The Best Books About Film

A subforum to discuss film culture and criticism.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1176 Post by hearthesilence » Sat Dec 11, 2021 5:39 pm

dustybooks wrote:
Sat Dec 11, 2021 10:56 am
Brooks’ book showed up in the library’s shipment on Friday and I was a little curious about it as I loved him a lot growing up, so I appreciate that summary. I was particularly interested in what stories he might tell about Anne Bancroft (and David Lynch).
He has a heart-warming one about Lynch and a jacket. Brooks is just a wonderful guy, for some reason it makes sense to me that he's made it to 95 healthy and happy - I can see him making it to 100 with all of that intact.


User avatar
The Fanciful Norwegian
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
Location: Teegeeack

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1178 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Tue May 17, 2022 5:35 pm

Shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, I suppose, but it's been twenty years since Peter Thiel had any involvement with PayPal.

User avatar
Never Cursed
Such is life on board the Redoutable
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:22 am

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1179 Post by Never Cursed » Sun Jun 19, 2022 11:36 pm

What are the best books or texts that attempt to discuss in detail the 1968 Cannes Film Festival? Any good accounts of its events as written by a person who attended it (or perhaps about an attendee or festival official) would be of particular interest.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1180 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Jun 21, 2022 4:25 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 3:27 pm
Maltic wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 3:20 pm
She does focus on sexual politics quite a lot, but obviously that's a worthwhile perspective... and she's good at it, imho.
But, as has already been pointed out on the Twitter, she literally wrote the book on rape-revenge films, and in any case it's hard to imagine a worthwhile commentary on that particular topic that doesn't tackle the underlying sexual politics.
I've long been a detractor of this subgenre, and yet I find myself a) becoming more open-minded and curious about rape-revenge films, particularly noting there's a personal issue I have that is barring progressive engagement with an important feminist movement, and b) finding more examples of ones I, for the lack of a better term, 'enjoy'. Anyways, I'd like to learn more- Is this a good book on the subject, or are there better/complementary ones I should look into?

User avatar
Maltic
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:36 am

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1181 Post by Maltic » Tue Jun 21, 2022 5:36 pm

Judging by the range of films referenced in the book, it's... comprehensive

Heller-Nicholas talks about it and her monograph on Ms .45 in this podcast

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1182 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Jun 21, 2022 6:08 pm

I have a bit of an issue with rape-revenge films (mostly because it raises the fundamental question: does one justify the other? or does the portrayal of one get balanced out by the retribution for the same?) which I think is because they are a kind of outgrowth of the general vigilante film genre, which I have similar (though greater) moral issues regarding the simplification of difficult material. It is one of the reasons why I think that Straw Dogs is such an amazing film, because it disconnects the 'rape' section from the 'revenge' section in so complete a manner that nobody in the audience is able to say that one act led to the other, or the later violence somehow balances out or mitigates the earlier violation. Instead it frustrates the easy catharsis for a far more complex look at all of its issues clashing together. On that note, the Jodie Foster film The Accused is an important film in the sense that the 'revenge' for the attack is not a violent one but done through the courtrooms in an attempt to bring attackers to some form of official justice.

I also very much prefer the films that deal with the psychological effects of assault than those that simply portray violation and then just as easily show how killing the attackers somehow 'solves' the problem of having been assaulted. The films that I have been able to see based on the work of the recently deceased Takashi Ishii have been very interesting and complex in their attitudes. Though they marry their material up with needing to be softcore sex films as well, so there are those issues of portraying assault in a sexualised manner going on in those works.

And whilst it is a really uncomfortable watch and should be approached with caution the best documentary I have so far seen that captures the complexities of this subject is Raw Deal: A Question of Consent, which involves an all night frathouse party that turns coercive to the hired 'exotic dancer', and gets into murky Rashomon-esque issues of how to untangle class issues (the privileged kids off to better futures versus the 'no future' hired dancer. Not to mention the university itself getting involved in trying to cover up or downplay the situation when the scandal breaks), especially when money is involved, and the way that the documentary, through showing long and harrowing passages of the film shot by the other members of the frat of the assault taking place, shows the woman verbally fighting back in order to try and show that she is not being subjugated whilst she is being assaulted which is something that then horrifyingly gets used against her in the later enquiry into the incident to say that she was 'playing along' with the violent attacker by being verbally aggressive herself back to them, and to the filming camera.
Last edited by colinr0380 on Thu Jun 23, 2022 6:16 am, edited 3 times in total.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1183 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Jun 21, 2022 6:56 pm

colinr0380 wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 6:08 pm
I also very much prefer the films that deal with the psychological effects of assault than those that simply portray violation and then just as easily show how killing the attackers somehow 'solves' the problem of having been assaulted.
I agree colin, and share your attitude, though recently I watched Thriller- A Cruel Picture and thought it followed a perversely inverted approach where the revenge violence was anti-cathartic in a slowed, pronounced way, and along with many other elements served to demonstrate both an accurate trauma response (literally a rote learned behavior in 'this is what people are supposed to do to one another' vs. passionate vengeance) and the tragically numbed stimulus of tangible action to treat psychological damage- all without actually attempting to pierce the psyche of the protagonist. It's like a psychological study made by Antonioni.

