film criticism

"This book is intended to help American anime and manga fans understand the meaning of important references to aspects of Japanese life and culture as they appear in favorite films and graphic novels"--.

Explores the explosion of manga and anime in popular culture, examining its origins, unique style, popular artists and shows, and franchises and fandom. Includes photographs, animation stills, sidebars, and further resources.

"Manga and anime stories cover nearly every imaginable scenario from high school crushes to ninja battles on distant planets. 'Fantasy, Romance, and More: Genres of Anime and Manga' is an . . . exploration of the most popular genres including romance, science-fiction, action-adventure, comedy, and fantasy"--Amazon.

Drawing upon years of research to celebrate the man who invented the Hollywood blockbuster, this first-of-its-kind deep dive into Steven Spielberg's decades-long career is organized chronologically and covers everything from early short films and TV episodes to his more than 30 feature-length films.

"From psychologist, researcher, and horror film enthusiast Brian A. Sharpless comes 'Monsters on the Couch,' an exploration into the real-life psychological disorders behind famous horror movies. Accounts of clinical syndromes every bit as dramatic as those on the silver screen are juxtaposed with . . . forays into the science and folklore behind our favorite movie monsters. Horror fans may be obsessed with vampires, werewolves, zombies, and the human replacements from 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers,' but even many medical professionals may not know about the corresponding conditions of Renfield's syndrome, clinical lycanthropy, Cotard's syndrome, and the misidentification delusions. Some of these disorders are surprisingly common in the general population. For instance, a number of people experience isolated sleep paralysis, a disorder implicated in ghost and alien abduction beliefs. As these tales unfold, readers not only learn state-of-the-art psychological science but also gain a better understanding of history, folklore, and how Hollywood often--but not always--gets it wrong when tackling these complex topics"--Publisher's description.

"In addition to being among the most celebrated of contemporary filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino is possibly the most joyously infectious movie lover alive. For years he has touted in interviews his eventual turn to writing books about films. Now, with [this book], the time has come, and the results are everything his . . . fans--and all movie lovers--could have hoped for. Organized around key American films from the 1970s, all of which he first saw as a young moviegoer at the time, this book is as intellectually rigorous and insightful as it is rollicking and entertaining. At once film criticism, film theory, a feat of reporting, and wonderful personal history, it is all written in the singular voice recognizable immediately as QT's and with the rare perspective about cinema possible only from one of the greatest practitioners of the artform ever"--Provided by publisher.

"The author . . . examines 100 years of Black movies--using the struggles and triumphs of the artists, and the films themselves, as a prism to explore Black culture and the civil rights movement in America. Beginning in 1915 with D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation--which glorified the Ku Klux Klan and became Hollywood's first blockbuster--[he] gives us a . . . history, spanning more than a century, of Black artists in the film business, onscreen and behind the scenes. He makes clear the effects of changing social realities and events on the business of making movies and on what was represented on the screen: from Jim Crow and segregation to white flight and interracial relationships, from the assassination of Malcolm X to the O.J. Simpson trial to the Black Lives Matter movement. He considers the films themselves--including The Imitation of Life, Gone With the Wind, Porgy & Bess, the Blaxploitation films of the 70s, Do The Right Thing, 12 Years a Slave, and Black Panther. And he brings to . . . light the careers and significance of a wide range of historic and contemporary figures: Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier, Berry Gordy, Alex Haley, Spike Lee, Billy Dee Willliams, Richard Pryor, Halle Berry, Ava Duvernay, and Jordan Peele, among . . . others. A . . . timely book, [this book] gives us both an unprecedented history of Black cinema, and a . . . perspective on racism in modern America"--Provided by publisher.