During the late 1960s and 1970s, as Film Studies crystallized into an academic discipline, psychological realism became linked to both classical Hollywood and continuity editing. The style was derided as theatrical, or worse, bourgeois, a product of a capitalism that valorized individual personality. This view persists, though often tacitly. However, we must attribute some degree of mindedness to any figure that we might call a character, even if that psyche is established not by a performer but by another aspect of the film, such as editing. Through the study of performer and director Mike Nichols, Kyle Stevens questions the aesthetic-ideological stance against psychological realism. He argues that characters' actions are not just filmed concepts but can be film concepts whose forms resonate politically. Nichols' oeuvre centers on moments when words and gestures cease to mean, or to mean in typical ways. In doing so, he exposes the pretense of tropes that constitute conventionally realist characters, and participates in changes in U.S. cultural attitudes toward language, subjectivity, embodiment, and the social, particularly with regard to sexual politics. This book thus sheds light on Hollywood history, historicizes Film Studies' turn away from humanism, and reassesses paradigms that hold psychological realism to be "transparent"-thereby blinding us to potentially subtle and subversive uses of this aesthetic choice.

With iconic movies like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate, and Carnal Knowledge, Mike Nichols was the most prominent American director during the cultural upheavals of the 1960s. Mike Nichols: Sex, Language, and the Reinvention of Psychological Realism argues that he overhauled the style of psychological realism, and, in doing so, continues to shape the legacies of Hollywood cinema. It also reveals that misreadings of his films were central to foundational debates at the emergence of Cinema Studies as a discipline, inviting new reflections on critical dogma. Focusing on Nichols' classic movies, as well as later films such as Silkwood, The Birdcage, and Angels in America, Kyle Stevens demonstrates that Nichols' realism lies not in the plausibility of his characters but in their inherent mystery. By attending to the puzzling words and silences, breaths and laughter, that comprise these characters, Stevens uncovers new insights into the subversive potential of a range of cinematic elements, and reveals how Nichols' satirical oeuvre, and Hollywood itself, participated in several of the nation's most urgent social, political, and philosophical advances.

What actors do on-screen is a fascination for audiences all over the world. Indeed, the cultural visibility of movie stars is so pronounced that stardom has often been regarded as intrinsic to the medium's specificity. Yet not all great cinematic performances are star turns, and so, what really makes a cinematic performance good, interesting, or important has been a neglected topic in film criticism. This two-volume set presents detailed interpretations of singular performances by several of the most compelling actors in cinema history, asking in many different and complementary ways what makes performance meaningful, how it reflects a director's style, as well as how it contributes to the development of national cinemas and cultures. Whether noting the precise ways actors shape film narrative, achieve emotional effect, or move toward political subversion, the essays in these books innovate new approaches to studying screen performance as an art form and cultural force. This volume focuses on American cinema, including case studies of key performances from actors like Bette Davis, Irene Dunne, Whoopi Goldberg, Cary Grant, Oscar Isaac, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sellers, Kristen Stewart, and Ethel Waters, amongst many others.

What actors do on-screen is a fascination for audiences all over the world. Indeed, the cultural visibility of movie stars is so pronounced that stardom has often been regarded as intrinsic to the medium's specificity. Yet not all great cinematic performances are star turns, and so, what really makes a cinematic performance good, interesting, or important has been a neglected topic in film criticism. This two-volume set presents detailed interpretations of singular performances by several of the most compelling actors in cinema history, asking in many different and complementary ways what makes performance meaningful, how it reflects a director's style, as well as how it contributes to the development of national cinemas and cultures. Whether noting the precise ways actors shape film narrative, achieve emotional effect, or move toward political subversion, the essays in these books innovate new approaches to studying screen performance as an art form and cultural force. This second volume focuses on international cinema, and includes case studies of key performances from actors like Ingrid Bergman, Gael Garcia Bernal, Nikolai Cherkassov, Alec Guinness, Setsuko Hara, Isabelle Huppert, Peter Lorre, Madhubala, Anna Magnani, Toshiro Mifune, and Choi Min Sik, amongst many others.

Despite changes in the media landscape, film remains a vital force in contemporary culture, as do our ideas of what "a movie" or "the cinematic" are. Indeed, we might say that the category of film now only exists in theory. Whereas film-theoretical discussion at the turn of the 21st century was preoccupied, understandably, by digital technology's permeation of virtually all aspects of the film object, this volume moves the conversation away from a focus on film's materiality towards timely questions concerning the ethics, politics, and even aesthetics of thinking about the medium of cinema. To put it another way, this collection narrows in on the subject of film, not with a nostalgic sensibility, but with the recognition that what constitutes a film is historically contingent, in dialogue with the vicissitudes of entertainment, art, and empire. The volume is divided into six sections: Meta-Theory; Film Theory's Project of Emancipation; Apparatus and Perception; Audiovisuality; How Close is Close Reading?; and The Turn to Experience.

