Music, Movies, Meanings, and Markets: Cinemajazzamatazz focuses on (macro)marketing-related aspects of film music in general and on the cinemusical role of jazz in particular. After a review of other work on music in motion pictures, the book explores and illustrates the ways in which on-screen jazz performances contribute to the development of dramatic meanings in various films, many of which address the art-versus-commerce theme as a central concern.

Movies mirror our desires and dreams, but they also shape them, as we struggle to understand ourselves and our world in relation to God. Finding Meaning at the Movies is a guide for groups and indivuduals who wish to explore - through movies - major themes, issues, and questions that we all have in common. Sara Ansen Vaux takes the reader on a cinematic journey, showing how to look for messages of value and meaning by examining not only the content of a film, but also the ways (cinematography, color, sound) that a movie tells a story.

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Miscellaneous, grade: very good, University of Würzburg (English Philology), language: English, abstract: Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the 1990s, turned out to be the most controversial cinematic work of this decade. Critics are divided between scathing criticism and commendatory enthusiasm; reviews range from calling Kubrick’s movie intellectually over-hyped, a disaster, or a boring experience to praising it as a triumphant victory and a masterpiece. For one thing, Eyes Wide Shut generates controversy on first viewing. It does not present easy answers or reassuring certainties, but leaves the viewer baffled as to its meaning. It is the movie’s complexity and large symbolic dimension that makes one realize that a single screening may not reveal all the meanings necessary for an interpretation. One of the movie’s outstanding features is its extensive use of recurring motifs, symbols, allusions, and paradox – one of the reasons why the film is difficult to understand. Thus, to come to a fuller understanding of one of the film’s possible messages, it is not only useful, but also necessary to take a closer look at its symbolic structure. This paper attempts to discuss the symbols employed in the movie as it is of benefit to the film’s analysis. Eyes Wide Shut presents two different planes of discourse: there is an outer reality, the social dimension, and there is the inner world of the characters, the psychodynamic dimension. To allow for the viewer to penetrate beyond the surface of outward appearances and human superficiality into the hidden worlds of dreams and fantasies, the use of symbols is an ideal instrument. Symbols appeal to the imagination and they address and evoke our emotions. They reflect on the interface between fiction and reality and thus help to reveal the truths of the subconscious mind. This helps to foster audience participation and emotional involvement in the story, which is of importance for Eyes Wide Shut to develop its full effect. However, even though Kubrick’s movie is full of symbols and hidden meanings, it is difficult to put them together for an analysis. There is not one interpretation that fits perfectly and renders a symbolic coherence. Thus, Eyes Wide Shut is open to several interpretations, none of which fits perfectly to all parts and aspects of the film. And this is exactly what makes the movie so intriguing: its ambiguity and loose ends, which leave interpretation to the viewer.

A wide-ranging and idiosyncratic look at sixty years of politics and film that uncovers how American movies have mirrored and even challenged anxieties and paranoid perceptions embedded in American society since the start of the Cold War. The first book to take a sweeping look at 60 years of film and analyze them thematically.

From the unprecendented and innovative perspective of Christian theology, this book investigates how cinema audiences wrestle with their religious beliefs and values. Deacy reveals that movies raise vital questions about the spiritual landscape and normative values of western society today.

Now thoroughly revised and updated, the book discusses recent breakthroughs in media technology, including such exciting advances as video discs and cassettes, two-way television, satellites, cable and much more.