How do we understand types of cinema that offer experiences of discomfort, awkwardness or disquieting uncertainty? This book examines a number of examples of such work at the heart of contemporary art and indie film. While the commercial mainstream tends to offer comforting viewing experiences - or moments of discomfort that exist largely to be overcome - The Cinema of Discomfort analyses films in which discomfort is offered in a sustained manner. Cinema of this kind confronts us with material such as distinctly uncomfortable sexual encounters. It invites us into uncertain relationships with awkward and sometimes unlikable characters. It presents us with challenging behaviour or what are presented as uncomfortable realities. It often refuses information on which to base judgments. More discomfortingly, cinema of this kind tends to provoke uncertainty at the level of what emotional responses we are encouraged to have towards difficult, sometimes controversial, characters or events. The Cinema of Discomfort examines a number of case-studies, including Palindromes by Todd Solondz (US) and Dogtooth from Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece), along with other examples from Austria, Sweden, the UK, the US and Germany. Offering close textual analysis of the manner in which discomfort is generated, it also asks how we should understand the appeal of such work to certain viewers and how the existence of films of this kind can be explained, as products of both their socio-cultural context and the more particular institutional realms of art and indie film.

The name we are given by our parents has a big impact on us. Throughout our life, from the playground to the office, other people will make instinctive and subconscious assumptions about who we are just from our name. We'll hear it spoken in anger and joy, it'll be shortened, lengthened and parodied, it will be loved and loathed. Finding a name that you like, that suits your child and that your child will be happy to carry with them for the rest of their life is not easy. The possibilities seem endless. So where do you start? Brilliant Baby Names has all the answers and will help you to take the worry out of getting your baby's name just right. More than just an alphabetical list of popular names, Brilliant Baby Names is the ultimate guide to naming your baby. Whether you're seeking advice about how to choose a name, looking for inspiration in finding the perfect name or searching for help in handling disagreements or family expectations, this book can help. As you'd expect, the book is packed with 1000s of names to review. Each is listed with details on what they mean and their origin. The lists are split into boys', girls' and neutral names to make the selection process as simple as possible. You'll re-discover traditional names that have been popular in the past; cool names where virtually anything goes; popular names that everyone's using; unusual names that perhaps you'd rather avoid; celebrity names that are on everyone's lips and famous names that the whole world will know. If you need more help or are looking for a namesake, you'll find extra inspiration in the lists of the 100 greatest names from cinema, literature, entertainment, sport and many more. As well as the name lists though, you'll find everything you need to keep in mind, and avoid, when considering a name for your child. There's also detailed information on why choosing the right name is so important and how it may affect your child's opportunities in life. There's essential help and advice in handling and resolving any disagreements with your partner and managing family expectations. You'll find out what the law requires: when and how to register your child's name, how your legal name is used and what to do if you wish to change your child's name later. So, when it comes to naming your baby, Brilliant Baby Names is the only book you'll ever need.

Want to beat your sales target? Buy this book. The new edition of this highly successful sales bible is full of practical tips, tricks and advice and now comes in a smaller, more accessible package.

" The Secrets of Selling, " 2nd edition covers all the key areas in a concise and snappy style and is easy to navigate - essential features for the time pressured modern sales professional. It covers the full range of situations that sales people at all levels will encounter, from how to size up your prospective client quickly, to the best time to mention your price. It has a genuinely practical approach - providing you with the tips, tricks and techniques that will help you improve your sales performance.

This new edition has been completely revised and updated throughout. Key changes include: .

• Summaries, in the form of checklists included at each of the three sections.
• A chapter on Body Language, including new information on how to spot lying.
• New information on icebreakers in meetings.

