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Non-Fiction – Books on Film
Reviews of the best new books appear in each issue of The Edge.
Many of the below are still available.
BOOKS ON FILM
Wim Wenders' 3rd book. 'Essays and Conversations'; mostly interviews conducted around 1990.
Alex Cox: Film Anarchist
By Steven Paul Davies. There is a case to be made for Alex Cox as the most neglected of contemporary British
filmmakers.
Collection of Tim Burton interviews.
Nicholas Pileggi's book about Las Vegas and the mob, basis of Scorsese's film.
Jonathan Romney and Adrian Wootton (Editors) Celluloid Jukebox
Popular Music and the Movies Since the Fifties; what Martin Scorsese calls 'uncharted territory'.
The Story of Film Censorship in Britain. Tom Dewe Mathews' part reminder of moral excesses, part valuable assessment of contemporary film censorship.
Michael Chion's BFI book on Lynch. Dissects the films and TV and adds the Lynch Kit, a sort of subjective dictionary of Lynchian imagery and idea (from Alphabet to Word).
Edited by Roger Wollen; largely successful attempt to contextualise a genuine Renaissance man's life. 151 illustrations archiving his painting; nine essays on various strands of his work.
Peter Biskind's vast dissection of 70s American cinema -- that delirious, dangerous era.
Vincent Ward's production diary of his first three films, In Spring One Plants Alone, Vigil and The Navigator.
Frederic Raphael on Eyes Wide Shut and Stanley Kubrick.
Steven Soderbergh's hybrid; his own diary, and his thoughts on Richard Lester.
Terry Gilliam on himself, edited by Ian Christie.
Diaries of British filmmakers at Work, edited by Duncan Petrie.
Allan Brown Inside The Wicker Man
Exhaustive dedication to detail, with all concerned interviewed.
Filmmakers in Conversation, edited by David Breskin.
One of those big Titan books. Riffs on all the films. Edited by Peter Körte and Georg Seesslen.
Danusia Stok edits out the interview questions, leaving a feature-length monologue filled with detail, intelligence and insight into an extraordinary body of work.
Jane Hamsher Killer Instinct
Controversial script by Hollywood's brightest new name kid, attached to Oliver Stone. As industry wannabes Jane Hamsher and Don Murphy discovered, nothing in this world is ever quite what it seems.
Chris Rodley interviews David Lynch.
William Preston Robertson The Making of Joel and Ethan Coen's The Big lebowski
Decoding the mechanics behind The Big Lebowski.
Faber and Faber annual magazine with contributions by many filmmakers.
Joe Queenan on how not to make a film.
John Sayles in his own words, edited by Gavin Smith.
Edited by Karl French, 22 essays on the subject.
The second and third (last) Shock Xpress books, edited by Stefan Jaworzyn. Writers for one, the other or both include Anne Billson, Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman, etc.
The making of Velvet Goldmine, or An Insider's Guide to Independent Filmmaking, by Christine Vachon.
The film writing of Jonathan Romney.
The BFI's book of the 1996 exhibition that featured Terry Gilliam, Peter Greenaway, Ridley Scott and others.
Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes
A guided tour of US indie cinema post 1984.
Peter Greenaway's book about his exhibition.
John Waters' scripts for Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living and the unmade Flamingos Forever.
Tim Lucas' columns from before Video Watchdog magazine.
Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince
Or Walt Disney: What a Bastard.
The Film Diaries of Richard E Grant.
BFI Publishing's Film Classics and Modern Classics:
Geoffrey Nowell-Smith on Antonioni's ground-breaking masterpiece.
Michael Atkinson's book is interesting but infuriating.
Leo Bersani and Ulysse Dutoit's study of the late Derek Jarman's most accessible film.
Kim Newman on Tourneur's horror film about a woman who turns into a panther.
Outstanding analysis by Iain Sinclair.
Jonathan Rosenbaum on Jim Jarmusch's genuinely indie, spiritual film.
Mark Kermode speaks for the defence.
Anton Kaes' deconstruction of Fritz Lang; a stand-out.
Dana Polan considers Tarantino's popularity.
Gary Indiana on Pasolini; recommended.
Richard Dyer attempts to convince.
Amy Taubin's misreading of Scorsese's classic.
Marita Sturken is painfully feminist.
Geoff Andrew's appreciation of Kieslowski's trilogy.
Ernest Larsen's book has an angle.
Raymond Durgnat's take on Makavejev's ‘controversial and explicit’ film.
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