American Cinema of the 2010s: Themes and Variations
American Cinema of the 2010s: Themes and Variations
edited by Dennis Bingham contributions by Julie Levinson, Mikal J. Gaines, Dennis Bingham, Michele Schreiber, David Greven, Raymond Haberski, Jr., Jr., Alexandra Keller, Daniel Smith-Rowsey, Lisa Bode and Cynthia Baron
Rutgers University Press, 2022 eISBN: 978-1-9788-1484-4 | Cloth: 978-1-9788-1483-7 | Paper: 978-1-9788-1482-0 Library of Congress Classification PN1993.5.U6A857955 2022 Dewey Decimal Classification 791.43097309051
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The 2010s might be remembered as a time of increased polarization in American life. The decade contained both the Obama era and the Trump era, and as the nation’s political fissures widened, so did the gap between the haves and have-nots. Hollywood reflected these divisions, choosing to concentrate on big franchise blockbusters at the expense of mid-budget films, while new players like Netflix and Amazon offered fresh opportunities for low-budget and independent filmmakers. As the movie business changed, films ranging from American Sniper to Get Out found ways to speak to the concerns of a divided nation.
The newest installment in the Screen Decades series, American Cinema in the 2010s takes a close look at the memorable movies, visionary filmmakers, and behind-the-scenes drama that made this decade such an exciting time to be a moviegoer. Each chapter offers an in-depth examination of a specific year, covering a wide variety of films, from blockbuster superhero movies like Black Panther and animated films like Frozen to smaller-budget biopics like I, Tonya and horror films like Hereditary. This volume introduces readers to a decade in which established auteurs like Quentin Tarantino were joined by an exceptionally diverse set of new talents, taking American cinema in new directions.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
DENNIS BINGHAM is a professor of English and the director of the film studies program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. He is the author of several books including Whose Lives Are They Anyway?: The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre.
REVIEWS
"American Cinema of the 2010s offers a lively compendium of insights about the complicated relationship between Hollywood cinema and the cultural zeitgeist."
— Virginia Wexman, editor of Directing
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Timeline: 2010s
Introduction: Movies and the 2010s
DENNIS BINGHAM
2010 Movies and Recessionary Gender Politics
MICHELE SCHREIBER
2011 Movies and Masculinity at a Crossroads
DAVID GREVEN
2012 Movies and Myths, Heroes, and History
RAYMOND HABERSKI JR.
2013 Movies and Personhood
ALEXANDRA KELLER
2014 Movies and the Unexpected Virtue of How the Sausage Gets Made
DANIEL SMITH-ROWSEY
2015 Movies and Female Agency
LISA BODE
2016 Movies and the Solace of Progressive Narratives
CYNTHIA BARON
2017 Movies and the Right to Be Heard
JULIE LEVINSON
2018 Movies and Revolution
MIKAL J. GAINES
2019 Movies, Anniversaries, and the Limits of Looking Back
DENNIS BINGHAM
Select Academy Awards, 2010–2019
Acknowledgments
Works Cited and Consulted
Contributors
Index