blockbusters from 1992 to 2008 - the Clinton and Bush eras - against a backdrop of contemporary political events, social developments, and popular American myths. Kord and Krimmer investigate the most common male types - cops, killers, fathers, cowboys, superheroes, spies, soldiers, rogues, lovers, and losers. Their in-depth analyses of over sixty films, from The Matrix and Iron Man to Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings, from Wedding Crashers and Mr. & Ms. Smith to War of the Worlds and The 40-Year Old Virgin, show that movies, far from being mere entertainment, respond directly to today's social and political realities, from consumerism to "family values" to the War on Terror.

Hide more