Blockbuster Video Guide To Movies And Videos 1995

The respected expert in video sales and rentals offers an extensive reference guide of every film available on video--from new releases, classics and golden oldies to made-for-TV and foreign films. More than 20,000 entries, cross-indexed by title, director, celebrity, category, and more.

With over 300 new entries added since the 1995 edition, this ultimate video guidebook for all video viewers gives a clear plot summary of each film, an MPAA rating, and extensive indices. From new releases to classics, foreign films to children's viewing, this reference contains over 20,000 entries of films available on video.

From Blockbuster Video, America's number one video source, comes the ultimate film guide. Each entry provides a clear, unbiased plot summary, MPAA ratings, extensive indices, and quality rating on a one-to-five star system. This one-stop reference is the handiest and most complete video authority on new releases, classics, made-for-tv, children's, and foreign films.

Containing over 21,000 entries, This is the most complete video guide available. It features an easy-to-use A-Z format for finding films available on video, and is cross-indexed by title, director, celebrity and film category. Special section lists films suitable for children.

Videoland offers a comprehensive view of the "tangible phase" of consumer video, when Americans largely accessed movies as material commodities at video rental stores. Video stores served as a vital locus of movie culture from the early 1980s until the early 2000s, changing the way Americans socialized around movies and collectively made movies meaningful. When films became tangible as magnetic tapes and plastic discs, movie culture flowed out from the theater and the living room, entered the public retail space, and became conflated with shopping and salesmanship. In this process, video stores served as a crucial embodiment of movie culture’s historical move toward increased flexibility, adaptability, and customization. In addition to charting the historical rise and fall of the rental industry, Herbert explores the architectural design of video stores, the social dynamics of retail encounters, the video distribution industry, the proliferation of video recommendation guides, and the often surprising persistence of the video store as an adaptable social space of consumer culture. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, cultural geography, and archival research, Videoland provides a wide-ranging exploration of the pivotal role video stores played in the history of motion pictures, and is a must-read for students and scholars of media history.

Blondie, Boston Blackie, Ellery Queen, The Lone Wolf, Gasoline Alley, Jungle Jim... There were 27 film series produced and released by Columbia Pictures from 1926 through 1955. This reference book covers the origins of the popular fictional characters featured, as well as their appearances in other media (comics, novels, radio and television). Also provided are thumbnail biographies of the actors who brought these characters to life. The films themselves are examined in detail, with release dates, cast and production credits, synopses, reviews, the author's summation, the publicity "tag lines," and the songs heard. Additionally, most of the outdoor locations used in filming such Columbia western series as Wild Bill Saunders and The Durango Kid are identified.

The acting profession is increasingly drawing more and more actors of Asian descent. Yet, even with the success of television programs (Martial Law), films (Mulan), and even Broadway plays (Miss Saigon) that include Asian characters, there are still limited roles for these actors. In the past, Asian characters like Charlie Chan and Fu Manchu were played by non-Asian actors in makeup. Many of the roles available for Asians today tend to be stereotypical: kung-fu sidekicks, emasculated or gang-member males, sexually accessible females, comic characters with a poor command of English. Seldom are Asian actors cast in race-neutral roles. Despite these obstacles, many excellent Asian actors continue to seek their places on screen and stage. This analysis of Asian American opportunities and experiences in the acting profession features the narratives of both aspiring and established Asian-American actors, providing a detailed examination of the opportunities, prejudices, and fears they face and the goals they set for themselves. The book covers the insights of both New York and Hollywood based actors, both the well known and the up-and-coming, and includes photographs, bibliography and index.