A complete introduction to analyzing and enjoying a wide variety of movies, for film students and movie lovers alike Thinking About Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying, Fourth Edition is a thorough overview of movie analysis designed to enlighten both students and enthusiasts, and heighten their enjoyment of films. Readers will delve into the process of thinking about movies critically and analytically, and find how doing so can greatly enhance the pleasure of watching movies. Divided roughly into two parts, the book addresses film studies within the context of the dynamics of cinema, before moving on to a broader analysis of the relationship of films to the larger social, cultural, and industrial issues informing them. This updated fourth edition includes an entirely new section devoted to a complete analysis of the film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, along with many in-depth discussions of important films such as Citizen Kane and Silence of the Lambs. The chapter on television integrates a major expansion distinguishing between television in the digital era of the convergence of the entertainment and technology industries in comparison to the era of broadcast analogue television. The final chapter places film within the current context of digital culture, globalization, and the powerful rise of China in film production and exhibition. The authors clearly present various methodologies for analyzing movies and illustrate them with detailed examples and images from a wide range of films from cult classics to big-budget, award-winning movies. This helps viewers see new things in movies and also better understand and explain why they like some better than others. Thinking About Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying, Fourth Edition is ideal for film students immersed in the study of this important, contemporary medium and art form as well as students and readers who have never taken a class on cinema before.

MAKING MOVIES WORK is a fascinating and accessible guide for both filmmakers and serious film fans. It is about how filmmakers think about film. "Through thoughtful examination of the filmmaker's art, Jon Boorstin enhances our sense of enjoyment and appreciation of the results.--Robert Redford.

"Thinking About Movies, Third Edition" is a comprehensive guide for students and movie lovers who want to learn how to watch movies critically and analytically. Intended for the beginner, the text offers the critical building blocks required to understand film as an important narrative and cultural form. Guides readers through basic approaches to film analysis such as authorship, genre, race, class, gender, film theory, audience, and reception Updated to include discussion of a diverse selection of classic and recent films, from Citizen Kane and Murder, My Sweet to Crash and King Kong Features new coverage of important current trends in the industry, and recent developments in film theory and criticism Accompanied by a website at www.blackwellpublishing.com/lehman featuring resources for both academics and students

Standard Hollywood narrative movies prescribe linear narratives that cue the viewer to expect predictable outcomes and adopt a closed state of mind. There are, however, a small number of movies that, through the presentation of alternate narrative paths, open the mind to thoughts of choice and possibility. Through the study of several key movies for which this concept is central, such as Sliding Doors, Run Lola Run, Inglourious Basterds, and Rashomon, Nitzan Ben Shaul examines the causes and implications of optional thinking and how these movies allow for more open and creative possibilities. This book examines the methods by which standard narrative movies close down thinking processes and deliver easy pleasures to the viewer whilst demonstrating that this is not the only possibility and that optional thinking can be both stimulating and rewarding.

"In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ('gleaned') by professional reapers ('scythes'). Two teens must compete with each other to become a scythe--a position neither of them wants. The one who becomes a scythe must kill the one who doesn't"--Provided by publisher.

Drawing a comparison between religion and cinema-going, this text examines a range of contemporary films in relation to key theological concepts. Cinema as a religion-like activity is explored through cognitive, affective, aesthetic and ethical levels, identifying the religious aspects in the social practice of cinema-going. Written by a leading expert in the field, Theology Goes to the Movies analyzes: the role of cinema and Church in Western culture the power of Christian symbols and images within popular culture theological concepts of humanity, evil and redemption, eschatology and God. This is an ideal text for students seeking a new way into the study of theology.