For critics; fans; and scholars of drama and film; the laugh has traditionally been tied to comedy; indicating and expressing mirth; witty relief; joyous celebration; or arch and sarcastic parody. But strange; dark laughter that illuminates non-comedic; unfunny situations gets much less attention. In The Last Laugh: Strange Humors of Cinema; editor Murray Pomerance has assembled contributions from thirteen estimable scholars that address the strange laughter of cinema from varying intellectual perspectives and a wide range of sources.Contributors consider unusual humors in a variety of filmic settings; from the chilling unheard laughter of silent cinema to the ribald and mortal laughter in the work of Orson Welles; the vagaries and nuances of laughter in film noir to the eccentric laughter of science fiction. Essays also look at laughter in many different applications; from the subtle; underlying wit of the thriller Dont Look Now to the deeply provocative humor of experimental film and the unpredictable; shadowy; insightful; and stunning laughter in such films as Black Swan; Henry Fool; The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; Kiss of Death; The Dark Knight; and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. The accessibly written; unique essays in The Last Laugh bring a new understanding to the delicate balance; unsettled tensions; and fragility of human affairs depicted by strange humor in film. For scholars of film and readers who love cinema; these essays will be rich and playful inspiration.
#731635 in eBooks 2013-04-29 2013-04-29File Name: B00C59C7ZU
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Definitely one of the funnest tab books I haveBy LadyAwesome. Theres a succession of chords in Blackbird that initially seemed a bit awkward to me as tabbed (C; C#; D; D#); but if you keep your ring finger on the B string; its pretty easy. Theres a cheat that involves moving the same chord shape up and down the neck; but the tab in this book is better; IMHO. Nice choice of songs.5 of 8 people found the following review helpful. The good with the mediocreBy Ger LThis volume; like the others in the series; is mainly chord strumming. There are a couple of pieces for which single notes; and embellished and partial chords are used. These arrangements are worthwhile; but the majority are pretty shallow and best for comping. When you play them; the song may be recognizable; but it wont be melodically complete.One problem that is common to so many of this type of CD accompanied books; is that the guitar part in never offered in complete isolation. Percussion and other musical support sounds fine for listening; but to best learn the piece; a clean solo would be more helpful. I think the percussion; etc. is included to mask that weak arrangements of the strumming songs.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Fun book for practiceBy johnnykThis is a great book to keep your acoustic chops up. If you get bored with playing scales and arpeggio study and would rather practice by playing songs this is a great tool.