ENG 3600 Spring 2024 Nooney

In this course, we will approach Hollywood cinema through the study of films that can be defined as meta. From the Greek, meaning “beyond,” meta-cinema exhibits a self-reflexive awareness about its status as cinema, films about films, about film-making, about narrative construction, about the magic of cinematic illusion, etc. We will study Hollywood cinema from the silent picture of the 1920s through to films today, paying specific attention to reflecting on films that reflect upon themselves, their genre, or the mechanics or motivations of their authorship. Attention will be given to meta-level reflections on genre (in films like Singin’ in the Rain and F is for Fake) and auteurism (in films directed by David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Altman, etc.) especially.