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Criticsm, Theory & History D to F by author See also: On Individual Films and Media > Film Criticism Postcards From the Cinema Serge Daney Postcards from the Cinema turns a history of cinema into a profound meditation on the art and politics of film. Daney's passionate and lucid engagement with film, combined with his concern for journalistic clarity, effectively created film criticism as a genre. The first book-length translation of Daney's work, Postcards from the Cinema is a testimony to a life lived with a fierce love for film. Softcover, 149 pp. $31.00. Out at the Movies: A History of Gay Cinema Steven Paul Davies Out at the Movies looks back, decade by decade, at the history of gay cinema, celebrating films which have defined the genre. Indie films, the avant-garde, sex on screen, bad guys, lesbian lovers, transgender films, camp comedies, musicals and gay rom-coms -- all are featured here. As well as highlighting key movements and triumphs in gay cinema, the author includes information on gay filmmakers and actors, and their influence within the industry. Softcover, 208 pp. $33.95. Afterglow: A Last Conversation with Pauline Kael Francis Davis Davis, a contributing editor to The Atlantic Monthly, shares a most illuminating and candid interview with the most passionate and iconoclastic of film critics shortly before her death in September 2001. She talks about her long life and love of and disenchantment with cinema. A fascinatingly thought provoking book for the movie fan. Hardcover, $27.50; softcover, $21.95. Hollywood and the Culture Elite: How the Movies Became American Peter Decherney Peter Decherney's innovative book reveals a forgotten chapter in the history of Hollywood and American culture as he unearths the surprising connections between movie moguls, museum directors, avant-garde filmmakers, professors, wealthy philanthropists, and U.S. intelligence agencies. Softcover, 269 pp. $25.95. Remapping World Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics in Film Stephanie Dennison & Song Hwee Lim With films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Oldboy, Goodbye Lenin and the Motorcycle Diaries, the state and popularity of world cinema has rarely been healthier. Through 16 chapters contributed by leading international film scholars, Remapping World Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics in Film explores many of the key critical and theoretical approaches and debates to this fluid and ever-increasing field of study, including race, stardom and colonialism, as well as national cinemas' relationship with Hollywood. Covering a broad scope, this collection examines the cinemas of Europe, East Asia, India, Africa and Latin America, and will be over interest to scholars and students of film studies, cultural studies and postcolonial studies, as well as to film enthusiasts keen to explore a wider range of world cinema. Softcover, 202 pp. $32.95. Cinephilia: Movies, Love and Memory Marijke De Valck & Malte Hagener This anthology explores new periods, practices and definitions of what it means to love the cinema. The essays demonstrate that beyond individualist immersion in film, typical in the cinephilia as it was popular from the 1950s to the 1970s, a new type of cinephilia has emerged since the 1980s, practiced by a new generation of equally devoted, but quite differently networked cinephiles. The film lover of today embraces and uses new technology while also nostalgically remembering and caring for outdated media formats. He is a hunter-collector as much as a merchant-trader, a duped consumer as much as a media-savvy producer. Softcover, 236 pp. $41.95. Hollywood's New Radicalism Ben Dickenson This is a timely and contentious account of the last twenty-five years of American cinema. Ben Dickenson tells the story of the corporate take-over of the movies in the 1970s, and the subsequent transformation of Hollywood into the dominant force in the global media industry. Writing from the intersection where politics, society and cinema meet, he explores the effect of such changes on liberal and radical filmmakers, including Warren Beatty, Michael Moore, and Sean Penn. Softcover, 216 pp. $36.95. Screening Gender, Framing Genre: Canadian Literature into Film Peter Dickinson In Screening Gender, Framing Genre, Peter Dickinson examines the history and theory of films adapted from Canadian literature through the lens of gender studies. Unique in its discussion of different adaptations, including films based on novels, plays, poetry, and Native orature, this study offers new readings of works by such well-known Canadian authors as Margaret Atwood, Marie-Claire Blais, and Michael Ondaatje, and by such important Canadian filmmakers as Mireille Dansereau, Claude Jutra, Robert LePage, and Bruce McDonald. Hardcover, $45.00. Straight: Constructions of Heterosexuality in the Cinema Wheeler Winston Dixon Practically all mainstream cinema is "straight", and has been since its inception. In Straight, Wheeler Winston Dixon explores how heterosexual performativity has been constructed in film, from early cinema to the present day. In addition to discussing how cinematic visions of masculine and feminine desire have been commodified and sold to reinforce existing societal constructs, Dixon also documents the recent emergence of "hypermasculinity", a kinetic and exaggerated masculinity that has been created to counter the more gentle, thoughtful male portrayed in While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle, and