Product Description
The moving picture, film, and television have exerted an unmatched influence throughout the 20th century, equally documenting and constructing our reality. It is the peculiar power of the moving image that while it may be depicting a fiction, our viewing of it is real and therefore the experience and memory we take away from it is filed away with all the other events and memories that have actually happened to us. The artists in CUT have taken the material of their reality--the movie and the news program--and manipulated it to reveal its power to communicate and shape reality. Clearly indebted to the appropriation strategies of the 1980s and sampling in hip hop and rap music of the 1990s, these artists are united by their gestural use of editing. Whether through looping, repetition, erasure, or compression, their active manipulation of their medium recalls the importance that action was given by Richard Serra in 1968, when he published Verb List, a list of actions that a sculptor could use to create sculpture: to roll, to crease, to fold, to cut, etc. CUT explores the actions through which artists create videos. Through the physical manipulation of the most familiar of media, they restructure reality, making the familiar unfamiliar and instilling in the viewer the opportunity to comprehend and distinguish a new reality. Included are works by Candice Breitz, Omar Fast, Douglas Gordon, Michael Joaquin Grey, Pierre Huyghe, Christian Marclay, Jennifer & Kevin McCoy, and Paul Pfeiffer.

Edited by Stefano Basilico.

Essays by Stefano Basilico, Lawrence Lessig and Rob Yeo.

Introduction by David Gordon.

Flexi-bound, 9 x 9 in. / 128 pgs / 60 color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best book I have read on feature film in contemporary art
This is by far the best book I have read concerning the use of feature films as a medium in contemporary art. Douglas Gordon's "24 Hour Psycho" takes the spotlight and the cover. Christian Marclay's montage of film clips featuring phones and instruments is also discussed. It is a good beginning for people interested in the use of feature film by fine artists. ... Read more

Product Description

In the six decades since he took to the stage and screen, Kirk Douglas has starred in eighty-three films and nine plays, written seven books, and made a remarkable commitment to humanitarian causes throughout the world. Known internationally and across generations for playing the indomitable Spartacus, topping international bestseller lists, and building parks and schools in troubled communities, Kirk Douglas is a legend in his own time and serves as an inspiration to us all.

Now, in My Stroke of Luck, his vivid and very personal reflection upon his extraordinary life, Kirk Douglas finally completes his story by offering a candid and heartfelt memoir of where it all went right. Written in his own words, Douglas offers tender vignettes in tribute to the childhood that shaped him, the wife and devoted family who supported him, and the life-changing event that helped him to appreciate the gifts given to him over his eightythree years.

Revealing for the first time not only the incredible physical and emotional toll of his debilitating stroke, but how it has changed his life for the better, Douglas offers the lessons that saved him and helped him to heal. Alongside his heartfelt advice and insight, he also shares warm memories involving some of the most famous figures of our time -- including Burt Lancaster, Michael J. Fox, and Gary Cooper -- as well as others who have soared to greatness in the face of adversity.

Touching and funny, inspiring and uplifting, Kirk Douglas traces how his greatest setback became a source of strength and renewal -- leading him to find the eighth decade of his life the most fulfilling yet. Charming, soulful, and filled with personal insights and never-before-seen personal photographs, My Stroke of Luck is an intimate look at the real person behind the fabulous talent -- and at a life lived to its very fullest.

Customer Reviews (16)

The Greatest Miracle: A Changed Life
Who would have thought it? This is an autobiography by a fameous actor, who won more than one Lifetime Oscar, and a Jew, who didn't disclose his identity early on, but after a number of near-death experiences, not only returns to the God of his fathers, but commits to his second bar mitzvah. This in my book is a miracle!

Kirk Douglas' life turn-around not only chronicles his return to God, but his return to the stage, after suffering a debilitating stroke, leaving him void of speach. From near suicide to full recovery, this autobiography will pump courage into the discouraged to keep on pressing toward the goal.

In My Stroke of Luck, Douglas reveals that once he returned to the God of his fathers, he began to really care about others and, thereby, health and strength became his once more. An excellent testimony for all of us to heed.

