What do films such as The Breakfast Club, Dead Poet’s Society, and Freedom Writers have to teach us about American culture? Robert Bulman’s Hollywood Goes to High School takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the high school film genre. Skillfully blending sociological theory and film analysis, Bulman’s always accessible writing delightfully challenges the reader to think critically about American individualism and class inequality. Bulman’s insightful sociological analysis of 177 new and classic high school films explores the complex ways in which Americans make sense of social class, education, gender and adolescence. Suitable for the beginning and advanced student, Hollywood Goes to High School is an essential piece of reading for a variety of courses in sociology, education, communication, anthropology, American studies, and film studies. For more from Robert Bulman read his analysis of McFarland USA starring Kevin Costner on Sociological Cinema here: http://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/blog/is-kevin-costners-mcfarland-usa-a-white-savior-film-well-yes-and-no.

"Young professional Taylor Henning must attempt the impossible: staying in touch with her inner mean girl while staying true to herself"--Provided by publisher.

They're the daughters of celebrities--the kind all the teen mags gossip about! But the It Girls of Hollywood High are about to discover that fame has a price. And no friendship--or romance--is safe. . . London Phillips will diet as her mother demands. She'll even date the billionaire her mother has chosen for her. But she won't give up her secret hottie, Justice Banks. She and Justice plan to elope--right after he becomes a hip-hop superstar. All he has to do is seduce a media mogul's darling daughter, Rich Montgomery, and a record deal is his! But he better remember London is really his girl. . . Rich is so lucky to have a BFF like London. It was London who introduced her to dreamy Justice. Little does she know that her new heartthrob is about to cause a media explosion that will change this spoiled princess's life forever. . . Spencer Ellington hates to see a billionaire go to waste. That's why she's hooking up with London's boyfriend, Anderson Ford. London may not be in love with Anderson, but she believes he'll do anything for her. Just wait till she finds out the only thing Anderson is doing is Spencer. . . Heather Cummings wants in with the It Girls to secure the spotlight for her actress mother. But when she stumbles upon a secret about the father she never knew, she discovers she has ties to the clique so scandalous it may just bring Hollywood High's in-crowd to their knees! "Simone tells authentic stories of teen life in the 'hood better than any other author currently writing contemporary YA street lit." --Library Journal on Teenage Love Affair (starred review)

The little-explored story of how politics, propaganda, and profits were combined to create the drama, imagery and fantasy that was American film during World War II. 32 black-and-white photographs.

Steven Spielberg once said, "I like ideas, especially movie ideas, that you can hold in your hand. If a person can tell me the idea in twenty-five words or less, it's going to make a pretty good movie." Spielberg's comment embodies the essence of the high concept film, which can be condensed into one simple sentence that inspires marketing campaigns, lures audiences, and separates success from failure at the box office. This pioneering study explores the development and dominance of the high concept movie within commercial Hollywood filmmaking since the late 1970s. Justin Wyatt describes how box office success, always important in Hollywood, became paramount in the era in which major film studios passed into the hands of media conglomerates concerned more with the economics of filmmaking than aesthetics. In particular, he shows how high concept films became fully integrated with their marketing, so that a single phrase ("Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...") could sell the movie to studio executives and provide copy for massive advertising campaigns; a single image or a theme song could instantly remind potential audience members of the movie, and tie-in merchandise could generate millions of dollars in additional income.

Rex, one of a group of dinosaurs living at the Museum of Natural History, loses his place as the center of attention when a film director invites them all to sunny California. Lively narration by Fred Berman (The Lion King on Broadway)

Vince Luca is just like any other high school guy. His best friend, Alex, is trying to score vicariously through him; his brother is a giant pain; and his father keeps bugging him to get motivated. There is just one thing that really sets him apart for other kids-his father happens to be the head of a powerful crime organization. Needless to say, while Vince's family's connections can be handy for certain things (like when teachers are afraid to give him a bad grade), they can put a serious crimp in his dating life. How is he supposed to explain to a girl what his father does for a living? But when Vince meets a girl who finally seems to be worth the trouble, her family turns out to be the biggest problem of all. Because her father is an FBI agent-the one who wants to put his father away for good.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Thank you to Sheila Nevins for putting all this down for posterity. Women need this kind of honest excavation of the process of living.” —Meryl Streep An astonishingly frank, funny, poignant book for any woman who wishes they had someone who would say to them, “This happened to me, learn from my mistakes and my successes. Because you don’t get smarter as you get older, you get braver.” Sheila Nevins is the best friend you never knew you had. She is your discreet confidante you can tell any secret to, your sage mentor at work who helps you navigate the often uneven playing field, your wise sister who has “been there, done that,” your hysterical girlfriend whose stories about men will make laugh until you cry. Sheila Nevins is the one person who always tells it like it is. In You Don’t Look Your Age, the famed documentary producer (as President of HBO Documentary Films for over 30 years, Nevins has rightfully been credited with creating the documentary rebirth) finally steps out from behind the camera and takes her place front and center. In these pages you will read about the real life challenges of being a woman in a man's world, what it means to be a working mother, what it’s like to be an older woman in a youth-obsessed culture, the sometimes changing, often sweet truth about marriages, what being a feminist really means, and that you are in good company if your adult children don’t return your phone calls. So come, sit down, make yourself comfortable, (and for some of you, don’t forget the damn reading glasses). You’re in for a treat.

Aggressive product placement and retail tie-ins are as much a part of moviemaking today as high-concept scripts and computer-generated special effects, but this phenomenon is hardly recent. Since the silent era, Hollywood studios have proved remarkably adept at advertising both their own products and a bewildering variety of consumer commodities, successfully promoting the idea of consumption itself. Hollywood Goes Shopping brings together leading film studies scholars to explore the complex and sometimes contradictory relationship between American cinema and consumer culture, providing an innovative reading of both film history and the evolution of consumerism in the twentieth century.