Download or read book Brando Rides Alone written by Barry Gifford and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2004 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part critique, part witty polemic, this revisiting of one of the 1960s' most tortured and misunderstood productions finds a flawed masterpiece that survived multiple writers (including Stanley Kubrick), an egomaniacal star with no previous directing experience, and a virulent critical reaction to become, in retrospect, a crucial rethinking of the Western genre. Included is an excerpt from a screenplay cowritten by Barry Gifford and James Hamilton that retools Brando's characters into the hapless inhabitants of a noir Old West.
Download or read book The A to Z of Westerns in Cinema written by Paul Varner and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2009-09-28 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the earliest filmgoers watched The Great Train Robbery in 1903, many of them shrieked in terror at the very last clip when one of the outlaws turns directly toward the camera and fires a gun, seemingly, directly at the audience. The puff of smoke was sudden and it was hand colored so that it looked real. Today, we can look back at that primitive movie and see all the elements of what would evolve into the Western genre. Perhaps it is the Western's early origins_The Great Train Robbery was the first narrative, commercial movie_or its formulaic yet entertaining structure that has made the Western so popular. Whatever the case may be, with the recent success of films like 3:10 to Yuma and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the Western appears to be in no danger of disappearing. The story of the western is told in The A to Z of Westerns in Cinema through a chronology, a bibliography, and an introductory essay. However, it is the hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on cinematographers; composers; producers; films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Dances With Wolves, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, High Noon, The Magnificent Seven, The Searchers, Tombstone, and Unforgiven; such actors as Gene Autry, Kirk Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, and John Wayne; and directors like John Ford and Sergio Leone that will have you reaching for this book again and again.
Download or read book Real Life Rock written by Greil Marcus and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 599 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Washington Post hails Greil Marcus as our greatest cultural critic. Writing in the London Review of Books, D. D. Guttenplan calls him probably the most astute critic of American popular culture since Edmund Wilson. For nearly thirty years, he has written a remarkable column that has migrated from the Village Voice to Artforum, Salon, City Pages, Interview, and The Believer and currently appears in the Barnes & Noble Review. It has been a laboratory where Marcus has fearlessly explored and wittily dissected an enormous variety of cultural artifacts, from songs to books to movies to advertisements, teasing out from the welter of everyday objects what amounts to a de facto theory of cultural transmission. Published to complement the paperback edition of The History of Rock & Roll in Ten Songs, Real Life Rock reveals the critic in full: direct, erudite, funny, fierce, vivid, astute, uninhibited, and possessing an unerring instinct for art and fraud. The result is an indispensable volume packed with startling arguments and casual brilliance.
Download or read book The Imagination of the Heart written by Barry Gifford and published by Seven Stories Press. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Imagination of the Heart is the final chapter in the saga of Sailor Ripley and Lula Pace Fortune, the "Romeo and Juliet of the Deep South." Their story began in Barry Gifford's novel Wild at Heart, which in 1990 was made into a Palme d'Or–winning feature film by David Lynch. Following Sailor’s death at the age of sixty-five in New Orleans, Lula moved back to her home state of North Carolina. This novel begins fifteen years later when Lula, at age eighty, decides to write a memoir in diary form, reflecting on her life with Sailor while also keeping a journal describing her last road trip: a journey with Beany Thorn, her best friend since childhood, back to New Orleans. Like a contemporary book of Revelations, dutifully recorded by Lula as a dialogue between self and soul, it becomes a bittersweet, often dangerous journey into the imagination of the heart, and what may lie beyond. Also included in this edition is "The Truth is in the Work," a conversation between Barry Gifford and Noel King which delves into a range of topics, from Gifford’s early publishing experiences to his film projects and to professional sports.
Download or read book The Sinaloa Story written by Barry Gifford and published by Seven Stories Press. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sinaloa Story tells of DelRay Mudo and Ava Varazo, two down-and-outs looking for a reasonable life and maybe even a little redemption in a corrupt and violent world. Ava is a Mexican prostitute, beautiful and no victim of circumstance. When DelRay falls in love with her at the drive-in whorehouse where she is the prize, she seizes the chance to break free. They take off for Sinaloa ,Texas, the lone-dog state where "nothin’ good ever happens." The far-out border flunkies they meet — Thankful Priest, the one-eyed former football player; Indio Desacato, Ava’s pimp and a small-town racketeer; Arkadelphia Quantrill Smith, an octogenarian whose father marched with Shelby in the Iron Brigade; and many others — fill out the sinister and electrifying ride.
