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Responding to a plethora of media representing end times, this anthology of essays examines pop culture's fascination with end of the world or apocalyptic narratives. Essays discuss films and made-for-television movies - including Deep Impact, The Core, and The Day After Tomorrow - that feature primarily [hu]man-made catastrophes or natural catastrophes. These representations complement the large amount of mediated literature and films on religious perspectives of the apocalypse, the Left Behind series, and other films/books that deal with prophecy from the Book of Revelation in the Bible. This book will be useful in upper-level undergraduate/graduate courses addressing mass media, film and television studies, popular culture, rhetorical criticism, and special/advanced topics. In addition, the book will be of interest to scholars and students in disciplines including anthropology, history, psychology, sociology, and religious studies.
Following the release of Ridley Scott's Gladiator in 2000 the ancient world epic has experienced a revival in studio and audience interest. Building on existing scholarship on the Cold War epics of the 1950s-60s, including Ben-Hur, Spartacus and The Robe, this original study explores the current cycle of ancient world epics in cinema within the social and political climate created by September 11th 2001. Examining films produced against the backdrop of the War on Terror and subsequent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, this book assesses the relationship between mainstream cinema and American society through depictions of the ancient world, conflict and faith. Davies explores how these films...
Responding to a lack of studies on the film festival’s role in the production of cultural memory, this book explores different parameters through which film festivals shape our reception and memories of films. By focusing on two Asian American film festivals, this book analyzes the frames of memory that festivals create for their films, constructed through and circulated by the various festival media. It further establishes that festival locations—both cities and screening venues—play a significant role in shaping our experience of films. Finally, it shows that festivals produce performances which help guide audiences towards certain readings and direct the film’s role as a memory ob...
Students, scholars, and readers of film, media, and celebrity studies will enjoy this deep dive into a complex Hollywood figure.
Marveling Religion: Critical Discourses, Religion, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an edited volume that explores the intersection of religion and cinema through the lenses of critical discourse. The focus of the shared inquiry are various films comprising the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and corresponding Netflix series. The contributors explore various religious themes and how they intersect with culture through the canon on the MCU. The first part focuses on responses to the societal, governmental, and cultural context that solidified with clarity during the 2016 Presidential Election cycle in the United States and in the following administration. Additio...
A catalog nearly fifty years in the making, Bruce Springsteen's music remains popular and a frequent subject of study yet little critical attention has been given to its inclusion in film and television. This book examines a selection of films and TV shows from the 1980s to the present--including Mask, High Fidelity, The Sopranos and The Wrestler--that feature Springsteen's music on the soundtrack. Relating his thematic preoccupations with religion, the Vietnam War, the promise of the open road, economic disparity and blue-collar malaise, his songs color narrative and articulate the inner lives of characters. This book explores the many on-screen contexts of Springsteen's work from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. to Springsteen on Broadway.