Synopses & Reviews
In the 2000s, new technologies transformed the experiences of movie-going and movie-making, giving us the first generation of stars to be just as famous on the computer screen as on the silver screen.
Shining in Shadows examines a wide range of Hollywood icons from a turbulent decade for the film industry and for America itself. Perhaps reflecting our own cultural fragmentation and uncertainty, Hollywoodandrsquo;s star personas sent mixed messages about Americansandrsquo; identities and ideals. Disheveled men-children like Will Ferrell and Jack Black shared the multiplex with debonair old-Hollywood standbys like George Clooney and Morgan Freeman. Iconic roles for women ranged from Renee Zellwegerandrsquo;s dithering romantics to Tina Feyandrsquo;s neurotic professionals to Hilary Swankandrsquo;s vulnerable boyish characters. And in this age of reality TV and TMZ, stars like Jennifer Aniston and andldquo;Brangelinaandrdquo; became more famous for their real-life romantic dramasandmdash;at the same time that former tabloid fixtures like Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr. reinvented themselves as dependable leading men. With a multigenerational, international cast of stars, this collection presents a fascinating composite portrait of Hollywood stardom today.
Synopsis
Film scholar Murray Pomerance presents a series of fascinating meditations on six films directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, a master of the cinema. Two of the films are extraordinarily famous and have been seen--and misunderstood--countless times: North by Northwest and Vertigo. Two others, Marnie and Torn Curtain, have been mostly disregarded by viewers and critics or considered to be colossal mistakes, while two others, Spellbound and I Confess, have received almost no critical attention at all.
In An Eye for Hitchcock, these movies are seen in a striking new way. Pomerance takes us deep into the structure of Hitchcock's vision and his screen architecture, revealing key elements that have never been written about before. Pomerance also clearly reveals the link between Hitchcock's work and a wide range of thinkers and artists in other fields, thereby offering viewers of Hitchcock's films the rare opportunity to see them in an entirely new light.
Synopsis
Shining in Shadows examines a wide range of Hollywood icons from a turbulent decade for the film industry and for America itself. Perhaps reflecting our own cultural fragmentation and uncertainty, Hollywoodandrsquo;s star personas sent mixed messages about Americansandrsquo; identities and ideals. With a multigenerational, international cast of stars, this collection presents a fascinating composite portrait of Hollywood stardom today.
About the Author
MURRAY POMERANCE is professor of sociology at Ryerson University in Toronto. His many books include The Horse Who Drank the Sky, An Eye for Hitchcock, and Johnny Depp Starts Here, all from Rutgers University Press.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Wonder Boys: Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, and Robert Downey Jr.
2. Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman: Million-Dollar Seniors
3. Jennifer Aniston and Tina Fey: Girls with Glasses
4. Puerile Pillars of the Frat Pack: Jack Black,Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, and Ben Stiller
5. Javier Bardem and Benicio Del Toro: Beyond Machismo
6. Philip Seymour Hoffman: Jesus of Uncool
7. A Postfeminist Primer: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hilary Swank, and Renandeacute;e Zellweger
8. Heath Ledger: Iandrsquo;m Not There
9. Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn: Acting Authentic
10. Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett:The Performance Is the Star
11. Brangelina: Celebrity, Credibility, and the Composite andUuml;berstar
12. George Clooney: The Issues Guy
In the Wings
Works Cited
Contributors
Index