Quality Hollywood : markers of distinction in contemporary studio film / Geoff King.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

King, Geoff, 1960- author.

Series:

International library of the moving image ; vol. 28.

International library of moving image ; vol. 28

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion pictures--United States--Aesthetics.

Motion pictures.

Motion pictures--United States--History.

Aesthetics.

United States.

History.

Quality (Aesthetics).

Physical Description:

viii, 327 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : I.B. Tauris, 2016.

Summary:

What defines 'quality' in contemporary Hollywood film? Although often seen as inhospitable to such work, the studios of the blockbuster-franchise era continue to produce features that make claims to higher status. Films such as The Social Network, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Mystic River are marked as distinctive from the mainstream norm. But how exactly, and how are such qualities mixed with more familiar Hollywood ingredients, as found in larger doses in other examples such as Blood Diamond and the blockbuster-scale Inception? Quality Hollywood is the first book to address these issues, featuring close analysis of case study films, critical responses and the wider notions of cultural value on which these draw. Geoff King argues that such films retain a presence as a minority strand of studio output. The reasons for this combine factors relating to economics, the power of certain filmmakers and Hollywood's investment in its own prestige. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Markers of quality and contemporary Hollywood strategy 45

2 Inception and the 'quality' blockbuster 81

3 The Social Network: 'smart' contemporary narrative meets the heritage film 125

4 The darkening of genre: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Mystic River 167

5 Making a difference and/or making a buck?: Blood Diamond and the contemporary social problem film 219

6 Artificiality or intelligence?: Spielberg, Kubrick and rival versions of quality 259.

ISBN:

9781784530457

178453045X

OCLC:

934037796