other films that seemingly threaten the established order of patriarchal cinematic discourse. Softcover, 204 pp. $28.95. Visions of Paradise: Images of Eden in the Cinema Winston Wheeler Dixon 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. Many of the films discussed are from the 1960s -- perhaps the most edenic decade in cinema -- and their optimism continues to resonate today, offering a tonic to the darker visions that have replaced them. Softcover, 220 pp. $31.50. Lost in the Fifties: Recovering Phantom Hollywood Wheeler Winston Dixon This book reveals two 1950s: an era glorified in Hollywood movies and a darker reality reflected in the esoteric films of the decade. Renowned film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon turns to the margins -- the television shows and films of a hidden Hollywood -- to offer an authentic view of the 1950s that counters the Tinsel-town version. Softcover, 209 pp. $43.95. Film and Television after 9/11 Wheeler Winston Dixon In this volume, editor Wheeler Winston Dixon and eleven other distinguished film scholars discuss the production, reception, and distribution of Hollywood and foreign films after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and examine how moviemaking has changed to reflect the new world climate. Softcover, 262 pp. $49.50. Visions of the Apocalypse: Spectacles of Destruction in American Cinema Wheeler Winston Dixon Visions of the Apocalypse examines the cinema's fascination with the prospect of nuclear and/or natural annihilation, as seen in such films as Saving Private Ryan, Bowling for Columbine, We Were Soldiers, Invasion U.S.A, The Last War, Tidal Wave, The Bed Sitting Room, The Last Days of Man on Earth and numerous others. Softcover, 169 pp. $28.95. Experimental Cinema: The Film Reader Wheeler Winston Dixon & Gwendolyn Audrey Foster Divided into four section -- The Orgins of the American Avant-Garde, The 1960s Experimental Cinema Explosion, Structuralism in the 1970s, and Alternative Cinemas -- this anthology of essays illuminates the key periods in the evolution of experimental cinema. Filmmakers discussed include: Stan Brakhage, Michael Snow, Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger, Hollis Frampton, Jack Smith, and many others. Softcover, 356 pp. $34.95. Film Voices Gerald Duchonay This collection of interviews brings together major Hollywood directors and actors, independent filmmakers, screenwriters, and others to discuss the art, craft, and business of making movies. Whether it be Clint Eastwood or Francis Ford Coppola, Vittorio Storaro or Dede Allen, these filmmakers detail how the strive for quality, the price they pay to do so, and how new technologies and the business aspects of filmmaking impact all aspects of their creativity. Taken together, the interviews reveal much about filmmaking practices in and out of Hollywood. Softcover, 346 pp. $38.95. The Emergence of Cinematic Time Mary Ann Doane It this ambitious and highly original work, Mary Ann Doane examines the connection between cinema and temporality during the late modern (late nineteenth and early twentieth century) period. Drawing from philosophy, history, art history, and film studies, this scholarly text will provide fascinating reading for anyone seriously interested in visual culture. Softcover, 288 pp. $35.95. Bad Bitches and Sassy Supermamas Stephane Dunn This lively study explores the sexualized, subordinate positioning of women in low-budget blaxploitation action films as well as more seriously radical films, in which black women are typically portrayed as trifling "bitches" compared to the supermacho black male heroes. This is a close examination of a distinct moment in the history of African American representation in popular cinema, tracing its emergence out of a radical political era, influenced especially by the Black Power movement and feminism. Softcover, 166 pp. $29.95. Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society Richard Dyer Richard Dyer's classic and highly influencial study of film celebrity has been reissued in this second edition as a testament to the enduring appeal of cinema's major stars. Through subtle readings of their films and a wealth of backround material, he surveys the career of three major stars, in as many chapters: Marilyn Monroe and Sexuality, Paul Robeson: Crossing Over, and Judy Garland and Gay Men. Softcover, 210 pp. $35.95. Only Entertainment Richard Dyer The idea of entertainment is a guiding principle for both makers and audiences of films, television programs and other media. Yet, while entertainment is often derided or praised, the concept itself is often taken for granted. Only Entertainment explores entertainment as entertainment, asking how and whether an emphasis on the primacy of pleasure sets it apart from other forms of art. Softcover, $34.95. Back to top

Film Criticism, Theory & History titles are listed alphabetically by author's last name. • New & Featured • A to C • D to F • G to H • I to L • M to Q • R to S • T to Z • Various authors Film Studies Annuals Biographies Director Biographies Producer Biographies Canadian Film Studies National Film Studies Film Criticism • Film Noir • Gay, Lesbian & Queer Criticism, Theory and History • Horror Films • Women, Gender & Feminist Criticism, Theory & History Film Glossaries & Encylopedias Film History Guides On Individual Films Directing & Producing Media Screenplays & Screenwriting Technical Film Actors & Acting

Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert Roger Ebert No critic alive has reviewed more movies than Roger Ebert, and yet his essential writings have never been collected in a single volume -- until now. With Awake in the Dark, both fans and film buffs can finally bask in the best of Ebert's work. The reviews, interviews, and essays collected here present a picture of this indispensable critic's numerous contributions to the cinema and cinephilia. Hardcover, 476 pp. $32.95. Softcover, $18.00. The Great Movies II Roger Ebert Continuing the pitch-perfect critiques in his The Great Movies, Ebert's The Great Movies II presents one hundred additional essays, each one of them a gem of critical appreciation and an amalgam of love, analysis, and history that will send readers back to that film with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm -- or perhaps to an avid first-time viewing. This is a treasure trove for film lovers of all persuasions, an unrivaled guide for viewers, and a book to return to again and again. Softcover, 517 pp. $23.95. The Great Movies Roger Ebert "This is a wonderful book, an appreciation of the greatest movies by the greatest movie enthusiast - and also the shrewdest, the most humane and clear-sighted. I read this book with pleasure, enlightenment, and a desire to see many of the movies again, because I had missed what Roger saw." Paul Theroux Softcover, $23.95. Armed Forces: Masculinity and Sexuality in the American War Film Robert Eberwein In Armed Forces, Robert Eberwein argues that an expanded conception of masculinity and sexuality is necessary in order to understand more fully the intricacy of these intense and emotional human relationships. Drawing on a range of examples from silent films such as What Price Glory to sound era works like The Deer Hunter, he shows how close readings of war films, particularly in relation to their cultural contexts, demonstrate that depictions of heterosexual love, including those in romantic triangles, actually help to define and clarify the nonsexual nature of male love. Softcover, 196 pp. $29.00. Metaphysical Media: The Occult Experience in Popular Culture Emily D. Edwards Metaphysical Media focuses on the blurred definitions of topics associated with the occult as they are presented in popular culture to show moving-image media as devices that help structure an understanding of the supernatural world. Emily D. Edwards examines what media treatment of supernatural subjects and the very characteristics of the media themselves reveal about the persistence of the occult. She maintains that popular art has always had a close association with the paranormal or supernatural -- sometimes in illustration of an ideology, sometimes in ridicule of it, and sometimes as invocation itself. Softcover, 248 pp. $43.95. Hollywood's History Films David Eldridge Focusing on films from the 1950s, this book examines movies from all historical genres from western to romance to biblical epic, exploring the overlapping anxieties that encouraged an unprecedented turn to history, including the ever-present nuclear threat, McCarthyism, and industry fears about a hemorrahaging box-office. David Eldridge considers how researchers, advisors and outside interference from proponents of particular versions of the past exposed writers, directors, and producers were exposed to historical debates and ideas. Softcover, 256 pp. $36.95. European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood Thomas Elsaesser In the face of renewed competition from Hollywood since the early 1980s and the challenges posed to Europe's national cinemas by the fall of the Wall in 1989, independent filmmaking in Europe has begun to re-invent itself. European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood re-assesses the different debates and presents a broader framework for understanding the forces at work since the1960s. These include the interface of "world cinema" and the rise of Asian cinemas, the importance of the international film festival circuit, the role of television, as well as the changing aesthetics of auteur cinema. Softcover, 563 pp. $45.95. Transnational Cinema: The Film Reader Elizabeth Ezra & Terry Rowden Bringing together seminal essays from a wide range of sources, this volume engages with films that fashion their narrative and aesthetic dynamics in relation to more than one national or cultural community, and that reflect the impact of advanced capitalism and new media technologies in an increasingly interconnected world-system. When read in juxtaposition, these essays make clear that the significance of crossing borders varies according to the ethnic and/or gendered identity of the traveler, suggesting that the crossing of certain lines generates fundamental shifts in both the aesthetics and the ethics of cinema as a representational art. Softcover, 213 pp. $56.95. Farber on Film: The Complete Writings of Manny Farber Robert Polito This volume contains Manny Farber's extraordinary body of work in its entirety for the first time, from his early and previously uncollected weekly reviews for The New Republic and The Nation to his brilliant later essays on Godard, Fassbinder, Herzog, Scorsese, Altman, and others. Featuring an introduction by editor Robert Polito that examines in detail the stages of Farber's career and his enduring significance as a writer and thinker, Farber on Film is a landmark publication that is destined to become a classic in the field. Hardcover, 824 pp. $50.00. Nixon at the Movies Mark Feeney Stylishly written and bracingly