Free Resources

• Film Art (3rd Edition) by David Bordwell
There are newer editions of this that would be better, but it looks like the options are limited on the Internet Archive because of the lawsuit. This is a literal textbook, so it's not light reading, but it's a pretty great resource for getting into an academic analysis of film.
• On the History of Film Style by David Bordwell
Another David Bordwell text - a lot of his work is available for free on his website!
• Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema by Laura Mulvey
The essay that defined the male gaze.
• The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators by bell hooks
If you're going to read Mulvey's essay above, this is an essential reply. hooks has a really informed understanding of the "power in looking."
• John Berger's Ways of Seeing Episode 2: Women and Art
Re: the male gaze. Mulvey really fleshed out and defined the concept, but the beginnings of it are with Berger. Very interesting little episode here.
• Prof. David Thornburn's MIT Lectures on Film
I haven't watched all of these, but it's pretty cool that it's available. This is every lecture from a film class at MIT. Taped. Available for free.
• All About Love by Bell Hooks
This really has nothing to do with film... but bell hooks was on my mind and this book changed my life. Love is not a noun or a feeling. It's a verb and a choice.