Misleading.......
The book is about his journey of having a stroke. However, it is misleading as he is wealthy enough to have all the doctors, facilities, caregivers and medical assistance at his beckon call, right there in his own den.
Unlike those of us "common" people with limited insurance fighting just to get speech, trying to get a way to go to speech therapy, and fighting denials.Then daily/weekly chosing medication, co=pay over paying living expenses, food.
He truly has a stroke of luck in more ways than one.Does he even realize this?

Glad I read the book to know how the "real fighters" have to fight in this world,I do appreciate more what I have, but then I resent the fact he wrote some pennance of a book just because he survived astroke.I justwonder how tough he would have fared in the common man's world.
Maybe that is why God gave him more at his disposable because He knew Kirk could not survive a stroke without everything at his beckon call.
oh well, as if anyone is going to read this anyway.
All thru out this book I compared my brain injury to his stroke and it has been 3 years and I am still fighting insurance for therapy.....


thank you

He's Mellowed
A good story, but a short one (small pages, big print, double spacing).KD had a stroke at 80, and wrote about it three years afterward.He truly made a heroic effort to recover his speech, and went on to make two movies after his stroke.He animates his own life and that of others with humor and wrote this book particularly to inspire other stroke victims--he includes his own "Operator's Manual" of six rules at the end.He celebrated his second Bar Mitzvah at age 83 and is open in saying how the stroke helped the selfishness of his early years give way to a renewed and expanded spiritual foundation.He has a heart pacemaker, bad knees from a helicopter crash, and the sequelae of his stroke to deal with, so he talks frankly about his depression and preoccupation with death.But as his mother told him as she was dying, "Don't be afraid, it happens to everyone."

My Stroke Of Luck
Excellant book to help you understand what a stroke victim goes through. I would recommend this to everyone who has been touched by a stroke

My Stroke of Luck
I found this to be an easy read. I felt that Mike was speaking directly to the reader. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good ideas but somewhat redundant.
I bought this book as a required textbook for my K-8 science class. I have to say that is it a fairly easy read and very informative. However, after the first couple of chapters it starts to feel repetitive. At this point I have had it drilled into my head that literacy is important and we can link it in science. Chapter 6 is the best chapter for how that breaks down and has some great information about literacy and science along with different modes (types) of writing. If you are looking for ways to improve literacy by linking it to other subjects this is a good book to have on hand as a resource! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (29)

MacArthur At War - With Japan and the USN
This is a follow-on to the two authors books about Rommell and Patton fighting a different war in Europe than the one that we all studied in Europe. However, this one doesn't take place in that same universe, although obviously many of the same characters appear in both (Patton, for example). In this world, and in this version of the war between the United States and the Japanese Empire - as well as the war between the Army (in the form of MacArthur) and the Navy (in the form of Admirals Nimitz and King) for the leading role in the war against Japan. Having clearly done their homework, the authors proceed to tell us how MacArthur fights the war against Japan (and the US Navy), and how this all plays out against the ongoing developments at home, in the White House, and in the other theatres of the war. This is an entertaining read, though I personally consider slightly below the high marks the authors set in Fox on the Rhine and Fox at the Front.

MacArthur's War: A Novel of the Invasion of Japan by Douglas Niles
Absolutely brilliant alt-hist novel. I'm looking forward to reading it again. Dana Van Valin in Colorado

Excellent alternate Historythough lagging in places.
As one who enjoys alternate history I found this an excellent read.The chraacters were well defined and the overall plotting was smooth.I did feel that the book lagged much in the first half and overloaded the reader with too much technical detail.It did build to a thrilling and at the same time horrifying climax.For me the highlight was General George S. Patton being brought into the mix and becoming the recognized hero for the end of the war.This takes nothing away from the many brave men and women involved as well as the officers who were very key to victory.The story turns on the United States losing at Midway rather than winning and the failure of the atomic bomb to be developed.An actual invasion of Japan is required.Excellent insight was given as to the inner wars between army and navy that existed both in the United States and the Japanese empire.There is a very true depiction of the differences between our culture at the time and Japan's.Most sad is the dismantling of the mystique held to this day by General Douglas MacArthur.As a boy during World War Two, I remember too well what a hero he was as seen by the media.The authors pretty much document the "drama queen" aspect of MacArthur's character, however other things seemingly documented appear to make him criminal.The big glaring fact is that we should be thankful for the atomic bomb.Had we not had those bombs to drop many millions of Japanese, including innocent women and children, would have died.And possibly a half million or more Americans.Having had an older foster brother who was a marine in the Pacific who took part in every major engagement of the war I am thankful that he was one of the great many whose lives were spared thanks to the two atom bombs.I have to say every day, "thank you Chuck" for defending our liberty.Sadly, Chuck's experiences, like many described in the book, never gave him a good night's sleep and 22 years after the war, despite having a great job and family, he committed suicide.The authors depicted well what went on in the minds of our brave soldiers, marines and sailors during this horrible war.

