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British comedy cinema has been a mainstay of domestic production
since the beginning of the last Century and arguably the most
popular and important genre in British film history. This edited
volume will offer the first comprehensive account of the rich and
popular history of British comedy cinema from silent slapstick and
satire to contemporary romantic comedy. Using a loosely
chronological approach, essays cover successive decades of the 20th
and 21st Century with a combination of case studies on key
personalities, production cycles and studio output along with fresh
approaches to issues of class and gender representation. It will
present new research on familiar comedy cycles such as the Ealing
Comedies and Carry On films as well as the largely undocumented
silent period along with the rise of television spin offs from the
1970s and the development of animated comedy from 1915 to the
present. Films covered include: St Trinians, A Fish Called Wanda,
Brassed Off, Local Hero, The Full Monty, Four Lions and In the
Loop. Contributors: Melanie Bell, Alan Burton, James Chapman,
Richard Dacre, Ian Hunter, James Leggott, Sharon Lockyer, Andy
Medhurst, Lawrence Napper, Tim O'Sullivan, Laraine Porter, Justin
Smith, Sarah Street, Peter Waymark, Paul Wells
Bound by modest budget constraints and dwarfed by Hollywood's
output, British sci-fi cinema has enjoyed a checkered past,
overlooked by critics. Yet the sci-fi genre has produced some of
the best British films, from the pre-war classic "Things to Come"
to "Alien" - made in Britain by a British director. This text
redresses the balance, exploring the diverse strangeness of British
sci-fi from literary adaptations like "1984" and "A Clockwork
Orange" to the pulp fantasies and creature features far removed
from the acceptable face of British cinema. Through case studies of
key films like "The Day the Earth Caught Fire", contributors
explore the unique themes and concerns of British sci-fi from the
post-war boom years to more recent productions like "Hardware", and
examine the use of different sources, from TV adaptations like "Dr
Who and the Daleks", to the horror/sci-fi crossovers produced by
the Hammer studio and John Wyndhams cult novels "Day of the
Triffids" and "Village of the Damned". How did budget restrictions
encourage the use of the invasion narrative in '50s films?;And how
did films such as "The Day the Earth Stood Still" reflect fears
about the decline of Britain's economi
Over 39 chapters The Routledge Companion to British Cinema History
offers a comprehensive and revisionist overview of British cinema
as, on the one hand, a commercial entertainment industry and, on
the other, a series of institutions centred on economics, funding
and relations to government. Whereas most histories of British
cinema focus on directors, stars, genres and themes, this Companion
explores the forces enabling and constraining the films'
production, distribution, exhibition, and reception contexts from
the late nineteenth century to the present day. The contributors
provide a wealth of empirical and archive-based scholarship that
draws on insider perspectives of key film institutions and
illuminates aspects of British film culture that have been
neglected or marginalized, such as the watch committee system, the
Eady Levy, the rise of the multiplex and film festivals. It also
places emphasis on areas where scholarship has either been
especially productive and influential, such as in early and silent
cinema, or promoted new approaches, such as audience and memory
studies.
British comedy cinema has been a mainstay of domestic production
since the beginning of the last Century and arguably the most
popular and important genre in British film history. This edited
volume will offer the first comprehensive account of the rich and
popular history of British comedy cinema from silent slapstick and
satire to contemporary romantic comedy. Using a loosely
chronological approach, essays cover successive decades of the 20th
and 21st Century with a combination of case studies on key
personalities, production cycles and studio output along with fresh
approaches to issues of class and gender representation. It will
present new research on familiar comedy cycles such as the Ealing
Comedies and Carry On films as well as the largely undocumented
silent period along with the rise of television spin offs from the
1970s and the development of animated comedy from 1915 to the
present. Films covered include: St Trinians, A Fish Called Wanda,
Brassed Off, Local Hero, The Full Monty, Four Lions and In the
Loop. Contributors: Melanie Bell, Alan Burton, James Chapman,
Richard Dacre, Ian Hunter, James Leggott, Sharon Lockyer, Andy
Medhurst, Lawrence Napper, Tim O'Sullivan, Laraine Porter, Justin
Smith, Sarah Street, Peter Waymark, Paul Wells
British Science Fiction Cinema is the first substantial study of a
genre which, despite a sometimes troubled history, has produced
some of the best British films, from the prewar classic Things to
Come to Alien made in Britain by a British director. The
contributors to this rich and provocative collection explore the
diverse strangeness of British science fiction, from literary
adaptions like Nineteen Eighty-Four and A Clockwork Orange to pulp
fantasies and 'creature features' far removed from the acceptable
face of British cinema.