The American independent sector has attracted much attention in recent years, an upsurge of academic work on the subject being accompanied by wider public debate. But many questions remain about how exactly independence should be defined and how its relationship might be understood with other parts of the cinematic landscape, most notably the Hollywood studios. Edited and written by leading authors in the field, " American Independent Cinema: indie, indiewood and beyond" offers an examination of the field through four sections that range in focus from broad definitions to close focus on particular manifestations of independence. A wide variety of examples are included but within a framework that offers insights into how these are related to one another.

More specifically this collection offers:

• an account of recent developments as well as reviewing, reassessing and revising a number of central positions, approaches and arguments relating to various parts of the independent and/or indie sector.
• Individual case studies that range from the distinctive qualities of the work of established quality filmmakers such as Wes Anderson, Steven Soderbergh and Rebecca Miller to studies of horror genre production at the more disreputable end of the independent spectrum.
• Examples of the limits of independence available in some cases within Hollywood, including studies of the work of Stanley Kubrick and Hal Ashby.
• Case studies of under-researched areas in the margins of American independent cinema, including the Disney nature films and Christian evangelical filmmaking.
• A number of wider overview chapters that examine contemporary American independent cinema from a number of perspectives.

Together, the chapters in the collection offer a unique contribution to the study of independent film in the United States.

Contributors: Warren Buckland, Philip Drake, Mark Gallagher, Geoff King, Peter Kr mer, Novotny Lawrence, James MacDowell, Claire Molloy, Michael Z. Newman, Alisa Perren, James Russell, Thomas Schatz, Michele Schreiber, Janet Staiger, Yannis Tzioumakis, Sarah Wharton

The American independent sector has attracted much attention in recent years, an upsurge of academic work on the subject being accompanied by wider public debate. But many questions remain about how exactly independence should be defined and how its relationship might be understood with other parts of the cinematic landscape, most notably the Hollywood studios. Edited and written by leading authors in the field, " American Independent Cinema: indie, indiewood and beyond" offers an examination of the field through four sections that range in focus from broad definitions to close focus on particular manifestations of independence. A wide variety of examples are included but within a framework that offers insights into how these are related to one another.

More specifically this collection offers:

• an account of recent developments as well as reviewing, reassessing and revising a number of central positions, approaches and arguments relating to various parts of the independent and/or indie sector.
• Individual case studies that range from the distinctive qualities of the work of established quality filmmakers such as Wes Anderson, Steven Soderbergh and Rebecca Miller to studies of horror genre production at the more disreputable end of the independent spectrum.
• Examples of the limits of independence available in some cases within Hollywood, including studies of the work of Stanley Kubrick and Hal Ashby.
• Case studies of under-researched areas in the margins of American independent cinema, including the Disney nature films and Christian evangelical filmmaking.
• A number of wider overview chapters that examine contemporary American independent cinema from a number of perspectives.

Together, the chapters in the collection offer a unique contribution to the study of independent film in the United States.

Contributors: Warren Buckland, Philip Drake, Mark Gallagher, Geoff King, Peter Kramer, Novotny Lawrence, James MacDowell, Claire Molloy, Michael Z. Newman, Alisa Perren, James Russell, Thomas Schatz, Michele Schreiber, Janet Staiger, Yannis Tzioumakis, Sarah Wharton"

The first in the field to focus on the key aspects of videogames themselves as a distinctive medium, this is a rich and original read for gamers as well as students and researchers of popular culture internationally, which reviews the passionate gamer/game relationship viz all types of games from "Doom" to "EverQuest". Videogames now rival Hollywood cinema in popularity and profits and there are huge followings for titles such as "Tomb Raider" or "The Sims". Exactly what games offer, however, as a distinct form of entertainment, has received scant attention. This book is a valuable contribution to this new field. Its main focus is on key formal aspects of games and the experiences and pleasures offered by the activities they require of the player. A wide range of games are considered, from first-person shooters to third-person action-adventures, strategy, sports-related and role-playing games. Issues examined in detail include the characteristics of gameplay and its relationship with narrative, genre, virtual landscapes, realism, spectacle and sensation. Lively and accessible in style, this book is written for both an academic readership and the wider audience of gamers and those interested in popular culture.