Alternative history is one thing...fantasy is another...
Anyone in the least bit familiar with the Pacific War will have a hard time finishing this rag of a book.I expect alternative histories to give alternative OUTCOMES to historical events, not remake historical facts to suit their story line.

The first part of the book was marred by stereotypes so large that they overshadowed what little substance there was.I know of no historical fact that supports Gen. MacArthur speaking in the third person about himself like he was royalty.The book repeats and inflates the characatures so often repeated by MacArthur detractors.

The authors speed through the Pacific war at light speed, focusing on personalities and minor characters jumping from Bataan to the invasion of Okinawa in probably less than 200 pages all the while giving us glimpses of both sides of the war.Quite a feat if it could have been pulled off successfully, but it was not.

Other wet dreams of the authors that they protrayed as fact are such gems as:Skip bombing with a B-17s and B-24s.
Not only does it defy logic, it borders on insanity.While smaller single engined aircraft are splashed with ease, the authors would have us believe that a lumbering B-17 was able to skip bomb and sink an aircraft craft carrier or two.Pure rubbish.

Poor research is another hallmark.Okinawa is 70 odd miles long, not 60 and as little as one mile wide in at least one place.He has MacArthur bottle up the Japs in the "mountainous south" which in reality is pretty flat and whose realestate was critical to the invasion of Kyushu.True the airfields of Yontan and Kadena in the middle of the island were captured, but that left precious little land left for the myriad of camps and supply depos that were in the real event constructed for the pending invasion of Japan.The authors would also have us believe that the millions of tons of supplies necessary to support those troops and the whole of the 5th Air Force was being unloaded over the beaches at Hagushi(...BTW there was no Hagushi City)since they left the only usable harbor, in Naha in Japanese hands.Also, Okinawa was the one battle where the Japs had lots of artillery, some capable of firing far enough to reach the airfields from the main line of resistance in the south.Distance from Kadena to the southern tip of the island is no more than 20 miles and the mail line of resistance was no more than 10 from the airfields.A cursory glance at a map would have told the authors that facts undermined their story line to an absurd degree.

Don't capture any Central Pacific Islands?Doesn't that leave all those islands holding Japanese aircraft and providing nice anchorages for submarines and ships posing a threat to American supply lines to the South Pacific?

Apparently the authors don't think so.The same navy that was able to launch an attack on Midway AND land a landing force in the Aleutians, was unable to fight in the Solomons AND stir up mischief in the Central Pacific too.

The device of withholding the use of the Kamakaze as some kind of ace in the hole for Operation Olympic, gives the Japanese way too much centralized control, and coordination.In the event the idea was concocted by an Air Fleet Admiral in the Phillipines and not at higher levels as presented in the book, and would have been kept a secret.

Marines in 1945 still equipped with Springfield 03a3s??I guess the Army Air Corp was till flying Spads too?
There were just too many ridiculus stretches for me to enjoy the second half of the book.

Lets try alternate history based on alternate outcomes next time, not alternate facts.

Beyond the Norm
While I might agree with some of the earlier reviewers that this book spends too much time on inter-service rivalries, I would only agree so much.Changing only the Battle of Midway could easily have led to a one theatre campaign in the Pacific.McArthur did hate the Navy's control of one theatre, and without the June boost of sinking four carriers, he could have pushed them around much more.
However, the best part of the story is the small scale of it.While there are several scenes of 'big scene' moments (the battle of Solomon Sea, the first day at Kyushu) much of the book is told from point of view of 'real' people.Spending as much time as they did on Johnny Halverson (the POW) and the Japanese family in Hiroshima, brought a great element into the book: a moral element.One of my biggest complaints against alternative history has been that it regularly says, well if only so and so had moved that division one mile east...This isn't great story telling, its a chess game.Telling the Battle of Kyushu from the point of view of a Marine Sgt. made the battle feel real instead of a fantasy.
A very exciting and thought provoking book it deals not just with the invasion of Japan, but even more the crimes committed by both sides--terrible treatment of POWs by Japanese, fire bombings by Americans. ... Read more

