Shining in shadows : movie stars of the 2000s / edited by Murray Pomerance.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Pomerance, Murray, 1946-

Series:

Star decades: American culture/American cinema

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion picture actors and actresses--United States--Biography.

Motion picture actors and actresses.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

ix, 268 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, [2012]

Summary:

In the 2000s, new technologies transformed the experiences of movie-going and movie-making, giving us the first generation of stars to be just as famous on the computer screen as on the silver screen. Shining in Shadows examines a wide range of Hollywood icons from a turbulent decade for the film industry and for America itself.

Perhaps reflecting our own cultural fragmentation and uncertainty, Hollywood's star personas sent mixed messages about Americans' identities and ideals. Disheveled men-children like Will Ferrell and Jack Black shared the multiplex with debonair old-Hollywood standbys like George Clooney and Morgan Freeman. Iconic roles for women ranged from Renee Zellweger's dithering romantics to Tina Fey's neurotic professionals to Hilary Swank's vulnerable boyish characters. And in this age of reality TV and TMZ, stars like Jennifer Aniston and "Brangelina" became more famous for their real-life romantic dramas-at the same time that former tabloid fixtures like Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr. reinvented themselves as dependable leading men.

With a multigenerational, international cast of stars, this collection presents a fascinating composite portrait of Hollywood stardom today. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: stardom in the 2000s / Murray Pomerance

The wonder boys: Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, and Robert Downey, Jr. / Dominic Lennard

Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman: million dollar seniors / Robert Eberwein

Jennifer Aniston and Tina Fey: girls with glasses / Victoria E. Johnson

Puerile pillars of the Frat Pack: Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, and Ben Stiller / Brenda R. Weber

Javier Bardem and Benicio Del Toro: beyond machismo / Mary C. Beltrán

Philip Seymour Hoffman: á Jesus of uncool / Jerry Mosher

A postfeminist primer: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hilary Swank, and Renée Zellweger / Corinn Columpar

Heath Ledger: I'm not there / Claire Perkins

Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn: acting authentic / Michael K. Hammond

Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett: the performance is the star / Charlie Keil

Brangelina: celebrity, credibility, and the composite überstar / Linda Ruth Williams

George Clooney: The Issues Guy / David Sterritt

In the Wings.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780813551470

0813551471

9780813551487

081355148X

OCLC:

696605138