In many years of collaboration a research group with scholars from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the United States has looked into the most recent developments of Hollywood and its movie productions of the 1990s and the first years of the new century. Technical and distributional questions of the film market played as important a part as those of transnationalisation and new digital technologies. Interdependences between computer games and movies are scrutinised and then, of course, focal points of thematic developments. They reach from remakes and blockbusters to Steven Soderbergh and the works of other independent filmmakers, from science fiction via old and new myths to questions of gender research. Hollywood's treatment of the most important political event and trauma of the new century, the terrorist attack of 11 September 2001 on the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center in war, action, science fiction and disaster movies is dealt with and also the new wave of documentary films (Michael Moore and others). The Pentagon's influence on the film industry has also to be seen in this context. A major focus of this book is dedicated to the interdisciplinary co-operation between film research, art history and architecture. The present study closes with articles about Hollywood and Las Vegas, American cinema architecture and the role of architecture in recent Hollywood movies.

About the Author
Christian W Thomsen is professor of English literature and media studies at the University of Siegen. Since 1982 he also teaches architectural history, theory and criticism. He was cofounder of Germany's largest media research institute and co-editor of a five-volume history of German television. He is author of 26 books and editor of another 55 books. He published over 300 articles on literature, theatre, film, architecture, design and the development of modern media in leading journals of Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland, the USA, Canada and Japan. He taught as visiting professor in Copenhagen, London, Jerusalem, Vancouver, Los Angeles and Houston and organised many international symposia and art exhibitions. From a director of stage and radio plays he grew into filmmaking and produced and directed 25 documentaries so far. Angela Krewani read English and American literature and history at the universities of Cologne and Siegen and did graduate research studies at Yale University. She took her PhD with Modernism and Femininity. American Writers in Paris and her habilitation with New British Cinema under Christian W. Thomsen. She is professor of media studies at the University of Marburg.


Book Information
ISBN 9783932565441
Author Christian W. Thomsen
Format Hardback
Page Count 176
Imprint Edition Axel Menges
Publisher Edition Axel Menges
Weight(grams) 1257g