Product Description

For two decades, Mike Douglas's name was synonymous with television entertainment in America. The Mike Douglas Show, which aired each weekday, became the prototype for all future talk shows that sought to combine spontaneous conversation -- on virtually any subject -- with the best in entertainment. In those twenty years and more than four thousand shows, virtually all the great performers -- actors, singers, comics -- and many outstanding sports figures and prominent statement, Presidents included, appeared with Mike, performing and chatting informally in front of the show's many millions of viewers.

Today, almost twenty years after the last show aired, both Mike Douglas and The Mike Douglas Show have been introduced to a whole new audience as such cable networks as VH-1 rerun those shows that featured such musical legends as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and Sonny and Cher. At the same time, a whole new generation of talk show hosts, most prominent among them the extremely popular Rosie O'Donnell, have acknowledged the debt of gratitude they owe Mike Douglas for pioneering in the field of talk entertainment and for setting so high a standard.

Now, in I'll Be Right Back, Mike Douglas shares his memories of more than fifty exciting, challenging years in show business. In a style that is as breezy, witty, and intimate as the conversations that made his show so delightful, Mike delivers delicious -- and occasionally mischievous -- anecdotes about the exciting personalities who made his show so much fun.

The list of the show's guests and co-hosts (Mike's method was to find a celebrity "co-host" who would sit with him for several shows and help interview all the other guests, as well as entertain each day) reads like a virtual "Who's Who" of American and international celebrities. Among the many famous personalities to appear on The Mike Douglas Show -- and about whom Mike has stories to tell -- are: Barbra Streisand, Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Malcolm X, Mother Teresa, David Letterman, Richard Mixon, John Wayne, Phil Donohue, Goldie Hawn, George Wallace, Judy Garland, Mickey Mantle, Groucho Marx, Jimmy Hoffa, Sophia Loren, Sammy Davis Jr., Martha Mitchell, Jackie Gleason, Barbara Walters, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bette Davis, Rose Kennedy, Muhammad Ali, Joan Crawaford, Jimmy Carter, Mel Brooks, Bill Cosby, Jack Benny, Dustin Hoffman, Bette Midler, Ronald Reagan, and Jay Leno.

When these personalities sat next to Mike Douglas, the outcome in virtually every instance was outstanding television. Now, in looking back on those years and the famous and infamous with whom he worked, Mike Douglas delivers a memoir that is filled with terrific stories, each one told with wit, nostalgia, and more than a touch of class. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

good book
i watched old Re-Runs of Mike Douglas's show&thought He had a laid-back quality to what he was doing.I enjoyed the fact that so many acts could come&go on His show&He was Classy about How He handled various details.this was a Guy who had his thing on Tv.a Good Book&reflects a different era&time period.

Mike, I'LL be right back
As a kid, I used to watch Mike's show, marveling at the cool sets in what was apparently a tiny studio in Philadelphia.Unfortunately, this book does not duplicate the mood he conveyed all those years ago.

If you hadn't seen his show and picked up this book, you'd swear Mike was dillusional.I mean, if this guy was so connected, why wasn't he Carson?It got to the point I expected to turn the page and see, "... then when President Roosevelt did that cameo, Genghis Khan almost fell on the floor.I laughed until Jack Benny and Nero did a poignant violin duet.That was just too much for the three former popes to bear."By the way, his memory must be failing him on Muhammad Ali, because the facts don't check out.

If I ever see Mike is doing a TV show, I am there.But if he ever writes another book, I'm afraid I'll have to turn the channel.

High quality, like his show
Yep, I also remember watching Mike after school, like so many others.

You are not getting controversy from him, not getting hard edges.Mike will never say anything bad about anyone else.

However, when you look at the guest list, wow!!!!!

His editors must have had a miserable time deciding what to leave out.

