Swedish Film: An Introduction and Reader gives a wide and yet concise presentation of the history of Swedish film through a number of articles by Swedish and international film scholars. The book draws upon a rich tradition of research on Swedish cinema, and it offers a varied and inspiring introduction to the history – from the very first film screenings to contemporary works.Combining in-depth studies with contextualizing introductions, Swedish film: An Introduction ...

This "brutal and unflinching" novel of fleeting love in Sin City inspired the film starring Nicholas Cage and Elizabeth Shue (Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City).John O'Brien's debut novel, Leaving Las Vegas, is an emotionally wrenching story of a woman who embraces life and a man who rejects it; a powerful tale of hard luck, hard drinking, and a relationship of tenderness and destruction.An avowed alcoholic, Ben drinks away ...

The Children of Odinby Padraic ColumLong ago, in a Northern paradise called Asgard, dwelt many gods and goddesses. They were wise and they were beautiful. They lived in peace, untouched by evil...until the day the Giants from Jotunheim cast envious eyes upon their happiness.... Padraic Colum has been faithful to these old Norse myths, but he has made them his own. His stories speak quickly to children, for they are filled with the rich, musical narrative of the storyteller, ...

Kiss Me, Deadly to Nightmare Alley to The Honeymoon Killers to The American Friend—any fan of crime films will tell you there's a palpable excitement in living vicariously through the corrupt, seductive, and often downright evil characters that inhabit these shadowy worlds. In this collection of 35 essays drawn from his revered Cult Movies series, cult film specialist Danny Peary examines, dissects, defends, and exalts crime fil...

Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, women’s role in the Swedish economy was renegotiated and reconceptualized. Maria Agren chronicles changes in married women’s property rights, revealing the story of Swedish women’s property as not just a simple narrative of the erosion of legal rights, but a more complex tale of unintended consequences.A public sphere of influence — including the wife’s family and the local community — held sway over spousal property rights througho...

Emerging filmmakers need to know the basics of their art form: the language of the camera, and lenses, the different crew roles, the formats, the aspect ratios. They also need to know some bare-bones theory: what an auteur is, what montage is, what genres are. Most important, all filmmakers require serious grounding in film. You cannot be a great artist if you aren't versed in great art. An Introduction to Film covers all these aspects, from a director and filmmaker's perspective. Accordin...

Terrence Malick's debut film, Badlands, announced the arrival of a unique talent. In the 40 years since that debut, Malick has only made 5 films, but they are distinctive in their beauty.This book is not meant to be a biography of Terrence Malick. The purpose behind the book is to introduce readers to the extraordinary universe of his film-making and to aid them in understanding his work. And to do this through the words of his closest collaborators - cinematographers, set designer...

Thirty years ago one of the most popular British films of all time was released. The Italian Job is remembered by everyone who has seen it, if not for Michael Caine's unforgettable line "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" - which led to the trademark impression of him - then for the literal cliff-hanger of an ending. Consistently in the top 100 films of all time and voted fourth best British film of all time, The Italian Job story is covered here from start to finish: how ...

From the star YouTube reviewer, "a fantastic selection of movies, both big and small, that all film lovers can enjoy . . . a wonderful reference guide" (Alicia Malone, author Backwards and in Heels).Comic book heroes, ice princesses, apocalyptic lovestruck teens, whatever masterpiece Pixar is rolling out—not to mention countless indies and foreign films—there's been no shortage of things to watch in recent years. But which films are the best of the best? Wh...

Outside the Lettered City traces how middle-class Indians responded to the rise of the cinema as a popular form of mass entertainment in early 20th century India, focusing on their preoccupation with the mass public made visible by the cinema and with the cinema's role as a public sphere and a mass medium of modernity. It draws on archival research to uncover aspirations and anxieties about the new medium, which opened up tantalizing possibilities for nationalist mobilization on t...

Winner of the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay.Ian Buruma is fascinated, he writes, “by what makes the human species behave atrociously.” In Theater of Cruelty the acclaimed author of The Wages of Guilt and Year Zero: A History of 1945 once again turns to World War II to explore that question—to the Nazi occupation of Paris, the Allied bombing of German cities, the international controversies over Anne Frank’s diaries, Japan’s mil...

A History of Video Art is a revised and expanded edition of the 2006 original, which extends the scope of the first edition, incorporating a wider range of artists and works from across the globe and explores and examines developments in the genre of artists' video from the mid 1990s up to the present day. In addition, the new edition expands and updates the discussion of theoretical concepts and ideas which underpin contemporary artists' video.Tracking the changing forms ...