The Best Books About Film

[zedz]

Desser does deal with 'pink films' in Eros Plus Massacre, largely in terms of contextualising Wakamatsu, but you'll get a lot more detail from Sharp.

[aox]

Does anyone know of any informative books, chapters, articles, essays on the decline of location shooting in NYC in the late 1970s and 1980s and its comeback in the 1990s? I know the permit was developed in 1966 during the Lindsay Administration, but then the decline seems to have hit NYC pretty hard over the next 10 years. On-location shooting of course disappeared from NYC around 1930 with the invention of sound and wouldn't return until the 50s and 60s with the development of better sound equipment, and more people wishing to work in NYC where other forms of art still reigned supreme. The late 70s began a new lull not seen since the 30s that would last arguably to the mid-late-90s.

I realize that some of the biggest films of the 1980s were filmed in NYC (e.g. Ghostbusters, Working Girl, Wall Street, etc...) and that directors like Scorsese and Allen continued to work with consistency; however, NYC has a reputation of not being very film friendly in the 70s and 80s. I would like to know why. I would like to point to the surging crime rate, but this doesn't wholly explain it to me. I don't feel like location shooting was entirely unsafe. I can't find any major incidents (assault on a film crew) in my research and none of my colleagues who lived in NYC during that time recall anything too dramatic.

NYC reached a peak of about 15,000 shooting days/per year in the mid-00s. I imagine the numbers from the 70s and 80s are significantly less than that. The Municipal Archives have all of the permits issued for scattered and various years from 1978 to 1998, but that won't really answer my question even though I think I might start there. I also am looking through the Mayoral papers from those two decades, but they aren't very helpful (though, I found some interesting memos regarding the filming of the Shaft sequel up in Harlem in Lindsay's papers). Is it fair to conclude that perhaps Republican Administrations aren't as friendly to filming as Democratic (not trying to start a political argument, so please don't take that as bait; this is purely academic). While permits are free, was taxation an issue that kept productions out of the City? Not enough incentives? Was the NYPD not being helpful in protection of space? Perhaps PR issues were involved? But there were plenty of very unflattering films made throughout those 20 years that have still had a lasting affect on the City's image.

I have the Sanders book, Celluloid Skyline, and while good, it doesn't shed a lot of street light onto these questions.

I am very interested in this topic for a project and any help, advice, or insight would be most appreciated. Thanks.

If this deserves its own thread, then my apologies, and please feel free to make the appropriate changes. In the end it is still an inquiry for literature.

[ezmbmh]

Anyone read Tag Gallagher's Ford book? Or Cowie's? Leaning toward the first, thought I'd ask before buying.

[ellipsis7]

Tag G 's JF - reccomended... Cowie? - I have McBride (x2), Bogdanovich, Sinclair, Anderson, Eyman, Sarris, Dan Ford, all on JF, but no Cowie...

[Matt]

I think Cowie's book is mainly a coffee-table book.

[Jeff]

I think Cowie's book is mainly a coffee-table book.

It does have lots of big stills, but it's full of essays too. I found it in the "bargain books" section of a local independent bookseller, and paid seven bucks for it. It's not bad at all, but I'm not sure if I would have paid full price for it.

Tag has posted a PDF of his book for free.

[HarryLong]

Does anyone know of any informative books, chapters, articles, essays on the decline of location shooting in NYC in the late 1970s and 1980s and its comeback in the 1990s? ... NYC has a reputation of not being very film friendly in the 70s and 80s. I would like to know why....

While it won't entirely answer all your questions, one book that might ad somewhat to your research (and is a totally great read) is THE DEVIL'S CANDY, about the making of BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES. DePalma & company came up against just about every kind of difficulty, from politicians trying to make hay from the publicity surrounding the production to property owners suddenly revoking permission to film on their premises, causing the production to scramble, reschedule, etc. (I will be kinder to this film if I ever chance to watch it again.) Then there's the unions. A New York cinematographer had to be paid to sit on the set and watch Vilmos Zsigmond, who wasn't recognized by the NY union. Little things like that can give a town the reputation of being film-unfriendly.

[aox]

Does anyone know of any informative books, chapters, articles, essays on the decline of location shooting in NYC in the late 1970s and 1980s and its comeback in the 1990s? ... NYC has a reputation of not being very film friendly in the 70s and 80s. I would like to know why....

While it won't entirely answer all your questions, one book that might ad somewhat to your research (and is a totally great read) is THE DEVIL'S CANDY, about the making of BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES. DePalma & company came up against just about every kind of difficulty, from politicians trying to make hay from the publicity surrounding the production to property owners suddenly revoking permission to film on their premises, causing the production to scramble, reschedule, etc. (I will be kinder to this film if I ever chance to watch it again.) Then there's the unions. A New York cinematographer had to be paid to sit on the set and watch Vilmos Zsigmond, who wasn't recognized by the NY union. Little things like that can give a town the reputation of being film-unfriendly.

Thank you. Already looking into this as per your recommendation.

