Is the cinema, as writers from David Denby to Susan Sontag have claimed, really dead? Contrary to what we have been led to believe, films are better than ever—we just can't see the good ones. Movie Wars cogently explains how movies are packaged, distributed, and promoted, and how, at every stage of the process, the potential moviegoer is treated with contempt. Using examples ranging from the New York Times's coverage of the Cannes film festival to the anticommercial practices of Orson Welles, Movie Wars details the workings of the powerful forces that are in the process of ruining our precious cinematic culture and heritage, and the counterforces that have begun to fight back.

This book gathers examples of the author's criticism from the span of his writing career, each of which demonstrates his passion for the way we view movies, as well as how we write about them.

Publisher description

"I would number Moving Places among a handful of truly classic books about film."—James Naremore, author of Acting in the Cinema

In contrast to any talk of "the death of the cinema", this title pronounces the art form alive and well, and still developing in new and unforeseen directions. Using transnational discussions and debates, it shows why the idea of cinephilia is just as relevant today as it ever was.

A collection of interviews with the Russian filmmaker who directed Andrei Roublev, Solaris, and The Mirror