Download or read book You Can t Be Serious written by Kal Penn and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The star of the Harold and Kumar franchise, House, and Designated Survivor recounts why he rejected the advice of his aunties and guidance counselors and, instead of becoming a doctor or “something practical,” embarked on a surprising journey that has included confronting racism in Hollywood, meeting his future husband, and working in the Obama administration, in this “incredibly joyful and insightful” (Kiefer Sutherland) memoir. You Can’t Be Serious is a series of funny, consequential, awkward, and ridiculous stories from Kal Penn’s idiosyncratic life. It’s about being the grandson of Gandhian freedom fighters, and the son of immigrant parents: people who came to this country with very little and went very far—and whose vision of the American dream probably never included their son sliding off an oiled-up naked woman in the raunchy Ryan Reynolds movie Van Wilder…or getting a phone call from Air Force One as Kal flew with the country’s first Black president. “By turns hilarious, poignant, and inspiring” (David Axelrod, New York Times bestselling author), Kal reflects on the most exasperating and rewarding moments from his journey so far. He pulls back the curtain on the nuances of opportunity and racism in the entertainment industry and recounts how he built allies, found encouragement, and dealt with early reminders that he might never fit in. He describes his initially unpromising first date with his now-fiancé Josh, involving an 18-pack of Coors Light and an afternoon of watching NASCAR. And of course, he reveals how, after a decade and a half of fighting for and enjoying successes in Hollywood, he made the terrifying but rewarding decision to take a sabbatical from a fulfilling acting career for an opportunity to serve his country as an Obama White House aide. Above all, You Can’t Be Serious shows that everyone can have more than one life story. The book “is insightful, funny, and instructive for anyone who’s ever grappled with how they fit into the American dream” (Ronan Farrow, New York Times bestselling author), and demonstrates that no matter who you are and where you come from, you have many more choices than those presented to you. And okay, yes, it’s also about how Kal accidentally (and very stupidly) accepted an invitation to take the entire White House Office of Public Engagement to a strip club—because, let’s be honest, that’s the kind of stuff you really want to hear about.

Download or read book Hollywood Heroines written by Laura L. S. Bauer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 574 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a topical resource that provides a comprehensive look at the most influential women in Hollywood cinema across a wide-range of occupations rarely found together in a single volume. Unlike other anthologies, Hollywood Heroines: The Most Influential Women in Film History is a hybrid of film history and industry information with an exclusive focus on prominent women. This reference work includes more commonly discussed categories of important women in Hollywood film history, such as directors and actresses, and reaches beyond them to encompass women working as cinematographers, casting directors, studio heads, musical composers, and visual and special effects supervisors. The wide range of filmmaking crafts covered in the book provides an acute view of the industry and increases the visibility of and quality of representation for women working in Hollywood. By bringing the experience of these influential women to light, Hollywood Heroines joins a growing movement that endeavors to dismantle harmful, long-standing industry myths that perpetuate the systemic underrepresentation of women and the devaluation of women's stories in the Hollywood film industry.

Download or read book The Director written by J. K. Stein and published by Balboa Press. This book was released on 2018-02-09 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: J, a recent college grad, met the Director almost a decade ago when he approached her at a coffee shop on the Upper West Side. He complimented her beauty and told her that she was what he needed in order to realize his next film. Their exchange of phone numbers that afternoon marked the beginning of a five-year-long abusive relationship. The national #metoo movement has inspired many, including J. K. Stein, to challenge the stigmas surrounding sexual assault and to share their personal stories. These unedited journals and their subsequent analyses offer readers a glimpse into the painful realities of sexual abuse and the ways in which giving consent is more complicated than a simple yes or no. J. K. Steins memoir invites readers to step inside the mind of a young woman trying to find herself in the face of power, manipulation, and self-hatred. At its heart, this book offers analyses of abjection; the grotesque; consent; what it means to override ones feelings when the stakes are high; the ways in which selling ones body, even when never paid, might be read as a form of prostitution; the impact of these actions on self-image; the ways in which the authors choices were motivated by her distorted body image and long-standing eating disorder; and finally what it means to have an opinion but no voice. Today the author has found her voice.

Download or read book Film Festival Secrets written by Christopher Holland and published by . This book was released on 2008-10 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every year thousands of filmmakers like you unleash their newly completed movies upon the film festival circuit. Whether you're a first-timer with a comedy short or a seasoned veteran with a documentary feature, you all face the same set of problems. You all ask the same questions. You all want the pleasure of seeing your film play before a festival audience and gain the recognition it deserves. This is your book. Film Festival secrets will help you select the right festivals for your film, prepare your festival screener, save money on festival fees, create marketing collateral, and craft a screening sell out plan. And that's just the beginning.

