Category Archives: Books

Best of lists

I’ve not done a ‘best of year’ list before but thought I’d have a stab this time – and do it across films, TV literary fiction and nonfiction. These are lists of my favourites/best viewed or read in the past … Continue reading

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genres, film cycles, and a reading cycle

A reading strand and how one text leads to another in both film production and academia… I recently read my Brunel University colleague Leon Hunt’s fascinating new book on Mario Bava, Mario Bava: The Artisan as Italian Horror Auteur (2022), … Continue reading

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The Cinema of Discomfort

About time I posted something new, after a gap of all-but a year, so an update here on my next book, which is The Cinema of Discomfort: Disquieting, Awkward and Uncomfortable Experiences in Contemporary Art and Indie Film. This is … Continue reading

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Positioning Art Cinema, cover and blurbs

Very pleased with the finished cover design for my new book, Positioning Art Cinema: Film and Cultural Value, now due out at the end of this month. A copy of the descriptive blurb is included below. I’m also very grateful … Continue reading

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Positioning Art Cinema

I’m delighted to be able to report that I’ve managed to get the original title restored for my forthcoming book on art cinema, which will now be called Positioning Art Cinema: Film and Cultural Value, which represents the focus of … Continue reading

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New book on art cinema

I’ve recently signed a contract for my next book, Art Cinema: Positioning Films and the Construction of Cultural Value. I’m quite excited about this project, which is already at an advanced stage, due for submission late summer for publication by I.B. … Continue reading

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Companion to American Indie Film out soon; plus Indie Reframed

A new collection I’ve edited, A Companion to American Indie Film is out soon from Wiley Blackwell (due 6 December). I’m really pleased with the way this has worked out. You can read the intro and find a full list of … Continue reading

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Quality Hollywood cover

The final cover has now been agreed for my new book, Quality Hollywood: Markers of Distinction in Contemporary Studio Film, which of course necessitates a plug! Will update when it hits the shops, which shouldn’t be too far away. Below is the … Continue reading

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A balanced account of ‘quality’ in Hollywood – and a shameless plug!

Here’s something of a novelty, a journalistic piece about contemporary Hollywood that for once adopts a balanced approach to the subject of whether or not the studios still make any of the kinds of films that are still critically lauded … Continue reading

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marketing departments in film and academic publishing

I’m working on a new book project that’s an analysis of the various ways in which art cinema is positioned as something of special cultural value. Among various other perspectives, I’m considering the marketing of such films. While marketing devices … Continue reading

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