Collecting 101 noir movie posters of, arguably, the greatest noir films ever made (including classics The Maltese Falcon, Laura, and Double Indemnity). Reproduced in a stunningly designed, over-sized format that shows off the spectacular visual elan of Hollywood movie posters at their best, the book is not only a spectacular showcase of film noir art, but also establishes the crucial films and identifies their key characteristics, with critical commentary on each film by author and scholar Mark Fertig. This is an ideal handbook for noir rookies, a valuable resource for old-hats, and a visual feast for fans of film noir and American entertainment art.

Crime and punishment on the dark side of French society, as reflected in the silver screen.

This is a comprehensive comparative analysis of the screwball comedy and film noir genres--two popular Hollywood staples that emerged around the same time. Despite their contrast in tone and theme, "Screwball" and "Noir" have many narrative elements in common. The author defines the two genres, discusses their historical development and inter-related conventions, and offers detailed comparative analyses of a number of films, among them The Lady Eve and His Girl Friday (screwballs), and Gilda and Sunset Blvd. (noirs).

How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling is an instructional book based on the cinematic, high contrast noir style of acclaimed comic book and graphic novel illustrator, Shawn Martinbrough. Martinbrough’s work has been published by DC Comics, Vertigo and Marvel Comics, illustrating stories ranging from Batman to the X-Men. This is his first book, released through Watson-Guptill Publications and The Nielsen Company. In How to Draw Noir Comics, Martinbrough shows how the expert use of the color black is critical for drawing noir comics. He demonstrates how to set a mood, design characters and locations, stage action and enhance drama, and discusses important topics like page layout, panel design, and cover design. How to Draw Noir Comics includes The Truce, an original graphic novel written and illustrated by Martinbrough which incorporates the many lessons addressed throughout the book, and has an introduction by critically-acclaimed novelist Greg Rucka, author of the graphic novel Whiteout, currently in production as a major motion picture.

From Double Indemnity to La Femme Nikita, this comprehensive video renter's guide covers films both classic and modern, foreign and domestic. Each entry includes a concise plot summary and complete screen credits.

With its focus on dangerous, determined femmes fatales, hardboiled detectives, and crimes that almost-but-never-quite succeed, film noir has long been popular with moviegoers and film critics alike. Film noir was a staple of classical Hollywood filmmaking during the years 1941-1958 and has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity since the 1990s. Dames in the Driver's Seat offers new views of both classical-era and contemporary noirs through the lenses of gender, class, and race. Jans Wager analyzes how changes in film noir's representation of women's and men's roles, class status, and racial identities mirror changes in a culture that is now often referred to as postmodern and postfeminist. Following introductory chapters that establish the theoretical basis of her arguments, Wager engages in close readings of the classic noirs The Killers, Out of the Past, and Kiss Me Deadly and the contemporary noirs L. A. Confidential, Mulholland Falls, Fight Club, Twilight, Fargo, and Jackie Brown. Wager divides recent films into retro-noirs (made in the present, but set in the 1940s and 1950s) and neo-noirs (made and set in the present but referring to classic noir narratively or stylistically). Going beyond previous studies of noir, her perceptive readings of these films reveal that retro-noirs fulfill a reactionary social function, looking back nostalgically to outdated gender roles and racial relations, while neo-noirs often offer more revisionary representations of women, though not necessarily of people of color.

A provocative chronicle of the guerilla art movement that changed comics forever, this comprehensive book follows the movements of 50 artists from 1967 to 1972, the heyday of the underground comix movement. With the cooperation of every significant underground cartoonist of the period, including R. Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Bill Griffith, Art Spiegelman, Jack Jackson, S. Clay Wilson, Robert Williams and many more, the book is illustrated with many neve-before-seen drawings and exclusive photos.

A fabulous series of pictorial movie encyclopedias spanning the early days of the movie industry to the present. Drawn from the author's research and personal archives, this book presents movie posters as an art form as well as a slice of America's history. High quality, all colour reproduction and accurate text makes this book excellent for reference, while movie lovers will delight in the opportunity to remember their favourite film.