| A unique perspective on half a century of American cinema—from
the
audience’s point of view.
Tom Stempel goes beyond the comments of professional reviewers,
concentrating
on the opinions of ordinary people. He traces shifting trends in genre and
taste, examining and questioning the power films have in American
society.
Stempel blends audience response with his own observations and analyzes
box
office results that identify the movies people actually went to see, not just
those praised by the critics. Avoiding statistical summary, he presents the
results of a survey on movies and moviegoing in the respondents’ own
words—words
that surprise, amuse, and irritate.
The moviegoers respond:
“Big bad plane, big bad
motorcycle, and big
bad Kelly McGillis.”—On Top Gun
“All I can recall were the slave girls and
the Golden Calf sequence and how it got me excited. My parents must
have been
very pleased with my enthusiasm for the Bible.”—On why a seven-year-old
boy
stayed up to watch The Ten Commandments
“I learned the fine art of
seduction
by watching Faye Dunaway smolder.”—A woman’s reaction to seeing Bonnie
and
Clyde
“At age fifteen Jesus said he would be back, he just didn’t say
what he
would look like.”—On E.T.
“Quasimodo is every seventh grader.”—On why
The
Hunchback of Notre Dame should play well with middle-schoolers
“A
moronic,
very ‘Hollywoody’ script, and a bunch of dancing teddy bears.”—On Return of
the
Jedi
“I couldn’t help but think how Mad magazine would lampoon this.”
—On The
Exorcist
Tom Stempel, professor of cinema at Los Angeles City College,
is the
author of numerous books, including FrameWork: A History of
Screenwriting in
the American Film.
|
Reviews:
“A
fascinating glimpse into history.”—Express Books
“The results reflect the
ideas of anyone who has ever sat down with an overpriced combo of popcorn
and
soda: some movies are great, others are stinkers, and when it comes right
down
to it, the opinions of professional critics don’t amount to a hill of
beans.”—ForeWord
“Gives voice to the audience.”—Plus
“Obligatory
reading
for serious film goers and film makers alike. Written with charm and style,
this
book gives the audience perspective on movies as no other book has done.
Insightful.”—David Brown
“In this book, ordinary people talk back to the
screen, describing early movie-going memories, family nights at the drive in,
growing up with movies in the early days of television, and loving and hating
movies in the 1960s. Other topics include the always popular subject of sex
in
the cinema . . . and the our changing response to movies as we age. . . . .
Lively, divergent reactions to classics and box-office hits are also
included.”—Library Journal
“A great idea for a book.”—Lexington
Herald-Leader
“Stempel draws upon his considerable expertise to
examine the
complex relationship between the audience and the movies. . . . Very highly
recommended and unique reading for students of film history and American
popular
culture.”—Midwest Book Review
“Deflates ‘artistic’ opinions about directors
by using box-office grosses and audience response as a measuring
rod.”—Choice
“Does something that most academically oriented cinema-
related
books don’t: he gets in touch with the magic of the movies.”—Creative
Screenwriting
“A refreshing antidote to dry statistical summary, Stempel’s
entertaining tome offers a different perspective on a half-century of
American
cinema.”—American Cinematographer
“A highly charming and provocative
study
of audiences.”—American Studies
“A sprawling look at the last fifty years of
American movies and how audiences responded to them.”—Cineaste
“In
drawing
our attention back to the audience, he has rendered a service by reminding
us
that a reciprocal relationship exists between the filmmaker and audience. All
too often we tend to ignore the latter.”—Film & History
|