Download or read book Dorothy Lee written by Jamie Brotherton and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-03-29 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dorothy Lee is best remembered for her screen appearances with the popular comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. She went from being a struggling vaudeville performer to the female vocalist in one of the most successful bands in the country to a star in the new-fangled "talking pictures" all within the span of a few short years. During the Great Depression, she lived a fairy-tale existence, rubbing shoulders with Hollywood luminaries and earning an income that most people could only dream of. She retired and balanced domestic life with charity work. And she saw, to her amazement, a revived interest in the movie career she had written off long ago. Based on years of conversations between the authors and Dorothy Lee, this book is an informative biography filled with revealing insights on navigating the studio system during Hollywood's Golden Age and the ephemeral nature of fame.

Download or read book 10 000 NOs written by Matthew Del Negro and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn how to persevere and pivot to achieve your goals from a celebrated Hollywood actor 10,000 NOs: How to Overcome Rejection on the Way to Your YES chronicles actor Matthew Del Negro’s tough journey from humble beginnings, through a sea of rejections, on the way to his eventual rise to become a recognizable face on some of history's most acclaimed television shows. Along the way, he learned hard lessons about perseverance, persistence, and resilience. Teaching readers how to make it through the tough times and deal with massive uncertainty by retaining the flexibility to change course and pivot to follow your passion, Del Negro explains how to achieve success in even the most competitive industries. The book, which delves into his personal story from Division I athlete to his professional dream of becoming an actor without any show business connections, shares the wisdom and knowledge Del Negro has gained from both his failures and successes in one of America’s most competitive industries: professional acting. Amidst his own stories from life and acting, Del Negro weaves anecdotes and quotes from interviews he has had with a wide range of inspirational people from all walks of life on his popular podcast, 10,000 NOs. The list of high-achievers includes professional athletes, bestselling authors, Forbes list entrepreneurs, cancer survivors, Hollywood elite, and more. His celebrated and top-ranked podcast in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, continues to inspire others to keep going even when their progress seems infinitesimally slow.

Download or read book The Executioner s Song written by Norman Mailer and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2012-05-08 with total page 978 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, a convicted killer becomes the first prisoner to be executed in the United States. The Executioner's Song follows the true story of cold-blooded murderer Gary Gilmore, who, after being tried and convicted, insisted on being executed for his crimes. To do so, he fought a system intent on keeping him alive long after it sentenced him to death. Norman Mailer tells Gilmore's story with impressive authority and compassion. The Executioner's Song is a trip down the wrong side of the tracks, right into the heart of American loneliness and violence–it is impossible to put down and difficult to forget.

Download or read book The New Biographical Dictionary of Film written by David Thomson and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 1169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With more than 100 new entries, from Amy Adams, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Cary Joji Fukunaga to Joaquin Phoenix, Mia Wasikowska, and Robin Wright, and completely updated, here from David Thomson—“The greatest living writer on the movies” (John Banville, New Statesman); “Our most argumentative and trustworthy historian of the screen” (Michael Ondaatje)—is the latest edition of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, which topped Sight & Sound’s poll of international critics and writers as THE BEST FILM BOOK EVER WRITTEN. 3/7

Download or read book Music at Michigan written by and published by UM Libraries. This book was released on 2001 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Help The Beatles Duke Ellington and the Magic of Collaboration written by Thomas Brothers and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2018-10-23 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fascinating story of how creative cooperation inspired two of the world’s most celebrated musical acts. The Beatles and Duke Ellington’s Orchestra stand as the two greatest examples of collaboration in music history. Through his highly original examination of these two musical legends, Duke University musicologist Thomas Brothers delivers a portrait of the creative process at work, demonstrating that the cooperative method at the foundation of these two artist- groups was the primary reason for their unmatched musical success. While clarifying the historical record of who wrote what, with whom, and how, Brothers brings the past to life with a breadth of musical knowledge that reverberates through every page, and analyses of songs from Lennon and McCartney’s Strawberry Fields Forever to Billy Strayhorn’s Chelsea Bridge. Help! describes in rich detail the music and mastery of two cultural leaders whose popularity has never dimmed. “This is musicology with taste as well as ears.” — Wall Street Journal “Adds significantly to our knowledge of popular music and iconic musicians of the 20th century.” — Philadelphia Inquirer

