The first major English-language study of JarmuschAt a time when gimmicky; action-driven blockbusters ruled Hollywood; Jim Jarmusch spearheaded a boom in independent cinema by making low-budget films focused on intimacy; character; and new takes on classical narratives. His minimal form; peculiar pacing; wry humor; and blank affect have since been adopted by directors including Sophia Coppola; Hal Harley; Richard Linklater; and Wong Kar-Wai. Juan A. Suaacute;rezs Jim Jarmusch analyzes the directors work from three mutually implicated perspectives: in relation to independent filmmaking from the 1980s to the present; as a form of cultural production that appropriates existing icons; genres; and motifs; and as an instance of postmodern politics.A volume in the series Contemporary Film Directors; edited by James R. Naremore
#1685332 in eBooks 2014-02-14 2014-02-14File Name: B00IIZG61G
Review
7 of 13 people found the following review helpful. A Cure for InsomniaBy StudioFAHaving read a plethora of art books over the years (and being a great fan of drawing) I was truly looking forward to this read. Unfortunately; it was a profound disappointment.First off; its quite skimpy for the price; and clocks in at under 200 pages. To make things worse; they decided to print the book in a small format; just a little larger than a standard paperback. This means that youll nearly need a magnifying glass to read it...and its scarcely worth the effort. This is compounded by the paucity of illustrations. It amazes me that educated individuals would attempt to elucidate a visual medium while scarcely offering visual examples to support their theories and findings. Perhaps its the fault of the publisher; but its still a serious deficit.Anyone interested in buying this book should use the "look inside" feature beforehand; and browse the first essay. If you can make it through that and remain awake; then you might be able to endure the rest of this book. Just know that youre in for more of the same with the selections that follow: purely academic writings that are somewhat self-substantiating; often convoluted; and stale as last years bread.While I admire the precept of this book; and its aim to promote drawing research thats on par with other artistic disciplines; it essentially reads like a series of disjointed essays that were cobbled together solely for publication purposes. If youre looking for something more substantial for your hard-earned dollars; check out "Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing" or even "Drawing Now: Eight Propositions". Besides some interesting writing; youll even get to see some cool drawings.1 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A must read!By grannyplanetSteve Garner is a great champion for getting drawing back into our everyday life as a means of staying original and connecting our brain with new ideas.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. great book.By philly jIve continually been renewing this book from the library. It hosts wonderful discourse on drawing; as a verb; or as a practice. This work in no way intends to educate someone on how to draw or really needs many images for the analysis it presents. This is a collection of essays for someone already deep into drawing practice and looking for a brief overview of a diversity of contemporary thoughts on the subject and its growth from a historical context of Renaissance; Enlightment; Modernism; etc.The writing style is rather academic. Nothing complicated; but something to be read only an essay at a time and then reviewed later. It is a resource book and not novel; or coffee table book. I have gone through academia for my art degree and am a University instructor of drawing. I think this is a great book; I would probably not recommend it to a foundations level student; but for someone who finds drawing important to their artistic practice and is considering that process conceptually; this book is quite informative. Probably best for someone at the later portion of their undergraduate studies; in or beyond graduate school; or further outside the realm of studio practice and interested in theory; but yes- for someone interested in the academic route of art.I came to to see about purchasing the book. My only agreement with the poor review below is the pricing issue. This book would appear a bit underwhelming for the price it is at. If I had some electronic book reader; Id probably buy that version since the hardcover book is nothing special; merely a regular 9x7" book. If the publisher chose to insert additional imagery; particularly if anything of notable artists- the price would skyrocket so I dont particularly understand the desire for more pictures.Of course some chapters are handled better by their writers than others; but overall I find this book one of the best for conceptual and historical context to drawing.This book has absolutely no commonality to the alternative books listed by the previous review [Vitamin D and Eight Propositions]. If you want to see brief overviews of contemporary artists and examples of work striking critical acclaim in the early 2000s then definitely pick up those books. This has very different goals.
