"The author of the New York Times bestseller Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep returns with a lively history of the Academy Awards, chronicling the brutal battles, the starry rivalries, and the colorful behind-the-scenes drama"-- Dust jacket flap. "America does not have royalty. It has the Academy Awards. For nine decades, perfectly coiffed starlets, debonair leading men, and producers with gold in their eyes have chased the elusive Oscar. What began...

"Meghan McCarthy tells the story of the history of movies and the creators who made them. In fascinating detail, she shows how early photography capturing motion became silent films, which led to the first color films"-- Provided by publisher.

A Chronology of Film presents a fresh perspective on the medium by taking a purely chronological approach to its history, tracing the complex links between technical innovations, social changes and artistic interventions. Organized around a central timeline that charts the development of film from the earliest moving images to the present-day blockbusters, it features key films, together with commentaries and contextual information about the social,...

Star Wars, Jaws and The Exorcist created the multiplexes, but they were also innovative. The Story of Film: Part 11 explains how, and then travels to India where the world's most famous movie star, Amitabh Bachchan, shows how Bollywood was doing new things in the 70s. And we discover that Bruce Lee movies in Hong Kong kickstarted the kinetic films of Hong Kong, where Master Yuen Wo Ping talks exclusively about his action movies and his wire fu choreography...

A Hollywood history told from the perspective of those that fought for diversity, inclusion and acknowledgement. On 29 February 1940, African American actor Hattie McDaniel became the first person of color, and the first Black woman, to win an Academy Award. The moment marked the beginning of Hollywood's reluctant move toward diversity and inclusion. Since then, minorities and women have struggled to attain Academy Awards recognition within a system...

"New York Times opinion writer and best-selling author Lindy West was once the in-house movie critic for Seattle's alternative newsweekly The Stranger, where she covered film with brutal honesty and giddy irreverence. In Shit, Actually, Lindy returns to those roots, reexamining beloved and iconic movies from the past 40 years with an eye toward the big questions of our time: Is Twilight the horniest movie in history? Why do the zebras in The Lion...

"Blends personal narrative with cultural criticism to explore the ways The Exorcist has influenced the author's life and American culture, tracing stories of the film's stars and analyzing infamous scenes while excavating the deeper stories the film tells about faith, family, illness, anger, guilt, desire, and death"-- Provided by publisher.

In this collection of essays, true-crime historian Schechter reveals the real-life stories behind classic movies. Chicago's Jazz Age crime of passion; the fatal hookup in Looking for Mr. Goodbar; the high school horrors committed by the costumed slasher in Scream. These and other cinematic crimes have become part of pop-culture history-- but found inspiration in true events. Schechter explores the real-life headline-making psychos, serial murderers,...

"A fascinating history of motion pictures through the lens of the Academy Awards, Best Pick provides a decade-by-decade look at the Oscars by examining the Best Picture winners, highest-grossing films, and biggest misses alongside a discussion of the trends, innovations, and stories that defined the decade"-- Provided by publisher.