Download or read book Klaus Kinski Beast of Cinema written by Matthew Edwards and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-07-05 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With more than 130 films and a career spanning four decades, Klaus Kinski (1926-1991) was one of the most controversial actors of his generation. Known for his wild tantrums on set and his legendary collaborations with auteur Werner Herzog--Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)--Kinski's intense performances made him the darling of European arthouse and exploitation/horror cinema. A genius in front of the camera, he was capable of lighting up the most risible films. Yet behind his public persona lurked a depraved man who took his art to the darkest extremes. This first ever collection of essays focusing on Kinski examines his work in exploitation and art house films and spaghetti westerns, along with his performances in such cult classics as Doctor Zhivago (1965), Crawlspace (1986), Venus in Furs (1965), The Great Silence (1968), Android (1982) and his only directorial credit, Paganini (1989). More than 50 reviews of Kinski's films are included, along with exclusive interviews with filmmakers and actors who worked with him.

Download or read book The Life Times of Malcolm McLaren written by Paul Gorman and published by Constable. This book was released on 2020-04-09 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'I couldn't put this book down. Malcolm inspired us to make art out of our boredom and anger. He set us free' Bobby Gillespie, Primal Scream Included in the Guardian 10 best music biographies 'Excellent . . . With this book, Gorman convincingly moves away from the ossified image of McLaren as a great rock'n'roll swindler, a morally bankrupt punk Mephistopheles, and closer towards his art-school roots, his love of ideas. Tiresome, unpleasant, even cruel - he was, this book underlines, never boring' Sunday Times 'Exhaustive . . . compelling' Observer 'Definitive . . . epic' The Times 'Gobsmacker of a biography' Telegraph 'This masterful and painstaking biography opens its doorway to an era of fluorescent disenchantment and outlandish possibility' Alan Moore Malcolm McLaren was one of the most culturally significant but misunderstood figures of the modern era. Ten years after his life was cruelly cut short by cancer, The Life & Times of Malcolm McLaren sheds fascinating new light on the public achievements and private life of this cultural iconoclast and architect of punk, whose championing of street culture movements including hip-hop and Voguing reverberates to this day. With exclusive contributions from friends and intimates and access to private papers and family documents, this biography uncovers the true story behind this complicated figure. McLaren first achieved public prominence as a rebellious art student by making the news in 1966 after being arrested for burning the US flag in front of the American Embassy in London. He maintained this incendiary reputation by fast-tracking vanguard and left-field ideas to the centre of the media glare, via his creation and stewardship of the Sex Pistols and work with Adam Ant, Boy George and Bow Wow Wow. Meanwhile McLaren's ground-breaking design partnership with Vivienne Westwood and his creation of their visionary series of boutiques in the 1970s and early '80s sent shockwaves through the fashion industry. The Life & Times of Malcolm McLaren also essays McLaren's exasperating Hollywood years when he broke bread with the likes of Steven Spielberg though his slate of projects, which included the controversial Heavy Metal Surf Nazis and Wilde West, in which Oscar Wilde introduced rock'n'roll to the American mid-west in the 1880s, proved too rich for the play-it-safe film business. With a preface by Alan Moore, who collaborated with McLaren on the unrealised film project Fashion Beast, and an essay by Lou Stoppard casting a twenty-first-century perspective over his achievements, The Life & Times Of Malcolm McLaren is the explosive and definitive account of the man dubbed by Melvyn Bragg 'the Diaghilev of punk'.

Download or read book Little Cruelties written by Liz Nugent and published by Gallery/Scout Press. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hailed by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell as “a force to be reckoned with,” Liz Nugent is back with a powerful and unsettling new novel that will invite comparison to the bitter relationships in HBO’s blockbuster series Succession, as it follows three brothers, bound by blood but split by fate, and delves into the many ways families can wreak emotional havoc across generations. All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral. But only one of them was in the coffin. William, Brian, and Luke: three boys, born a year apart, trained from birth by their wily mother to compete for her attention. They play games, as brothers do…yet even after the Drumms escape into the world beyond their windows, those games—those little cruelties—grow more sinister, more merciless, and more dangerous. And with their lives entwined like the strands of a noose, only two of the brothers will survive. Crisply written and quickly paced, perfect for fans of breathtaking suspense, Little Cruelties gazes unflinchingly into the darkness: the darkness collecting in the corners of childhood homes, hiding beneath marriage beds, clasped in the palms of two brothers shaking hands. And it confirms Liz Nugent—whose work has invited comparisons to Patricia Highsmith and Barbara Vine and has been celebrated as "captivating" (People) and "highly entertaining" (The Washington Post)—as one of the most exciting, perceptive voices in contemporary fiction.