Am I imagining things or wasn't he based in Philadelphia for much of the show's run.Mike ignores that in the book and he ignores other things as well.

Still, I have extremely fond memories of him and wish he would come out of retirement.He is amazed that people remember him so well?

Those were the days!
I remember growing up watching the Mike Douglas Show after school and this book brought back lots of good memories. It will be hard for any talk show host to match Mike's graciousness and talent. He was able to make people from all walks of life open up and share a little bit of themselves (good or bad) and I'm really glad that Mike shares his memories with us so we can all enjoy some of those moments once again. I hope Mike writes volume 2 soon!

Auction!!
Hi!! I have recently bidded on this book, signed by Matt from the Real World New Orleans and won! So I just came to see how it looks...doesn't look too thrilling!! ... Read more

Product Description

In the past decade, there has been a convergence of transdisciplinary thought characterized by geography’s engagement with the humanities, and the humanities’ integration of place and the tools of geography into its studies.

GeoHumanities maps this emerging intellectual terrain with 30 cutting edge contributions from internationally renowned scholars, architects, artists, activists, and scientists. This book explores the humanities’ rapidly expanding engagement with geography, and the multi-methodological inquiries that analyze the meanings of place, and then reconstructs those meanings to provoke new knowledge as well as the possibility of altered political practices. It is no coincidence that the geohumanities are forcefully emerging at a time of immense intellectual and social change. This book focuses on a range of topics to address urgent contemporary imperatives, such as the link between creativity and place; altered practices of spatial literacy; the increasing complexity of visual representation in art, culture, and science; and the ubiquitous presence of geospatial technologies in the Information Age.

GeoHumanties is essential reading for students wishing to understand the intellectual trends and forces driving scholarship and research at the intersections of geography and the humanities disciplines. These trends hold far-reaching implications for future work in these disciplines, and for understanding the changes gripping our societies and our globalizing world.

Product Description
Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Jacksonville, FL. Text has been completely revised and includes five new chapters discussing medical informatics, artificial intelligence/learning, evidence-based medicine, human genomics, and the need for research in critical care medicine. Previous edition: c1997. DNLM: Critical Care--methods. ... Read more

Product Description
The dramatic changes that have taken place both in global society and in the church have implications for how the church does missions in the twenty-first century. These trends include the rise of postmodernism, the spiritual decline in the West and the advance of the gospel in the rest of the world, and the impact of technology on society and missions.The Changing Face of World Missions is for the mission-minded church leader or lay person who wants to understand these trends. Each chapter identifies and evaluates a trend, examines it in light of Scripture, and proposes a practical response. Important terms are defined, and sidebars help readers think through the issues on their own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good stuff
Good book. It goes into different trends and contemporary issues when it comes to missions. Some of the subjects covered are globalization, postmodernism, contextualization, majority world christianity, etc...It is written by evangelical missiologists from the west. This is an awesome book. Get it.

Change your worldview!
If you think you're fairly well informed re: church and mission issues, think again. The authors of this book cover the mega issues of our time and the challenges we face as Christians in addressing them. I'll read this book again before I'm ready to talk about it, there's so much here. ... Read more

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A chilling account of Hugo Chávez's shadow war on the United States

The American government has shrugged off South American politics for nearly forty years. In the meantime, our neighbor to the south has grown into an unprecedented threat. Hugo Chávez, the current president of Venezuela and a self-proclaimed enemy of the United States, commands what even Osama bin Laden only dreams of -- but few Americans see him as a true danger to this country. This book argues that we should.

Chávez has the means and the motivation to harm the United States in a way that few other countries can, and he has declared an "asymmetric war" against America. He runs a sovereign nation that is the fourth largest supplier of oil to the United States. He enjoys annual windfall oil profits that equal the net worth of Bill Gates. He has more modern weapons than anyone in Latin America. He has strategic alliances with Iran, North Korea, and other enemies of America, yet he has duped many Americans -- from influential political and cultural leaders to ordinary citizens who benefit from his oil largess through his state-owned oil company -- into believing that he is a friend.

Drawing on two decades of experience working at the highest level of Venezuelan and American politics, Schoen and Rowan go behind the scenes to examine Chávez's efforts to subvert both the American economy and his own country's stability. Not only did he help drive the price of oil from ten dollars a barrel to more than a hundred dollars a barrel, he's sponsored and become increasingly involved in civilian massacres, drug running, money laundering, nuclear weapons proliferation, and terrorist training.

