Fashionista. Comedian. Thief? Brand-new school, brand-new me? Try again. Having a famous sister doesn’t make me special at my posh Beverly Hills academy. But I am getting a lot of attention. Photos are disappearing faster than MTV swag bags from my classmates’ lockers–and blaming the new girl is the reaction du jour. I can't bother my almost-boyfriend Jeremy with my problems–and solving Project Photo Frame-Up is only one of them. The rest of my schedule: convincing my friends that I’m not a kleptomaniac, helping Eva nail her Serious Actress audition, and doing Jeremy a favor that makes my brain hurt. Is a Hollywood ending in sight? Not. Even. Close.

JEREMY. :) ALEX. :( HEATHCLIFF?Now that we're living in Hollywood, Eva thinks anything is possible - including casting the part of my boyfriend! As for the players: one's an actor (bad sign), one's a snobby rich kid (worse sign), and one doesn't even exist (stop sign). Guess who my sister picked?

When gutsy redhead Millie McLancey defies her humble beginnings to pursue a life on the stage, she becomes the first of four generations of inspiring women to taste success in the glossy, yet precarious, world of show business. Taking us on a thrilling ride from the West End, to Broadway, to Hollywood, and a breathtaking finale in New York, Star Quality is a stirring tale of ambition, betrayal, sex and survival that is as gripping and fascinating as the celebrity world itself.

This first collection of critical essays on Preston Sturges-director, screenwriter, comic genius of Hollywood-reawakens interest in the filmmaker's life and works and reminds readers why his movies continue to be culturally significant and immensely enjoyable.

The 1940s saw a brief audacious experiment in mass entertainment: a jukebox with a screen. Patrons could insert a dime, then listen to and watch such popular entertainers as Nat "King" Cole, Gene Krupa, Cab Calloway or Les Paul. A number of companies offered these tuneful delights, but the most successful was the Mills Novelty Company and its three-minute musical shorts called Soundies. This book is a complete filmography of 1,880 Soundies: the musicians heard and seen on screen, recording and filming dates, arrangers, soloists, dancers, entertainment trade reviews and more. Additional filmographies cover more than 80 subjects produced by other companies. There are 125 photos taken on film sets, along with advertising images and production documents. More than 75 interviews narrate the firsthand experiences and recollections of Soundies directors and participants. Forty years before MTV, the Soundies were there for those who loved the popular music of the 1940s. This was truly "music for the eyes."

Edited by two renowned Allen experts, A Companion to Woody Allen presents a collection of 26 original essays on the director’s films. Contributions offer a number of divergent critical perspectives while expanding the contexts in which his work is understood. A timely companion by the authors of two of the most important books on Allen to date Illuminates the films of Woody Allen from a number of divergent critical perspectives Explores the contexts in which his work should be understood Assesses Allen’s remarkable filmmaking career from its early beginnings and investigates the conflicts and contradictions that suffuse it Discusses Allen’s recognition as a global cinematic figure

Get the Summary of Hayley Mills's Forever Young in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. "Forever Young" by Hayley Mills is an autobiography that chronicles the life and career of the English actress, from her unexpected casting in "Tiger Bay" at age twelve to her coming of age in the 1960s. Born into a theatrical family, Mills grew up in a nurturing environment, though her boarding school years were challenging. Her acting career began serendipitously when director J. Lee Thompson cast her in "Tiger Bay," leading to a successful screen test and her acclaimed performance...

In 2004, roughly 25 makeover-themed reality shows aired on U.S. television. By 2009, there were more than 250, from What Not to Wear and The Biggest Loser to Dog Whisperer and Pimp My Ride. In Makeover TV, Brenda R. Weber argues that whether depicting transformations of bodies, trucks, finances, relationships, kids, or homes, makeover shows posit a self achievable only in the transition from the “Before-body”—the overweight figure, the decrepit jalopy, the cluttered home—to the “After-body,” one filled with confidence, coded with celebrity, and imbued with a renewed faith in the powers of meritocracy. The rationales and tactics invoked to achieve the After-body vary widely, from the patriotic to the market-based, and from talk therapy to feminist empowerment. The genre is unified by its contradictions: to uncover your “true self,” you must be reinvented; to be empowered, you must surrender to experts; to be special, you must look and act like everyone else. Based on her analysis of more than 2,500 hours of makeover TV, Weber argues that the much-desired After-body speaks to and makes legible broader cultural narratives about selfhood, citizenship, celebrity, and Americanness. Although makeovers are directed at both male and female viewers, their gendered logic requires that feminized subjects submit to the controlling expertise wielded by authorities. The genre does not tolerate ambiguity. Conventional (middle-class, white, ethnically anonymous, heterosexual) femininity is the goal of makeovers for women. When subjects are male, makeovers often compensate for perceived challenges to masculine independence by offering men narrative options for resistance or control. Foregoing a binary model of power and subjugation, Weber provides an account of makeover television that is as appreciative as it is critical. She reveals the makeover show as a rich and complicated text that expresses cultural desires and fears through narratives of selfhood.

Lights. Camera. Backstabbing. My sister, Eva, just hit the big time as a TV teen–but the big time is hitting back. Someone on the set is planting lies about her in the gossip columns. Can I crack the case before Eva becomes just another falling star? My camera is trained on two jealous actresses, one kick-butt publicist, and the boy next door (well, he plays one on TV). No one is playing their part as expected. As it turns out . . . not even me.