ReFocus: the Films of John Hughes PDF Download

Author: Frances Smith
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781474449021
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The films of John Hughes (1950-2009) have enjoyed popular and critical success alike, from his first scripts in the early 1980s through to his celebrated work later in the decade and into the 1990s. While Hughes is best remembered for his stories about teenagers, such as Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), almost all of his films deal with comical conflicts within everyday American families. He directed eight films and wrote over thirty in a career spanning a quarter of a century, and is fondly remembered for influencing American perceptions of - and appreciation for - the daily lives of (primarily) common citizens. This wide-ranging collection examines the films of John Hughes from diverse angles, considering how he depicted young characters, how he revealed the humour of family life, and how his films subtly critiqued social issues such as class, race, gender, education and domestic relationships. Timothy Shary is a professor of communications at Eastern Florida State College. Frances Smith is Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Sussex.

Author: Thomas A. Christie
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493050842
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
Looking for a comprehensive chronicle of the films of legendary director, screenwriter, and producer John Hughes? You’re holding it in your hands. Covering the entirety of Hughes's career, from his earliest features through to his mainstream box-office successes, John Hughes FAQ explores the key factors that contributed to his legendary status in the world of cinema. While Hughes has become especially well known for the eight films that he directed between 1984 and 1991—including Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)—he made a considerably greater contribution to cinema through the dozens of high-profile screenplays that he developed for production throughout the '80s and '90s. John Hughes FAQ investigates many different aspects of Hughes's prolific career in film—discussing his distinctive flair for creating entertaining and engaging characters, his enthusiasm for new technology and eventful road trips, and his insightful social commentary on class and culture. Considering the entire sweep of Hughes's work behind the camera, John Hughes FAQ focuses not only on the popular classics of his filmography but also on many of his movies that have achieved a certain cultural prominence over the passing years.

Author: Jason Diamond
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 006242484X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
For all fans of John Hughes and his hit films such as National Lampoon’s Vacation, Sixteen Candles, and Home Alone, comes Jason Diamond’s hilarious memoir of growing up obsessed with the iconic filmmaker’s movies—a preoccupation that eventually convinces Diamond he should write Hughes’ biography and travel to New York City on a quest that is as funny as it is hopeless. For as long as Jason Diamond can remember, he’s been infatuated with John Hughes’ movies. From the outrageous, raunchy antics in National Lampoon’s Vacation to the teenage angst in The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink to the insanely clever and unforgettable Home Alone, Jason could not get enough of Hughes’ films. And so the seed was planted in his mind that it should fall to him to write a biography of his favorite filmmaker. It didn’t matter to Jason that he had no qualifications, training, background, platform, or direction. Thus went the years-long, delusional, earnest, and assiduous quest to reach his goal. But no book came out of these years, and no book will. What he did get was a story that fills the pages of this unconventional, hilarious memoir. In Searching for John Hughes, Jason tells how a Jewish kid from a broken home in a Chicago suburb—sometimes homeless, always restless—found comfort and connection in the likewise broken lives in the suburban Chicago of John Hughes’ oeuvre. He moved to New York to become a writer. He started to write a book he had no business writing. In the meantime, he brewed coffee and guarded cupcake cafes. All the while, he watched John Hughes movies religiously. Though his original biography of Hughes has long since been abandoned, Jason has discovered he is a writer through and through. And the adversity of going for broke has now been transformed into wisdom. Or, at least, a really, really good story. In other words, this is a memoir of growing up. One part big dream, one part big failure, one part John Hughes movies, one part Chicago, and one part New York. It’s a story of what comes after the “Go for it!” part of the command to young creatives to pursue their dreams—no matter how absurd they might seem at first.

Author: Kirk Honeycutt
Publisher:
ISBN: 1631060228
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
John Hughes: A Life in Film is the first complete illustrated tribute to the legendary mind ehind Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and The Breakfast Club.

Author: Kirk Honeycutt
Publisher: Race Point Publishing
ISBN: 1627886230
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
"I stumbled into this business, I didn't train for it. I yelled "Action!" on my first two movies before the camera was turned on." - John Hughes John Hughes wrote 46 movies, produced 23, and directed 8. He never went to film school, never spent time studying film and its history, but was unusually adept in three key areas -- writing, directing and producing. Classics like Mr. Mom; Sixteen Candles; The Breakfast Club; European Vacation; Weird Science; Pretty in Pink; Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Uncle Buck; Christmas Vacation; Home Alone; and Beethoven will forever live on in the history of film. Launching the careers of Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and James Spader, and working with greats like John Candy and Chevy Chase, John Hughes's influence can still be felt today. John Hughes: A Life in Film, by Kirk Honeycutt, former chief film critic at The Hollywood Reporter, is the first complete illustrated tribute to the legendary writer and director, and includes fresh interviews with Judd Nelson, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Columbus, Steve Martin, and more.

Author: Frances Smith
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474404626
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Refocus: The Films of Amy Heckerling is the first book-length study of the work of Amy Heckerling, the phenomenally popular director and screenwriter of Clueless and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. As such, the book constitutes a significant intervention in Film Studies, prompting a reconsideration of the importance of Heckerling both in the development of Teen cinema, and as a figure in Hollywood comedy. As part of the Refocus series, the volume brings together outstanding original essays examining Heckerling's work from a variety of perspectives, including film, television and cultural studies and is destined to be used widely in undergraduate teaching.

