Contemporary American Cinema

The 1960s
1: Introduction
2: The American New Wave, Part 1: 1967-1970
3: Debts Disasters and Mega-movies – the studios in the 1960s
4: Other Americas: The underground, exploitation and the avant garde
5: U.S Documentary Cinema in the 1960s
6. `The Last Good Time We Ever Had`?: Revising the Hollywood Renaissance

Suggested Further Reading

Essay Questions

The 1970s
1: Introduction
2: The American New Wave, Part 2: 1970-1975
3: New Hollywood and the Rise of the Blockbuster
4: Blaxploitation
5: U.S. Documentary in the 1970s

Suggested Further Reading

Essay Questions

The 1980s
1: Introduction
2: Film in the age of Reagan: action cinema and reactionary politics
3: Independent Cinema since the 1980s
4: Disney and the Family Adventure movie since the 1970s
5: The Vietnam War in American Cinema
6: U.S. Documentary in the 1980s Suggested Further Reading Essay Questions

The 1990s and beyond
1: Introduction:
2: Big Budget Spectacles
3: What is Cinema Today? Home Viewing and New Technologies
4: U.S. Documentary in the 1970s
5: New Queer Cinema
6: Fantasising Gender and Race: Women in Contemporary U.S. Action Cinema
7: Smart Cinema Suggested Further Reading Essay Questions Glossary Bibliography Filmography Index

“Contemporary American Cinema offers a fresh and sometimes revisionist look at developments in the American film industry from the 1960s to the present … Readers will find it lively and provocative.”
Chuck Maland, University of Tennessee, USA.

“Contemporary American Cinema is the book on the subject that undergraduate classes have been waiting for … Comprehensive, detailed, and intelligently organized [and] written in accessible and compelling prose … Contemporary American Cinema will be embraced by instructors and students alike.”
Charlie Keil, Director, Cinema Studies Program, University of Toronto, Canada.

“Contemporary American Cinema usefully gathers together a range of materials that provide a valuable resource for students and scholars. It is also a pleasure to read.”
Hilary Radner, University of Otago, New Zealand.

“Contemporary American Cinema deepens our knowledge of American cinema since the 1960s. … This is an important collection that will be widely used in university classrooms.”
Lee Grieveson, University College London, UK.

“Contemporary American Cinema is a clear-sighted and tremendously readable anthology, mapping the terrain of post-sixties US cinema with breadth and critical verve.”
Paul Grainge, University of Nottingham, UK.

“This collection of freshly written essays by leading specialists in the field will most likely be one of the most important works of reference for students and film scholars for years to come.”
Liv Hausken, University of Oslo, Norway.

Contemporary American Cinema is the first comprehensive introduction to American cinema since 1960. The book is unique in its treatment of both Hollywood, alternative and non-mainstream cinema. Critical essays from leading film scholars are supplemented by boxed profiles of key directors, producers and actors; key films and key genres; and statistics from the cinema industry.

Illustrated in colour and black and white with film stills, posters and production images, the book has two tables of contents allowing students to use the book chronologically, decade-by-decade, or thematically by subject. Designed especially for courses in cinema studies and film studies, cultural studies and American studies, Contemporary American Cinema features a glossary of key terms, fully referenced resources and suggestions for further reading, questions for class discussion, and a comprehensive filmography.

Individual chapters include:

• The decline of the studio system
• The rise of American new wave cinema
• The history of the blockbuster
• The parallel histories of independent and underground film
• Black cinema from blaxploitation to the 1990s
• Changing audiences
• The effects of new technology
• Comprehensive overview of US documentary from 1960 to the present