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The Power Of Movies: How Screen and Mind Interact    by Colin McGinn Amazon.com order for
Power Of Movies
by Colin McGinn
Order:  USA  Can
Pantheon, 2005 (2005)
Hardcover
* * *   Reviewed by Ayesha Baumgartner

The Power Of Movies is a fascinating study of the attraction of watching movies and the power of the motion picture. An in-depth analysis on the aspect of voyeurism in the motion picture and the appeal of the stars in the movies is both provocative and an eye-opener (pardon the pun!)

This book makes you ponder why for decades the world has been drawn to watching the movies. Great analogies are made between watching a star on screen and the fascination of being transported into a movie's fantasy world, and how that experience is not unlike being absorbed by gazing at the stars in a dark sky.

Understanding why and how we respond to the cinema is discussed in great detail. Film critics, actors, film students, and filmmakers alike will benefit from this book, which analyzes the world of cinema by studying how the movie screen and the mind interact to form our fascinating movie experience, different from a Theatre or Television experience.

Colin McGinn encourages readers to reflect on 'what it is about film that makes it so appealing. And what accounts for its allure.' Questions such as 'what is it about the visual images that draws us in? What is distinctive about film?' are asked of the reader, encouraging the development of your own understanding of how you respond to watching films.

If you would like to go deep into the psychology of the cinema's visual appeal, The Power Of Movies will enrich your next film watching experience and can enhance your next filmmaking experience as well. I highly recommend the book as a true gem for the film world. It's enjoyable, intellectual, insightful and a fascinating read.

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