Through case studies of key films like The Day the Earth Caught
Fire, contributors explore the unique themes and concerns of
British science fiction, from the postwar boom years to more recent
productions like Hardware, and examine how science fiction cinema
drew on a variety of sources, from TV adaptions like Doctor Who and
the Daleks, to the horror/sf crossovers produced from John
Wyndham's cult novels The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich
Cuckoos (filmed as Village of the Damned). How did budget
restrictions encourage the use of the 'invasion narrative' in the
1950s films? And how did films such as Unearthly Stranger and
Invasion reflect fears about the decline of Britain's economic and
colonial power and the 'threat' of female sexuality?
British Science Fiction Cinema celebrates the breadth and
continuing vitality of British sf film-making, in both big-budget
productions such as Brazil and Event Horizon and cult exploitation
movies like Inseminoid and Lifeforce.
Over 39 chapters The Routledge Companion to British Cinema History
offers a comprehensive and revisionist overview of British cinema
as, on the one hand, a commercial entertainment industry and, on
the other, a series of institutions centred on economics, funding
and relations to government. Whereas most histories of British
cinema focus on directors, stars, genres and themes, this Companion
explores the forces enabling and constraining the films'
production, distribution, exhibition, and reception contexts from
the late nineteenth century to the present day. The contributors
provide a wealth of empirical and archive-based scholarship that
draws on insider perspectives of key film institutions and
illuminates aspects of British film culture that have been
neglected or marginalized, such as the watch committee system, the
Eady Levy, the rise of the multiplex and film festivals. It also
places emphasis on areas where scholarship has either been
especially productive and influential, such as in early and silent
cinema, or promoted new approaches, such as audience and memory
studies.
This is a lively and stimulating look at representations, mutations
and adaptations of 'the alien' in literature, film and television.
Using notions of the alien and alienation in a broadly defined
sense, the contributors cover early science fiction, from the
gothic aliens of Dracula and H.G. Wells, to the classic fifties
Cold War sci-fi movies, such as War of the Worlds,
twentieth-century reworkings of various 'alien' metaphors, such as
The Fly movies and the Alien series, and comic variations on the
theme such as Mars Attacks. Moving beyond the conventional genre
boundaries of the alien, particular essays look, too, at 'race' as
an alien condition, and at the use of illness and disease as a
metaphor for alienation in modern film and fiction.
The media are inextricable from controversy yet "controversy" is
an under-theorized term in studies of the media, even though
controversies over specific images, from "video nasties" to
snapshots from Abu Ghraib, have structured our understanding of the
media's power, seductiveness and dangers. This collection offers a
series of case studies of recent media controversies and draws on
new perspectives in cultural studies to consider a wide variety of
types of image, including newspaper cartoons, advertising and
fashion photography, music videos, photojournalism, news media, art
works, hardcore porn film, anime, horror and exploitation movies,
video games, and YouTube reaction videos. In the current climate
when images appear to be increasingly controversial, it is
important that media controversies are not made the excuse for
greater censorship and the demonization of "dangerous" images and
the audiences that consume them. The case studies in this book
suggest how we might achieve a more subtle understanding of
controversial images and negotiate the difficult terrain of the new
media landscape.
The contributors to this volume negotiate the notion of a "classic"
in film and fiction, exploring the growing interface and the
blurring of boundaries between literature and film. Taking the
problematic term "classic" as its focus, the contributors consider
both canonical literary and film texts, questioning whether classic
status in one domain transfer it to another. The book looks at a
wide range of texts and their adaptations. Authors discussed are
Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte, Henry James, Franz Kafka, Thomas
Mann, Virginia Woolf, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Miller, Truman
Capote, and Lewis Carroll. Book to film adaptations, analysed
including a comparison of Joyce's "Ulysses" with Hitchcock's "Rear
Window",. Throughout, the contributors challenge the dichotomy
between high culture and pop culture.
Offering a series of case studies of recent media controversies,
this collection draws on new perspectives in cultural studies to
consider a wide variety of images. The book suggest how we might
achieve a more subtle understanding of controversial images and
negotiate the difficult terrain of the new media landscape.
After 45 years, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws remains the definitive
summer blockbuster, a cultural phenomenon with a fierce and
dedicated fan base. The Jaws Book: New Perspectives on the Classic
Summer Blockbuster is an exciting illustrated collection of new
critical essays that offers the first detailed and comprehensive
overview of the film’s significant place in cinema history.
