Overview

Full Product Details

9780190658786

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Scholars have long debated why we find Hollywood films pleasurable. Berliner's bold and provocative thesis is that they give us aesthetic pleasure, and he skillfully mines the philosophical and psychological literature to support his contention, providing fresh analyses of a number of well-known Hollywood films along the way. The book constitutes a passionate defense of Hollywood against its many detractors who condemn its aesthetics as uniform and therefore passivity-inducing, and is required reading for anyone interested in the enduring appeal of Hollywood cinema."" -- Malcolm Turvey, Sol Gittleman Professor and Director of Film and Media Studies, Tufts University ""Written in a lucid and engaging style, Todd Berliner's Hollywood Aesthetic explains why so many Hollywood films remain beloved today. Like the classic movies it examines, this smart and lively book strikes the perfect balance between interest and pleasure."" -- Patrick Keating, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Trinity University ""This is a provocative, lively analysis of the ways Hollywood movies pleasure their audiences. Berliner skillfully connects aesthetic and ideological meanings to nuances of film structure which he explores in illuminating and insightful ways. This is an original and exciting study."" -- Stephen Prince, author of Digital Visual Effects in Cinema: The Seduction of Reality ""Clear, well-structured, comprehensive, illustrated with quality images, and in dialogue with mainstream psychology research, [Hollywood Aesthetic] could serve as a textbook without reading like one...Berliner eloquently lays out an approach to Hollywood as a mass art, intricately fills it with evidence and argumentation for aesthetic pleasure, and demonstrates his claims across a range of films, all in one comprehensive volume.""--Canadian Journal of Film Studies"

Author Information

Todd Berliner, Professor of Film Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, teaches film aesthetics, narration, and style and American film history. Author of Hollywood Incoherent: Narration in Seventies Cinema (2010), Professor Berliner has received two Fulbright Scholar awards, including the Laszlo Orszagh Distinguished Chair in American Studies. Professor Berliner was the founding chairman of UNCW's Film Studies Department. He holds a master's degree and doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available