Download or read book Hollywood s West written by Peter C. Rollins and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2005-11-11 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An excellent study that should interest film buffs, academics, and non-academics alike” (Journal of the West). Hollywood’s West examines popular perceptions of the frontier as a defining feature of American identity and history. Seventeen essays by prominent film scholars illuminate the allure of life on the edge of civilization and analyze how this region has been represented on big and small screens. Differing characterizations of the frontier in modern popular culture reveal numerous truths about American consciousness and provide insights into many classic Western films and television programs, from RKO’s 1931 classic Cimarron to Turner Network Television’s recent made-for-TV movies. Covering topics such as the portrayal of race, women, myth, and nostalgia, Hollywood’s West makes a significant contribution to the understanding of how Westerns have shaped our nation’s opinions and beliefs—often using the frontier as metaphor for contemporary issues.
Download or read book Abu Ghraib written by and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2004-11-23 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abu Ghraib unveiled a lengthy list of disastrous actions and cover-ups by the Bush administration and the American military. Abu Ghraib examines the problem from many different perspectives, gathering together timely essays on the prison scandal from prominent progressive writers. Barbara Ehrenreich looks at the story through the lens of feminism, noting that the most infamous photos involve female soldiers. John Gray argues that Iraq is worse than Vietnam. Looking to future ramifications, Meron Benvenisti reflects on the "powerless rage" of an occupied culture. David Matlin deconstructs President Bush's declaration that the Abu Ghraib images do not represent America. Giving voice to those directly impacted, Mark Danner reports on the anger and humiliation experienced by the victims and their families. This book provides a broader understanding of the issue and its repercussions.
Download or read book Seven Pillars of Jewish Denial written by Kim Chernin and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2004 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Raised by an activist mother, Kim Chernin was taught that the politics of religion are just that: politics. As her beliefs evolved, she came to understand the necessity of embracing her Jewish heritage while questioning the notion of taking on Jewishness as a role, religion, and qualifying trait, particularly with respect to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The essays inSeven Pillars of Jewish Denialset forth a justifiable criticism of Israel. Chernin explores memory, survivor's guilt, and denial as debilitating to Jewish consciousness, which cannot see criticism of Israel as morally feasible in an anti-Semitic world. In her view, creating true peace requires understanding and believing that the lives of other human beings matter more than Jewish ideology.
Download or read book Empire 2 0 written by Régis Debray and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2004 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by fictional character "Xavier de C***" as a plea to an American president, Empire 2.0 is a scorching satire of totalitarianism. In it, the hero, a Frenchman, renounces his citizenship to become an American. This breezy book argues that resistance to America's overwhelming power is futile and that to survive, Europe must allow itself to be annexed by the U.S. Debray's insights into the growing European resentment of American unilateralism could not be more timely.
Download or read book What Does Al Qaeda Want written by and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2004-11-23 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, al-Qaeda has become the most infamous terrorist organization in history. While their actions are deplorable, it remains a populist and idealist movement—and one that continues to spread. Despite heavy media coverage, most people are unaware of the group's ultimate goals. Sampling from actual al-Qaeda texts, this is al-Qaeda in its own words, rather than another interpretation (which often emphasizes the inflammatory religious rhetoric) offered by the Bush administration and other factions of the Western world. Introductions and commentary provide the historical context necessary to understand fully the interconnection between the religious, social, and political issues that led to the emergence of Osama bin Laden and his jihad against the West. These primary sources enable readers to discern the fundamental convictions underlying the group's demands, and help answer the question, "What does al Qaeda want?"
Download or read book The Wild Bunch written by W. K. Stratton and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2019-02-12 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the fiftieth anniversary of the film, W.K. Stratton's definitive history of the making of The Wild Bunch, named one of the greatest Westerns of all time by the American Film Institute. Sam Peckinpah's film The Wild Bunch is the story of a gang of outlaws who are one big steal from retirement. When their attempted train robbery goes awry, the gang flees to Mexico and falls in with a brutal general of the Mexican Revolution, who offers them the job of a lifetime. Conceived by a stuntman, directed by a blacklisted director, and shot in the sand and heat of the Mexican desert, the movie seemed doomed. Instead, it became an instant classic with a dark, violent take on the Western movie tradition. In The Wild Bunch, W.K. Stratton tells the fascinating history of the making of the movie and documents for the first time the extraordinary contribution of Mexican and Mexican-American actors and crew members to the movie's success. Shaped by infamous director Sam Peckinpah, and starring such visionary actors as William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O'Brien, and Robert Ryan, the movie was also the product of an industry and a nation in transition. By 1968, when the movie was filmed, the studio system that had perpetuated the myth of the valiant cowboy in movies like The Searchers had collapsed, and America was riled by Vietnam, race riots, and assassinations. The Wild Bunch spoke to America in its moment, when war and senseless violence seemed to define both domestic and international life. The Wild Bunch is an authoritative history of the making of a movie and the era behind it.