Analyses what makes an acting performance excellent, through a range of examples from American filmWhat actors do on-screen is a fascination for audiences all over the world. Indeed, the cultural visibility of movie stars is so pronounced that stardom has often been regarded as intrinsic to the medium's specificity. Yet not all great cinematic performances are star turns, and so, what really makes a cinematic performance good, interesting, or important has been a neglected topic in film criticism. This two-volume set presents detailed interpretations of singular performances by several of the most compelling actors in cinema history, asking in many different and complementary ways what makes performance meaningful, how it reflects a director's style, as well as how it contributes to the development of national cinemas and cultures. Whether noting the precise ways actors shape film narrative, achieve emotional effect, or move toward political subversion, the essays in these books innovate new approaches to studying screen performance as an art form and cultural force.This volume focuses on American cinema, including case studies of key performances from actors like Bette Davis, Irene Dunne, Whoopi Goldberg, Cary Grant, Oscar Isaac, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sellers, Kristen Stewart, and Ethel Waters, amongst many others.ContributorsBrenda Austin-Smith, University of ManitobaRebecca Bell-Metereau, Texas State UniversityCharles Ramirez Berg, University of Texas at AustinJanet Bergstrom, UCLAJohn Bruns College of CharlestonAlex Clayton, University of BristolShonni Enelow, Fordham UniversityAnna Everett, University of California, Santa BarbaraLucy Fischer, University of PittsburghLester D. Friedman, Hobart and William Smith CollegesFrances Gateward, California State University NorthridgeDavid Greven, University of South CarolinaJason Jacobs, University of QueenslandElliott Logan, University of Queensland, BrisbaneDouglas McFarland, Flagler College, Saint AugustineAdrienne L. McLean, University of Texas at DallasR. Barton Palmer, Clemson UniversityHomer B. Pettey, University of ArizonaMurray Pomerance, Ryerson University William Rothman, University of MiamiSteven Rybin, Minnesota State University, MankatoKyle Stevens, Appalachian State UniversityGeorge Toles, University of ManitobaDaniel Varndell, University of WinchesterTimotheus Vermeulen, University of OsloRick Warner, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Analyses what makes an acting performance excellent, through a range of examples from world cinemaWhat actors do on-screen is a fascination for audiences all over the world. Indeed, the cultural visibility of movie stars is so pronounced that stardom has often been regarded as intrinsic to the medium's specificity. Yet not all great cinematic performances are star turns, and so, what really makes a cinematic performance good, interesting, or important has been a neglected topic in film criticism. This two-volume set presents detailed interpretations of singular performances by several of the most compelling actors in cinema history, asking in many different and complementary ways what makes performance meaningful, how it reflects a director's style, as well as how it contributes to the development of national cinemas and cultures. Whether noting the precise ways actors shape film narrative, achieve emotional effect, or move toward political subversion, the essays in these books innovate new approaches to studying screen performance as an art form and cultural force.This second volume focuses on international cinema, and includes case studies of key performances from actors like Ingrid Bergman, Gael Garcia Bernal, Nikolai Cherkassov, Alec Guinness, Setsuko Hara, Isabelle Huppert, Peter Lorre, Madhubala, Anna Magnani, Toshiro Mifune, and Choi Min Sik, amongst many others.ContributorsUlka Anjaria, Brandeis UniversityJanet Bergstrom, UCLAHye Seung Chung, Colorado State UniversityCorey K. Creekmur, University of IowaAdrian Danks, RMIT University, MelbourneNick Davis, Northwestern UniversityDavid Desser, University of IllinoisDavid Scott Diffrient, Colorado State UniversityVictoria Duckett, Deakin University, MelbourneJason Jacobs, University of QueenslandAlexia Kannas, RMIT University, MelbourneMarcia Landy, University of PittsburghGina Marchetti, Independent Scholar Douglas McFarland, Flagler College, Saint AugustineAdrienne L. McLean, University of Texas at DallasJerry Mosher, California State University, Long BeachKarla Oeler, Stanford UniversityR. Barton Palmer, Clemson UniversityHomer B. Pettey, University of ArizonaMurray Pomerance, Ryerson University Sergio Rigoletto, University of OregonKyle Stevens, Appalachian State UniversityAaron Taylor, University of LethbridgeAlison Taylor, Bond University, QueenslandDolores Tierney, University of SussexNoah Tsika, Queens College, City University of New YorkTimotheus Vermeulen, University of Oslo

Brad Harris is captain of the high school football team and has always experienced strange dreams and periods of heightened awareness since he was very young. He keeps them a secret from everyone but his best friend. After a potentially life threatening accident in school, Brad's senior year becomes an awakening. With the help of a new friend who calls himself Jonah, a self described non-physical entity, Brad learns the true meaning of life and just what it truly means to be Brad Harris. A path altering choice must be made. Although Brad doesn't realize it, his decision will change his life forever and send him on a journey that he had never dreamed possible.