Jon Lewis

The tragic and mysterious circumstances surrounding the deaths of Elizabeth Short, or the Black Dahlia, and Marilyn Monroe ripped open Hollywood’s glitzy façade, exposing the city's ugly underbelly of corruption, crime, and murder. These two spectacular dead bodies, one found dumped and posed in a vacant lot in January 1947, the other found dead in her home in August 1962, bookend this new history of Hollywood. Short and Monroe are just two of the many left for dead after the collapse of the studio system, Hollywood’s awkward adolescence when the company town’s many competing subcultures—celebrities, moguls, mobsters, gossip mongers, industry wannabes, and desperate transients—came into frequent contact and conflict. Hard-Boiled Hollywood focuses on the lives lost at the crossroads between a dreamed-of Los Angeles and the real thing after the Second World War, where reality was anything but glamorous."

Written by a top scholar in the field, American A History gives students a thorough understanding of the fascinating intersection of artistry and economics in Hollywood cinema from the beginning of film history to the present. A beautiful book and a brisk read, American Film is the most enjoyable and interesting overview of the history of American filmmaking available. Focused on aspects of the film business that are of perennial interest to undergraduates, this book will engage students from beginning to end.

Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972) marked a transition in American filmmaking, and its success - as a work of art, as a creative property exploited by its studio, Paramount Pictures, as a model for aspiring filmmakers - changed Hollywood forever. Jon Lewis's study of the film looks at the significance of The Godfather in Hollywood's dramatic box-office turnaround in the 1970s and offers a critical and historical discussion of The Godfather's place within the crime and gangster film genre. Lewis focuses on the film as a commercial as well as an artistic landmark of American auteur cinema, as a singularly important film in Hollywood studio history and as a brilliant reworked modern genre picture that at once adopts and adapts the gangster film.

Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Part II (1974) is a magisterial cinematic work, a gorgeous, stylized, auteur epic, and one of the few sequels judged by many to be greater than its predecessor. This despite the fact that it consists largely of meetings between aspiring 'Godfather' Michael Corleone and fellow gangsters, politicians and family members. The meetings remind us that the modern gangster's success is built upon inside information and on strategic planning. Michael and his father Vito's days resemble those of the legitimate businessmen they aspire or pretend to be. Jon Lewis's study of Coppola's masterpiece provides a close analysis of the film and a discussion of its cinematic and political contexts. It is structured in three “The Sequel,” “The Dissolve,” and “The Sicilian Thing” – accommodating three avenues of inquiry, the film's importance in and to Hollywood history, its unique, auteur style and form; and its cultural significance. Of interest, then, is New Hollywood history, mise-en-scene, and a view of the Corleone saga as a cautionary capitalist parable, as a metaphor of the corruption of American power, post-Vietnam, post-Watergate.

In March 1980 Francis Coppola purchased the dilapidated Hollywood General Studios facility with the hope and dream of creating a radically new kind of studio, one that would revolutionize filmmaking, challenge the established studio machinery, and, most importantly, allow him to make movies as he wished. With this event at the center of Whom God Wishes to Destroy, Jon Lewis offers a behind-the-scenes view of Coppola’s struggle—that of the industry’s best-known auteur—against the changing realities of the New Hollywood of the 1980s. Presenting a Hollywood history steeped in the trade news, rumor, and gossip that propel the industry, Lewis unfolds a lesson about power, ownership, and the role of the auteur in the American cinema. From before the success of The Godfather to the eventual triumph of Apocalypse Now, through the critical upheaval of the 1980s with movies like Rumble Fish, Hammett, Peggy Sue Got Married, to the 1990s and the making of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Kenneth Branagh’s Frankenstein, Francis Coppola’s career becomes the lens through which Lewis examines the nature of making movies and doing business in Hollywood today.