Download or read book The Gershwins and Me Enhanced Edition written by Michael Feinstein and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-10-16 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This special enhanced eBook includes twelve Gershwin classics performed by Michael Feinstein and commentary from the author on the music and the lives of George and Ira Gershwin. From celebrated entertainer Michael Feinstein comes a beautifully illustrated account of the lives and legacies of the Gershwins—told through stories of twelve of their greatest songs. The “Ambassador of the Great American Songbook” Michael Feinstein was just twenty years old when he got the chance of a lifetime: a job with his hero, Ira Gershwin. During their six-year partnership, the two became close friends. Feinstein blossomed under Gershwin’s mentorship and Gershwin was reinvigorated by the younger man’s zeal for his and his brother George’s legacy. Now, in The Gershwins and Me, the only book of its kind, Michael Feinstein shares unforgettable stories and reminiscences from the music that defined American popular song, along with rare Gershwin memorabilia he’s collected through the years. From “Strike Up the Band” to “Love Is Here to Stay,” each of the twelve chapters highlights one of the Gershwins’ classic songs, exploring the brothers’ lives, illuminating what the music meant to them, and telling the stories of how their iconic tunes came to life. Throughout the star-studded narrative, Feinstein unfolds the moving chronicle of his own life with the Gershwins, describing his vision for their enduring presence today. No other writer could give us such an authoritative inside perspective on these titans of American culture—and no other writer could include such a soulful collection of music as Feinstein’s original recordings of the twelve songs. A timeless classic and the definitive account of the Gershwins and their legacy, The Gershwins and Me will having you humming with every turn of the page.

Download or read book How to Make Movies written by Kevin J. Lindenmuth and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-02-07 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The success of low-budget independent films like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity have clearly demonstrated that successful movies can be made with very small budgets. Still, working on a tight budget requires both skill and ingenuity, and is an inevitable and continuous learning experience for the filmmaker. Join two dozen truly independent filmmakers--those used to working, and delivering, within extreme limitations--as they bluntly chronicle their experiences creating features "from the trenches." They cover the major stages of the filmmaking process, from financing, technical decisions, and handling actors and crew to music, production, and distribution. With loads of practical advice, actual case studies, and many behind-the-scenes photographs, this collection of war stories from the micro-budget front lines will benefit aspiring and experienced independent filmmakers alike.

Download or read book Lords of the Sunset Strip written by Blackie Dammett and published by The Spencer Company. This book was released on 2013-03-31 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'I did a double take when I saw fourteen-year-old Drew Barrymore at the bar, drinking with the Bukowski crowd. She was adorable, spoke with a potty mouth and carried on as if she was in her twenties. I was straining to approach her but backed off. I’d been in enough trouble. The next time I looked she was gone. A couple nights later she reappeared and in the same spot at the middle of the bar, entertaining the bartender. I pulled the trigger this time, and whatever I had to say she bought.' "I'm eating your book! It's delicious!" Lia Mack - Portland, Oregon "Fervent shades of Jack Kerouac.” Terry Wells - Brigg, England “Lords of the Sunset Strip” is the brutally honest and hilarious memoir of actor and writer Blackie Dammett—AKA John Kiedis—who happens to be the father of Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis. Set mostly in Hollywood but with multiple national and worldwide excursions for film shoots, love affairs and drug deals, this tell-all provides an unexpectedly candid look at an actor’s transition from a wild man with a dream to a sensitive if unconventional parent with a dream. And of course, there were the women. New girls were always replenishing the scene. Dammett towed his young Red Hot Chili Pepper with him through a torrent of sex-fueled parties, auditions and business deals in Hollywood, New York and London. It’s an exhilarating, exhausting and romantic journey. It had a profound and ineffable influence on Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Anthony. “Lords of the Sunset Strip” will no doubt have a similar influence on its readers as well. It’s simply the biggest, baddest, boldest tale of Hollywood and Rock & Roll ever written.

Download or read book Bobby Whitlock written by Bobby Whitlock and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From early childhood singing in church to the rock 'n' roll limelight of Derek and the Dominos, Bobby Whitlock launched a musical journey still going to this day. Whitlock's life story does more than share rock gossip about stars like Keith Moon, George Harrison, and Eric Clapton, however. Whitlock candidly discusses his abusive childhood, his experiences with Delaney and Bonnie, failed marriages, and drug addiction, and how the star-studded lifestyle evolved into a peaceful partnership with his wife and musical partner.