Author: Leah Ruth Shafer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Author: Thomas A. Christie
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781861714367
Category : Teen films
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
JOHN HUGHES AND EIGHTIES CINEMA John Hughes is the acclaimed writer and director of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink and many other classic movies of the 1980s. This book is the first full-length analysis of all of John Hughes's films throughout the 1980s; not only the features that he directed, but also those for which he provided the screenplay. By analysing these pictures and discussing their social and cultural significance in the wider context of the decade, Hughes's importance as a filmmaker will be considered, and his prominent contribution to cinema assessed. The book concludes with a detailed analysis of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a film which is considered to be among Hughes's most critically successful works and also one of his most structurally refined. The new edition has been updated and revised in the wake of John Hughes' death in 2009. Fully illustrated. With bibliography, filmography and notes. 376 pages. ISBN 9781861714367. www.crmoon.com REVIEW ON AMAZON If like me, you were fortunate enough to live through and grow up during the 80's and early 90's, you'll remember just how rich comedy was back then. This book on it's own puts most comedies of the modern era to shame as it is a homage to one of the most talented minds in the game. I am of course speaking of none other than the late great John Hughes. This is a great book for getting into the details of how a master of his art came about and created such cinematic gems. Hughes will be sorely missed which is why books like this keep his spirit and work alive! I'd say this book is for people who are nostalgic 20-somethings or cinema buffs, but all-round a good book for just about anyone who would like to know what made one of the funniest minds of Hollywood tick. EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION: Think of the American cinema of the 1980s, and your mind is instantly bombarded by dozens and dozens of flamboyant moving images from this most distinctive of cinematic decades. You might be thinking of films which became classics such as Irvin Kershner's The Empire Strikes (1980), Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future (1985), or possibly even Tim Burton's Batman (1989). It was a decade that gave birth to some film franchises - one need only call to mind John Rambo's explosive first appearance in Ted Kotcheff's First Blood (1982), the harrowing exploits of Officer Murphy in Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop (1987), or even the improbably long-running knockabout antics of Cadet Mahoney and his fellow recruits which began with Hugh Wilson's Police Academy (1984). It was against this creatively abundant background of the Eighties film world that audiences were first introduced to the work of influential director and screenwriter John Hughes (1950-2009). Today Hughes is just as well known for the scripts he created for hugely popular family films throughout the 1990s, including Chris Columbus's blockbuster Home Alone (1990), Brian Levant's Beethoven (1992) and Nick Castle's Dennis the Menace (1993), written under his pen-name of Edmond Dantes. But even these accomplishments couldn't compare to the artistic diversity of his output throughout the eighties. Although it is easy to remember Hughes for his meteorically successful teen movies right the way through the including The Breakfast Club (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day (1986), he was every bit as adroit in his handling of suburban satires such as Mr Mom (1983) and Uncle Buck (1989), his wry observations of the great American holiday in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) and The Great Outdoors (1988), the trials of an exasperated everyman commuter in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and the expectation of anxious new parents in She's Having a Baby (1988). Throughout the course of Hughes's career, there has rarely been a lack of variety in his choice of subject matter.

Author: Lafontaine Andree Lafontaine
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474444601
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Ever since his first feature film I Killed My Mother premiered at Cannes, every film from the 29-year-old director Xavier Dolan has generated significant critical interest. A recipient of numerous awards, Dolan has recently taken his career to an international level with The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. As the first book-length study about Dolan, with case studies of key films like Mommy (2014), Tom at the Farm (2013) and It's Only the End of the World (2016), this volume explores the global reach of small national and subnational cinemas. In particular, it uses Dolan's cinema as a departure point to reconsider the position of Qubec film and cultural imaginary within a global cinematic culture, as well as the intersections between national, millennial and queer filmmaking.

Author: Moore Michelle E. Moore
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474462065
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Offers the first comprehensive academic text to explore Paul Schrader's film career through analysis of his directing, screenwriting, and film criticismContains a chapter-length interview, in which Schrader examines the arc of his career for the first time and revises previous statements about filmmaking and film criticismProvides a valuable update to previous texts on SchraderConsiders Schrader's overlooked films and provides new insight into their connections with Schrader's better known filmsContains chapters on Schrader's work since 2008, the publication date of the last book on his filmmakingPaul Schrader's unique relationship to the role of the author (as screenwriter, director and critic) has long informed his cinema, and raises complicated questions about the definition of the auteur. This volume of essays - one of the first collections to assess Schrader's contributions to directing, screenwriting and criticism - includes the first original appraisals of his much-lauded masterpiece First Reformed (2017), as well as a chapter-length interview with Schrader himself, conducted by the editors. Providing a comprehensive exploration of his groundbreaking achievements in cinema, the book considers Schrader's more overlooked films and provides new insights to their connection with his celebrated work in direction and screenwriting such as Taxi Driver (1976), Cat People (1982) and The Comfort of Strangers (1990).