Subject Librarian
Dartmouth College
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Other library resource(s)
For the love of movies: the story of American film criticism by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #10962From the raw beginnings of criticism before D.W. Griffith's 'The Birth of a Nation' to the incendiary Pauline Kael-Andrew Sarris debates of the 1960s and 70s, to the battle today between youthful on-liners and the print establishment, this documentary tells all through the insights and expertise of a diverse group of passionate film critics. Those who hear them may gain new respect for the profession of film criticism.
Reviews
For online movie reviews, see the Basic Information on Film page. To find other reviews, use Film Reviews or Journals & Magazines on Film.
A short definition for film criticism
Film criticism
A form of writing that examines the achievement, distinctiveness, and quality of a film (or lack of it). The term is used to refer to a wide range of writing on film, ranging from reviews of the latest releases to certain types of scholarly/film-theoretical inquiry, such as genre criticism. Generally, however, film criticism is considered a separate activity from film reviewing. A film review will usually be produced after one viewing and is primarily designed to help potential viewers decide whether or not to watch the film; and a review will usually not contain spoilers—crucial information relating to the film’s plot, especially its ending. In contrast, film criticism will tend to discuss the film in its entirety and seek to deepen, reveal, expand, sharpen, and/or confront, a potential viewer’s understanding in a way that goes beyond simply deciding whether or not the film is worth seeing. Unlike academic writing, which usually adopts a neutral, objective style, film criticism may adopt freer, more rhetorical, language in an attempt to capture a sense of the film and to engage or entertain the reader. Whereas a scholarly, disciplined approach would be suspicious of personal involvement, subjective opinion, and serendipitous reflection, film criticism is at liberty to embrace these dimensions. However, this is not to say that film criticism is subjective and ill thought out: a key aspect of film criticism that makes it distinct from reviewing is the critic’s knowledge and erudition. Film criticism will usually also register, explicitly or implicitly, potential counterclaims about the film under description: as such, the work of film criticism embodies an element of judgement and advocacy. ...
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Film criticism. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 21 Apr. 2023
Searching the catalog for film criticism
When searching the online catalog for film criticism, there are 3 subject headings used in this catalog and they are listed below. The subject heading film criticism has the largest collection of resources.
The books are scattered throughout the range PN 1994 through PN 1998 on Baker Level 4.
Film theory as a subject is not used in the online catalog. However, as a keyword search, you will get lots of results.
- film criticismUse this heading for scholarly critiques of film.
- film criticism [insert country name] historyInsert the name of a country and you find the history of film criticism for that country.
- "film theory"This is a title keyword search in the library's online catalog.
Introductory reading(s)
Critical dictionary of film and television theory by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.45 .C75 2001ISBN: 9780415162180The Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory clearly and accessibly explains the major theoretical approaches now deployed in the study of the moving image, as well as defining key theoretical terms. This dictionary provides readers with the conceptual apparatus to understand the often daunting language and terminology of screen studies. ...
Introduction to film criticism: major critical approaches to narrative film by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995 .B9 1989ISBN: 9780582286061This text introduces students to the principal critical techniques used since film became a major art form.
Selected book title(s)
- The art of watching films: a guide to film analysis byCall Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995 .B525ISBN: 9780805309706
The body's perilous pleasures: dangerous desires and contemporary culture by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9.B62 B63 1999ISBN: 9780748609611Focusing on contemporary film and fiction, this book examines the construction of the body, both within cultural production and as a cultural product itself, and provides a provocative engagement with the cultural representation of the body and its 'dangerous desires'. Transgressive interpretations of conventional imagery merge with critical considerations of subcultural forms. ...
Cinema and spectatorship by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .A8 M28 1993ISBN: 9780415034166Cinema and Spectatorship is the first book to focus entirely on the history and role of the spectator in contemporary film studies. While 1970s film theory insisted on a distinction betweeen the cinematic subject and film-goers, Judith Mayne suggests that a very real friction between "subjects" and "viewers" is in fact central to the study of spectatorship. In the book's first section Mayne examines three theoretical models of spectatorship: the perceptual, the institutional and the historical, while the second section focuses on case studies which crystallize many of the issues already discussed, concentrating on textual analysis, the `disrupting genre', `star-gazing' and finally the audience itself. ...
The cinematic text: methods and approaches by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995 .C535 1989ISBN: 9780404632038Essays on film criticism ranging from current issues and problems in feminist film criticism, to film music and a study of narrative in westerns.
Countervisions: Asian American film criticism by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .A78 C68 2000ISBN: 9781566397766Spotlighting Asian Americans on both sides of the motion picture camera, Countervisions examines the aesthetics, material circumstances, and politics of a broad spectrum of films released in the last thirty years. This anthology focuses in particular on the growing presence of Asian Americans as makers of independent films and cross-over successes. Essays of film criticism and interviews with film makers emphasize matters of cultural agency -- that is, the practices through which Asian American actors, directors, and audience members have shaped their own cinematic images. ...
Critical cinema: beyond the theory of practice by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995 .C75 2011ISBN: 9781906660376Critical Cinema: Beyond the Theory of Practice purges the obstructive line between the making of and the theorising on film, uniting theory and practice in order to move beyond the commercial confines of Hollywood. ...
Film and video: alternative views by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995 .K669 2005ISBN: 9781570271663American anarchist critic Richard Kostelanetz remains a prolific force and a unique independent voice. This book presents a selections of his writings on film and video. Representing radical alternatives, he writes with uncommon perception not only about familiar issues but also about films customarily forgotten -- and always with his customary clarity. Also included are prefaces and transcripts from his own films and videos.
The terministic screen: rhetorical perspectives on film by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1994 .T47 2003ISBN: 9780809324880The Terministic Screen: Rhetorical Perspectives on Film examines the importance of rhetoric in the study of film and film theory. Rhetorical approaches to film studies have been widely practiced, but rarely discussed until now. Taking on such issues as Hollywood blacklisting, fascistic aesthetics, and postmodern dialogics, editor David Blakesley presents fifteen critical essays that examine rhetoric's role in such popular films as The Fifth Element, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Usual Suspects, Deliverance, The English Patient, Pulp Fiction, The Music Man, Copycat, Hoop Dreams and A Time to Kill. ...
Watching by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995 .S835 2000ISBN: 9780571190362In this collection of essays, Thomas Sutcliffe looks past the dazzling surface of the movies at the ways in which they work their magic: be they Hollywood blockbusters or European 'arthouse' films. Watching is about how the simplest pleasures of cinema (from the satisfying impact of a well-filmed punch to the dreamlike wonder of a perfect close-up) have been crucial to the way in which the medium has evolved from a fairground novelty into the twentieth century's dominant form of cultural expression. ...
The world in a frame: what we see in films by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995 .B72ISBN: 9780385035927
Finding scholarly articles and selected journal title(s)
Journal of popular film & television by Call Number: Electronic journalThe primary purpose of the Journal of Popular Film and Television is to provide a representative cross section of critical-cultural perspectives and to broaden the existing literature to include the “public visions” of popular filmmakers and television showrunners, economic and industrial factors, and an emphasis on the complex role of audiences in the development of film and television as art forms and wide-reaching socio-cultural forces.
Jump cutCall Number: Electronic journalJump Cut: A Review Contemporary Media is an Open Access journal run on a nonprofit basis by its staff and is not affiliated with or supported by any institution.- Screen: the journal of the Society for Education in Film and TelevisionCall Number: Electronic journal
