Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan . . . and Beyond

By Robin Paul Wood and Robin Wood

Book Overview

This classic of film criticism, long considered invaluable for its eloquent study of a problematic period in film history, is now substantially updated and revised by the author to include chapters beyond the Reagan era and into the twenty-first century. For the new edition, Robin Wood has written a substantial new preface that explores the interesting double context within which the book can be read-that in which it was written and that in which we find ourselves today. Among the other additions to this new edition are a celebration of modern "screwball" comedies like My Best Friend's Wedding, and an analysis of '90s American and Canadian teen movies in the vein of American Pie, Can't Hardly Wait, and Rollercoaster. Also included are a chapter on Hollywood today that looks at David Fincher and Jim Jarmusch (among others) and an illuminating essay on Day of the Dead.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 023112967X
• ISBN13: 9780231129671
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 8.9"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

a little balance to the equation

The one-star review below has been bugging me for a long time. That evaluation is inane and absurd, an insult to a film scholar whom even the reviewer acknowledges is important. Sure, Wood's interpretive scheme may be occasionally a little heavy-handed, but I find he's usually right on the mark. (If The Omen isn't a reactionary film, I've never seen one.) And his frank views about sexuality I find brave and refreshing, especially in the repressed era we're going through at the moment. The reviewer below says he's a feminist-- yeeaahhh.... I see a genuine feminism in Wood-- but not in his detractor.