Bücher von M. Keith Booker

A deep dive into classic noir films and how filmmakers today are refreshing and updating the genre for new generations.In American Film Noir, M. Keith Booker introduces readers to the cult-favorite genre of film noir and discusses the ongoing power and popularity of the genre's key elements and themes in modern films, often considered neo-noir, well into the twenty-first century. Booker covers a wide range of noir favorites, from the early classics The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep, to late 20th-century neo-noir such as Chinatown,and ultimately newer iterations of the genre as seen in films like Inherent Vice, Promising Young Woman, and Uncut Gems. American Film Noir contains three separate parts, each exploring crucial categories of noir: the detective film, the lost man film, and femme fatale films. Within each section, Booker discusses the essential classic noir films that embody these themes as well as neo-noir films that invite viewers to analyze how the traditional components of noir have evolved with filmmaking. Finally, each section concludes with twenty-first-century films that evoke noir elements while refreshing the genre and enhancing viewers' appreciation of the originals that inspired them-what Booker terms "revisionary noir". Whether new to noir films, students of the genre, or long-time fans, readers will be sure to learn what makes this genre so special, discover why filmmakers keep coming back to it, and find a new favorite movie to add to their shelves.

First airing in 1966, with a promise to ¿boldly go where no man has gone before,¿ Star Trek would eventually become a bona fide phenomenon. Week after week, viewers of the series tuned in to watch Captain Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise as they conducted their five-year mission in space. Their mission was cut short by a corporate monolith that demanded higher ratings, but Star Trek lived on in syndication, ultimately becoming a multibillion-dollar media franchise. With merchandise spin-offs, feature films, and several television iterations¿from The Next Generation to Discovery¿Star Trek is a firmly established part of the American cultural landscape.In Star Trek: A Cultural History, M. Keith Booker offers an intriguing account of the series from its original run to its far-reaching impact on society. By placing the Star Trek franchise within the context of American history and popular culture, the author explores how the series engaged with political and social issues such as the Vietnam War, race, gender, and the advancement of technology. While this book emphasizes the original series, it also addresses the significance of subsequent programs, as well as the numerous films and extensive array of novels, comic books, and merchandise that have been produced in the decades since.A show that originally resonated with science fiction fans, Star Trek has also intrigued the general public due to its engaging characters, exciting plotlines, and vision of a better future. It is those exact elements that allowed Star Trek to go from simply a good show to the massive media franchise it is today. Star Trek: A Cultural History will appeal to scholars of media, television, and popular culture, as well as to fans of the show.

Historical Dictionary of American Cinema, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 600 cross-referenced entries covering people, films, companies, techniques, themes, and subgenres that have made American cinema such a vital part of world culture.

This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Cinema contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, films, companies, techniques, themes, and sub genres.

From Blood Simple and Raising Arizona to Inside Llewyn Davis and Hail, Caesar!, the films of Joel and Ethan Coen represent a sort of alternate reality of America. The author explores how the settings-geographical, cultural, and historical-of their films provide viewers with slightly skewed, though no less true, perspectives of life American life.

A sophisticated but accessible account of the series and its place in American cultural history, this book helps readers appreciate the importance of The Sopranos as a cultural touchstone and looks at the show from various cultural perspectives (e.g. ethical, religious, ethnic, etc.).

Mad Men: The Cultural History brings to life the cultural importance of the television show as it engages with ideas central to the American experience, from the evolution of gender roles to family dynamics and workplace relationships. This book demonstrates how viewers use quality television to define and redefine themselves and their lives today via their engagement with the past.

This dictionary covers the history of Science Fiction in literature through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries including *significant people; *themes; *critical issues; and *the most significant genres that have formed science fiction literature.

This work applies Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of literary discourse and the concept of ""carnivalisation"" to the work of Flann O'Brien. The author emphasises the political and social implications of the writings, arguing that O'Brien maintained a reflexive focus on language throughout his career.

Presents historical survey of supernatural and superhuman themes in American culture. This book discusses various works of popular culture with supernatural and superhuman themes - such as "The X-Files", "Smallville", "The 4400", "Medium", "Heroes", "Lost", and "The Dead Zone".

In America, the long 1950s were marked by an intense skepticism toward utopian alternatives to the existing capitalist order. This was related to the Cold War and the demonization of socialism. This text studies how American novels and films of this era reflect the loss of the utopian imagination.

This title studies how "The Twilight Zone", "The Prisoner", "Twin Peaks" and "The X-Files" display many of the central characteristics that critics and theorists have associated with postmodernism, including fragmentation of narratives and characters and multiplicity of genre.

Other films associated with the American Left have been produced in a number of modes and subgenres, including war films, historical films, detective films, and science fiction.

Unique in its scope of coverage, this reference work provides students and scholars interested in researching modern American leftist and working-class culture with a convenient starting place for examining American leftist and working-class novels of the past century.

This work provides coverage of British leftist and working class novels. These novels are part of a culture phenomenon that reacts against the mainstream tradition of British literature. They have been produced in many modes and subgenres including historical, detective and science fiction.

The 1950s are widely regarded as the golden age of American science fiction.

Science fiction series have remained a staple of American television from its inception: classic programs such as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Star Trek, along with recent and current series including Babylon 5 and Stargate SG-1, have been some of the most enduring and influential of all television shows. In this chronological survey, author M. Keith Booker examines this phenomenon and provides in-depth studies of the most important of these series. Science Fiction Television traces the development of the genre as a distinct cultural phenomenon within the context of broader developments in American culture as a whole.In the process, it offers a unique and informative guide for television fans and science fiction fans alike, one whose coverage is unprecedented in its scope and breadth. A must-read for anyone interested in its subject or in American popular culture, Science Fiction Television is a perceptive and entertaining history of one of television's most lasting forms of entertainment.

Discussions of the phenomenon of postmodernism have established certain characteristics that are typical of postmodernist culture. This book presents a brief summary of the characteristics that have typically been associated with postmodernism, especially as they pertain to film.

Given the complexity and expense of making and distributing a film, the process of filmmaking is by its very nature also a political process. Through a film-by-film examination of the movies concerned with American politics, this title provides insights into American culture's perceptions of various political environments.

Several hundred A-Z entries cover Achebe's major works, important characters and settings, key concepts and issues, and more.