The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen FROM THE PUBLISHER
Nick Clooney, one of America's most respected film critics and historians, presents a distinctive catalog of movies that have influenced and altered not only the world of cinema, but also the world in which we live.
Since the advent of moving pictures, there have been films that exist as more than just entertainment. These rare movies have touched the collective soul of the public with such passion and artistic skill that they have actually changed the way we view life, history, and ourselves. Some have transformed the way movies are made and viewed -- and some have actually transformed us.
In The Movies That Changed Us, Clooney explores, explains, and theorizes upon twenty films -- reaching from 1998 back to 1915 -- that forever shifted our perceptions about race, religion, sex, politics, and the very definition of humanity. From the ambitiously epic -- though manifestly racist -- Birth of a Nation, to the controversial violence of Taxi Driver, to the mythic idealism and visual cornucopia of 2001:A Space Odyssey and Star Wars, Clooney relates the stories behind the camera in an informative, engaging, and personal chronicle of cinema and society.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Few things in Hollywood get the movie-going public more riled up than lists. The American Film Institute's ranking of the 100 greatest flicks, for instance, touched off a firestorm of protest when it was released. Now film historian and former American Movie Channel host Clooney joins the fray, with his roundup of 20 movies that changed American culture. They're not necessarily the best ones, he says, but they all sparked something in the country's social or political consciousness. On the list are some gimmes (Dr. Strangelove; The Graduate), some correct but unsavory picks (Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will) and some surprising exclusions (Saving Private Ryan gets in, but Apocalypse Now doesn't-come again?). With each selection, Clooney offers a brief plot summary, and then demonstrates how the movie altered America-or at the very least, Hollywood. Taxi Driver, for instance, inspired John Hinckley, Jr.'s assassination attempt, while Star Wars "changed the way we make movies." Clooney's arguments are convincing enough, but many of the entries share a lame coda: that the movie "changed things." It's particularly heartening to see him resuscitate old gems, though; films from the '30s (e.g., Boys Town and Morocco) take up a full quarter of the list. "[T]he story of film is far from over," Clooney notes, as if the noted movie buff can't wait to pen a sequel. Readers might quibble with his list, but then, that's half the fun. Agent, Joanna Pulcini. (Nov. 5) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
In this extremely readable work, Clooney, former host of the cable channel American Movie Classics, examines one German and 19 U.S. films that "changed us," with content that was either on top or ahead of the curve. Thus, a great film like Citizen Kane does not make the cut, as it did not change society, but Boy's Town, The Birth of a Nation, and Taxi Driver do. Each of Clooney's short essays underscores why one particular film profoundly affected the viewing audience, for better or worse, whereas thousands of other merely "entertained." Some readers may question whether a film was really so influential, but Clooney is thought-provoking, and his occasional interviews with the original film personnel are alone worth the price. An interesting accompaniment to more scholarly studies of audience reaction, including Passionate Views, edited by Carl Plantigna and Greg M. Smith, and Janet Staiger's Perverse Spectators, this is highly recommended for all cultural studies collections.-Anthony J. Adam, Prairie View A&M Univ., TX Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Former film commentator for TV's American Movie Classics, who has clearly seen films by the thousands, discusses 20 that profoundly changed either their audiences or the film industry. This is neither gossipy nor insider-ish about the making of films, nor is it a list of best films, such as Citizen Kane (which Clooney sees as a "stunning film . . . that did not change anything") or Gone With the Wind (a brilliant achievement but "essentially a revisiting of ground already plowed by The Birth of a Nation a generation earlier"). It focuses instead on social mores and turning points in filmmaking. None are independent films, excellent though the independents may be. Saving Private Ryan, for example, often shown in high schools to students aghast at Spielberg's D-day on Omaha Beach, awoke blinkered students in France to the fact that-while the French underground did its job-France did not overthrow the Nazis, nor did Europe; rather, they were saved by a non-European army from America, whose soldiers died for freedom in lands not their own. George Lucas's Star Wars changed the content of filmmaking, heralded the narrowcasting of films, and, for better or worse, brought special effects to the fore. Taxi Driver led to the Brady Bill by way of John Hinckley Jr.'s love of Jodie Foster, admiration for pimp-murdering Travis Bickle, and attempted assassination of President Reagan. Mike Nichols's The Graduate helped kill off romantic movies, making them "leaner, a bit meaner, and nearly devoid of sentiment," while the vulgarity of Nichols and Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? blew the Production Code's decency to bits. Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove led to deep skepticism about the militaryestablishment. On the Waterfront led to films about labor unions, The Snake Pit to films about mental health. As for the great race film that changed us? Hasn't happened, Clooney says. Serious and eye-opening.
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