The Best Books About Film

[domino harvey]

I’m unaware of any key texts since then, though I have a few newer books on the topic released more recently that I haven’t read. You could probably pick up a copy of the Noir City Annual if you want to see what’s most recently going on in these realms, but I haven’t really seen any sea changes beyond an increased interest in examples of noir from non-American/British/French countries

[Noiretirc]

Funnily enough I was just looking at that book a couple weeks ago. It is structured like those old TV series guides from the 90s, with summaries, graphics, side bars, and themed sections. How useful that is will depend on what you are looking for in a book, I guess. Seemed like something I’d find at BN’s sale section for $9.99, so I passed at the current price without investing too much time in it to begin with

Thanks.

Fuckit, I bought it. And I'm thrilled with this. I just spent hours perusing it. Oh sure, I'll turn to other books for more academic treatments of the films. But as a summary of Hitch's complete career, in a wonderful layout, presenting all the technical information that any fan could desire, this book more than delivers.

[FrauBlucher]

I just started James Naramore's More than the Night: Film Noir in it's Context. I can tell right off the bat that it will be much more of an academic journey through noir

Namamore mentioned Cat People as noir. Something I've never thought about but has all the themes and style of noir. Probably true for all the Val Lewton

Anyways, Naramore writes a lot about Borde and Chaumeton and their ideas on noir. Is their book Panorama du film noir americain worth a read or is it an outdated analysis?

[Matt]

Naramore writes a lot about Borde and Chaumeton and their ideas on noir. Is their book Panorama du film noir americain worth a read or is it an outdated analysis?

If you want to give it a look over, you can download the whole book from the Internet Archive.

[domino harvey]

Anyways, Naramore writes a lot about Borde and Chaumeton and their ideas on noir. Is their book Panorama du film noir americain worth a read or is it an outdated analysis?

Not outdated, foundational. All interpretations derive from theirs on some level.

[FrauBlucher]

Awesome, Matt. Thanks. I’ll definitely give this a read

[colinr0380]

That's a great read Matt! Although I am still amazed at how dismissed The Blue Dahlia was, which only gets the briefest of mentions on page 67:

A reasonably honest work, it contributed nothing of any great value, aside from putting us in the previously unknown presence of an uncouth gangster with delicate feet.

[Godot]

I've recommended the BFI Film Classics series a few times, years earlier in this thread, but just noticed that the 2-volume set of 50 early monographs is available on BetterWorldBooks, for $28. That's a bit under 60 cents apiece. A good deal if you have early gaps in the series.

[kuzine]

I've recommended the BFI Film Classics series a few times, years earlier in this thread, but just noticed that the 2-volume set of 50 early monographs is available on BetterWorldBooks, for $28. That's a bit under 60 cents apiece. A good deal if you have early gaps in the series.

Thanks, I grabbed the last one it seems...(don't know if there were more listed initially).

[domino harvey]

There were two copies (different listings) on eBay from that seller when Godot posted it, one is still available

[Stefan Andersson]

Ross Lipman on restoring films:
https://stickingplacebooks.com/the-arch ... e-project/
https://mailchi.mp/filmcomment/the-more ... e3cd0412bc

[beamish14]

Ross Lipman on restoring films:
https://stickingplacebooks.com/the-arch ... e-project/
https://mailchi.mp/filmcomment/the-more ... e3cd0412bc

I bought a copy of Lipman’s book (and a copy of the BFI Kenneth Anger set) directly from him when he was at the Hammer screening The Juniper Tree a few weeks ago

Anyone know much about Sticking Place Books? They have a TON of great-looking titles, although they use some really garish AI artwork for the covers. Unproduced scripts by De Palma, Mamet, and Bruce Joel Rubin, too

[soundchaser]

The books of theirs I’ve got are solid, if not simple in their typography and general look. Kinda what you’d expect from Print on Demand stuff, but the low overhead does seem to have benefits for the authors and editors, so it’s a trade-off I’m not opposed to on principle.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Rosenbaum, Ian Christie, Adrian Martin - some very exciting titles from them!

[beamish14]

Rosenbaum, Ian Christie, Adrian Martin - some very exciting titles from them!

Yes, and a huge interview book with Joseph McBride. Lots of heavy hitters right out of the gate

[Gregory]

Unfortunate news: Nathan Rabin was severely injured in a car crash. He's expected to recover but it will be a tough row to hoe. His new book is The Fractured Mirror: Nathan Rabin's Happy Place's Definitive Guide to American Movies About Filmmaking, independently published.

[Stefan Andersson]

Mémoires d’une savonette indocile, a book by Luc Moullet
https://capricci.fr/product/memoires-du ... -indocile/

The chapter on A Girl is a Gun, in English:
https://metrograph.com/moullet-camera-rose-action/

December 2025 film books roundup; a regular feature at Sabzian:
https://sabzian.be/news/new-book-releases-winter-2026

I Killed Bette Davis, Larry Cohen:
https://stickingplacebooks.com/books/i- ... ette-davis

[hearthesilence]

FWIW, for those wishing to buy French publications here in NYC, I highly recommend Albertine which is located in the French embassy's cultural services headquarters. You can buy books online as well and if you place an order as a store pick-up, they give a very generous window to do so. Their selections come in English and French, but most likely their film books will be in French since they're mostly French publications that need to be imported - just remember to check if your purchase is in the language you want. If you're in the area, the place is worth visiting - it's a pretty beautiful mansion. (Anecdotally, I met David Byrne face-to-face for the first time here and he was quite nice!)

[Tom Amolad]

Great place. They’ve also funded a number of translations I’ve been involved with.

[beamish14]

I’m extremely impressed with Animation for the People, a new history of the National Film Board of Canada’s animated projects. Fantastic layout and insights.

[ianthemovie]

Does anyone know whether Gary Indiana's book on Viridiana for the BFI Film Classics series was ever actually published?

It appears to have an ISBN and an Amazon page listing but I can't find any copies for sale anywhere online, and any library catalog listings lead to dead ends. I'm curious to know if anyone has actually seen or read a copy of this or whether it is confirmed to have been abandoned at a late stage in the publication process.

[MichaelB]

Not as far as I could see, and I did a pretty thorough search when prepping my Viridiana commentary for Radiance.

[Tom Amolad]

That's nearly always a case of a book abandoned (or put indefinitely on hold), after it was announced.

I do recall a case where such a book did indeed come out, ten years later. But I wouldn't count on it.

[Matt]

I remember this. Indiana was taking too long to deliver the manuscript, so the BFI cancelled the project. There was also supposed to be a Mai Zetterling volume on The Passion of Joan of Arc that never materialized despite being announced and assigned an ISBN. If I remember correctly, there’s an unfinished manuscript in her personal archives.

[ianthemovie]

Interesting; thank you, all! I figured it had been abandoned, but wishful thinking had me wondering if it was somehow possible to track down a copy.