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Best Pick

A Journey through Film History and the Academy Awards
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( 106 ratings, 23 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Best Pick: A Journey through Film History and the Academy Awards offers a captivating exploration of cinema through the lens of the Oscars. Jessica Regan, John Dorney, and Tom Salinsky delve decade by decade into the making of classic films, cinematic trends, innovations, and the behind-the-scenes stories of the Academy Awards. The book features in-depth reviews of twenty films, detailed making-of accounts, and capsule reviews of every Best Picture winner, whilst questioning if the Academy’s choices were justified. Rich with stories and analysis, it provides a witty and enthralling insight into the people, politics, and movies that shaped film history.
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Format: Hardback
$9194
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for film buffs, awards enthusiasts, and readers interested in the history and influence of the Academy Awards. Also a great choice for those intrigued by cinema’s cultural and technical evolution and fans of engaging storytelling behind iconic films.

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A fascinating history of motion pictures through the lens of the Academy Awards, Best Pick provides a decade-by-decade look at the Oscars by examining the Best Picture winners, highest-grossing films, and biggest misses alongside a discussion of the trends, innovations, and stories that defined the decade.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A fascinating history of motion pictures through the lens of the Academy Awards, the Best Picture winners, and the box-office contenders.

In Best Pick: A Journey through Film History and the Academy Awards, John Dorney, Jessica Regan, and Tom Salinsky provide a captivating decade-by-decade exploration of the Oscars. For each decade, they examine the making of classic films, trends and innovations in cinema, behind-the-scenes scandals at the awards ceremony, and who won and why.

Twenty films are reviewed in-depth, alongside ten detailed “making-of” accounts and capsule reviews of every single Best Picture winner in history. In addition, each Best Picture winner is carefully scrutinized to answer the ultimate question: “Did the Academy get it right?”

Full of wonderful stories, cogent analysis, and fascinating insights, Best Pick is a witty and enthralling look at the people, politics, movies, and trends that have shaped our cinematic world.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Best Pick is praised as a casual yet serious take on Oscar-winning films, showcasing the authors' engaging chemistry and insightful debate. Reviewers highlight its appeal for awards show enthusiasts, offering both essential Oscar facts and incisive cultural and cinematic context. Drawing from their award-winning podcast, the authors provide a warm and witty journey through film history and the Academy Awards, contrasting box-office hits with Best Picture winners and exploring technical and artistic trends in filmmaking.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781538163108

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 15 February 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield

Illustration: 10 tables

Contributors:

  • Foreword by Helen O'Hara

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 26.0mm

Width: 163.0mm

Height: 237.0mm

Weight: 617g

Pages: 332

About the Author

John Dorney is an actor and a writer. He’s acted at the National Theatre, had a script on at the Royal Court Theatre, and won the BBC’s Sketch Factor and Show Me the Funny talent searches. He's written over a hundred audio dramas for Big Finish Productions, for which he’s won two Scribe Awards, an Audie, and a BBC Audio Drama Award.

Jessica Regan is an award-winning, RADA-trained Irish actor, writer, and podcaster based in London. She has performed on many UK stages, including the National Theatre and on the West End, as well as BAM in New York and the Wallis Annenberg in LA. Regan has appeared in multiple television shows, primarily for the BBC. She is a prolific audio artist, especially in gaming, and likes using her voice to help people find theirs.

Tom Salinsky is a writer, podcaster, communications coach, and improviser. As a founding member of the London-based improvisation company The Spontaneity Shop, he co-wrote The Improv Handbook. As well as the Best Pick podcast, he is the producer of the award-winning podcast The Guilty Feminist. With Robert Khan, he is the author of five plays and several audio dramas for Big Finish.

The authors live in London, England.

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