On Thu, 2 Jun 1994, Robert Withers wrote: > On Wed, 1 Jun 1994 22:23:40 -0500 Patrick B Bjork said: > >On Thu, 2 Jun 1994, Leslie J wrote: > > > >> Can someone please suggest a book that would aid the non-academic but > >> enthusiastic film-goer in gaining a more in-depth approach to watching > >> films? Something like I.A. Richards "Practical Criticism" for movies would > >> be good; it shouldn't be heavily theoretical and be fairly inexpensive. > >> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > >> > >You might try an introductory text such as _Film Theory and Criticism_, > >3rd Ed., Gerald Mast & Marshall Cohen, Eds. NY: Oxford UP, 1985. > > > If that's not "heavily theoretical" I don't know what is. And not > inexpensive at over $20. I mourn the demise of books such as Arthur Knight's > "The Liveliest Art" in the Mentor Book edition that was up to $2.50 by 1979. > Even if the stories in it were fifty percent apocryphal. And of the > anthologies by Lewis Jacobs and others that combined readable texts by > critics and filmmakers. All the "introductory" texts now are so relentlessly > comprehensive, theoretical and academic (despite the benefits of such > approaches) that I think they're not really accessible to the general reader > who wants to read and learn something for pleasure. > A lively exception, though somewhat limited in scope, is Mark Crispin > Miller's anthology, "Seeing Through Movies." And of the "Introductions" I > think Louis Giannetti's "Understanding Movies" is one of the most readable > and entertaining, with lots of provocative stills, though it's got a textbook > price and isn't so cheap. > But of course the Mast anthology is endlessly diverting, for those who > want to work at it. > Robert > I defer to your more experienced judgment, Robert; I have a colleague who uses _Understanding Movies_ in his Freshman Composition Class, and students find it fairly accessible. However, the poster did write "in-depth" and "I.A. Richards" in nearly the same sentence, so I assumed she could handle something, well. . . a little more in-depth. As to any college text being inexpensive--forget it these days. --Patrick