Search results for ""author richard dyer""

Fellini's La dolce vita has been a phenomenon since before it was made, a scandal in the making and on release in 1960 and a reference point ever since. Much of what made it notorious was its incorporation of real people, events and lifestyles, making it a documentation of its time. It uses performance, camera movement, editing and music to produce a striking aesthetic mix of energy and listlessness, of exuberance and despair. Richard Dyer's study considers each of these aspects of the film – phenomenon, document, aesthetic – and argues that they are connected. Beginning with the inspirations and ideas that were subsequently turned into La dolce vita, Dyer then explores the making of the film, the film itself and finally its critical reception, providing engaging new insights into this mesmerising piece of cinema.

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Brief Encounter (1945), adapted from Noel Coward''s play Still Life, is a classic of British cinema a tale of impossible love between a married woman and a man she meets while waiting for a train. Though it''s a film made by men, it is the woman''s voice we hear recounting the story of a small-town love affair and her renunciation of it. In his lucid analysis of the film, Richard Dyer explores how its depiction of powerful feelings kept under wraps is a definitive example of a particularly English style of emotional restraint, but also how it spoke to a gay audience for whom this subject forbidden love between ordinary people had a special resonance.This reissued edition features original cover artwork by Rania Moudaress and a substantial new foreword that revisits the film and recent readings of it, covering its enduring legacy and adaptation for theatre and television.

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David Fincher''s Seven (1995) follows two detectives, David Mills (Brad Pitt) and William Somerset (Morgan Freeman), as they investigate a series of gruesome murders. One of the most acclaimed films of the 1990s, it explores themes of moral decay, human darkness, and the blurred lines between good and evil. Richard Dyer''s study of the film, unpacks how its cinematography, sound, and plot combine to create a harrowing account of a world beset by an all-encompassing, irremediable wickedness. He explores the film in terms of sin, story, structure, seriality, sound, sight and salvation, analyzing how Seven both epitomizes and modifies the serial killer genre, which is such a feature of recent cinema.This new edition includes a new afterword by the author, re-assessing the film''s lasting impact and influence over contemporary filmmaking aesthetics.

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MacCann features Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Harry Langdon in this guide to the lives and works of the most important silent comedy movie-makers in America—the fourth in his acclaimed series, American Movies: The First Thirty Years. In twenty-eight articles reprinted from various sources, twenty-five contributors show how these five artists struggled in early years to find themselves, rise above limited circumstances, and make their entries into production at a time when Hollywood was the new frontier of the twentieth century. For each artist, MacCann includes some kind of statement by the artist himself about comic goals and methods. Contributors include James Agee, Samuel Gill, Penelope Houston, Theodore Huff, Janet E. Lorenz, Donald McCaffrey, Charles J. Maland, Daniel Moews, Graham Petrie, David Robinson, Michael Roemer, Robert E. Sherwood, Anthony Slide, William Schelly, and others. MacCann's introduction eloquently discusses the value of comedy and laments the critical tendency to prefer tragedy: "...the jolly fat clowns of comedy must more than ever be critically stretched to conform with lanky and lugubrious Hamlets in order to be worthy of praise. The celebration of the sad clown is a triumph of philosophy over art."

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Serial killing is an extremely rare phenomenon in reality that is none-theless remarkably widespread in the cultural imagination. Moreover, despite its rarity, it is also taken to be an expression of characteristic aspects of humanity, masculinity, or our times. Richard Dyer investigates this paradox, focusing on the notion at its heart: seriality. He considers the aesthetics of the repetition of nastiness and how this relates to the perceptions and anxieties that images of serial killing highlight in the societies that produce them. Shifting the focus away from the US, which is often seen as the home of the serial killer, Lethal Repetition instead examines serial killing in European culture and cinema – ranging from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean and from Britain to Romania. Spanning all brows of cinema – including avant-garde, art, mainstream and trash – Dyer provides case studies on Jack the Ripper, the equation of Nazism with serial killing, and the Italian giallo film to explore what this marginal and uncommon crime is being made to mean on European screens.

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"A splendid anthology" —Kevin Brownlow, author of The Parade's Gone By and Hollywood: The Pioneers. This pathbreaking work will become our most valuable resource on the performers of the American silent screen. Hollywood was the new frontier of the 20th century. ("The last Klondike," Gary Cooper called it.) Here are brief biographies of 176 people who won leading roles plus more dramatic reports on 33 of them—how they reached fame and fortune, "some sad and happy endings," analyses of the images of America they presented. Two special chapters: Pickford and Fairbanks, Swanson and Valentino.

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MacCann features Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Harry Langdon in this guide to the lives and works of the most important silent comedy movie-makers in America_the fourth in his acclaimed series, American Movies: The First Thirty Years. In twenty-eight articles reprinted from various sources, twenty-five contributors show how these five artists struggled in early years to find themselves, rise above limited circumstances, and make their entries into production at a time when Hollywood was the new frontier of the twentieth century. For each artist, MacCann includes some kind of statement by the artist himself about comic goals and methods. Contributors include James Agee, Samuel Gill, Penelope Houston, Theodore Huff, Janet E. Lorenz, Donald McCaffrey, Charles J. Maland, Daniel Moews, Graham Petrie, David Robinson, Michael Roemer, Robert E. Sherwood, Anthony Slide, William Schelly, and others. MacCann's introduction eloquently discusses the value of comedy and laments the critical tendency to prefer tragedy: '...the jolly fat clowns of comedy must more than ever be critically stretched to conform with lanky and lugubrious Hamlets in order to be worthy of praise. The celebration of the sad clown is a triumph of philosophy over art.'