Just looking at the films I've seen in this book, I'm hoping the author eviscerates Betty Blue and The Nightingale, and I'm especially curious about what she has to say about Katalin Varga, Promising Young Woman, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, The Blue Gardenia, Elle and... Batman Returns!

User avatar
brundlefly
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 12:55 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1184 Post by brundlefly » Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:01 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 4:25 pm
MichaelB wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 3:27 pm
Maltic wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 3:20 pm
She does focus on sexual politics quite a lot, but obviously that's a worthwhile perspective... and she's good at it, imho.
But, as has already been pointed out on the Twitter, she literally wrote the book on rape-revenge films, and in any case it's hard to imagine a worthwhile commentary on that particular topic that doesn't tackle the underlying sexual politics.
I've long been a detractor of this subgenre, and yet I find myself a) becoming more open-minded and curious about rape-revenge films, particularly noting there's a personal issue I have that is barring progressive engagement with an important feminist movement, and b) finding more examples of ones I, for the lack of a better term, 'enjoy'. Anyways, I'd like to learn more- Is this a good book on the subject, or are there better/complementary ones I should look into?
I'm sure Heller-Nicholas references it and builds on it, but a quarter of Carol J. Clover's Men, Women, and Chainsaws is devoted to rape-revenge movies.

User avatar
Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1185 Post by Mr Sausage » Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:10 pm

Anyone read Heller-Nicholas’ The Giallo Canvas? The discussion of her here and in the Who Gives a Good Commentary? thread led me to look her up, and this book sounds fascinating: an exploration of the use of art in giallo cinema. Too bad it’s absurdly overpriced. There is no reason for a 250 page paperback to be almost $80.

Glowingwabbit
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1186 Post by Glowingwabbit » Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:18 pm

Mr Sausage wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:10 pm
Anyone read Heller-Nicholas’ The Giallo Canvas? The discussion of her here and in the Who Gives a Good Commentary? thread led me to look her up, and this book sounds fascinating: an exploration of the use of art in giallo cinema. Too bad it’s absurdly overpriced. There is no reason for a 250 page paperback to be almost $80.
Does your local public library have ILL? I read a bit of it that way but was too busy at the time to read it all the way through. I've been meaning to request it again.

User avatar
Jean-Luc Garbo
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:55 am
Contact:

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1187 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:15 pm

twbb, there's also House of Psychotic Women by Kier-La Janisse. That one started me down a path to Alexandra Heller-Nicholas as well as Adam Lowenstein (his new book Horror Film and Otherness is out next month) and Alexandra West (probably known more as a podcaster but her book on French New Extremity is also recommended).

Glowingwabbit
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1188 Post by Glowingwabbit » Wed Jun 22, 2022 8:34 pm

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:
Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:15 pm
twbb, there's also House of Psychotic Women by Kier-La Janisse. That one started me down a path to Alexandra Heller-Nicholas as well as Adam Lowenstein (his new book Horror Film and Otherness is out next month) and Alexandra West (probably known more as a podcaster but her book on French New Extremity is also recommended).
House of Psychotic Women is getting an expanded edition later this summer just fyi.

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

The Best Books About Film

#1189 Post by Matt » Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:20 pm

senseabove wrote:The new translations of Bazin that were only available in Canada last time around are finally coming out in an expanded André Bazin Reader, available in the US this time:
The André Bazin Reader is the most comprehensive edition of French film critic André Bazin's work in English, with the most extensive commentary, the culmination of 13 years by the translator-publisher translating, annotating and commenting on his writings. Some 670 pages in length with 44 texts by Bazin totalling 200,000 words, this volume covers every period of his brief career, including his neglected later years, and all of his major interests. No other English-language edition has brought together all the major texts, found here in an acclaimed translation which has transformed our view of Bazin’s work. The 44 texts included here are all offered in their original version, in most cases for the first time, as they were written, published and discussed in Bazin’s day in post-war France – before Bazin and in some cases his posthumous editors revised and abridged them for republication.
And here's a contemporary review detailing the problems with the 1960s UC Press edition.
So there’s a new collection of “previously unavailable” essays by Bazin on adaptation edited by Dudley Andrew (with multiple translators). More affordable than this previous collection, yet still priced for the academic market. Alas the brilliant essay on Bresson’s Journal d’un curé de campagne is still the “previously available” Hugh Gray translation from 50+ years ago!

