Since the early days of silent film accompaniment, the piano has played an integral part in the history of cinema. Film's fascination with the piano, both in soundtracks and onscreen as a status symbol and icon of popular romanticism, offers a revealing opportunity to chart the changing perception of the instrument. From Mozart to Elton John, this book surveys the cultural history of the piano through the instrument's cinematic functions. Composer biopics, such as A Song to Remember, romantic melodramas like the Liberace vehicle Sincerely Yours, and horror films such as The Hands of Orlac, along with animated cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry demonstrate just how pervasive the cinematic image of the piano once was during a period when the piano itself began its noticeable decline in everyday life. By examining these depictions of the piano onscreen, readers will begin to understand not only the decline of the piano but also the decline of the idealistic culture to which it gave birth in the nineteenth century.

Analyzes contemporary texts that bond together two seemingly antithetical sensibilities: the sentimental and the postmodern. This book presents case studies of audience responses to "The Piano", "Kiss of the Spider Woman", and "Northern Exposure". It argues that sentimental postmodernism deepened leftist political engagement.

Since the birth of cinema, film has been lauded as a visual rather than a verbal medium; this sentiment was epitomized by John Ford's assertion in 1964 that, "When a motion picture is at its best, it is long on action and short on dialogue." Little serious work has been done on the subject of film dialogue, yet what characters say and how they say it has been crucial to our experience and understanding of every film since the coming of sound. Through informative discussions of dozens of classic and contemporary films—from Bringing Up Baby to Terms of Endearment, from Stagecoach to Reservoir Dogs--this lively book provides the first full-length study of the use of dialogue in American film. Sarah Kozloff shows why dialogue has been neglected in the analysis of narrative film and uncovers the essential contributions dialogue makes to a film's development and impact. She uses narrative theory and drama theory to analyze the functions that dialogue typically serves in a film. The second part of the book is a comprehensive discussion of the role and nature of dialogue in four film genres: westerns, screwball comedies, gangster films, and melodramas. Focusing on topics such as class and ethnic dialects, censorship, and the effect of dramatic irony, Kozloff provides an illuminating new perspective on film genres.

Since the turn of the millennium, films such as Chicago (2002) and Phantom of the Opera (2004) have reinvigorated the popularity of the screen musical. This edited collection, bringing together a number of international scholars, looks closely at the range and scope of contemporary film musicals, from stage adaptations like Mamma Mia! (2008) and Les Miserables (2012), to less conventional works that elide the genre, like Team America: World Police (2004) and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill (2003/04). Looking at the varying aesthetic function of soundtrack and lyric in films like Disney's wildly popular Frozen (2013) and the Fast and the Furious franchise, or the self-reflexive commentary of the 'post-millennial rock musical', this wide-ranging collection breaks new ground in its study of this multifaceted genre.

The essays in this insightful film-analysis text show cover twenty-one of the best European films made between the coming of World War II and the end of the twentieth century, showing what makes each of them outstanding. These essays are clear and readable—that is, sophisticated and meaty yet not overly technical or jargon-heavy. They will make perfect introductions to their respective films as well as important contributions to the field of film studies in general. Written with university students in mind, these essays cover some of the central films treated—and central issues raised—in today’s cinema courses and provide students with practical models to help them improve their own writing and analytical skills. A list of questions for discussion is included, to trigger further thinking among film buffs and to help educators prepare for class. The book is aimed at students, teachers, and cinephiles with an interest in European cinema in particular and cinema studies in general, as well as at those educated readers with an interest in the practice of film analysis and criticism. The only competition comes from Stanley Kauffmann’s relatively brief Ten Great Films (136 pp., 2012). The current work offers twenty-one illustrated essays (Kauffmann’s book contains no images) and focuses on Europe. (The countries represented are France, Italy, England, Hungary, Belgium, Sweden, Scotland, Denmark, Russia, Spain, Germany, Scotland, and Finland.) Twenty-One Landmark European Films, 1939-1999 overlaps with Kauffmann’s book only in the case of L’avventura, though the two approach this film from vastly different angles. Moreover, the book provides a complete critical apparatus—notes, bibliographies, credits, and filmographies, whereas Kauffmann’s has none. This book could be one of the primary texts for courses in film analysis, to accompany a work like Timothy Corrigan’s A Short Guide to Writing about Film (8th edition, 2011). It would also be a suitable supplementary or secondary text in such courses as 'Introduction to Film' or 'Film Appreciation'; 'Western European Cinema'; 'History of Film' or 'Global Cinema'; and 'Film Directors' or 'Film Style and Imagination.'

Some film and novel revisions go so far beyond adaptation that they demand a new designation. This critical collection explores movies, plays, essays, comics and video games that supersede adaptation to radically transform their original sources. Fifteen essays investigate a variety of texts that rework everything from literary classics to popular children's books, demonstrating how these new, stand-alone creations critically engage their sources and contexts. Particular attention is paid to parody, intertextuality, and fairy-tale transformations in the examination of these works, which occupy a unique narrative and creative space.

Nyman's rise to international prominence during the last three decades has made him one of the world's most successful living composers. His music has nevertheless been criticized for its parasitic borrowing of other composers' ideas and for its relentless self-borrowing. In this first book-length study in English, Pwyll ap Siôn places Nyman's writings within the general context of Anglo-American experimentalism, minimalism and post-minimalism, and provides a series of useful contexts from which controversial aspects of Nyman's musical language can be more clearly understood and appreciated.

The 1990s was an amazing decade for movies, witnessing the release of dozens of incredible films, including The Matrix, The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, Fargo, Jurassic Park, and so many more. Despite this embarrassment of riches, author Riley Webster believes this decade has never received as much praise or as many kudos as it deserves—until now. Whether you’re a serious cinephile, a casual viewer, or merely seeking a heavy dose of 1990s nostalgia, this is the book for you.

This book provides an accessible overview of each director’s contribution to cinema, incorporating a discussion of their career, major works and impact.

This book examines the development of cinematic form and culture in Russia, from its late nineteenth-century beginnings as a fairground attraction to the early post-Revolutionary years. The author traces the changing perceptions of cinema and its social transition from a modernist invention to a national art form. He explores reactions to the earliest films from actors, novelists, poets, writers and journalists. His richly detailed study of the physical elements of cinematic performance includes the architecture and illumination of the cinema foyer, the speed of projection and film acoustics. In contrast to standard film histories, this book focuses on reflected images: rather than discussing films and film-makers, it features the historical film-goer and early writings on film. The book presents a vivid and changing picture of cinema culture in Russia in the twilight of the tsarist era and the first decades of the twentieth century. The study expands the whole context of reception studies and opens up questions about reception relevant to other national cinemas.