Bringing together established and young scholars, the book includes
contributions from leading international writers on popular cinema
including Murray Pomerance, Peter Krämer, Sheldon Hall, Nigel
Morris and Linda Ruth Williams, and covers such diverse topics as
the film’s release, reception and canonicity; its representation
of masculinity and children; the use of landscape and the ocean;
its status as a western; sequels and fan-edits; and its galvanizing
impact on the horror film, action movie and contemporary Hollywood
itself.
Stanley Kubrick is one of the most revered directors in cinema
history. His 13 films, including classics such as Paths of Glory,
2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, and The
Shining, attracted controversy, acclaim, a devoted cult following,
and enormous critical interest. With this comprehensive guide to
the key contexts - industrial and cultural, as well as aesthetic
and critical - the themes of Kubrick's films sum up the current
vibrant state of Kubrick studies. Bringing together an
international team of leading scholars and emergent voices, this
Companion provides comprehensive coverage of Stanley Kubrick’s
contribution to cinema. After a substantial introduction outlining
Kubrick's life and career and the film's production and reception
contexts, the volume consists of 39 contributions on key themes
that both summarise previous work and offer new, often
archive-based, state-of-the-art research. In addition, it is
specifically tailored to the needs of students wanting an
authoritative, accessible overview of academic work on Kubrick.
After 45 years, Steven Spielberg's Jaws remains the definitive
summer blockbuster, a cultural phenomenon with a fierce and
dedicated fan base. The Jaws Book: New Perspectives on the Classic
Summer Blockbuster is an exciting illustrated collection of new
critical essays that offers the first detailed and comprehensive
overview of the film's significant place in cinema history.
Bringing together established and young scholars, the book includes
contributions from leading international writers on popular cinema
including Murray Pomerance, Peter Kramer, Sheldon Hall, Nigel
Morris and Linda Ruth Williams, and covers such diverse topics as
the film's release, reception and canonicity; its representation of
masculinity and children; the use of landscape and the ocean; its
status as a western; sequels and fan-edits; and its galvanizing
impact on the horror film, action movie and contemporary Hollywood
itself.
Cult Film as a Guide to Life investigates the world and experience
of cult films, from well-loved classics to the worst movies ever
made. Including comprehensive studies of cult phenomena such as
trash films, exploitation versions, cult adaptations, and case
studies of movies as different as Showgirls, Room 237 and The Lord
of the G-Strings, this lively, provocative and original book shows
why cult films may just be the perfect guide to making sense of the
contemporary world. Using his expertise in two fields, I.Q. Hunter
also explores the important overlap between cult film and
adaptation studies. He argues that adaptation studies could learn a
great deal from cult and fan studies about the importance of
audiences' emotional investment not only in texts but also in the
relationships between them, and how such bonds of caring are
structured over time. The book's emergent theme is cult film as
lived experience. With reference mostly to American cinema, Hunter
explores how cultists, with their powerful emotional investment in
films, care for them over time and across numerous intertexts in
relationships of memory, nostalgia and anticipation.
Cult Film as a Guide to Life investigates the world and experience
of cult films, from well-loved classics to the worst movies ever
made. Including comprehensive studies of cult phenomena such as
trash films, exploitation versions, cult adaptations, and case
studies of movies as different as Showgirls, Room 237 and The Lord
of the G-Strings, this lively, provocative and original book shows
why cult films may just be the perfect guide to making sense of the
contemporary world. Using his expertise in two fields, I.Q. Hunter
also explores the important overlap between cult film and
adaptation studies. He argues that adaptation studies could learn a
great deal from cult and fan studies about the importance of
audiences' emotional investment not only in texts but also in the
relationships between them, and how such bonds of caring are
structured over time. The book's emergent theme is cult film as
lived experience. With reference mostly to American cinema, Hunter
explores how cultists, with their powerful emotional investment in
films, care for them over time and across numerous intertexts in
relationships of memory, nostalgia and anticipation.
Stanley Kubrick is one of the most revered directors in cinema
history. His 13 films, including classics such as Paths of Glory,
2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, and The
Shining, attracted controversy, acclaim, a devoted cult following,
and enormous critical interest. With this comprehensive guide to
the key contexts - industrial and cultural, as well as aesthetic
and critical - the themes of Kubrick's films sum up the current
vibrant state of Kubrick studies. Bringing together an
international team of leading scholars and emergent voices, this
Companion provides comprehensive coverage of Stanley Kubrick’s
contribution to cinema. After a substantial introduction outlining
Kubrick's life and career and the film's production and reception
contexts, the volume consists of 39 contributions on key themes
that both summarise previous work and offer new, often
archive-based, state-of-the-art research. In addition, it is
specifically tailored to the needs of students wanting an
authoritative, accessible overview of academic work on Kubrick.
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