Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia - 9780226726656

The esteemed film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has brought global cinema to American audiences for the last four decades. His incisive writings on individual filmmakers define film culture as a diverse and ever-evolving practice, unpredictable yet subject to analyses just as diversified as his own discriminating tastes. For Rosenbaum, there is no high or low cinema, only more interesting or less interesting films, and the pieces collected here, from an appreciation of Marilyn Monroe's intelligence to a classic discussion on and with Jean-Luc Godard, amply testify to his broad intellect and multifaceted talent.

Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia gathers together over fifty examples of Rosenbaum's criticism from the span of his writing career, each of which demonstrates his passion for the way we view movies, as well as how we write about them. Charting our changing concerns with the interconnected issues that surround video, DVDs, the Internet, and new media, the writings collected here also highlight Rosenbaum's polemics concerning the digital age. From the rediscovery and recirculation of classic films, to the social and aesthetic impact of technological changes, Rosenbaum doesn't disappoint in assembling a magisterial cast of little-known filmmakers as well as the familiar faces and iconic names that have helped to define our era.

As we move into this new decade of moviegoing-one in which Hollywood will continue to feel the shockwaves of the digital age-Jonathan Rosenbaum remains a valuable guide. Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia is a consummate collection of his work, not simply for fans of this seminal critic, but for all those open to the wide variety of films he embraces and helps us to understand.

"Jonathan Rosenbaum is a great film critic and I've learned so much over the years from his wise writing."---Roger Ebert

"This is a major new collection of essays from a preeminent American film critic who has evolved a unique voice over decades of writing that is extraordinary well-informed, full of insights and unforeseen connections, and deeply, profoundly international, Jonathan Rosenbaum's intellectual and political engagement, his insistence in going beyond the US-centrism of most American critics, and his extraordinarily wide-ranging cinephilia represent near-heroic work by an invaluable critic, and are all fully on display here. This excellent collection, much like its author, crosses many boundaries with conviction."---Janet Bergstrom, University of California, Los Angeles

"One of the finest film critics currently active."---Times (UK)

"Among the best is Rosenbaum."---Booklist