| | Movie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Conspire to Limit What Films We Can See by Jonathan Rosenbaum.
As head film critic for the alternative
weekly paper the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum
is in a position where his taste dictates the majority of
the films he reviews rather than an editorial staff (heavily
influenced by Hollywood studios and popular media), typical
of the mainstream press. This fortunate position informs
much of his criticism and the theme of this book, a collection
of essays centered around the public's access to films.
The most blatant example of censorship by Hollywood that
Rosenbaum exposes is Miramax's purchase of distribution
rights, and subsequent shelving, of foreign films, ensuring
their competition will not purchase them but also keeping
these films from the public. Other topics include the supposed
death of cinema, Hollywood isolationism and the American
Film Institute's "contribution to movie hell".
Rosenbaum's writing is clear and inviting, making up for
a depth of film history that is beyond most readers and
personal taste that is at odds with much of the public (he
places Small Soldiers well above Saving Private
Ryan as film art). By the end of the book, though, the
reader has learned something about film and been exposed
to film references that lie outside popular media, hopefully
leading to renewed interest in film as an art form and a
cultural disseminator.
. . or . . 
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