Synopses & Reviews
Over the past decade, as digital media has expanded and print outlets have declined, pundits have bemoaned a andldquo;crisis of criticismandrdquo; and mourned the andldquo;death of the critic.andrdquo; Now that well-paying jobs in film criticism have largely evaporated, while blogs, message boards, and social media have given new meaning to the saying that andldquo;everyoneandrsquo;s a critic,andrdquo; urgent questions have emerged about the status and purpose of film criticism in the twenty-first century.and#160;
and#160;In Film Criticism in the Digital Age, ten scholars from across the globe come together to consider whether we are witnessing the extinction of serious film criticism or seeing the start of its rebirth in a new form. Drawing from a wide variety of case studies and methodological perspectives, the bookandrsquo;s contributors find many signs of the film criticandrsquo;s declining clout, but they also locate surprising examples of how criticsandmdash;whether moonlighting bloggers or salaried writersandmdash;have been able to intervene in current popular discourse about arts and culture.
and#160;In addition to collecting a plethora of scholarly perspectives, Film Criticism in the Digital Age includes statements from key bloggers and print critics, like Armond White and Nick James. Neither an uncritical celebration of digital culture nor a jeremiad against it, this anthology offers a comprehensive look at the challenges and possibilities that the Internet brings to the evaluation, promotion, and explanation of artistic works.and#160;
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Review
andquot;A significant and impressive work on the cutting edge of current critical discussion on the digitization of film...the sheer scope of Dixon and Foster's knowledge is dazzling.andquot;
Review
andquot;The paradigm shift from analog to digital media has completely changed the way Hollywood produces and distributes its business. 21st-Century Hollywood presents a perfect snapshot of the new digital present.andquot;
Review
andquot;Dixon and Foster give readers an enjoyable, informative tour through popular productions and the business models and cultures that surround and impact them. The informal prose and diverse subject matter make this volume--in contract to a great deal of film criticism--appealing to a wide-range of audiences. Recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;This is a great and highly important volume for film studies as a discipline and cultural and media studies more generally.andquot;
Review
andquot;Dixon covers the entire history of black and white movies in one volume, and talks about the films and cinematographers who created these films, and often got little credit for their work. Fascinating and compelling, this is essential reading for anyone who loves movies.andquot;
Review
andldquo;Dixon has an encyclopedic knowledge of film history, and a subtle and well-honed aesthetic sense. He rescues important films from oblivion, and finds fresh angles of approach to films that are already familiar.andquot;
Review
andquot;Wheeler Winston Dixonandrsquo;s colorful study of black-and-white cinema reaffirms yet again his unfailing expertise as a critic, historian, and dazzlingly fine writer. Indispensable for students, scholars, and movie buffs alike.andquot;
Review
andquot;This is the film history book we've been waiting for.andquot;
Review
andquot;A Short History of Film is a comprehensive and detailed overview of the last 100 years of international film history. It will prove to be a useful reference tool for all students of film, both in and out of the classroom.andquot;
Review
andquot;A new history of international film at an affordable price. Nothing like those text book prices for a change. Includes perspectives on women and minorities in film along with innovations in technology, genres, studios, and conglomerates.andquot;
Review
andquot;With the goal of offering 'a fast paced tour' of movie history, Dixon and Foster have produced a study in the tradition of Paul
Rotha's The Film till Now. The authors touch all the bases--they address new trends in international moviemaking, technologies, and critical theory and the emergence of new national and ethnic cinemas--and relate film history to social history. Each new technique, style, school, trend, and newly visible ethnic or feminist group takes its place in the larger history, and Dixon and Foster make it all accessible to the neophyte reader without ever breaking the pace. Uncommonly well-reproduced stills and a topically organized bibliography enhance the discussion. Highly recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;This excellent introduction stands out in a crowded field with its lively, accessible writing, broad coverage, and particular focus on traditionally marginalized figures in film history...the most striking aspect of the book is the coverage of women, African Americans, and Third World filmmakers, which strongly complements its solid coverage of American and European film. Illustrations abound, and even the best-versed cineaste will find new films to track down after reading the breezy, enthusiastic analysis in this book. Highly recommended for all collections, this text would also make an excellent textbook for introductory film-studies courses.andquot;
Synopsis
21st-Century Hollywood introduces readers to the global transformations of today's movies and describes the decisive roles that Hollywood is playing in determining the digital future for world cinema. It offers clear, concise explanations of a major paradigm shift that continues to reshape our relationship to the moving image. Filled with numerous detailed examples, the book will both educate and entertain film students and movie fans alike.
Synopsis
They are shot on high-definition digital camerasandmdash;with computer-generated effects added in postproductionandmdash;and transmitted to theaters, websites, and video-on-demand networks worldwide. They are viewed on laptop, iPod, and cell phone screens. They are movies in the 21st centuryandmdash;the product of digital technologies that have revolutionized media production, content distribution, and the experience of moviegoing itself.
21st-Century Hollywood introduces readers to these global transformations and describes the decisive roles that Hollywood is playing in determining the digital future for world cinema. It offers clear, concise explanations of a major paradigm shift that continues to reshape our relationship to the moving image. Filled with numerous detailed examples, the book will both educate and entertain film students and movie fans alike.
Synopsis
The 1940s was a watershed decade for American cinema and the nation. Shaking off the grim legacy of the Depression, Hollywood launched an unprecedented wave of production, generating some of its most memorable classics, including Citizen Kane, Rebecca, The Lady Eve, Sergeant York, and How Green Was My Valley. In 1942, Hollywood joined the national war effort with a vengeance, creating a series of patriotic and escapist films, such as Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, The Road to Morocco, and Yankee Doodle Dandy.
