Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Cinema Today is a survey of world cinema and the films that have dominated our screens over the last 30 years. Written by Edward Buscombe, academic and leading authority on Westerns, Cinema Today marks the key turning points in the film industry, identifies important trends and assesses the work of film-makers who have made a significant contribution to the medium since 1970. Fully illustrated, Cinema Today is informative, comprehensive and up to date, and provides a unique resource for academics, students and anyone with an interest in the moving image and the film industry.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This hefty, highly illustrated book-written by the former head of publications at the British Film Institute-offers a concise commentary on the world cinema scene since 1970. Buscombe notes that although 4000 films are internationally produced each year, Hollywood is a "supranational" dream factory; its big-budget, action-driven product clearly dominates the world market, inciting feelings of both admiration and anger. Buscombe devotes half the book to 30 years of American output, but he hardly neglects the rest of the globe. Beginning with the 1970s rise of Hollywood's blockbuster mentality in the wake of Jaws and Star Wars, he goes on to review trends in almost every American film genre, including action, horror, comedy, and crime films, plus indie and auteur efforts, gay and lesbian cinema, and even XXX-rated movies. The book also provides brief but lively observations on India's thriving Bollywood, the renaissance of Australian cinema, and the role of movies in the Muslim world. More than 600 movie stills-most in color and many full page-are the main attractions here, some giving ample proof of the new frankness in adult themes. Unfortunately, Buscombe's coverage of the all-important influences of cable television, the video and DVD revolutions, movies on the Internet, and other innovations is limited to a short, concluding chapter. A listing of major world directors and a chronology of world events are helpful features. An interesting companion to Robert Sklar's A World History of Film, which provides a broader historical canvas and contains more information on the technical aspects of movie-making, this is recommended for large public and academic film collections.-Stephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Film scholar Buscombe (The Searchers) analyzes world cinema since 1970 with welcome intelligence and thorough knowledge in a lavishly produced book that should satisfy oglers and thinkers alike. Not surprisingly, he begins his take on modern cinema in 1970, after studio-made extravaganzas like Hello, Dolly! had disappointed an increasingly young audience while the low-budget, youth-oriented road movie Easy Rider became a hit and changed Hollywood's thinking about what makes a successful film. Owing to the commanding influence of American movies across the world, Buscombe devotes half of the book to American films. Genre chapters are solid, with some surprises, like his dark view that horror films are being consumed by their self-reflexiveness. Most enlightening are Buscombe's surveys of international cinema, as he examines various countries' film industries in terms of their financial health, interaction with their governments and their role as cultural representatives. A visual delight, the book presents stills ranging from the iconic (e.g., Pierce Brosnan as Bond cruising on a motorcycle with a gorgeous Michelle Yeoh clutching onto him in Tomorrow Never Dies) to the lesser-known (including a moving shot of Dirk Bogarde examining the wound on the arm of Charlotte Rampling in 1974's The Night Porter). Any book that ignites fresh thoughts about old movies and also presents photos of gory monsters and half-naked women does justice to the universal art form of sight and sound. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Buscombe (formerly head of publishing for the British Film Institute) looks at feature-length fictional motion pictures on the international horizon from roughly 1970 to 2000. Some might call it a coffee-table book, in that it is heavy, measures 11.5" x 10", and includes many photographs and graphics. But those looking for a work referencing all of the major motion pictures of the last 30 years in every country of the world might well pick this book. Its photographs and graphics are useful. The written commentary is brief but comprehensive, and the illustrative material is useful. Buscombe is remarkably objective in his comments, though he does not resist knocking The Matrix and claiming that Westerners overrated Akira Kurosawa and show a preference for art house films. These are minor flaws in an otherwise valuable and well-written work. Buscombe provides chapter notes, a time line of historical events (1970-2002), and a director's filmography. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All collections and all levels--students, teachers, and professionals. R. Blackwood emeritus, City Colleges of Chicago

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Edward Buscombe is a leading authority on cinema, having lectured and written on film for over 30 years. Formerly Head of Publishing at the British Film Institute, Buscombe is a regular contributor to film journals and has written several books.