As we get closer to the holiday season, you’re probably thinking about cool gifts for your friends, relatives and that person in the office who you actually don’t joining you for lunch. If any of those people are film fans, Schiffer Publishing has a few books they might like. You might like them too. Kevin Smith: His Films and Fans is a pictorial history of the director of Clerks and Mallrats. See how he went from actual clerk at the Quickstop to a big name filmmaker and podcaster. The Art of the Classic Western Movie Poster is perfect for your father who probably watches Gunsmoke all day long. Ed Hulse has collected the imagery that brought people to the theaters for decades. Finally there’s Mine’s Bigger Than Yours: The 10 Wackiest Action Movies. If you’re a fan of Cannon Films, you might be surprised to learn that there were films freakier than the ones starring Robert Ginty. Here’s the details about the books:
Kevin Smith: His Films and Fans
by David Gati – Available Now
The Art of the Classic Western Movie Poster
by Ed Hulse – Coming March 28th
Mine’s Bigger Than Yours: The 100 Wackiest Action Movies
by Christopher Lombardo and Jeff Kirschner – Available Now
KEVIN SMITH: HIS FILMS AND FANS
By David Gati
This photo-filled biography celebrates the life, films, and fans of the director responsible for such indie cult classics as Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
Movie-industry veteran David Gati has compiled and edited a humorous and insightful look at Smith’s nearly 30-year filmmaking journey.
Through Smith’s own funny, honest, and uncensored stories—taken from podcasts, Q&As, and documentaries—readers get to know him as a person, the struggles he’s been through, and the people he’s worked with, as well as his process for writing, directing, casting, shooting, editing, and showing his films to the public.
- The book is arranged chronologically with each chapter exploring how an aspect of Kevin’s life is reflected in one of his 14 films.Not to be overlooked is Smith’s outsized fan base, who relate to the director’s down-to-earth persona and his geeky, sometimes juvenile, often-nostalgic regular-person characters. Gati uses their fan art to add a visual facet to the book’s colorful narrative gems.Rounding out this scrapbook presentation are on-set stills, candid personal photos, and memorabilia. The result is an exploration of how films affect and reflect the popular culture of their time, with a light-hearted analysis of the phenomenon of fandom. This unusual biography is a must-have collectible dedicated to a member of the ’90s independent filmmakers—which includes Quentin Tarantino, Allison Anders, Robert Rodriguez, Hal Hartley, and Spike Lee—whose relevance and popularity will only continue to grow.
Recently, Smith held an auction at Bodnar’s for his original comic book art and related items. The auction house reported that more than 3,000 registered bidders from 40 countries participated and all 176 lots were sold, yielding a grand total of $458,400. Click HERE for the full story.
DETAILS:
Size: 11.0in x 8.5in
Pages: 200 | 140+ full color
Binding: Hardback
ISBN: 9780764363931
PRICE: $24.99
| The book begins with a fact-heavy introduction that details how western movies became popular as a result of America’s fascination with the Wild West, as portrayed in dime novels and pulp-fiction magazines. How and when the genre archetypes—white hat vs. black hat, the cowboy’s love for his horse, the western hero as roving do-gooder—were fixed is discussed. The difference between “A” and “B” movies and which westerns fit into those categories are also explained (“A”s including such movies as Stagecoach, Destry Rides Again, and True Grit, and “B”s such films as Gold Mine in the Sky, Saga of Death Valley, and Hopalong Cassidy, and the likes of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers). Each chapter devotes a special feature to a specific “western” star, writer, director, stuntman, or leading lady. Also included are the author’s firsthand interviews conducted from as far back as the mid-1970s. This unique book is a celebration of the American motion picture’s first and most enduringly popular genre. Coming March 28th |
Size: 10.0in x 11.0in
Pages: 320 | 800 color and b/w photos
Binding: Hardback
ISBN: 9780764367960
PRICE: $59.99
| MINE’S BIGGER THAN YOURS:THE 100 WACKIEST ACTION MOVIES By Christopher Lombardo and Jeff Kirschner A celebration of the wildest and weirdest that action cinema has to offer, the hosts of the Really Awful Movies podcast take you on a fun-filled pilgrimage through the nuttiest movies in the genre. Traversing both decades and continents, these 100 titles reach beyond the typical patron saints of action, giving unsung genre heroes like Vic Diaz, Reb Brown, and Godfrey Ho their due. Our intrepid hosts have highlighted action gems with all of the necessary components for greatness: Heroes! Villains! Henchmen! But something’s typically missing. Usually, it’s a budget. Often, it’s talent. But that doesn’t mean these films aren’t as entertaining as any mainstream fare. |
| Divided into nine chapters by subgenre, featuring stills and posters, and with a foreword by genre icon Brian Trenchard-Smith, Mine’s Bigger Than Yours is a romp through the world of fisticuffs, jailbreaks, pit fighting, mercenaries, and really big explosions—all the stuff that makes action movies great. Available Now |
Pages: 240 | 90 color images
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 9780764360251
PRICE: $29.99