With the end of the war, returning GIs faced a new America, in which the country had been transformed overnight. Film noir reflected a new public mood of pessimism and paranoia, in such classic films of betrayal and conflict as Kiss of Death, Force of Evil, Caught, and Apology for Murder, depicting a poisonous universe of femme fatales, crooked lawyers, and corrupt politicians.
With the threat of the atom bomb lurking in the background and the beginnings of the Hollywood Blacklist, the 1940s was a decade of crisis and change. Featuring essays by a group of respected film scholars and historians, American Cinema of the 1940s brings this dynamic and turbulent decade to life. Illustrated with many rare stills and filled with provocative insights, the volume will appeal to students, teachers, and to all those interested in cultural history and American film of the twentieth century.
Synopsis
Now that well-paying jobs in film criticism have largely evaporated, while blogs, message boards, and social media have given new meaning to the saying that andldquo;everyoneandrsquo;s a critic,andrdquo; urgent questions have emerged about the criticandrsquo;s status and purpose. In Film Criticism in the Digital Age, ten scholars from across the globe, as well as critics and bloggers, come together to consider whether we are witnessing the extinction of serious film criticism or seeing the seeds of its rebirth in a new form.and#160;
Synopsis
Black and White Cinema is the first study to consider black-and-white film as an art form in its own right, providing a comprehensive and global overview of the era when it flourished, from the 1900s to the 1960s. Including over forty stills that give us a unique glimpse behind the scenes, Wheeler Winston Dixon introduces us to the masters of this art, including directors, set designers, and award-winning cinematographers like James Wong Howe, Freddie Francis, and Sven Nykvist.and#160;
Synopsis
From the glossy monochrome of the classic Hollywood romance, to the gritty greyscale of the gangster picture, to film noirandrsquo;s moody interplay of light and shadow, black-and-white cinematography has been used to create a remarkably wide array of tones. Yet today, with black-and-white film stock nearly impossible to find, these cinematographic techniques are virtually extinct, and filmgoersandrsquo; appreciation of them is similarly waning. and#160;
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Black and White Cinema is the first study to consider the use of black-and-white as an art form in its own right, providing a comprehensive and global overview of the era when it flourished, from the 1900s to the 1960s. Acclaimed film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon introduces us to the masters of this art, discussing the signature styles and technical innovations of award-winning cinematographers like James Wong Howe, Gregg Toland, Freddie Francis, and Sven Nykvist. Giving us a unique glimpse behind the scenes, Dixon also reveals the creative teamsandmdash;from lighting technicians to matte paintersandmdash;whose work profoundly shaped the look of black-and-white cinema. and#160;
and#160;
More than just a study of film history, this book is a rallying cry, meant to inspire a love for the artistry of black-and-white film, so that we might work to preserve this important part of our cinematic heritage. Lavishly illustrated with more than forty on-the-set stills, Black and White Cinema provides a vivid and illuminating look at a creatively vital era.
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Synopsis
Depictions of sex, violence, and crime abound in many of today's movies, sometimes making it seem that the idyllic life has vanished-even from our imaginations. But as shown in this unique book, paradise has not always been lost. For many years, depictions of heaven, earthly paradises, and utopias were common in popular films.
Illustrated throughout with intriguing, rare stills and organized to provide historical context, Visions of Paradise surveys a huge array of films that have offered us glimpses of life free from strife, devoid of pain and privation, and full of harmony. In films such as Moana, White Shadows in the South Seas, The Green Pastures, Heaven Can Wait, The Enchanted Forest, The Bishop's Wife, Carousel, Bikini Beach, and Elvira Madigan, characters and the audience partake in a vision of personal freedom and safety-a zone of privilege and protection that transcends the demands of daily existence.
Many of the films discussed are from the 1960s-perhaps the most edenic decade in contemporary cinema, when everything seemed possible and radical change was taken for granted. As Dixon makes clear, however, these films have not disappeared with the dreams of a generation; they continue to resonate today, offering a tonic to the darker visions that have replaced them.
Synopsis
The history of international cinema is now available in a concise, conveniently sized, and affordable volume. Succinct yet comprehensive, A Short History of Film provides an accessible overview of the major movements, directors, studios, and genres from the 1880s to the present. More than 250 rare stills and illustrations accompany the text, bringing readers face to face with many of the key players and films that have marked the industry.
Beginning with precursors of what we call moving pictures, Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster lead a fast-paced tour through the invention of the kinetoscope, the introduction of sound and color between the two world wars, and ultimately the computer generated imagery of the present day. They detail significant periods in world cinema, including the early major industries in Europe, the dominance of the Hollywood studio system in the 1930s and 1940s, and the French New Wave of the 1960s. Special attention is also given to small independent efforts in developing nations and the corresponding more personal independent film movement that briefly flourished in the United States, the significant filmmakers of all nations, censorship and regulation and how they have affected production everywhere, and a wide range of studios and genres. Along the way, the authors take great care to incorporate the stories of women and other minority filmmakers who have often been overlooked in other texts.
Compact and easily readable, this is the best one-stop source for the history of world film available to students, teachers, and general audiences alike.
About the Author
MATTIAS FREY is a senior lecturer in film at the University of Kent. He is the author of
Postwall German Cinema: History, Film History, and Cinephilia and co-editor of
Cine-Ethics: Ethical Dimensions of Film Theory, Practice, and Spectatorship.
and#160;CECILIA SAYAD is a senior lecturer in film at the University of Kent. She is the author of Performing Authorship: Self-Inscription and Corporeality in the Cinema and O Jogo da Reinvenandccedil;andatilde;o, a Portuguese-language study of Charlie Kaufmanandrsquo;s filmography.and#160;and#160;
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
1. The Digital Century
2. Constructing an Audience
3. The Globalization of the Moving Image
4. The New Auteurs
5. The Moving Image Is Everywhere
Bibliography
Index