Film and Visual Narrative

A comprehensive resource, this book reviews current and historical examples of violence in film, television, radio, music, music videos, video games, and novels.

An up-to-date and indispensable guide for film history buffs of all kind, this book surveys more than 500 major films based on true stories and historical subject matter.

Since the 1980s, pop culture has focused on what makes a villain a villain. The Joker, Darth Vader, and Hannibal Lecter have all been placed under the microscope to get to the origins of their villainy. Additionally, such bad guys as Angelus from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows have emphasized the desire for redemption--in even the darkest of villains. Various incarnations of Lucifer/Satan have even gone so far as to explore the very foundations of what we consider "evil." The American Villain: Encyclopedia of Bad Guys in Comics, Film, and Television seeks to collect all of those stories into one comprehensive volume.

Under the Franco regime (1939-1976), films produced in Spain were of poor quality, promoted the regime's agenda, or were heavily censored. After the dictator's death, the Spanish film industry transitioned into a new era, one in which artists were able to more freely express themselves and tackle subjects that had been previously stifled. Today, films produced in Spain are among the most highly regarded in world cinema. The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Spanish Films features nearly 300 entries on the written by a host of international scholars and film critics.

In this genre-defying work of cultural history, the chief film critic of Slate places comedy legend and acclaimed filmmaker Buster Keaton's unique creative genius in the context of his time.

A full-speed-ahead oral history of the nearly two-decade making of the cultural phenomenon Mad Max: Fury Road--with more than 130 new interviews with key members of the cast and crew, including Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy, and director George Miller, from the pop culture reporter for The New York Times, Kyle Buchanan.

How did a low-budget British movie about Londoners battling zombies in a pub become a beloved global pop culture phenomenon? You've Got Red on You details the previously untold story of 2004's Shaun of the Dead, the hilarious, terrifying horror-comedy whose fan base continues to grow and grow.

In Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games author Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall analyzes how films and video games from around the world have depicted slave revolt, focusing on the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804). This event, the first successful revolution by enslaved people in modern history, sent shock waves throughout the Atlantic World.