And something else for the Bazin completist…

User avatar
dda1996a
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:14 am

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1190 Post by dda1996a » Fri Jul 08, 2022 5:31 am

Does anyone have any good recommendations for books/essays about the use of Video in film? Meaning the use of video in films like Sex, Lies & Videotape (duh), Egoyan's early films (Speaking Parts, Exotica), Benny's Video, After Life? I'm looking for some Academic writing.
Thanks!

User avatar
ianthemovie
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:51 am
Location: Boston, MA
Contact:

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1191 Post by ianthemovie » Sat Jul 09, 2022 8:42 am

Has anyone read Hannah Strong's recent book on Sofia Coppola yet? If so, I'd be curious to hear more about whether it's worth picking up.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1192 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Jul 09, 2022 11:17 am

ianthemovie wrote:
Sat Jul 09, 2022 8:42 am
Has anyone read Hannah Strong's recent book on Sofia Coppola yet? If so, I'd be curious to hear more about whether it's worth picking up.
You can review a significant portion of it on google books, though I couldn't tell if I'd want to pick it up from a cursory sampling. If someone can tell me that Strong belongs to the small club that sees The Bling Ring for what it's actually trying to do, I'll buy it. If no one can, I may still buy it to find out. She seems like an acolyte with some pretty personal history that makes her feel connected to Coppola's work, but the jury's out whether that'll obstruct or assist in opportunities to engage in analyses that are inclusive to the objective reader

User avatar
Quote Perf Unquote
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2022 2:57 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1193 Post by Quote Perf Unquote » Thu Sep 01, 2022 3:40 am

Feral House is reprinting a volume called Cradle of the Deep: The Grand Adventures of Joan Lowell that Were Not Quite True by actress Joan Lowell. I'm not familiar with her limited film appearances, but content like this
She also claimed that she lived on the ship, with its all-male crew, until she was 17, during which time she became skilled in the art of seamanship and once harpooned a whale by herself. She claimed that the ship ultimately burned and sank off Australia, and that she swam three miles to safety with a family of kittens clinging by their claws to her back.
has me somewhat interested.

Perhaps only a Chris Elliott-produced biopic could do this story justice. Believe all women!

User avatar
ianthemovie
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:51 am
Location: Boston, MA
Contact:

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1194 Post by ianthemovie » Sat Oct 01, 2022 2:01 pm

I see that a newly expanded edition of Kier-la Janisse's House of Psychotic Women is coming out this week, with coverage of 100 additional films. I would be interested to know what the newly added titles are. I really like the first edition and I'm curious to know if this would be worth upgrading.

User avatar
thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1195 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Fri Nov 11, 2022 4:34 pm

Mr Sausage wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:10 pm
Anyone read Heller-Nicholas’ The Giallo Canvas? The discussion of her here and in the Who Gives a Good Commentary? thread led me to look her up, and this book sounds fascinating: an exploration of the use of art in giallo cinema. Too bad it’s absurdly overpriced. There is no reason for a 250 page paperback to be almost $80.
Speaking of which, is there a good primer book on giallo cinema?

User avatar
Maltic
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:36 am

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1196 Post by Maltic » Fri Nov 11, 2022 6:26 pm

I'm not a giallo connaisseur, but Peter Bondanella's History of Italian Cinema gives a very good overview IMO, not just of the mid-century classics, but of the 1960s-1980s genre stuff as well.

User avatar
thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1197 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Sat Nov 12, 2022 4:53 am

Maltic wrote:
Fri Nov 11, 2022 6:26 pm
I'm not a giallo connaisseur, but Peter Bondanella's History of Italian Cinema gives a very good overview IMO, not just of the mid-century classics, but of the 1960s-1980s genre stuff as well.
Thanks! Well there's plenty of Italian cinema that I'm interested in so a more general title may be more ideal. There's actually a really good review on Amazon that outlines which directors it focuses on, including some of the lesser known names, so this sounds a good read.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1198 Post by MichaelB » Sat Nov 12, 2022 6:21 am

Bondanella is the overwhelming first choice for a single-volume overview of Italian cinema - right up there with Peter Hames on Czechoslovak cinema or Marek Haltof on Polish cinema.

nowhereisaplace
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 11:43 am

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1199 Post by nowhereisaplace » Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:25 am

Roberto Curti recently published a critical history of the Giallo. I haven’t read it yet, but his previous work on Italian genre cinema makes me think this will be the reference guide to the genre.

User avatar
Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: The Best Books About Film

#1200 Post by Mr Sausage » Sat Nov 12, 2022 11:27 am

nowhereisaplace wrote:
Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:25 am
Roberto Curti recently published a critical history of the Giallo. I haven’t read it yet, but his previous work on Italian genre cinema makes me think this will be the reference guide to the genre.
Annoyingly, it's priced for libraries. Even as a paperback it's 100 dollars.

Post Reply