May 2025: Celebrate the Cinema
Your May 2025 Year In Reading challenge is all about the movies! Celebrate the cinema in new and wonderful ways with these great books exploring films in all forms.
Be sure to check out the Year in Reading challenge on Beanstack to earn some fun virtual badges along the way!
https://griver.beanstack.com/reader365
Pirate cinema
Author(s):
Description:
In a dystopian, near-future Britain, sixteen-year-old Trent, obsessed with making movies on his computer, joins a group of artists and activists who are trying to fight a new bill that will criminalize even more harmless internet creativity.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Doc
Not your China doll : the wild and shimmering life of Anna May Wong
Author(s):
Description:
"Set against the glittering backdrop of Los Angeles during the gin-soaked Jazz Age and the rise of Hollywood, this debut book celebrates Anna May Wong, the first Asian American movie star, to bring an unsung heroine to light and reclaim her place in cinema history"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
B Won
Quentin Tarantino : a graphic biography
Author(s):
Botton, Michele
Pagani, Balthazar,
Description:
"Delve into the movie-obsessed life and career of one of modern cinema's greatest filmmakers - Quentin Tarantino. Join the conversation as Tarantino talks to John Travolta into starring in Pulp Fiction and Uma Thurman into a yellow bodysuit, find out about the inspiration for his earliest screenplays and learn about Tarantino's obsessive childhood growing up in California."--Back cover
Format:
Book
Call Number:
B Tar
The future was now : madmen, mavericks, and the epic sci-fi summer of 1982
Author(s):
Description:
"From legendary entertainment journalist and author of Caddyshack comes a rollicking history of 1980s cinema-- how eight legendary sci-fi films changed Hollywood forever. In the summer of 1982, eight science fiction films were released within six weeks of one another. E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior changed the careers of some of Hollywood's now biggest names-- altering the art of movie-making to this day. In The Future Was Now, Chris Nashawaty recounts the riotous genesis of these films, featuring an all-star cast of Hollywood luminaries and gadflies alike: Steven Spielberg, at the height of his powers, conceives E.T. as an unlikely family tale, and quietly takes over the troubled production of Poltergeist, a horror film he had been nurturing for years. Ridley Scott, fresh off the success of Alien, tries his hand at an odd Philip K. Dick story that becomes Blade Runner-- a box office failure turned cult classic. Similar stories arise for films like Tron, Conan the Barbarian, and The Thing. Taken as a whole, these films show a precarious turning-point in Hollywood history, when baffled film executives finally began to understand the potential of high-concept films with a rabid fanbase, merchandising potential, and endless possible sequels. Expertly researched, energetically told, and written with an unabashed love for the cinema, The Future Was Now is a chronicle of how the revolution sparked in a galaxy far, far away finally took root and changed Hollywood forever"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
791.43615 Nas
Movies showing nowhere
Author(s):
Description:
On the day Cate came into the world, her mother left it. Ever since, Cate's dad has become distant and silent, locked in his own little world. Cate has to keep herself entertained, with kung fu films, her pet rabbit and her photography hobby, until one day she receives an invitation to a mysterious, abandoned cinema, and everything changes. At the cinema, Cate meets the strange Mrs Kano, who introduces her to a most unusual kind of movie theatre the kind that lets you step into a memory. So begins a wonder-filled adventure through time that will teach Cate the meaning of love, the beauty of things passing and the need for bravery in letting go.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Gol
The big goodbye : Chinatown and the last years Hollywood
Author(s):
Description:
Chinatown is the Holy Grail of 1970s cinema. Its twist ending is the most notorious in American film and its closing line of dialogue the most haunting. Here is the true story of its making. Here is Jack Nicholson at the height of his powers, embarking on his doomed love affair with Anjelica Huston. Here is director Roman Polanski, both predator and prey, haunted by the savage death of his wife, returning to Los Angeles, the scene of the crime, where the seeds of his own self-destruction are quickly planted. Here is the dealmaking of "The Kid" Robert Evans, the most consummate of producers. Here is Robert Towne's fabled script, widely considered the greatest original screenplay ever written. Wasson peels off layers of myth to provide the true account of its creation. Looming over the story of this classic movie is the imminent eclipse of the '70s filmmaker-friendly studios as they gave way to the corporate Hollywood we know today.--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
791.4372 Was
The geek's guide to SF cinema
Author(s):
Description:
