What does it take to make a great motion picture? What do we even mean by cinematic greatness? What is more important: movie awards, critical acclaim, or box office success? Who has the biggest impact: the writer, the director, or the actors? Scientific research has provided some provocative answers. This review of cinematic creativity and aesthetics is confined to scientific studies carried out by a multidisciplinary group of researchers. Do great films receive both shiny trophies and five stars? Chapter 2 concentrates on movie awards, including the Oscars and Golden Globes, and how those awards relate to critical acclaim. How do the dramatic awards compare with the visual, technical, and music awards? Chapter 3 studies more closely how these awards cluster together and which of these clusters best predict cinematic success. How does box office compare with critical evaluations and movie awards? Chapter 4 adds a new consideration, namely the film's financial performance. The following four chapters focus on specific contributions to a film's impact: Chapter 5 covers the script (including writers), Chapter 6 the director (or "auteur"), Chapter 7 the actors (especially gender differences), and Chapter 8 the music (both scores and songs). Chapter 9 addresses the question of whether the same cinematic factors that make some films great also make other films bad: Are bombs the exact opposite of masterpieces? The book closes with an epilogue on future directions in scientific studies of cinematic creativity and aesthetics. What do researchers need to do if we want a complete understanding of what it takes to create a powerful cinematic experience? This volume will be invaluable to anyone interested in film, including any aficionado who is open to a scientific approach, and researchers in the areas of creativity, aesthetics, and cultural economics. The reported research comes from many disciplines, including psychology, sociology, economics, management, marketing, communications, journalism, broadcasting, history, musicology, and statistics.

America’s most trusted and best-known film critic Roger Ebert presents one hundred brilliant essays on some of the best movies ever made. Roger Ebert, the famed film writer and critic, wrote biweekly essays for a feature called "The Great Movies," in which he offered a fresh and fervent appreciation of a great film. The Great Movies collects one hundred of these essays, each one of them a gem of critical appreciation and an amalgam of love, analysis, and history that will send readers back to that film with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm–or perhaps to an avid first-time viewing. Ebert’s selections range widely across genres, periods, and nationalities, and from the highest achievements in film art to justly beloved and wildly successful popular entertainments. Roger Ebert manages in these essays to combine a truly populist appreciation for our most important form of popular art with a scholar’s erudition and depth of knowledge and a sure aesthetic sense. Wonderfully enhanced by stills selected by Mary Corliss, the film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, The Great Movies is a treasure trove for film lovers of all persuasions, an unrivaled guide for viewers, and a book to return to again and again. The Great Movies includes: All About Eve • Bonnie and Clyde • Casablanca • Citizen Kane • The Godfather • Jaws • La Dolce Vita • Metropolis • On the Waterfront • Psycho • The Seventh Seal • Sweet Smell of Success • Taxi Driver • The Third Man • The Wizard of Oz • and eighty-five more films.

Ideal choice for fans of the LEGO movie who want to try stop-motion animation in their own movies Provides practical tips on how to film using stop-motion animation Professional advice on art, lighting, effects, and more Did you love the LEGO movie? Are you inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and other professional filmmakers? Would you like to learn how to use the LEGO blocks in your house for more than building? If so, then this book is for you. From lighting to storytelling, this guide will lead you through making your own stop-motion animation films with LEGOs. You may have seen the LEGO movie. Now it’s time for you to be the director and make your own. This guide will walk you through the steps of making a LEGO movie. It covers crafting a story, cinetech, animation, and the dynamics of making your vision come to life. Become a filmmaker and learn about directing with this clever and thorough guide.

"The book is divided into ten genres, with fifty films appearing in each category. Each entry includes a synopsis of the plot, details of awards for which it was nominated and those it won, and fascinating background or insider knowledge about the making of the movie. Contains over a century of film history"--Page 4 of cover.

Awesome, weird and wonderful flicks from four corners of the globe Praise for Marc Fennell 'Witty, irreverent and fun ...' Good Reading 'Gold!' Cleo 'A film companion with a difference' Daily News Which nation is best equipped to survive a zombie apocalypse? Why do obese moustachioed Tamil action stars make the best politicians? What fictional country links Predator, Commando and Die Hard 2? Planet According to the Movies is your official armchair guide to our tiny, weird planet as projected on cinema screens. It's 30% travel guide, 30% film reviews, 10% racial profiling handbook and 45% testament to the fact that maths is hard. Australia's most listened-to film critic, Marc Fennell (triple j, SBS TV, That Movie Book), tells the hidden stories behind the movies you know and love -- from the Wizard of Oz to Life of Pi -- and introduces you to a world of cinema you never knew existed. Discover Japan's Calamari Wrestler, Indonesia's Lady Terminator, Turkey's remake of E.T. and North Korea's answer to Godzilla, which was executive-produced by Kim Jong-Il himself. Who needs a plane to travel the world when you can do it all from your couch, you shameful slob! 'Tying it all together is Fennell's irreverent humour and gift for colourful descriptors ... fun and informative.' Empire Magazine

Lists and reviews alternative and underground films that have achieved cult status.