Mostrando resultados por autor "Stephen Hoover" en Todas las categorías

Italian westerns, also known as spaghetti westerns, include some of the best and most underrated westerns of all. They took the model of the Hollywood western and turned it on its head, offering killer antiheroes instead of white-hat good guys. They took the image of the American frontier of the 1800s and turned it on its head, as well, turning it from a place that offered infinite promise and hope into one where lawlessness, murder and revenge were commonplace and where nostalgic western towns were often replaced with rugged outposts on a harsh frontier. Where Hollywood looked perpetually ...

The first-ever published book on the subject (from 1992) and originally entitled Siamese Chess: How to Play How to Win, is available for the first time as a digital edition. Original Printing Rear Cover Text: Siamese Chess is the most popular variation of the world’s most popular board game. Sometimes called Simultaneous Chess, Bughouse Chess, Double Speed, or Double Five, it s two chess games played side by side by two teams of two players each. The rules are like those of standard chess, except that when a team member captures a piece he gives it to his partner. The partner can then, on...

NEW REVISED EDITION! The paranoid thriller comes in many forms, but it tends to have the same characteristics no matter what the story revolves around. The fear at the core of the story is what makes these films engaging and what’s kept audiences coming back to them for decades. The villains may have changed over time, but suspicion, conspiracy and secret, unaccountable power can all make for powerful stories. These films are made doubly powerful when they are tied closely to real life events. Is it any surprise that these films had a real golden age in the 1970s, on the heels of ...

From femme fatales like Matty from Body Heat to fearless heroines like Ripley from the Aliens franchise, women have come into their own as deadly film characters. Deadly Ladies of the Silver Screen takes a look at some of the best of the best where deadly ladies are concerned and gives film fans a list of movies that offer hours of entertaining, and lethal, action. If you’re looking for women who not only break through the glass ceiling, but who blow it up and leave nothing but smoldering ruins in their wake, this is the book for you. This book focuses on the stories and the context that ...

REVISED SECOND EDITION. Take the tension, desperation and anxiety characteristic of a thriller film and confine the action to a small space and you have something truly remarkable: the contained thriller. Concentrated, pressurized, however you want to describe them, they have an ability to ratchet up the tension and drama like few films can. The format has been explored by many different directors, including huge names like Hitchcock and Tarantino, oftentimes with spectacular results. Explore this film genre and what makes it tick. It’s one of the most diverse and varied out there, but ...

SECOND EDITION POSTED March of 2015. Zombie films have become so popular that sometimes it’s hard to sort the good from the bad. Fortunately, this is one genre where, sometimes, the bad is oh-so good. This comprehensive guide to the genre looks at some of the best zombie films out there, from classics such as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead to incredible films from the 21st Century such as 28 Days Later. Want to know why these films work? You’re in the right place, as the first half of the book will introduce you to the ways that zombies have changed in terms of their ...

SECOND EDITION posted March of 2015. Film noir: It makes just about everything that’s bad look good. Whether it’s chain-smoking unfiltered cigarettes and washing them down with whiskey, wisecracking mobsters while they’re pointing a revolver at your chest or getting involved in the most complex criminal schemes, film noir lets us all get in on the action, even if we know it’s just so wrong. Film noir really came into its own after the Second World War and it shocked international audiences who had thought that Americans were an optimistic, can-do sort of people but who found ...

Found footage has divided horror fans and critics. Some find it to be a refreshing departure from the predicable slashers and torture horror films that had dominated the market for so long. Others found them to be so at one time, but feel that the market is flooded with these films, and that quality is declining. Whatever one might think of them, there are plenty of found footage horror films to sort through out there, and it’s useful to have a guide. That’s what Cheap Scares: The Essential Found Footage Horror seeks to deliver. The book gives an overview of the genre. Though it ...

Revenge plots can make for some of the most memorable films out there. The Essential Revenge Films takes a look at what makes these films work and why they can be so memorable. The book also takes a look at some of the tropes you’ll find in these films and doesn’t shy away from the fact that some of them are downright disturbing in their implications, as are many of these films. Some of the greatest art is very dark and, where these films are concerned, darkness abounds. The book takes a look at questions such as why we identify with the protagonists in these films, who oftentimes cross...