A fascinating glimpse into history.
A highly charming and provocative study of audiences.
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.
Does something that most academically oriented cinema-related books don't: he gets in touch with the magic of the movies.
A great idea for a book.
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.
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.
Gives voice to the audience.
A sprawling look at the last fifty years of American movies and how audiences responded to them.
A refreshing antidote to dry statistical summary, Stempel's entertaining tome offers a different perspective on a half-century of American cinema.
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.
"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
"Deflates 'artistic' opinions about directors by using box-office grosses and audience response as a measuring rod." Choice
"A sprawling look at the last fifty years of American movies and how audiences responded to them." Cineaste
"Does something that most academically oriented cinema-related books don't: he gets in touch with the magic of the movies." Creative Screenwriting
"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
"A fascinating glimpse into history." Express Books
"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
"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
"A great idea for a book." Lexington Herald-Leader
"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
"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
"Gives voice to the audience." Plus
Critic Pauline Kael has said, "I had trouble dating because I often disagreed about the quality of a movie." Movies have that kind of intimacy for some people. In this book, ordinary people talk back to the screen, describing early movie-going memories (dating back to 1948), family nights at the drive-in, growing up with movies in the early days of television, and loving and hating movies in the 1960s. (Hitchcock's Psycho shocked and titillated audiences with its psychological complexity in 1960, which opened the way for other controversial films.) Other topics include the always popular subject of sex in the cinema, the influence of VCRs, coping with movie pests in the multiplexes, and our changing response to films as we age. Lively, divergent reactions to classics and box-office hits are also included. Responses were gathered by questionnaire. Some contributors expand our knowledge of movies, while others, like the guy who was turned on by watching dancing girls writhe before the Golden Calf in The Ten Commandments, seem more than a bit silly. Kael writes that "mediocre pop art is a lot more fun than failed high art, and it's more fun to write about." This book isn't a major contribution to film literature on the level of Kael's criticism, but it deserves its place in in-depth film collections.--Stephen F. Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Now that the critics and film historians have spoken on movies of the past half century, Stempel (cinema, Los Angeles City College) gives audiences a voices on them. He considers box office statistics, but also asked over 150 movie fans to talk to him about the human side of going to the movies. Among other conclusions, he finds that the mass media are not nearly as influential as they say they are. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Double features at the Rialto. Teenage rites of passage at the local drive-in. Taking children to revivals of old favorites. The movies have been a staple of American leisure for generations.
Stempel, a professor of film studies, has assembled the perceptions and experiences of dozens of people about movie going. These observations, mixed with the author's interpretations, are the result of questionnaires (included in the appendix) distributed to friends, acquaintances, and students. The results, therefore, may not be what the reader considers "average," although they fairly 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.
The respondents all agree on one thing: the "magic" of the big screen. One subject could represent the group when she wrote, "I realized the power that movies can have over all of us. The ability to reach the poor, the rich, the father that had to work three jobs to support a family. It was almost like a miracle worker."
In general, the interviewees fall into two camps: those who hold the films in the same high regard as when they first saw them, and those who are amazed to find they actually liked this stuff at one point. The chapters are divided into genres and time frames, primarily from the 1950s on. There is no general contemplation of two standards of American film, the western (save for a chapter about Clint Eastwood) and film noir / gangster flicks.
Among Stempel's considerations are the impact of watching a movie on television and videotape as opposed to the movie theater "experience," with its huge screen, amplified sound and, of course, the members of the audience, who often feed off each other for validation of their opinions. He and the survey respondents also discuss various directors, with a special emphasis on the influence of Steven Spielberg, as well as how trailers (a.k.a. "coming attractions") can mean the difference between a movie's success or failure.
One of the more noteworthy perceptions is how a movie's impact can change over the years. A film such as The Exorcist might not carry the same impact now as it did twenty-five years ago. The same could be said for such historically perceived classics as Citizen Kane or Casablanca. As Stempel puts it, simply, "Times change, things change." Hopefully, some things remain constant. Among them, America's continued love for, and fascination with, the movies. (January)