Screen Traffic

<div>In <i>Screen Traffic</i> Charles R. Acland examines how since the mid-1980s the U.S. commercial movie business has altered conceptions of moviegoing both within the industry and among audiences. He shows how studios in their increasing reliance on revenues from international audiences and from the ancillary markets of television videotape DVD and pay-per-view have cultivated an understanding of their commodities as mutating global products. Consequently the cultural practice of moviegoing has changed significantly as has the place of the cinema in relation to other sites of leisure.<p>Integrating film and cultural theory with close analysis of promotional materials entertainment news trade publications and economic reports Acland presents an array of evidence for the new understanding of movies and moviegoing that has developed within popular culture and the entertainment industry. In particular he dissects a key development: the rise of the megaplex characterized by large auditoriums plentiful screens and consumer activities other than film viewing. He traces its genesis from the re-entry of studios into the movie exhibition business in 1986 through 1998 when reports of the economic destabilization of exhibition began to surface just as the rise of so-called e-cinema signaled another wave of change. Documenting the current tendency toward an accelerated cinema culture one that appears to arrive simultaneously for everyone everywhere <i>Screen Traffic</i> unearths and critiques the corporate and cultural forces contributing to the felt internationalism of our global era.</p></div>