Watching films - Albert Moran

Whether we stream them on our laptops, enjoy them in
theaters, or slide them into DVD players to watch on our TVs, movies are
part of what it means to be socially connected in the twenty-first
century.
Despite its significant role in our lives, the act of watching
films remains an area of social activity that is little studied, and
thus, little understood.

In Watching Films, an
international cast of contributors correct this problem with a
comprehensive investigation of movie going, cinema exhibition, and film
reception around the world. With a focus on the social, economic, and
cultural factors that influence how we watch and think about movies,
this volume centers its investigations on four areas of inquiry: Who
watches films? Under what circumstances? What consequences and affects
follow? And what do these acts of consumption mean? Responding to these
questions, the contributors provide both historical perspective and
fresh insights about the ways in which new viewing arrangements and
technologies influence how films get watched everywhere from Canada to
China to Ireland.

A long-overdue consideration of an important topic, Watching Films provides an engrossing overview of how we do just that in our homes and across the globe.