Film Life

Jon Landau, the Academy Award–winning film producer behind Titanic, Avatar, Alita: Battle Angel, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and Dick Tracy, knew two things well: how to tell an unforgettable story, and how to find solutions. So, when he found himself confronting his fate, a diagnosis of improbable odds, he began to problem solve, ensuring that everything he learned behind the camera would live on after he was gone.

From Oscar-winners and cult favorites, big budget blockbusters and indie darlings, this captivating series takes you on a deep dive into the pivotal projects that defined the careers of six extraordinary filmmakers—Cameron Crowe, Natasha Lyonne, Ron Howard, Amy Heckerling, Richard Linklater, and Chloé Zhao. Through candid anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories, these artists reflect on the formative experiences, creative breakthroughs, and personal inspirations that gave rise to their most iconic work.

Has your child lived before? In this fascinating, controversial, and groundbreaking book, Carol Bowman reveals overwhelming evidence of past-life memories in children. Not only are such experiences real, they are far more common than most people realize. Bowman’s extraordinary investigation was sparked when her young son, Chase, described his own past-life death on a Civil War battlefield - an account so accurate it was authenticated by an expert historian. Even more astonishing, Chase’s chronic eczema and phobia of loud noises disappeared after he had recalled the memory.

With intimate detail, author Maria Riva reveals the rich life of her mother, Marlene Dietrich, the charismatic star of stage and screen whose career spanned much of the 20th century. Opening with Dietrich's childhood in Schöneberg, Riva's biography introduces us to an energetic, disciplined, and ambitious young actress whose own mother equated show business with a world of vagabonds and thieves.

John Singleton became a living legend at just 24 years old when he earned Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Boyz N the Hood, the sleeper hit of the summer of 1991 and one of the decade’s most important films. Though he wasn’t victorious on Oscar night, it didn’t detract from his achievements.

Mr Punch Presents: It’s a Wonderful Life, the irresistibly heart-warming story of George Bailey, who is prevented from committing suicide by the elderly angel Clarence, who takes him on a journey back through his life to show him how the town of Bedford Falls would have been had he never lived. Originally directed by the celebrated Frank Capra, it is performed here for radio with James Stewart, Victor Moore and Donna Reed recreating their original roles.

By the acclaimed author of Pictures at a Revolution and Five Came Back comes a magnificent biography of one of the most protean creative forces in American entertainment history, a life of dazzling highs and vertiginous plunges - some of the worst largely unknown until now. Mark Harris explores, with brilliantly vivid detail and insight, the life, work, struggle, and passion of an artist and man in constant motion.

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

*AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER* Actor-dancer Alyson Stoner narrates their revelatory and incisive memoir—from family violence and betrayal, to eating disorders and religious trauma—may begin in Hollywood, but its chilling relatability will resonate with anyone navigating...

Charlie Chaplin made an amazing 71 films by the time he was only 33 years old. He was not only known as the world’s first international movie star, but as a comedian, film director, and a man ripe with scandal, accused of plagiarism, communism, pacifism, liberalism, and anti-Americanism. He seduced young women, marrying four different times, each time to a woman younger than the next. In this animated biography of Chaplin, Joyce Milton reveals to us a life riddled with gossip and a struggle to rise from an impoverished London childhood to the life of a successful American film star.

An uncensored look at aspects of the private lives (and deaths) of the stars of Hollywood's Golden Age and beyond. Hollywood minus the hype and hokum.

Acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto explores the roots of Hitchcock’s obsessions - with food, murder, and idealized love, among others - and traces the origins of his incomparable, bizarre genius, from his childhood and education to the golden years of his career. Based on interviews with his writers, actors, and longtime associates, and on exhaustive research, The Dark Side of Genius is the definitive biography of Alfred Hitchcock.

“The perfect hostess gift for the holidays or an ideal stocking stuffer.” - BookTrib “You really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?” —CLARENCE In this special book, Jimmy Hawkins helps us focus on the true meaning behind the classic...

Discover the extraordinary life and legendary films of John Ford, the director who defined American cinema. John Ford: A Complete Guide to the Life, Films, and Legacy of One of America’s Greatest Directors explores the career of the four-time Academy Award winner whose iconic works shaped how the world sees the American West, family, community, and national identity. From his Irish immigrant roots to his rise in Hollywood, Ford’s journey reflects the story of America itself, captured through unforgettable films like Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, The Searchers, and The Quiet Man. This...

Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is one of the best-loved films of Classical Hollywood cinema, a story of despair and redemption in the aftermath of war that is one of the central movies of the 1940s, and a key text in America's understanding of itself. This is a film that remains relevant to our own anxieties and yearnings, to all the contradictions of ordinary life, while also enacting for us the quintessence of the classic Hollywood aesthetic.

Paul Newman, the Oscar-winning actor with the legendary blue eyes, achieved superstar status by playing charismatic renegades, broken heroes, and winsome antiheroes in such revered films as The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict, The Color of Money, and Nobody’s Fool. But Newman was also an oddity in Hollywood: the rare box-office titan who cared about the craft of acting, the sexy leading man known for the staying power of his marriage, and the humble celebrity who made philanthropy his calling card long before it was cool.

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.

Columbo was arguably the most popular and most unique television mystery series ever - even though, within two minutes of the titles, the audience already knew the murderer’s identity. The show captivated tens of millions of viewers for 69 adventures produced over 35 years. Yet if star Peter Falk had gotten his way, it would have run far longer. The “shooting” of Columbo was filled with backstage intrigue and larger-than-life personalities who, through it all, created unforgettable classic television.

In these essays, TV’s Frank Conniff focuses on twenty-five of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 films he found and riffed with his fellow MST3K writers and cast mates. It tells the story of how a comedian who was lucky enough to work on beloved Peabody Award winning TV show was transformed into a comedian who was lucky enough to work on a beloved Peabody Award winning TV show. It’s a story that will stay with you for the rest of your life, if you happen to die just as you finish listening to the book.

"The best thing Mr. Ebert has ever written." - Janet Maslin, New York Times "To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am...