About this Item
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. Clean from markings. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in fair condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,950grams, ISBN:9780801878404. Seller Inventory # 9286785
Bibliographic Details
Title: Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film ...
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication Date: 2004
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
About this title
In his astute and deeply informed film reviews and essays, Jonathan Rosenbaum regularly provides new and brilliant insights into the cinema as art, entertainment, and commerce. Guided by a personal canon of great films, Rosenbaum sees, in the ongoing hostility toward the idea of a canon shared by many within the field of film studies, a missed opportunity both to shape the discussion about cinema and to help inform and guide casual and serious filmgoers alike.
In Essential Cinema, Rosenbaum forcefully argues that canons of great films are more necessary than ever, given that film culture today is dominated by advertising executives, sixty-second film reviewers, and other players in the Hollywood publicity machine who champion mediocre films at the expense of genuinely imaginative and challenging works. He proposes specific definitions of excellence in film art through the creation a personal canon of both well-known and obscure movies from around the world and suggests ways in which other canons might be similarly constructed.
Essential Cinema offers in-depth assessments of an astonishing range of films: established classics such as Rear Window, M, and Greed; ambitious but flawed works like The Thin Red Line and Breaking the Waves; eccentric masterpieces from around the world, including Irma Vep and Archangel; and recent films that have bitterly divided critics and viewers, among them Eyes Wide Shut and A.I. He also explores the careers of such diverse filmmakers as Robert Altman, Raśl Ruiz, Frank Tashlin, Elaine May, Sam Fuller, Terrence Davies, Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Orson Welles. In conclusion, Rosenbaum offers his own film canon of 1,000 key works from the beginning of cinema to the present day. A cogent and provocative argument about the art of film, Essential Cinema is also a fiercely independent reference book of must-see movies for film lovers everywhere.
Jonathan Rosenbaum is arguably the most insightful and informed film critic working today. In Essential Cinema he gathers together twenty years of writing to explore the idea of―and the need for―a film canon. Though the idea may be unfashionable, particularly within the academy, Rosenbaum argues that a canon of great and near-great films is vital if we are to understand film as an art. Featuring a new afterword with an updated list of favorite films, this is an essential book for film students, film scholars, and film buffs.
"A virtuoso collection by one of the finest film critics currently active... There's nothing here that won't enrich the reader in some way. If you have seen the film already, you will see it better. If you haven't seen it, you will want to."―The Times of London
"Rosenbaum's passionate, thoughtful, and richly informed advocacy of the films he cares about earns this book a place on any cinephile's shelf... Rosenbaum, an enormously erudite and deeply reflective viewer unbeholden to academic norms and taboos, is ideally positioned to propose a canon of great works... An essential guide."―Boston Globe
"Accessible without being dumbed down... Filled with perceptive insights and fascinating juxtapositions... A closing list of 1,000 favorite films is sure to spark debate among cineastes while offering a long checklist of films to watch."―Publishers Weekly
"Every essay demonstrates Rosenbaum's fervent dedication to the cinema and, more important, that he has the knowledge and insight to support his impassioned opinions."―Booklist
"Jonathan Rosenbaum is one of the most invested voices in writing about movies. When there's a subject he's spent decades thinking on, he's nonpareil."―Newcity
"This is a road map for anyone who cares about discovering new cinematic terrain."―Choice
Jonathan Rosenbaum is film critic for the Chicago Reader and the author or editor of fourteen books, including Movie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Limit What Films We Can See, Movies as Politics, and Placing Movies: The Practice of Film Criticism.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Store Description
Anybook Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration Number: 3692291. VAT Number: GB753406145. Share Capital GBP100.
Registered Offices:
28 West End,
Burgh le Marsh,
Lincolnshire,
PE24 5EY
UK
Customer Services:
2,Outer Circle Business Park,
Outer Circle Road,
Lincoln
LN2 4HX
UK
Email Address: sales@anybook.com
Telephone Number: +44 (0) 1522 519 991
Authorized Representative: Ms. Claire Williams
Orders usually ship within 1 business day. We use Royal Mail and other reputable couriers at greatly discounted postage rates. If your book order is heavy or over-sized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.
Payment Methods
accepted by seller