An original and wide-ranging study of the mappings used to impose meaning on the world, Mapping Reality argues that maps create rather than merely represent the ground on which they rest. Distinctions between map and territory questioned by some theorists of the postmodern have always been arbitrary. From the history of cartography to the mappings of culture, sexuality and nation, Geoff King draws on an extensive range of materials, including mappings imposed in the colonial settlement of America, the Cold War, Vietnam and the events since the collapse of the Soviet bloc. He argues for a deconstruction of the opposition between map and territory to allow dominant mappings to be challenged, their contours redrawn and new grids imposed.

A study of the mappings used to impose meaning on the world, this text argues that maps create rather than merely represent the ground on which they rest. From the history of cartography to the mappings culture, sexuality and nation, it draws on a range of materials including mappings imposed in the colonial settlement of America, the Cold War, Vietnam and the events since the collapse of the Soviet bloc. The book argues for a deconstruction of the opposition between map and territory to allow dominant mappings to be challenged, their contours redrawn and new grids imposed.

With its gothic tale of a troubled teen haunted by visions of a figure in a Halloween rabbit suit, "Donnie Darko" was among the first cult movie phenomena of the twenty-first century, making debut director Richard Kelly Hollywood hot property before he reached his thirtieth birthday. This study narrates the film's journey from box-office bemusement through word of mouth success to the recent director's cut of the film, and also discusses fans' reactions to the film's enigmatic conclusion, explaining how "Donnie Darko" gripped the imagination of Generation X teenagers across the world.

This book charts the dimensions of one of the most popular genres in the cinema. From lurid comic-book blockbusters to dark dystopian visions, science fiction is seen as both a powerful cultural barometer of our times and the product of particular industrial and commercial frameworks. The authors outline the major themes of the genre, from representations of the mad scientist and computer hacker to the relationship between science fiction and postmodernism, exploring issues such as the meaning of special effects and the influence of science fiction cinema on the entertainment media of the digital age. Over one hundred films are discussed and the book concludes with an extensive case study of "Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace."

What defines quality in contemporary Hollywood film? Although often seen as inhospitable to such work, the studios of the blockbuster-franchise era continue to produce features that make claims to higher status. Films such as The Social Network, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Mystic River are marked as distinctive from the mainstream norm. But how exactly, and how are such qualities mixed with more familiar Hollywood ingredients, as found in larger doses in other examples such as Blood Diamond and the blockbuster-scale Inception? Quality Hollywood is the first book to address these issues, featuring close analysis of case study films, critical responses and the wider notions of cultural value on which these draw. Geoff King argues that such films retain a presence as a minority strand of studio output. The reasons for this combine factors relating to economics, the power of certain filmmakers and Hollywood s investment in its own prestige."

What exactly is film comedy and what is the basis for its widespread appeal? "Film Comedy" uses formal, socio-historical and industrial perspectives to answer this question. What, for example, is the basis of the appeal of gross-out comedy in films such as "There's Something About Mary" and "American Pie"? What is the relationship between comedy and narrative, from early silent slapstick to the performance of actors such as Steve Martin and Jim Carrey? How has romantic comedy changed, or remained the same, from the 1930s to today? What happens when comedy is put to more serious ends in satire ranging from works produced under communism in Eastern Europe and Cuba to Hollywood features such as "Bullworth" and "Wag the Dog"? To what extent is comedy nation-specific? And what is the role of comic relief in Hollywood action movies and black comedy such as "American Psycho" and "Man Bites Dog."