eclectic, Nixon at the Movies draws on biography, politics, cultural history, and film criticism to offer this revelatory look at the striking intersections of Nixon's presidential career and Hollywood filmmaking. Hardcover, 422 pp. $38.95. Art in the Cinematic Imagination Susan Felleman Bringing an art historical perspective to the realm of American and European film, Art in the Cinematic Imagination examines the ways in which films have used works of art and artists themselves as cinematic and narrative motifs. From the use of portraits in Vertigo to the cinematic depiction of women artists in Artemisia and Camille Claudel, Susan Felleman incorporates feminist and psychoanalytic criticism to reveal individual and collective perspectives on sex, gender, identity, commerce and class. Softcover, 199 pp. $31.95. The Hollywood Story Joel W. Finler In The Hollywood Story, Joel W. Finler explores the history of the American movie industry from the silent era up to the present day. In individual chapters that cover each of the major studios, the author considers the key actors, directors and frequently overlooked technicians who contributed to filmmaking history. Softcover, 419 pp. $37.99. American Cinema of the 1920s: Themes and Variations Lucy Fischer The 1920s was the era in which cinema came into its own as a form of mass entertainment. It was during this period that film studios were transformed into major corporations and the star system was established. In then original essays, this anthology examines the film industry's continued growth and prosperity in the context of important themes of the 1920s. Softcover, 291 pp. $34.95. Stars: The Film Reader Lucy Fischer & Marcia Landy Stars: The Film Reader brings together key writings and new perspectives on stars and stardom in cinema, addressing questions of production, labour, and circulation, and examining neglected areas of study such as the avant-garde star, the non-American stars, and the question of ethnicity. Softcover, 300 pp. $35.95. Back to top

Filmosophy Daniel Frampton The link between philosophy and cinema is one of the most fertile areas of contemporary film studies. Filmosophy does not present a philosophy of fim, nor does it explore how film contributes material for philosophical interpretation. Rather, Daniel Frampton argues that film is philosophy- a medium for thinking and an accompaniment to thought. Drawing on the writings of Deleuze, Heidegger and Nietzsche, Frampton seeks to transform passive audiences into active co-creators of the cinematic experience. Softcover, 254 pp. $31.99. Spaghetti Westerns Christopher Frayling Christopher Frayling approaches the westerns produced at Rome's Cinecitta Studios from a variety of perspectives, placing them in the Italian social, political, industrial, and cinematic contexts from which they evolved. He bases his study on a reading of the films and on contemporary critical debate, giving special attention to the films of Sergio Leone. These now classic westerns are but the tip of the iceberg. Well over 400 spaghetti westerns were produced during their 1960s and 1970s peak period, and Christopher Frayling deals with all the most interesting examples, not to mention French, German and Russian westerns along the way. Softcover, 304 pp. $30.95. Mad, Bad and Dangerous?The Scientist and the Cinema Christopher Frayling Since its orgin, cinema has had an uneasy relationship with science and technology: scientists are almost always impossibly mad or impossibly saintly, and technology is usually very bad for you. In Mad, Bad and Dangerous? Christopher Frayling explores the geneology of the cinematic scientist in films made in western Europe and, especially, in Hollywood, showing how the fictional scientist has often been used to represent the prevailing phobias of the time.. Softcover, 239 pp. $25.95. Hollywood On Trial: McCarthyism's War against The Movies Michael Freedland This fascinating book reveals the true story behind one of cinema's darkest episodes: how actors, directors and moguls were ssubpoenaed to name names and answer the now famous question: 'are younow or have you ever been a member of the communist party?' Painstakingly researched and drawing on numerous new interview, Hollywood on Trial is the definitive account of how political paranoia shaped cinema for a decade. Hardcover, 278 pp. $29.95. Genre John Frow Genre is a key means by which we categorise the many forms of literature and culture. However, it is also much more than that: in talk and writing, in music and images, in film and television, genres actively generate and shape our knowledge of the world. John Frow's lucid exploration of this fascinating concept will be essential reading for students of film studies. Softcover, 171 pp. $26.95. Screen Methods: Comparative Readings in Film Studies Jacqueline Furby & Karen Randell Screen Methods is a collection of essays that explores in detail the way in which Film Studies, an increasingly popular subject in universities, has been approached theoretically, culturally and historically and the ways in which this has changed in the twenty-first century. Case studies include Star Wars, A Room with a View, Philadelphia, Romance, American Beauty and Gladiator, as well as the paintings of Jacques-Louis David and the films of Ridley Scott. Softcover, 179 pp. $31.95. Back to top

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Last modified December 28, 2009. Please note that all prices are in Canadian dollars. All prices are subject to change without notice.