The perfect small-format, one-stop resource to appreciating and understanding films from Hollywood to Bollywood. Following the success of Isms: Understanding Art and Isms: Understanding Architectural Styles, this guide sorts the great classic films and directors according to the significant movements that have shaped the development of cinema. Beginning with the early silent era, it spans the entire range of movie history up to the present wave of indie films and the growing fascination with international cinema. Each spread is devoted to a distinct movement and explains when it first emerged, the principal directors, themes, and representative films, and is illustrated with film stills, posters, and photos. Important international cinematic breakthroughs are also highlighted, as well as the careers of international auteurs like Kurosawa, Fellini, and Almodóvar. From prewar Expressionism to twenty-first-century Dystopianism, Film Isms… offers an engaging, new way of understanding movie history.
The latest in the best-selling Isms series—which includes Isms: Understanding Art, Isms: Understanding Architectural Styles, Isms: Understanding Fashion, and Isms: Understanding Religion—is Film...Isms: Understanding Cinema. This engaging guide sorts the great classic films and directors according to the significant “isms” that have shaped the development of cinema. Beginning with the early classics of the silent era, the book spans the entire range of cinematic history from the golden age of Hollywood and the French New Wave to the present-day rise of Asian Minimalism. Each spread is devoted to a distinct movement in film history and explains when it first emerged, the historical period to which it applies, and the principal directors and representative films, and illustrates important masterpieces, actors, key words, and distinctive features. Also highlighted are the important achievements in film in the world’s main filmmaking nations, as well as the careers of international auteurs such as Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, and Pedro Almodóvar. From prewar Expressionism and Screwballism to twenty-first century Teenagism and Dystopianism, with many stops along the way, these wellillustrated and clearly defined “isms” help put all of cinema history into context
This book introduces a new conceptual category to philosophical and political discourse, namely Hecate-isms, which can be applied to post–postmodernist theory. This concept is defined here as resulting from the philosophical and political mechanisms of the rule of three, and as representing a tri-phase construction of homo triplex, including elements such as prosperity–security–freedom and distance–power–security. The book will appeal to the wider academic community, to PhD students, professors, and researchers with an interest in political philosophy, political science, postmodern philosophy, and cultural studies.
John Ford's classic films—such as Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, The Quiet Man, and The Searchers—have earned him worldwide admiration as America's foremost filmmaker, a director whose rich visual imagination conjures up indelible, deeply moving images of our collective past. Joseph McBride's Searching for John Ford, described as definitive by both the New York Times and the Irish Times, surpasses all other biographies of the filmmaker in its depth, originality, and insight. Encompassing and illuminating Ford's myriad complexities and contradictions, McBride traces the trajectory of Ford's life from his beginnings as “Bull” Feeney, the nearsighted, football-playing son of Irish immigrants in Portland, Maine, to his recognition, after a long, controversial, and much-honored career, as America's national mythmaker. Blending lively and penetrating analyses of Ford's films with an impeccably documented narrative of the historical and psychological contexts in which those films were created, McBride has at long last given John Ford the biography his stature demands.
Have you ever wondered about the difference between Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism and which influenced the other? Do you know where Post-modernism stops and Post-structuralism begins? Would you like to? From Platonism to New Historicism, humankind is constantly coming up with fresh schools of thought to help explain (or at least describe) the mysterious world around us. Here is the ultimate guide to over 450 of the most significant intellectual terms, movements, and religions that help shape the society we live in. Simply, concisely, and with personality, ‘Isms and ‘Ologies clarifies buzz terms like jihad, often defined as “holy war” but which literally means “striving” ;and illustrates the differences between Conservatism, Paleoconservatism, and Neoconservatism. It explains String Theory (which attempts to unify Quantum Mechanics and Einsteinian Relativity); describes Fauvism (an artistic movement that paved the way for Expressionism and Cubism); defines Locofocoism (an American political ideology named after a “self-lighting cigar)”; and identifies and explores so much more. Helpfully divided into categories–including politics, history, philosophy and the arts, economics, religion, science, and medicine–cross referenced, and thoroughly indexed, ‘Isms and ‘Ologies is a must have for the budding intellectual in everyone.
The quotable Ai Weiwei This collection of quotes demonstrates the elegant simplicity of Ai Weiwei's thoughts on key aspects of his art, politics, and life. A master at communicating powerful ideas in astonishingly few words, Ai Weiwei is known for his innovative use of social media to disseminate his views. The short quotations presented here have been carefully selected from articles, tweets, and interviews given by this acclaimed Chinese artist and activist. The book is organized into six categories: freedom of expression; art and activism; government, power, and moral choices; the digital world; history, the historical moment, and the future; and personal reflections. Together, these quotes span some of the most revealing moments of Ai Weiwei's eventful career—from his risky investigation into student deaths in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to his arbitrary arrest in 2011—providing a window into the mind of one of the world's most electrifying and courageous contemporary artists. Select Quotes from the Book: On Freedom of Expression "Say what you need to say plainly, and then take responsibility for it." "A small act is worth a million thoughts." "Liberty is about our rights to question everything." On Art and Activism "Everything is art. Everything is politics." "The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay." "Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don't feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy." On Government, Power, and Making Moral Choice "Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country." "I feel powerless all the time, but I regain my energy by making a very small difference that won't cost me much." "Tips on surviving the regime: Respect yourself and speak for others. Do one small thing every day to prove the existence of justice." On the Digital World "Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what's on his mind. A fairy tale has come true." "The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It's as simple as that." "The Internet is the best thing that could have happened to China." On History, the Historical Moment, and the Future "If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future." "We need to get out of the old language." "The world is a sphere, there is no East or West." Personal Reflection "I've never planned any part of my career—except being an artist. And I was pushed into that corner because I thought being an artist was the only way to have a little freedom." "Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom." "Expressing oneself is like a drug. I'm so addicted to it."
Both academic and entertaining, this quiz book will introduce a whole new generation of film buffs to America's classic movies. Each of the 100 individual star entries opens with a quote and follows with a biography and filmography. With more than 100 quizzes, one for each star and additional master' quizzes on general knowledge and quotes, this guide covers every aspect of each work, from the plot and the star's character to its production and reception.'
At the beginning of this book, and in the absence of guidance from IUPAC, it is appropriate to clarify the term 'chemical sensor'. A chemical sensor may be defined as a simple-to-use, robust device that is capable of reliable quantitative or qualitative recognition of atomic, molecular or ionic species. It is hard to imagine a field of applied chemistry in which a significant impact could not be made by such a device. Undoubtedly, it is this potential that has fuelled the contemporary preoccupation with chemical sensors. An unfortunate side-effect of this otherwise welcome interest is the use of the term 'chemical sensor' to add the chemical equivalent of a 'High-Tech gloss' to a rather ordinary device, publication, conference or research group. This loose usage of terminology is responsible in part for the ambiguity that surrounds many chemists' concepts of the form and function of chemical sensors. Further ambiguity arises from the extravagant claims that have been made for some sensors, and the impression that has been given of much 'verging-on-a-breakthrough' research. The research chemist engaged in sensor development should be mindful of the fact that the ultimate target for these devices is the real world, and that a successful laboratory device operating under well-defined conditions and careful calibration does not constitute a chemical sensor. Research into chemical sensors is not a recent phenomenon; it has been under way for over 80 years.
