American Audiences on Movies and Moviegoing
Title | American Audiences on Movies and Moviegoing PDF eBook |
Author | Tom Stempel |
Publisher | University Press of Kentucky |
Pages | 407 |
Release | 2021-12-14 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 081318875X |
A unique perspective on half a century of American cinema—from the audience's point of view. Tom Stempel goes beyond the comments of professional reviewers, concentrating on the opinions of ordinary people. He traces shifting trends in genre and taste, examining and questioning the power films have in American society. Stempel blends audience response with his own observations and analyzes box office results that identify the movies people actually went to see, not just those praised by the critics. Avoiding statistical summary, he presents the results of a survey on movies and moviegoing in the respondents' own words—words that surprise, amuse, and irritate. The moviegoers respond: "Big bad plane, big bad motorcycle, and big bad Kelly McGillis."—On Top Gun "All I can recall were the slave girls and the Golden Calf sequence and how it got me excited. My parents must have been very pleased with my enthusiasm for the Bible."—On why a seven-year-old boy stayed up to watch The Ten Commandments "I learned the fine art of seduction by watching Faye Dunaway smolder."—A woman's reaction to seeing Bonnie and Clyde "At age fifteen Jesus said he would be back, he just didn't say what he would look like."—On E.T. "Quasimodo is every seventh grader."—On why The Hunchback of Notre Dame should play well with middle-schoolers "A moronic, very 'Hollywoody' script, and a bunch of dancing teddy bears."—On Return of the Jedi "I couldn't help but think how Mad magazine would lampoon this." —On The Exorcist
Moviegoing in America
Title | Moviegoing in America PDF eBook |
Author | Gregory A.. Waller |
Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
Pages | 368 |
Release | 2001-12-05 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 9780631225911 |
Pairing significant research with primary documents, Moviegoing in America charts the evolution of film exhibition and reception as a function of changing patterns of American community, identity, consumption, and the fabric of everyday life. "Moviegoing in America is an important, groundbreaking book." -- The Moving Image "Waller assembles an impressive collection that should become a key resource in the teaching of film exhibition history." -- Screen
The Perils of Moviegoing in America
Title | The Perils of Moviegoing in America PDF eBook |
Author | Gary D. Rhodes |
Publisher | A&C Black |
Pages | 384 |
Release | 2012-01-01 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 144113610X |
Recaptures the lost history of the physical and moral perils that faced audiences at American movie theatres during the first fifty years of the cinema.
Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever 2021
Title | Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever 2021 PDF eBook |
Author | Gale Research Inc |
Publisher | Gale Cengage |
Pages | 2157 |
Release | 2020-11-27 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 9780028676982 |
Each entry includes title, alternate title, one-to four-bone rating, year released, MPAA rating, brief review, length, format, country of origin, cast, technical personnel, awards and made-for-television/cable/video designations.
How to Watch a Movie
Title | How to Watch a Movie PDF eBook |
Author | David Thomson |
Publisher | Profile Books |
Pages | 245 |
Release | 2015-10-15 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 1847658830 |
From one of the most admired critics of our time, brilliant insights into the act of watching movies and an enlightening discussion about how to derive more from any film experience. Since first publishing his landmark Biographical Dictionary of Film in 1975 (now in its sixth edition), David Thomson has been one of the most trusted authorities on all things cinema. Now, he offers his most inventive exploration of the medium yet: guiding us through each element of the viewing experience, considering the significance of everything from what we see and hear on screen - actors, shots, cuts, dialogue, music - to the specifics of how, where, and with whom we do the viewing. With customary candour and wit, Thomson delivers keen analyses of a range of films from classics such as Psycho and Citizen Kane to contemporary fare such as 12 Years a Slave and All Is Lost, revealing how to more deeply appreciate both the artistry and manipulation of film, and how watching movies approaches something like watching life itself. Discerning, funny and utterly unique, How to Watch a Movie is a welcome twist on the classic proverb: Give a movie fan a film, she'll be entertained for an hour or two; teach a movie fan to watch, her experience will be enriched forever.
At the Picture Show
Title | At the Picture Show PDF eBook |
Author | Kathryn H. Fuller |
Publisher | University of Virginia Press |
Pages | 248 |
Release | 2001 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 9780813920825 |
The motion picture industry in its earliest days seemed as ephemeral as the flickering images it produced. Considered an amusement fad even by their exhibitors, movies nevertheless spread quickly from big-city vaudeville houses to towns and rural communities across the nation. Small-town audiences, looking for more than the lurid melodramas and slapstick comedies popular in cities, often lined up to see films with conservative and educational themes: scenic panoramas, biblical tableaux, newsreels, and manufacturing scenes. In this social history of the cinema during the silent-film era, Kathryn H. Fuller charts the gradual homogenization of a diverse American movie audience as itinerant shows gave way first to nickelodeon theaters and then to more luxurious picture palaces. Fuller suggests that fan magazines helped to reduce the distinctions between rural and urban moviegoers and created a nationwide popular culture of film consumption. Analyzing the articles, advertisements, and letters in such publications as Motion Picture Story Magazine and Photoplay, Fuller shows that these fan magazines—which initially catered to adult readers—shifted their focus by the late 1910s to young women who, entranced by Hollywood glamour, eagerly bought products endorsed by the stars. Although the transformation of the movies into big-time entertainment had multiple sources, Fuller argues that ultimately the maturation of the film industry depended on the support of both urban and rural middle-class audiences. Providing the fullest portrait to date of the small-town audience's changing habits and desires, At the Picture Show demonstrates for the first time how a fan culture emerged in the United States, and enriches our understanding of mass media's relationship to early twentieth-century American society.
Americanizing the Movies and "Movie-Mad" Audiences, 1910-1914
Title | Americanizing the Movies and "Movie-Mad" Audiences, 1910-1914 PDF eBook |
Author | Richard Abel |
Publisher | Univ of California Press |
Pages | 392 |
Release | 2006-08-15 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 0520247434 |
Publisher description