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🧲 Books like this

How to Read a Film: The World of Movies, Media, Multimedia: Language, History, Theory

James Monaco · back to the book

What’s in it

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24 books with the same feel

Include books by the same author
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Your Movie Sucks

Roger Ebert · 338 pages

The *Chicago Sun-Times* critic follows up on 2000's *I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie* with more reviews for movies he has given 1½ stars and lower to.

Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfiction
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Hatchet Job: Love Movies, Hate Critics

Mark Kermode · 387 pages

Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfiction
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Harlan Ellison's Watching

Harlan Ellison · 465 pages

Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfiction
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The Silence of the Lambs

Yvonne Tasker · 95 pages

In this study Yvonne Tasker explores the way the film weaves together gothic, horror and thriller conventions to generate both a distinctive variation on the cinematic portrayal of insanity and crime, and a fascinating intervention in the sexual politics of genre.

Film HistoryMedia CriticismNonfiction
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I Lost It at the Movies

Pauline Kael · 365 pages

Discusses films such as On the waterfront, East of Eden, Blackboard jungle, Room at the top, Look back in anger, The entertainer, Sons and lovers, Saturday night and Sunday morning, Hud, The earrings of Madame de ..., The golden coach, Smiles of a summer night, La grande illusion, Forbidden games, Shoeshine, Beggar's opera, The seven samurai, Breathless, The cousins, West Side story, L'Avventura,

Film HistoryMedia CriticismNonfiction
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Marxist Film Theory and Fight Club

Anna Kornbluh · 195 pages

Anna Kornbluh provides an overview of Marxist approaches to film, with particular attention to three central concepts in Marxist theory in general that have special bearing on film: “the mode of production,” “ideology,” and “mediation.” In explaining how these concepts operate and how they have been used and misused in film studies, the volume employs a case study to exemplify the practice of Marx

Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfiction
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The Devil Finds Work

James Baldwin · 144 pages

Baldwin’s personal reflections on movies gathered here in a book-length essay are also a probing appraisal of American racial politics. Offering an incisive look at racism in American movies and a vision of America’s self-delusions and deceptions, Baldwin challenges the underlying assumptions in such films as In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and The Exorcist. Here are our lo

Film HistoryMedia CriticismNonfiction
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Reel Views 2

James Berardinelli · 627 pages

Thoroughly revised and updated for 2005! Includes a new chapter on the best special edition DVDs and a new chapter on finding hidden easter egg features.

Film HistoryMedia CriticismNonfiction
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Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In (Updated Edition)

Joe Bob Briggs · 248 pages

This brand-new, updated art book-sized hardcover edition of the long out-of-print collection by cult film host Joe Bob Briggs features new writing, movie reviews, and fan letters not seen in over 40 years, plus new artwork by comic book artist Mike Norton and an introduction by Stephen King. Cult genre film host Joe Bob Briggs' collection of wisecracking takes on drive-in movies and redneck life i

Film HistoryMedia CriticismNonfiction
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Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle

Susan J. Napier · 463 pages

This new edition of the groundbreaking popular book from Susan J Napier , Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle, is a must-have for both seasoned and new fans of anime. Japanese animation is more popular than ever following the 2002 Academy Award given to Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. It confirmed that anime is more than just children's cartoons, often portraying important social and cultural

Film HistoryMedia CriticismNonfiction
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The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Walter Benjamin · 45 pages

"An attempt by literary critic Walter Benjamin to analyze the changed experience of art in modern society."--Page 4 of cover.

Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfictionArt & Design
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The Matrix

Joshua Clover · 104 pages

The Matrix (1999) was a true end-of-the-millennium movie, a statement of the American Zeitgeist, and a prognosis for the future of big-budget Hollywood filmmaking. Starring Keanu Reeves as Neo, a computer programmer transformed into a messianic freedom fighter, The Matrix blends science fiction with conspiracy thriller conventions and outlandish martial arts created with groundbreaking digital tec

Film HistoryMedia CriticismNonfiction
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The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever

Alan Sepinwall · 306 pages

"12 shows that started a revolution in TV drama: The Sopranos. Oz. The Wire. Deadwood. The Shield. Lost. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 24. Battlestar Galactica. Friday Night Lights. Mad Men. Breaking Bad. These 12 shows, and the many more they made possible, ushered in a new golden age of television--one that made people take the medium more seriously than ever before" -- P. [4] of cover.

Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfiction
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Film HistoryMedia CriticismNonfiction
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Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfiction
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Bad Feminist

Roxane Gay · 360 pages

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. "Pink is my favorite color. I used to say my favorite color was black to be cool, but it is pink, all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I'm not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once l

Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfiction
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Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto

Chuck Klosterman · 258 pages

"Countless writers and artists have spoken for a generation, but no one has done it quite like Chuck Klosterman. With an exhaustive knowledge of popular culture and an almost effortless ability to spin brilliant prose out of unlikely subject matter, Klosterman attacks the entire spectrum of postmodern America: reality TV, Internet porn, Pamela Anderson, literary Jesus freaks, and the real differen

Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfiction
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Wallflower at the Orgy

Nora Ephron · 208 pages

A collection of interviews of American pop culture icons of the 1960s and 1970s offers revealing profiles of such notables as Helen Gurley Brown, Jacqueline Susann, Julia Child, Ayn Rand, Craig Claiborne, Bill Blass, and Mike Nichols.

Media CriticismFilm HistoryNonfiction
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Filmish: A Graphic Journey Through Film

Edward Ross · 199 pages

"In Filmish, cartoonist Edward Ross takes us on an exhilarating ride through the history of cinema, using comics to uncover the magic and mechanics behind our favorite movies. Exploring everything from censorship to set design, Ross spotlights the films and film-makers that embody this provocative and inventive medium, from the pioneers of early cinema to the innovators shaping the movies of today

Film HistoryNonfictionArt & Design
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Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey

Bob McCabe · 534 pages

Harry Potter: Page to Screen opens the doors to Hogwarts castle and the wizarding world of Harry Potter to reveal the complete behind-the-scenes secrets, techniques, and over-the-top artistry that brought J.K. Rowling's acclaimed novels to cinematic life. Developed in collaboration with the creative team behind the celebrated movie series, this deluxe, 500-plus page compendium features exclusive s

Film HistoryNonfictionArt & Design
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Film Form: Essays in Film Theory

Sergei Eisenstein · 282 pages

Director and filmmaker of Silent Movies who later worked in America, Sergei Eisenstein discusses the idea of montage in Russian Film and its compositional differences with films of D. W. Griffith

Film HistoryNonfictionArt & Design
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The Hunger Games: Official Illustrated Movie Companion

Kate Egan · 160 pages

This book takes readers behind the scenes of the making of THE HUNGER GAMES with exclusive interviews and information on the screenwriting, casting, and elaborate sets and costumes, as well as the actors' performances and directors' vision.

Film HistoryMedia CriticismNonfiction
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Lynch on Lynch

David Lynch, Chris Rodley · 304 pages

Film HistoryNonfictionArt & Design
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The Wes Anderson Collection

Matt Zoller Seitz, Wes Anderson · 327 pages

This companion to the bestselling The Wes Anderson Collection is the only book to take readers behind the scenes of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Through a series of in-depth interviews between writer/director Wes Anderson and cultural critic Matt Zoller Seitz, Anderson shares the story behind the film's conception, personal anecdotes about the making of the film, and the wide variety of sources that

Film HistoryNonfictionArt & Design

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