A tale of censorship and regulation at the heart of the modern film industryIn 1972, The Godfather and Deep Throat were the two most popular films in the country. One, a major Hollywood studio production, the other an independently made "skin flick." At that moment, Jon Lewis asserts, the fate of the American film industry hung in the balance.Spanning the 20th century, Hollywood v. Hard Core weaves a gripping tale of censorship and regulation. Since the industry's infancy, film producers and distributors have publicly regarded ratings codes as a necessary evil. Hollywood regulates itself, we have been told, to prevent the government from doing it for them. But Lewis argues that the studios self-regulate because they are convinced it is good for business, and that censorship codes and regulations are a crucial part of what binds the various competing agencies in the film business together.Yet between 1968 and 1973 Hollywood films were faltering at the box office, and the major studios were in deep trouble. Hollywood's principal competition came from a body of independently produced and distributed films―from foreign art house film Last Tango in Paris to hard-core pornography like Behind the Green Door― that were at once disreputable and, for a moment at least, irresistible, even chic. In response, Hollywood imposed the industry-wide MPAA film rating system (the origins of the G, PG, and R designations we have today) that pushed sexually explicit films outside the mainstream, and a series of Supreme Court decisions all but outlawed the theatrical exhibition of hard core pornographic films. Together, these events allowed Hollywood to consolidate its iron grip over what films got made and where they were shown, thus saving it from financial ruin.

Succinct, lively, and affordable, ESSENTIAL AN INTRODUCTION TO FILM ANALYSIS vividly illustrates principles in action as it helps you develop effective skills in close analysis. The book is packed with frame captures you can readily relate to, and it also features interviews with film practitioners throughout, giving you insight into real-world practice. In addition, unique screening questions at the end of each chapter help you apply chapter concepts to any film you watch, while the running glossary and end-of-text illustrated glossary offer easy access to full explanations of concepts.

Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972) marked a transition in American film-making, and its success – as a work of art, as a creative 'property' exploited by its studio, Paramount Pictures; and as a model for aspiring auteurist film-makers – changed Hollywood forever. Jon Lewis's study of The Godfather begins with a close look at the film's audacious visual style (the long, theatrical set pieces; the chiaroscuro lighting, the climactic montage paralleling a family baptism with a series of brutal murders). The analysis of visual style is paired with a discussion of the movie's principal Vito and Michael's attempt to balance the obligations of business and family, their struggle with assimilation, the temptations and pitfalls of capitalist accumulation, and the larger drama of succession from father to son, from one generation to the next. The textual analysis precedes a production history that views The Godfather as a singularly important film in Hollywood's dramatic box-office turnaround in the early 1970s. And then, finally, the book takes a long hard look at the gangster himself both on screen and off. Hollywood publicity attending the gangster film from its inception in the silent era to the present has endeavoured to dull the distinction between the real and movie gangster, insisting that each film has been culled from the day's sordid headlines. Looking at the drama on screen and the production history behind the scenes, Lewis uncovers a series of real gangster backstories, revealing, finally, how millions of dollars of mob money may well have funded the film in the first place, and how, as things played out, The Godfather saved Paramount Studios and the rest of Hollywood as well.

"World Without Young Justice" part 3, continued from IMPULSE #85. Tim Drake finds himself back in Gotham City, but things are amiss--beginning with the triumphant return of his deceased mom! Things only get stranger from there, as it seems Tim never actually became Robin! Continued in SUPERBOY #99!

A very special day for Tim Drake turns terrifying when it becomes apparent one of his enemies has learned his identity and is striking back. And it's not until the Teen Wonder unravels the puzzle that the devastating truth becomes clear!

Robin discovers the secret of the woman claiming to be Nocturna, but he may be too late to save Spoiler. Flames are rushing through Nocturna's apartment, and in trying to rescue the femme fatale, Spoiler has fallen under her controlling spell!

Spoiler's identity has been compromised, and now Robin must risk revealing his to a hidden enemy in order to save her. Meanwhile, the mystery of the Astrology Lady grows, as a series of bizarre events all leads back to her.

Before he was transformed into Charaxis, he was Killer Moth. Now, his legacy is running about town, and mysteries abound as a series of crimes is committed simultaneously--by the same man!