Art cinema occupies a space in the film landscape that is accorded a particular kind of value. From films that claim the status of harsh realism to others which embody aspects of the tradition of modernism or the poetic, art cinema encompasses a variety of work from across the globe. But how is art cinema positioned in the film marketplace, or by critics and in academic analysis? Exactly what kinds of cultural value are attributed to films of this type and how can this be explained? This book offers a unique analysis of how such processes work, including the broader cultural basis of the appeal of art cinema to particular audiences. Geoff King argues that there is no single definition of art cinema, but a number of distinct and recurrent tendencies are identified. At one end of the spectrum are films accorded the most 'heavyweight' status, offering the greatest challenges to viewers. Others mix aspects of art cinema with more accessible dimensions such as uses of popular genre frameworks and 'exploitation' elements involving explicit sex and violence. Including case studies of key figures such as Michael Haneke, Pedro Almodovar and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, this is a crucial contribution to understanding both art cinema itself and the discourses through which its value is established.

How do we understand types of cinema that offer experiences of discomfort, awkwardness or disquieting uncertainty? This book examines a number of examples of such work at the heart of contemporary art and indie film. While the commercial mainstream tends to offer comforting viewing experiences - or moments of discomfort that exist largely to be overcome - The Cinema of Discomfort analyses films in which discomfort is offered in a sustained manner. Cinema of this kind confronts us with material such as distinctly uncomfortable sexual encounters. It invites us into uncertain relationships with awkward and sometimes unlikable characters. It presents us with challenging behaviour or what are presented as uncomfortable realities. It often refuses information on which to base judgments. More discomfortingly, cinema of this kind tends to provoke uncertainty at the level of what emotional responses we are encouraged to have towards difficult, sometimes controversial, characters or events. The Cinema of Discomfort examines a number of case-studies, including Palindromes by Todd Solondz (US) and Dogtooth from Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece), along with other examples from Austria, Sweden, the UK, the US and Germany. Offering close textual analysis of the manner in which discomfort is generated, it also asks how we should understand the appeal of such work to certain viewers and how the existence of films of this kind can be explained, as products of both their socio-cultural context and the more particular institutional realms of art and indie film.

What defines 'quality' in contemporary Hollywood film? Although often seen as inhospitable to such work, the studios of the blockbuster-franchise era continue to produce features that make claims to higher status. Films such as The Social Network, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Mystic River are marked as distinctive from the mainstream norm. But how exactly, and how are such qualities mixed with more familiar Hollywood ingredients, as found in larger doses in other examples such as Blood Diamond and the blockbuster-scale Inception? Quality Hollywood is the first book to address these issues, featuring close analysis of case study films, critical responses and the wider notions of cultural value on which these draw. Geoff King argues that such films retain a presence as a minority strand of studio output. The reasons for this combine factors relating to economics, the power of certain filmmakers and Hollywood's investment in its own prestige.

In this book, the author has published extensively on American cinema. It covers a range of well-known films and film-makers. This is the first book to analyse the relationship and interaction between Independent film and Hollywood.Indiewood is the place where Hollywood and the American independent sector meet, where lines blur and two very different kinds of cinema come together in a striking blend of creativity and commerce. This is an arena in which innovative, sometimes challenging cinema reaches out to the mainstream. Or, alternatively, a zone of duplicity and compromise in which the 'true' heritage of the indie sector is co-opted as an offshoot of Hollywood."Indiewood" is the first book to provide objective analysis of this distinctive region of the contemporary American film landscape. Case studies include the work of Quentin Tarantino, Charlie Kaufman and Steven Soderbergh and the output of the studio 'specialist' divisions Miramax and Focus Features.From the stylized violence and cult film referencing of "Kill Bill" to the literary resonances of "Shakespeare in Love" and from the mind-bending scripts of Kaufman ("Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") to Soderbergh's "Traffic" and "Solaris", Geoff King examines the way Indiewood features combine mainstream with more unconventional features in an attempt to have it both ways: to remain accessible while offering markers of distinction designed to appeal to more particular, niche-audience constituencies.