"Why do SF movies matter? What do they tell us about the interests of storytellers and the changing tastes of cinema-goers? How have sci-fi movies evolved with filmmaking technology over the past 110 years? The Geek's Guide To SF Cinema: 30 Key Films That Changed that Changed the Genre provides an entertaining and in-depth history of the science fiction genre's pivotal and most influential movies. From the pioneering films of Georges Méliès to such blockbusters as Avatar and Inception in the 21st century, the book will explore how these key movies were made, how they reflected the mood of the time in which they were released, and how they've influenced other filmmakers in the years since.Historians and experts contribute to answer questions such as: 'How important was Fritz Lang's contribution to cinema?' and 'What did Alien say about the cynical climate of the 1970s?' Providing nostalgia for long-time SF addicts and context for those whose knowledge and love of the genre is still growing, this is a pop-culture book with depth."--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
791.4361 Lam
Screenwriting for dummies
Author(s):
Schellhardt, Laura
Logan, John,
Description:
You know that fantastic idea you've got for a screenplay? It's time to make it a reality! In this book, you'll learn how to move from concept to finished product with practical and hands-on advice on writing characters, dialogue and plot, talking to the right people, and marketing and selling your work.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
808.23 Sch 2022
Secrets of the Hollywood girls club
Author(s):
Description:
The last time Jessica, Mary Anne, Lydia, and Celeste collaborated on a project, the film was a huge success, launching über-agent Jessica's boutique management company, making Mary Anne the hottest new screenwriter in Hollywood, landing Lydia the top spot at Worldwide Pictures, and solidifying Celeste's position as the queen of Tinseltown. But this time, as these powerful movie mavens are called to the set, each of them has a lot more to lose.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Mar
Death upon a star
Author(s):
Meade, Amy Patricia, 1972-
Description:
"1939, Los Angeles. Evelyn Galloway can't believe her luck! On her first day in LA, she lands her dream job of script supervisor, and on the hottest film in town - Hitchcock's adaptation of Rebecca. But her good fortune quickly changes when a legendary actor cancels their lunch the following day and is found murdered at home. Evelyn realizes she could be a witness to the crime, having passed the bungalow's grounds on her way home the night before. Who was the man looking upset in a gazebo? And why was movie starlet Madeleine Nabors running wildly away from the scene? When the tabloid reports contradict what Evelyn saw with her own eyes, she soon finds herself pitted against powerful studio bosses and unscrupulous journalists as she races to uncover the truth"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Mea
Reel
Author(s):
Description:
"Neevah Saint is ready for the spotlight. After months as an understudy, this is her night to shine. She never imagined he would watch in the audience. Canon Holt. Famous film director. Fascinating. Talented. Fine. Before she can catch her breath, everything is changing. Neevah goes from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood. From being unknown, to having her name on everyone's lips when Canon casts her in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic. But forbidden attraction, scandal, and circumstances beyond Neevah's control soon put her dream in jeopardy. Could this one shot--the role of a lifetime, the love of a lifetime--cost her everything?"--
Format:
Large Print
Call Number:
LP FIC Rya
Bruce Willis : celebrating the cinematic legacy of an unbreakable Hollywood icon
Author(s):
Description:
"On a nondescript Wednesday morning in the waning days of March 2023, one of the biggest movie stars on the planet called it quits. It was a sad conclusion to the storied career of a man who had at one point been the highest-paid actor in Hollywood. That career is the subject of Sean O'Connell's Bruce Willis: Celebrating the Cinematic Legacy of an Unbreakable Hollywood Icon, a definitive survey of Willis the actor, the cultural icon, and the man. Here, O'Connell compiles exclusive, original interviews with directors who have worked with Willis, as well as film critics and journalists who have analyzed his career, into a celebratory compendium. It also features the author's analysis of Willis's films, his career arc, and the industry that made him a star. And it includes capsule reviews of every Bruce Willis film, making this a complete handbook to a true American original"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
791.43028 OCo
Scandal in Babylon
Author(s):
Description:
1924. After six months in Hollywood, young British widow Emma Blackstone has come to love her new employer, glamourous movie-star Kitty Flint - even if her late husband's sister is one of the worst actresses she's ever seen. Looking after Kitty and her three adorable Pekinese dogs isn't work Emma dreamed of, but Kitty rescued her when she was all alone in the world. Now, the worst thing academically-minded Emma has to worry about is the shocking historical inaccuracies of the films Kitty stars in. Until, that is, Rex Festraw - Kitty's first husband, to whom she may or may not still be married - turns up dead in her dressing room, a threatening letter seemingly from Kitty in his pocket. Emma's certain her flighty but kind-hearted sister-in-law has been framed. But who by? And why? From spiteful rivals to jealous boyfriends, the suspects are numerous. But as Emma investigates, she begins to untangle a deadly plot - and there's something Kitty's not telling her.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Ham