Drury Walker, the man known as Charaxis, is running around committing multiple crimes in Gotham, faster than Robin can keep up with him. Meanwhile, Charaxis is holed up downtown. What the heck is going on? Even an able assist from Nightwing can't keep Robin from getting in over his head.

Batman returns to try and reconcile with Robin, but their tender professional moment is broken as a new villain hits the scene with a bang, hijacking the Batmobile!

Robin must confront the dark fact that someone in the ranks is going to turn traitor in the years to come, plunging Gotham into a deadly war between heroes and vigilantes. If Robin doesn't learn the traitor's identity fast, he'll be relegated to spectator as the world he knows goes to hell!

Possessing information that will affect the very existence of Gotham, Robin races against time to learn who will set in motion a series of violent events. And while his investigation hits one dead end after another, Tim finds himself losing his grip on reality.

Tim and Spoiler solve the riddle of Natalia, but are they too late to save her from a murderous stalker? And what strange gift does the stalker bear that draws his prey to him?

Tim has fallen under the thrall of a mysterious woman, one who might seem familiar to longtime readers. Spoiler's on the case, but when she prevents a murder she steps into an even deeper mystery.

It's the final showdown with Charaxis, but he's not the only threat waddling around Gotham! Even with guest-stars Nightwing and Oracle, Robin's got his hands more than full with the giant, aforementioned bug, and a very real, very deadly threat that imperils Spoiler.

How a new generation of counterculture talent changed the landscape of Hollywood, the film industry, and celebrity culture. By 1967, the commercial and political impact on Hollywood of the sixties counterculture had become impossible to ignore. The studios were in bad shape, still contending with a generation-long box office slump and struggling to get young people into the habit of going to the movies. Road Trip to Nowhere examines a ten-year span (from 1967 to 1976) rife with uneasy encounters between artists caught up in the counterculture and a corporate establishment still clinging to a studio system on the brink of collapse. Out of this tumultuous period many among the young and talented walked away from celebrity, turning down the best job Hollywood—and America—had on movie star. Road Trip to Nowhere elaborates a primary-sourced history of movie production culture, examining the lives of a number of talented actors who got wrapped up in the politics and lifestyles of the counterculture. Thoroughly put off by celebrity culture, actors like Dennis Hopper, Christopher Jones, Jean Seberg, and others rejected the aspirational backstory and inevitable material trappings of success, much to the chagrin of the studios and directors who backed them. In Road Trip to Nowhere , film historian Jon Lewis details dramatic encounters on movie sets and in corporate boardrooms, on the job and on the streets, and in doing so offers an entertaining and rigorous historical account of an out-of-touch Hollywood establishment and the counterculture workforce they would never come to understand.

Burdened with a horrible secret and certain there's a traitor within the Bat-group, Robin nears his breaking point. And while his investigation into the traitor's identity produces a possible lead, Robin finds himself being stalked!

Robin and Nightwing make an emergency trip to Monster Island, a high-security research facility far outside Gotham City. But their precious cargo has captured the interest of one of Robin's old foes!

Robin learns the terrible news that burdens Spoiler, and in the process discovers a horrible secret from her past. The dark revelation sets Spoiler on a destructive course--one that only Tim can stop!

Robin's out of Gotham and in deep trouble! Trailing arms dealers who've been flooding the streets of Gotham with illegal weaponry seemed easy, but now Robin has stumbled into a small town with some dirty secrets. Meanwhile, back in Gotham, Spoiler searches for insight into her dead father's life.

Robin leaves town to follow up on a new lead in an old case, and his journey takes him to the heart of Pennsylvania for a very odd public event. Meanwhile, Spoiler breaks her promise to Robin. But her quest for closure will lead her to manipulate and lie as she starts walking down a very dark path.

Vague warnings from beyond time itself have Robin convinced that he's about to be betrayed by someone close to him. To complicate things, Robin doesn't know if it's someone trying to help him or trying to end his career--and his life!