If you or someone you know is a massive lover of cinema, then these are all absolute must-reads.
If you love all things about film, then chances are you’ll dedicate some time to wanting to know more about it.
But with so many books on every aspect of cinema, it can be daunting to know where to start.
To help kick off your movie book library, here are five recommendations:
Guillermo Del Toro – Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan is one of the few household name film critics in the world, so when he decides to focus on a topic, you’d better sit up and pay attention. So ahead of the release of Del Toro’s new potential Oscar-magnet Nightmare Alley (trailer below), take a look at this gorgeous trip through the director’s eclectic and brilliant CV, including The Shape of Water, Hellboy, Pan’s Labryinth and loads more.
Which Lie Did I Tell? – William Goldman
Two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman brings us through his career in the most entertaining, behind-the-curtain way possible. He’s the guy behind Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, Misery, All The President’s Men, The Princess Bride and loads more, and he talks to other huge screenwriters in a very accessible way about what makes a script jump off the page for those who want to make it a reality.
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls – Peter Biskind
Following the low budget hit of Easy Rider, Hollywood had a bit of a shake-up, looking for the next low-cost, big-return, Oscar-friendly kinda-indie, kinda-not blockbuster. Biskind does a deep dive on the beginnings of what many referred to as the best era of Hollywood filmmaking, and how it ended up both for the better and the worse for movie-making in the decades that followed.
As If! The Oral History of Clueless – Jen Chaney
The cast and crew of this iconic 90s teen comedy reunited to tell the story of how this modern retelling of a Jane Austen classic novel (yep!) came to be. Still one of the most quoted movies of the last few decades (“What? I totally paused…”), it reads like the making of the movie was just as fun as it was for us to watch the finished product.
The Wes Anderson Collection – Matt Zoller Seitz
One of the visually distinct directors around, once you’ve dive into the likes of The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Royal Tenenbaums or The Life Aquatic, then you immediately know that you’re watching a Wes Anderson movie. This book is a beautiful collection of those lush, vibrant images, and another perfect timing match with the release of his brand new movie, The French Dispatch (trailer below).
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