Overview

Unpacking a decade of Australia's most famous TV reviewing program to reveal how film reviewing mediates cultural taste and cinematic storytelling. At the Movies, Film Reviewing, and Screenwriting discusses the interplay between film criticism and screenwriting, providing a different view on how reviewers engage with story and dialogue. Steven Maras draws on Pierre Bourdieu's theories of cultural taste to examine film reviewing as a key site of cultural production, analyzing ten years of television scripts from At the Movies (2004–2014). Hosted by Australia's most influential film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, this long-running program shaped public discourse on cinema and left an indelible mark on Australian screen culture. Studying the program's broadcast scripts, this book addresses how film reviewing operates as both critique and storytelling. Of particular interest to media scholars, screenwriting researchers, and cinephiles alike, it provides fresh insights into the evolving role of criticism in contemporary screen culture. Engaging and deeply researched, this work rightfully emphasizes the cultural significance of movie criticism in film culture in Australia and beyond.

Full Product Details

Author:   Steven Maras (University of Western Australia, Australia)
Publisher:   Intellect
Imprint:   Intellect Books
Dimensions:   Width: 17.00cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 24.40cm
Weight:   0.651kg
ISBN:  

9781835951163

ISBN 10:   1835951163
Pages:   280
Publication Date:   11 July 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
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Table of Contents

About At the Movies List of Abbreviations List of Tables List of Figures   Preface A Case Study Approach Margaret and David as Cultural Mediators Reviewing as Performance Acknowledgements   Chapter 1. At the Movies, Reviewing, and Screenwriting From Elective to Selective Affinities Film Reviewing Two approaches: Functionalism and rhetoric Shifting the criticism/reviewing distinction Screenwriting   Chapter 2. At the Movies and its Influence The Business of Managing the Review Process             Debunking the powerful critic theory The Margaret and David Effect A Variable Cultural Field: From Restricted to Large-Scale The Persona of the Critic The Responsibilities of the Reviewer             Proximity to industry             The Australian new wave   Chapter 3. Arbiters of taste. Inside the Gut Where the Reviewer Sits Summary Judgements The Gospel According to David and Margaret Taste, Taste Culture, or Cultural Forum   Chapter 4. The Politics of Classification Ken Park (2002) Romper Stomper (1992) Wolf Creek 2 (2013)   Chapter 5. Three Discourse Frames (Australia, 1987–2002) Frame 1: Funding Methods and Creative Outcomes Frame 2: The Crisis in the Film Industry and the Script as Problematic Object Frame 3: The Doxa   Chapter 6. The Discursive Construction of Screenwriting in At the Movies (2004–2014) Method Coding: Script, Screenplay, Screenwriter Analysis   Chapter 7. The Well-Made Screenplay: At the Movies as an Aesthetic Enterprise Performing the Doxa Problematizations and Conclusions   Chapter 8. In Interview: David Stratton on Reviewing and At the Movies   Chapter 9. In Interview: Margaret Pomeranz on Reviewing and At the Movies   Appendix 1: Notes on method, verification and exclusions   Appendix 2: ‘Written by’   Appendix 3: DVD classics   Appendix 4: Selective reference list of descriptors used by Margaret and David

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Author Information

Steven Maras is Associate Professor of Media and Communication at the University of Western Australia. He is author of Screenwriting: History, Theory and Practice (Wallflower, 2009) and editor of Ethics in Screenwriting: New Perspectives (Palgrave, 2016). He also co-edits the Palgrave Studies in Screenwriting book series.

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