I am attempting communication with the unions right now trying to find someone sympathetic to academia. Through them, I hopefully plan on trying to conduct oral history sessions with anyone (tech people) who has been around since the 60s/70s to also shed more light on this topic. If there was a significant dip in NYC filming in the late 70s/80s, I don't see it as a result of crime and the more I see numbers, the less I am convinced of a dip at all. I almost feel the dip is a complete myth, but that could be arrogantly unfair to those that lost their jobs due to lack of work. A perhaps unfair conclusion, I don't just want to throw out there.

[Markson]

While I hear the book covers much salacious territory well beyond "film," can anyone recommend Donald Richie's The Japan Journals: 1947 - 2004 ?

[MichaelB]

While it won't entirely answer all your questions, one book that might ad somewhat to your research (and is a totally great read) is THE DEVIL'S CANDY, about the making of BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES.

Recommendation enthusiastically seconded - it's a terrific read, and by far the most useful thing to emerge from the whole Bonfire of the Vanities debacle. And all credit to De Palma for continuing to grant Julie Salamon full access even when it was clear that the project wasn't going quite the way he and Warner Bros had hoped.

[klofter]

Hey guys,

I just finished reading Kurosawa's autibiography, which is really great. I recommend it to everyone who likes his movies. You really get a feel for the man as an artist and I suddenly understood some of his artistic choices better.

Can anyone recommend any other books about his artistic work? There are a few, but I'm a bit wary about the conventional film-by-film breakdown of his oeuvre, since I'm more interested in some sort of examination of his entire body of work... I don't know if it makes any sense, but any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Stephen Prince's book The Warrior's Camera is your best bet. Read it, treasure it, read it again. It's my favorite book on Kurosawa. Google Books has a preview here if you want to sample it.

[klofter]

thank you very much. This looks exactly like what I was looking for.

[klofter]

oh, and while I'm on it, can anyone recommend a good book on Haneke? Amazon has a few, but they all look a bit the same to me. I'm relatively new to his cinema (White Ribbon reminded me how much I was impressed with Cache) but the guy fascinates me.

[aox]

It was recommended to me in this thread that I read a book called "The Devil's Candy" for my research on the film industry in NYC. So, I checked it out of the library today and started to read the back. Mind you, this is merely a coincidence and the book was published in 1991, but I figured I would share with you.

[Noiradelic]

Does anyone know of any informative books, chapters, articles, essays on the decline of location shooting in NYC in the late 1970s and 1980s and its comeback in the 1990s?

I almost feel the dip is a complete myth

I don't think NYC being prohibitively expensive to film in is completely a myth, at least not in the late 80s. I believe NYC was the most expensive city in the country to shoot in during that era. If I remember correctly there was an article in the Arts & Leisure section of the NYT on this subject in the early 90s. It used the example of The Babe NOT being shot in NYC as an illustration of how dire the problem had become (the piece probably ran either around the time of its release in 1992 or during production). I also recall the city aggressively courting the movie industry during the 90s to turn things around. Presumably, when Law & Order started in 1990 it was an early sign of a shifting climate.

[Noiradelic]

This must be the article I was thinking of.

If you select "Since 1981" on the NYT site and search using the keywords " 'The Babe' film shoot" you'll get hits on 2 other pieces about the standoff between the unions and Hollywood in 1990-91.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Two new ones from University of Minnesota Press: Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento and The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era. Both tomes look very exciting to me. I'm particularly intrigued by the latter book. The Argento text is a new edition so take a look if you have the earlier editions. Has anyone who has read them care to comment? I'm curious as to how Schatz's book differs or dovetails with Bordwell's The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960.

[domino harvey]

The Schatz book is quite good and not new at all, I'm guessing this is just a reprint. It lacks the clinical approach of Bordwell et al's work but seems warmer toward its subject. It's an essential read, really

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Is Schatz's book more like a history book then or just less analytically inclined than Bordwell's book?

[HarryLong]

Mind you, this is merely a coincidence and the book was published in 1991, but I figured I would share with you.

Wow. I may not have the same edition... I don't recall that quote on the back.

[Peacock]

Could anyone recommend which is the best book on Howard Hawks?
Is the 'Conversations with Filmmakers' interview book with Hawks by Scott Breivold any good?

[domino harvey]

Could anyone recommend which is the best book on Howard Hawks?

The McCarthy book, full stop

And JLG, the Schatz book is more a look at the system itself rather than a formalist approach ala Bordwell

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Mast's book is a great analysis of Hawks' films, but I also second the McCarthy. The Schatz book sounds like what I want - thanks, domino.

[Gregory]

The McCarthy book, full stop

I agree that the McCarthy is a fine book. However, the best work of film criticism on Hawks is Robin Wood's important early book titled simply Howard Hawks, which was republished in an expanded edition a few years ago. His BFI Film Classics book on Rio Bravo is also essential reading. It's a great, great extended essay. In addition to Rio Bravo, it deals with Only Angels Have Wings and To Have and Have Not, which Wood argues form a trilogy.
The interview book I have is Hawks on Hawks. I haven't read the Breivold.