Download or read book Do the Blind Dream written by Barry Gifford and published by Seven Stories Press. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do the Blind Dream? shows Gifford at the height of his powers, navigating with ease the new, more fragmented imaginative landscape of morning-after America. Gifford seems to have anticipated themes that suddenly are recognizable everywhere: the fragility of identity; the power of coincidence; the illusion of a secure tomorrow. In contrast to his often nightmarish, satirical, groundbreaking novels of the 1990s—Wild at Heart, Perdita Durango, and Night People among them—Do the Blind Dream? continues in the tender and deeply introspective vein revealed in two recent works: Gifford’s memoir The Phantom Father (named a New York Times Notable Book), and the award-winning novella Wyoming. From the intimate, stylistically daring examination of the darkest secrets in the history of an Italian family, to the terrible but often beautiful fears and discoveries of childhood, to the sardonic, desperate confusion of adult life, Do the Blind Dream? reveals an exceptionally versatile, highly tuned sensibility.
Download or read book The Geneva Accord written by Michael Lerner and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2004 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Geneva Accord Establishes the Basis for a Fair, Legal, ethical, and militarily secure agreement between two semicontiguous states, Israel and Palestine, each acknowledging the other's history and cultural narratives and respecting the rights of minority populations. It defines Palestine as consisting of most of the West Bank and Gaza joined by a corridor, with its security guaranteed not by its own army but (chiefly) a multinational force. The Accord also provides a final status for both Jewish settlers and Palestinian refugees, compensating each individual or state for losses of territory. Part of the compensation from Israel will take into account the value of Israeli settlements transferred to the State of Palestine. This document, developed by representatives of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and incorporating the key elements and points of agreement from the Oslo Accords and Camp David Summit, is the only present legitimate instrument seeking a resolution to the dispute between Israel and Palestine. Better than a road map without a destination, it is inevitable outcome, more or less, of all reasonable negotiation. Book jacket.
Download or read book Science Sold Out written by Rebecca Culshaw and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A former HIV researcher tells the story of her disillusionment with the HIV/AIDS hypothesis and exposes not only its numerous flaws but also problems with the scientific research establishment that enabled this hypothesis to take such a strong, hypnotic hold on the world at large"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book Wyoming written by Barry Gifford and published by Seven Stories Press. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A woman and her young son travel by car through the southern and midwestern United States in this heartbreakingly spare novel-in-dialogue. As the mother drives, she and the boy, Roy, trade impressions of the landscape and of life, in the process approaching an understanding of each other and their shared inner landscape. "Mom, can we drive to Wyoming?" "You mean now?" "Uh-huh. Is it far?" "Very far. We're almost to Georgia." "Can we go someday?" "Sure, Roy, we'll go." "We won't tell anyone, right, Mom?" "No, baby, nobody will know where we are." "And we'll have a dog." "I don't see why not." "From now on when anything bad happens, I'm going to think about Wyoming. Running with my dog." "It's a good thing, baby. Everybody needs Wyoming." —from Wyoming
Download or read book Somebody written by Stefan Kanfer and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2009-11-03 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stefan Kanfer, acclaimed biographer of Lucille Ball and Groucho Marx, now gives us the definitive life of Marlon Brando, seamlessly intertwining the man and the work to give us a stunning and illuminating appraisal. Beginning with Brando’s turbulent childhood, Kanfer follows him to New York where he made his star-making Broadway debut as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire at age twenty-three. Brando then decamped for Hollywood, and Kanfer looks at each of Brando’s films over the years—from The Men in 1950 to The Score in 2001—offering deft and insightful analysis of his sometimes brilliant, sometimes baffling performances. And, finally, Kanfer brings into focus Brando’s self-destructiveness, ambivalence toward his craft, and the tragedies that shadowed his last years.
Download or read book Picturing Sabino written by David Wentworth Lazaroff and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2023-04-04 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This history of Sabino Canyon shows like never before why this mountain canyon near Tucson, Arizona, is such a beloved place. With more than two hundred images and engaging text, David Wentworth Lazaroff relays relates a hundred years of history, revealing how the canyon changed from a little-known oasis into an immensely popular recreation area on the edge of a modern metropolis.