Schoen and Rowan have both the insight and the access to make a case not yet made in the American media. Over the course of the past decade while living and working in Venezuela as writers and political consultants, they've investigated Ch?vez's past, explored his family connections, and gone up against him in a series of elections. Their startling revelations about Ch?vez's rise to power and his reach into American politics make this the kind of urgent, newsbreaking narrative that will spark vital debate in the corridors of power. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

The Threat Closer to Home: Hugo Chavez and The War Against America.
If you see the trolling reviews made here.Claims of "right wing"smear job. Please pick up the book and read it,the fact is it is written by two Authors, one whom happens to be A Democratic Party Consultant! So if this is a right Wing book please make sure to have your facts straight. The book as it implies alone by it's title is this,that a Despot like Chavez and many of his puppets Evo Morales,Rafael Correa,Daniel Ortega and Cronies:Lula,Oliver Stone,Sean Penn,Naomi Campbell, Danny Glover,and his best friend Castro are dangerous subversives. Supporting Organizations Such as The Farc of Colombia, Undermining Elections in Neighboring Countries all of this while Ironically Accusing the United States of Intervening in Latin America,when nothing can be further from the truth.
The Sad part of all of this is that someone can fall for such a pathetic creature of a person that chavez represents. He is not Bright,he is the worst to Happen To Venezuela. This is not THE SOLUTION.The book in my opinion does have flaws such as Recommending That PDVSA and the Oil Industry did not enough for the Poor Of Venezuela, I disagree that People should have to share the wealth,Hard Work and Determination and Responsibility Eradicates the social ills of society, not Empty suits Like Chavez and others who want to "Spread the Wealth". And this is spoken by me, a Lower Middle Class person not some Elitist few like Communists.

Interesting Read
Somewhat sensationalist, but very entertaining read.Chavez is not the cuddly clown that he often pretends to be.He is a throwback caudillo who seeks absolute control of all aspects of life in Venezuela and next Latin America.Rowan and Schoen show that time and time again, Chavez has undermined democratic reform in Venezuela.It is impossible to imagine Chavez leaving office anytime in the near future, despite a large sector of the population being against his "revoltion."It is impossible to quantify how popular or unpopular Chavez is, because Venezuela is no longer a "free" society.Those who oppenly oppose Chavez are repeatedly persecuted and many have had to flee the country for their safety.With each passing month, Chavez seems to become more and more unhinged and less rational.There is no longer a question as to whether he will come into direct conflict with the US, but as to when this will occur.

Terrorist of his own country
This is a great book describing all the truth about Chavez that he doesn't want you to know. There are quotes from his old allies who talk about how crazy the power has made him. Information regarding Chavez spending $6000 on himself everyday, to blaming the United States on "inventing" his close alliance with FARC, it's all in here.

The threat closer to home
I did not fully appreciate how much Chavez threatened to destablize South America (and to a lesser degree North America) until I read this book.

are they serious?
This book is the right wing propaganda the title implies. chavez is a popular, democratically elected leader. he has been umder constant assault from US government funded right wing politicians who oppose his aid to the vast venezuelan lower class. For a better work on modern Venezuela, get The Chavez Code. ... Read more

Product Description

" … a modern mythography, a study of contemporary Hollywood films based on the tools offered by feminism, psychoanalysis, Marxist cultural theory, and deconstruction." -- Village Voice

"Solidly thought-out observation of the films of the 70's and 80's that comment on the system." -- Audience

"... intelligent, open advocacy. Its responsible arrangement of carefully described cultural materials will challenge students and instructors alike." -- Teaching Philosophy

Camera Politica is a comprehensive study of Hollywood film during a period of tremendous change in American history, a period that witnessed the end of the American empire, crises in the economy, a failure of political leadership, loss at war, and the rise of the Right.

Customer Reviews (3)

Fantastic Film Theory Book
This was one of the first books that truly sparked any notion of academic interest in me towards not only film, but also literature and history. Just read the first few paragraphs in the introduction. If you like what you see, then you will not be disappointed with the rest of the book. It is a fascinating read of history through the ideologies created by film narrative and aesthetic.

