5    £14.99 / $22.99 FORTHCOMING
 
 

    'You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?'
    'Kept what from me?' said Harry eagerly.
    'STOP! I FORBID YOU!' yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.
    Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.
    'Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh,' said Hagrid. 'Harry - yer a wizard.'
    There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.
    'I'm a what?'
    'A wizard, o' course,' said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, 'an' a thumpin good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be?' An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter.'

(J.K. Rowling, from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)
 
 

 

The Sacred Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky

Harry Potter: The Books, The FIlms, The Cultural Phenomenon

J.R.R. Tolkien

Liv Tyler

Jean-Luc Godard

Walerian Borowczyk

The Cinema of Richard Linklater

Media Hell: Explorations of Radio, Television and the Press

Paul Bowles and Bernardo Bertolucci: Under Two Sheltering Skies

The Poetry of Cinema

• Harry Potter
• J.R.R. Tolkien
• Andy Goldsworthy
• Art
• Art in Close-Up Series
• Sculpture
• Painters
• American Painters
• Renaissance Painters
• Renaissance Writers
• Media, Cinema, Culture, Feminism
• Cinema
• Hayao Miyazaki
• John Hughes
• Feminism and Gender Studies
• Women Artists and Writers
• Fairy Tales
• Literature
• Poetry
• Contemporary Poetry
• Novelists
• Ursula Le Guin
• 19th Century and Romantic Culture
• European Writers
• British Poets
• Shakespeare Studies
• Arthur Rimbaud Studies
• D.H. Lawrence Studies
• John Cowper Powys Studies
• Thomas Hardy Studies
• TV arts documentaries on DVD and video
• Journals
• Alchemy Records
• Index of Titles, ISBNs, Dates and Prices
• New Titles and Forthcoming Books

• You can order by telephone, post or e-mail.
• Please quote the title or ISBN of the book you want, and the quantity.
• Please write in block capitals.
• Please make cheques and monies payable to Crescent Moon (in GB pounds sterling, Eurocheques or International Money Orders). Please make US dollar cheques payable to J. Robinson.
• All titles can be ordered through your local bookseller.

BY E-MAIL: : <cresmopub@yahoo.co.uk>
 

BY MAIL: Crescent Moon Publishing, P.O. Box 1312, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 5XU, U.K.
 

BY TELEPHONE:

        from the UK: 01622-729593
       from the US: 01144-1622-729593
        from other territories: 0044-1622-729593
 

ON THE INTERNET:

Crescent Moon titles can be ordered via all of the main internet booksellers:
 

Amazon.com, internet bookshop <www.amazon.com>

Amazon.co.uk, internet bookshop <www.amazon.co.uk>

Play.com www.play.com

Tesco www.tesco.com

The Internet Bookshop <www.internetbookshop.co.uk>

The Book Place <www.thebookplace.com>

W.H. Smith bookshop <www.whsmith.co.uk>

Waterstone's Booksellers <www.waterstones.co.uk>

Barnes and Noble internet bookshop <barnesandnoble.com (www.bn.com)>

Books Online <www.bol.com>

Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk sometimes say our books are either currently unavailable or delivered within 4-6 weeks. That's their system: ignore it: our books are available from Amazon and will be delivered in 2-3 days (try using the 'new & used' section).

Alternatively, play.com, tesco.com, and waterstones.co.uk (among others) will deliver in 3-5 days.