How to Watch a Movie

by David Thomson

Overview

In his most inventive exploration of the medium yet, David Thomson—one of our most provocative authorities on all things cinema—shows us how to get more out of watching any movie. Guiding us through each element of the viewing experience, considering the significance of everything from what we see and hear on-screen—actors, shots, cuts, dialogue, music—to the specifics of how, where, and with whom we do the viewing, Thomson explicates the movie watching experience with his customary candor and wit. Delivering keen analyses of films ranging from Citizen Kane to 12 Years a Slave, in How to Watch a Movie, Thomson shows moviegoers how to more deeply appreciate both the artistry and the manipulation of film—and in so doing enriches our viewing experience immensely.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101910849
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/24/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David Thomson has written about film for The Guardian, The Independent, The New York Times, The New Republic, Salon, Movieline, Film Comment, and Sight & Sound. He is the author of more than thirty books on film, including The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, Rosebud: The Story of Orson Welles, and The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood. He lives in San Francisco.

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Excerpted from "How to Watch a Movie"
by .
Copyright © 2017 David Thomson.
Excerpted by permission of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

1 Are We Having Fun?
2 Screens 
3 Alone Together? 
4 See It Once, Watch It Twice? 
5 Watching and Seeing 
6 What Is Cinematic Information? 
7 What Is a Shot? 
8 What Is a Cut, and Does It Hurt? 
9 What Do You Hear? 
10 What Is a Story, and Does It Matter? 
11 Who Makes These Movies? 
12 What Does a Hero Do?  
13 Can You See the Money? 
14 The Document and the Dream 
15 Where Is the Screen? 

Acknowledgments 
Index 

Editorial Reviews

Your everyman guide to cinema. . . . Heady but practical.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“A love story. . . . A book that will get you thinking about the magic of film.” —NPR
 
“David Thomson’s love affair with the movies is one of the great blessings of our culture. How to Watch a Movie confirms yet again that he has the most learned and independent eyes in the criticism business. Somehow he freshens everything.” —Leon Wieseltier
 
“Chatty and authoritative. . . . Both wonderfully informative and a beautifully written paean to the movies and their continuing ability to inspire and enthrall.” —The Sunday Times (London)
 
“Easygoing, essayistic. . . . This isn’t an academic manual or Movies for Dummies. You read Thomson for contact with an urbane and provocative intelligence.” —The Washington Post

From the Publisher

2015-09-02
Celebrated movie critic and film studies teacher Thomson (Moments that Made the Movies, 2013, etc.) implores viewers to scrutinize themselves as closely as what's playing on the silver screen—or YouTube. Whether reclining in a darkened movie theater or on your couch at home, there's a lot more happening on our collective screens than the fantastic images might suggest—and it appears as if the author has considered them all, including the screens themselves. Readers will need to possess a storehouse of cinematic knowledge that stretches all the way back to D.W. Griffith and Fritz Lang to fully appreciate the rich and robust dissertation Thomson undertakes with ease. Those lacking that price of admission should probably slip out and at least prime themselves on Citizen Kane, Persona, and Psycho to try and catch up. But once they do, they'll see that Thomson not only closely mines those legendary films, but also the likes of Pretty Woman, Heat, and The Godfather as well. The author's encyclopedic knowledge of cinema history makes for some truly fascinating associations—often in the space of a single poetic phrase. Reams have already been written about Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (1935), but how many other authors or critics could careen so effortlessly between that infamous work of Nazi propaganda and a Gatorade commercial featuring Yankees great Derek Jeter? Or the heretofore-unknown relationship between Persona and recent DirectTV spots starring actor Rob Lowe? In probing these uncanny parallels, along with other cinematic information, including story, editing, and sound, Thomson assuredly seeks to expose the magician's many secrets—but only so we can all access a better appreciation of the wonder of film. "If you really want to watch a film," he writes, "you must be ready to recognize your own life slipping away." An enjoyably deep dive into the interaction between cinema and psyche.

Kirkus Reviews