Brown and Gay in LA
Happy Pride Month! This week's review looks at the lived experiences of gay men from immigrant families in LA, exploring the intersectionality of the interviewees' identities.
Posted on in Review of the Week
Posted on February 27, 2017 in Review of the Week
Newman, Michael Z. Columbia, 2014
138p bibl index afp, 9780231169516 $9.00
Emblematic in its brevity and concision, this absolutely bleeding-edge book provides a thoroughly detailed discussion of the impact that video—in all its manifestations, from VHS videos to YouTube and all the stops between—has had on the cinema and the ways in which we watch movies today. Just like this volume, video platforms today “get to the point” immediately, and clips are replacing longer films, which are now confined to multiplex viewing; “binge” viewing of entire seasons of a television series is another, contradictory option, but then again, these series were designed for the small screen. Part history, part prognostication, densely theoretical and yet poetic, Newman’s volume is a signal text in video studies, considering not just the practical but also the aesthetic and historic impact of video on the film medium. A lively, accessible volume with a nicely selected group of illustrations, this would make an excellent course text—on either an introductory or advanced level (a rare accomplishment). All in all, a remarkable book.
Summing Up: Essential. All readers.
Reviewer: W. W. Dixon, University of Nebraska—Lincoln
Subject: Humanities – Performing Arts – Film
Choice Issue: Sep 2014
Happy Pride Month! This week's review looks at the lived experiences of gay men from immigrant families in LA, exploring the intersectionality of the interviewees' identities.
Posted on in Review of the Week
In commemoration of Memorial Day, this week's review uncovers the experiences of African American soldiers in World War II and the impact of racism on their postwar lives.
Posted on in Review of the Week
Looking at phone addiction, this week's review analyzes how humanity's obsession with technology has evolved and the value of taking a "digital detox."
Posted on in Review of the Week
Taking an intersectional approach to environmental policy, this week's review reveals the stories of Asian and Latina immigrant women at the forefront of the environmental justice movement in LA.
Posted on in Review of the Week