Pistola Pictures
Camera Politica is a book that I first read in college and have managed to keep a copy handy ever since. I would recommend this book for film buffs, political junkies, artists and auteurs alike. Although limited in scope ( it could have covered more films from earlier eras ), the book does shed light on the films of Hollywood and their cultural impact on society. My favorite chapters deal mainly with films of the tumultuous 60's and 70's.

[...]

Periodizing the 80s
Camera Politica is a must for all who are interested in studying the development of film studies. In this book, Michael Ryan and Douglas Kellner offer a plethora of studies of films from the late 60s to the 80s in order to make a larger argument about that period of history. Their basic premise is that these films are in a dialectical relationship to the rise of conservative politics in the 80s. Meaning, the growing sentiment of conservativism informs films like Dirty Harry and Rambo, but at the same time, the development of a full fledged conservative popular culture, in which these films are involved, creates a social milieu in which conservative politics appears attractive and the remedy to growing economic and social disturbances.
They also criticize liberals for feeding into conservative filmic representations, often identifying the same ills as conservatives in their own attempts at cultural production. But, more significantly, liberal critics did not offer counter-representations that would do the same culture work that the conservative films of the late 70s and 80s did.
Thus, they call for a new radical cinema. They are Marxist in orientation (though they are clearly aligned with feminisms, radical race theorists, and student radicals), and so they are suggesting that a Marxian culture and a Marxist cinema must come into being. This cinematic culture must diagnose problems but it also must offer remedies that speak to the large majority of people. Perhaps, most provocatively (especially for the time this book was written), Ryan and Kellner claim that this new Marxian cinema can take the form of the popular Hollywood film, and in fact it must if it wants to reach mainstream society.
Though this book is a periodization of films, it also offers new theoretical devices. The first is the notion of transcoding: a film transcodes social attitudes. The second is ideology: the ideological work of Hollywood cinema is to try and offer remedies for social ills, but in so doing, it must admit ills do in fact exist. Thus ideology is double-edged. The third is diagnostic critique: the method of reading films that excavate both the ideological containment and the problem being identified.
At this point in history, Camera Politica might appear a bit dated. But if anyone is interested in doing a historical periodization of American culture, this book is simply a MUST. If anyone is new to the area of visual and film culture and wants a book that might offer some theoretical methods as well as demonstrations of readings, then, they might want to pick this book up.
This book is a bit of an overlooked classic, and it should be considered a staple in film studies. ... Read more

Product Description

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security, SAFECOMP 2008, held in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, in September 2008.

The 32 revised full papers presented together with 3 keynote papers and a panel session were carefully reviewed and selected from 115 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on software dependability, resilience, fault tolerance, security, safety cases, formal methods, dependability modelling, as well as security and dependability.

Product Description
"Females carry the marks, language and nuances of their culture more than the male. Anything that is desired or despised is always placed on the female body," states Kenyan-born, New York-based artist Wangechi Mutu, the subject of this highly anticipated first monograph. In recent years Mutu's work has become increasingly sought-after in the international art world, making high-profile appearances at the important art fairs and auctions. What makes her interesting, however, is her fierce and contemporary use of the well-worn medium of collage. Mutu deals with female and cultural identity in large-scale figurative pieces constructed from found and drawn imagery. Her figures are freakish and erotic hybrids of the primitive, contemporary and post-human. These sometimes garish, diseased, ravaged and distorted figures are made from seductive or silly materials like glossy fashion magazine pictures, glitter or fun fur. They refer to colonial history, contemporary African politics, the history of art and fashion--in often quite irreverent ways. Mutu's own diverse history--she has studied both anthropology and sculpture and has lived in Nairobi, Wales, New York and New Haven, where she received her MFA from Yale University in 2001--seems a likely source for her manifold concerns. This volume surveys Mutu's work to date. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Substantive Interviews with Artist
A Shady Promise provides several substantive interviews with Wangechi Mutu. The design, layout, and contributing articles are of superior quality.

an art book with plenty of art
This book is definately worth reading. There are plenty of images and they are beautiful. There are some essays but they are short and do not take up very much space. I really enjoyed the book because the reader can experience each of the pieces on their own. Great work and a great book. ... Read more