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MacCann has shaped from 28 different memoirs and histories a cumulative story of the conflicts and achievements of the founders of the great movie studios. Carl Laemmle, Marcus Loew, William Fox, Samuel Goldwyn, Jesse Lasky, and Adolph Zukor are the stars of this history, some of them speaking in their own voices, others assessed by film historians. Zukor (described by Ramsaye as 'inwardly driven by Napoleonic ambition') becomes the central figure of the era. A source book for students and teachers and a treasure for general readers and classic film fans.

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Serial killing is an extremely rare phenomenon in reality that is none-theless remarkably widespread in the cultural imagination. Moreover, despite its rarity, it is also taken to be an expression of characteristic aspects of humanity, masculinity, or our times. Richard Dyer investigates this paradox, focusing on the notion at its heart: seriality. He considers the aesthetics of the repetition of nastiness and how this relates to the perceptions and anxieties that images of serial killing highlight in the societies that produce them. Shifting the focus away from the US, which is often seen as the home of the serial killer, Lethal Repetition instead examines serial killing in European culture and cinema – ranging from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean and from Britain to Romania. Spanning all brows of cinema – including avant-garde, art, mainstream and trash – Dyer provides case studies on Jack the Ripper, the equation of Nazism with serial killing, and the Italian giallo film to explore what this marginal and uncommon crime is being made to mean on European screens.

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Contains essays and articles from seventeen noted film studies experts, including Lewis Jacobs, Tom Milne, John Tibbetts, Gaylord Carter, Robert and Helen Merrell Lynd, and Anthony Slide. Chapters provide the reader with a well-rounded view of the societal influences that inspired the films and the techniques that directors, filmmakers, and actors used to portray the world around them. Appendixes list studio activity in the 20s, give listings of the titles and directors noted in all five volumes of the series, and provide annotations for each film.

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When it first appeared in 1964, Stuart Hall and Paddy Whannel's The Popular Arts opened up an almost unprecedented field of analysis and inquiry into contemporary popular culture. Counter to the prevailing views of the time, Hall and Whannel recognized popular culture's social importance and considered it worthy of serious study. In their analysis of everything from Westerns and the novels of Mickey Spillane, Ian Fleming, and Raymond Chandler to jazz, advertising, and the television industry, they were guided by the belief that studying popular culture demanded an ethical evaluation of the text and full attention to its properties. In so doing, they raised questions about the relation of culture to society and the politics of taste and judgment in ways that continue to shape cultural studies. Long out of print, this landmark text highlights the development of Hall's theoretical and methodological approach while adding a greater understanding of his work. This edition also includes a new introduction by Richard Dyer, who contextualizes The Popular Arts within the history of cultural studies and outlines its impact and enduring legacy.

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Comprehensive, authoritative, and unique, The Oxford Guide to Film Studies is the up-to-date critical volume on the theories, debates, and approaches to the study of film. A host of international experts provide an overview of the main disciplinary approaches to film studies, an explanation of the main concepts and methods involved in film analysis, a survey of the main issues and debates in the study of film, and critical discussion of key areas. The Guide features: * Comprehensive coverage suitable for any course on cinema or film studies * Organized into three sections: Approaches; Hollywood and the World; World Cinema * An emphasis throughout on critical concepts, methods, and debates * Specially commissioned chapters on such varied topics as film music, the Hollywood Star System, and the idea of national cinema * Coverage dedicated to important new areas in film studies: gay and lesbian criticism, postcolonial theory, audience studies, post-classical Hollywood cinema, and cultural studies * Chapters discussing exciting new developments in classical topics, such as Early Hollywood Cinema, Film History, and the avant-garde * Illustrated throughout, and complete with `readings' designed to demonstrate the variety of theoretical approaches, chapter headings and summaries, guides to further reading, and `highlight' quotes With its uniquely comprehensive coverage, The Oxford Guide to Film Studies is an indispensable aide and reference source for the student of film and media, and anyone interested in the study of cinema.

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When it first appeared in 1964, Stuart Hall and Paddy Whannel's The Popular Arts opened up an almost unprecedented field of analysis and inquiry into contemporary popular culture. Counter to the prevailing views of the time, Hall and Whannel recognized popular culture's social importance and considered it worthy of serious study. In their analysis of everything from Westerns and the novels of Mickey Spillane, Ian Fleming, and Raymond Chandler to jazz, advertising, and the television industry, they were guided by the belief that studying popular culture demanded an ethical evaluation of the text and full attention to its properties. In so doing, they raised questions about the relation of culture to society and the politics of taste and judgment in ways that continue to shape cultural studies. Long out of print, this landmark text highlights the development of Hall's theoretical and methodological approach while adding a greater understanding of his work. This edition also includes a new introduction by Richard Dyer, who contextualizes The Popular Arts within the history of cultural studies and outlines its impact and enduring legacy.

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