Movies matter – that is the message of Reel to Real, bell hooks’ classic collection of essays on film. They matter on a personal level, providing us with unforgettable moments, even life-changing experiences and they can confront us, too, with the most profound social issues of race, sex and class. Here bell hooks – one of America’s most celebrated and thrilling cultural critics – talks back to films that have moved and provoked her, from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction to the work of Spike Lee. Including also her conversations with master filmmakers such as Charles Burnett and Julie Dash, Reel to Real is a must read for anyone who believes that movies are worth arguing about.

All too often, highly fictionalized cinematic depictions of the past are accepted as the unassailable truth by those unfamiliar with the "real" account. This book profiles sixty movies that portray actual moments in history, and compares the mythologized account of each event to what really happened. Movies chronicled include The Ten Commandments, Spartacus, A Man for All Seasons, Gladiator, Gandhi, Apollo 13, The Thin Red Line, Dances with Wolves, Braveheart, The Last Emperor, All the Presidents Men, Mutiny on the Bounty, Gone with the Wind, Bonnie & Clyde, Patton, and Elizabeth. Sanello also contrasts several historical figures with their filmed treatments, including Julius Caesar, Henry V, Christopher Columbus, Joan of Arc, Sir Thomas More, Jesus Christ, Catherine the Great, Sigmund Freud, and Harry Houdini. Lavishly illustrated with sixty film stills, Reel v. Real shows how a happening's genuine details are frequently reshaped and distorted by Hollywood's bottomless appetite for over-the-top flamboyance and melodrama.

Martin Sohn-Rethel brings a lifetime of teaching film and media to bear on developing a new approach to analyzing the "realism" of the moving image

Short fictions that examine meaning through a cinematic lens.

As the cradle-religion I belong to has been, at every age, probing into her managing and conserving of the Mmysterious Ttreasures entrusted to her, with the enlightenment, offered by Vatican Council II, I too longed to scrutinize my own handling of Catholic Christian Ffaith. I wanted to examine whether the religion I practice personally was real or reel? tTrue or false? gGenuine or false? aAuthentic or artificial? hHeartfelt or routine? fFruitful or poisonous? oOriginal or counterfeit? sSingle-hearted or double-hearted? Certainly, as a priest I had lot of occasions like recollections and retreats regularly to regularly assess the genuineness of my religious holdings and practices. Though I began 10ten years back, gathering all my scribbles and journals of evaluation about my personal religion, I started putting them seriously into a book form only after Pope Benedict XVI announced year 2012 as the Year of Faith. I considered it a call from God who wanted to befriend me more intensely and to promote to my friends this habit of assessing ones own faith. This is how this book was conceived and shaped. This book can be considered as a self-imposed act of examining my conscience about the identity, nature, and application, and practice of religion in my life. I hope and pray this effort of mine will surely assist my readers do the same, not only during this Year of Faith as it would be ended 24 November 24, 2013;, but also later on in life when tumult of waves and trials is daunting against our faith and religion.

Books that blend explorations of pop music with a coming-of-age memoir have become bestsellers for authors like Nick Hornby and Chuck Klosterman. I take the concept one step further in my proposed book, "Reel to Real by Reel," which features uncut interviews--collected during my days as a music journalist. As the interviews are arranged in chronological order, the book offers two unique reading experiences at once: a look at the uncensored thoughts of touring musicians; and the life story of the author who conducted the interviews: a music fan since birth, a performing musician in his own right, a Christian who often struggles with questions about faith, and an OCD sufferer who finds some relief in music. • Robyn Hitchcock • Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze) • Mike Peters (the Alarm) • Charlie Gillingham (Counting Crows) • Buddy Cage (Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Stir Fried) • Bruce Cockburn • Sean Kelly (the Samples) • Bill Mallonee (Vigilantes of Love) • Tim Finn • Dug Pinnick (King's X) • Alex Lifeson (Rush) • Matt Slocum (Sixpence None the Richer) • Neil Finn (Crowded House) • Michael Sweet (Stryper) • Steve Taylor • Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) • Ray Davies (the Kinks) • Jon Auer (the Posies)

Cinema is often looked upon as a source of entertainment. However, cinema has a much larger purpose to serve. As with any medium of art, cinema must offer an avenue for spiritual enlightenment. It must help us feel, think and reflect on the larger picture of our lives. It must help us build inroads into ourselves. ‘Reel to Real’ is a book that explores the human mind through an analysis of the characters portrayed in Malayalam cinema. It critically analyzes the human mind through the narrative of cinema and draws valuable conclusions with regard to the motivational drives of the human mind. The films mentioned under different themes in this book are valuable in the inferences they draw with regard to the factors that shape mental health. They breathe life into the theories of personality and shape our attitude to mental illness. This would be a valuable guide to film makers, mental health practitioners, parents and teachers. In an era dominated by the progressive deterioration of mental health, there is a need to revive cinema from a psychological perspective. This book bridges science and art, and provides a rare perspective on mental health.