In this book, the author has published extensively on American cinema. It covers a range of well-known films and film-makers. This is the first book to analyse the relationship and interaction between Independent film and Hollywood.Indiewood is the place where Hollywood and the American independent sector meet, where lines blur and two very different kinds of cinema come together in a striking blend of creativity and commerce. This is an arena in which innovative, sometimes challenging cinema reaches out to the mainstream. Or, alternatively, a zone of duplicity and compromise in which the 'true' heritage of the indie sector is co-opted as an offshoot of Hollywood."Indiewood" is the first book to provide objective analysis of this distinctive region of the contemporary American film landscape. Case studies include the work of Quentin Tarantino, Charlie Kaufman and Steven Soderbergh and the output of the studio 'specialist' divisions Miramax and Focus Features.From the stylized violence and cult film referencing of "Kill Bill" to the literary resonances of "Shakespeare in Love" and from the mind-bending scripts of Kaufman ("Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") to Soderbergh's "Traffic" and "Solaris", Geoff King examines the way Indiewood features combine mainstream with more unconventional features in an attempt to have it both ways: to remain accessible while offering markers of distinction designed to appeal to more particular, niche-audience constituencies.

Videogames now rival Hollywood cinema in popularity and profits and there are huge followings for titles such as Tomb Raider or The Sims. Exactly what games offer, however, as a distinct form of entertainment, has received scant attention. This book is a valuable contribution to this new field. Its main focus is on key formal aspects of games and the experiences and pleasures offered by the activities they require of the player. A wide range of games are considered, from first-person shooters to third-person action-adventures, strategy, sports-related and role-playing games. Issues examined in detail include the characteristics of gameplay and its relationship with narrative, genre, virtual landscapes, realism, spectacle and sensation. Lively and accessible in style, this book is written for both an academic readership and the wider audience of gamers and those interested in popular culture.

What is the appeal of the contemporary Hollywood blockbuster? The sheer scale and impact of big special effects sequences is part of the attraction of films such as Independence Day, Jurassic Park, Titanic or Mission Impossible. But they also offer other appeals, including the dynamics of narrative. Spectacular Narratives is the first serious book-length treatment of the contemporary blockbuster, including the digital-effects-based spectacle, space fictions, the action film, war spectaculars, the recent wave of disaster movies and films evoking new technologies such as virtual reality. Consideration is also given to the impact of profitable spin-offs such as film-related theme park rides and computer games. Geoff King argues against the view that an emphasis on the spectacular has led to an erosion of the importance of narrative in Hollywood. Instead, he suggests, even the most spectacular and effects-led contemporary blockbuster offers a blend of appeals, mixing elements of spectacle and narrative. Narrative is explored at the levels of both linear story-telling and underlying thematic patterns, a particular emphasis being placed on the persistence of elements of the myth/ideology of the American frontier. Close textual analysis is combined with consideration of the industrial and social contexts of contemporary Hollywood in a readable, original and rewarding book on the cinema that dominates markets across the globe.

Elusive, subtle and atmospheric, Lost in Translation was one of the indie hits of 2004, earning widespread critical praise, awards and success at the box office. But what was the basis of its appeal and how exactly is the film marked as a distinctly independent work? This book, by a leading authority on contemporary American indie cinema, provides an in-depth analysis of the balance of more and less mainstream qualities offered by the film at all levels, from industrial factors such as funding, marketing and release strategy to formal qualities such as its low-key narrative structure and the impressionistic use of imagery and music. Other issues examined in detail include the role of stardom, particularly the role of Bill Murray, the distinctive 'auteur' contribution made by writer-director Sofia Coppola and the film's ambiguous relationship with the romantic comedy genre. Textual and industrial analysis is also supplemented by consideration of online responses to the film that offer insights into the various ways in which it was either appreciated or rejected by viewers. Key Features * A unique attempt to pin down the precise nature of the film and its appeal to viewers * A major contribution to our understanding of the contemporary American indie film landscape * Written by a leading authority on American indie film