Reviews

The Phantom Empire: Movies in the Mind of the Twentieth Century by Geoffrey O'Brien

dreadtoaster's review against another edition

5.0

A dreamlike history of film light on industry jargon but heavy on allusion and bookish prose. Some may find it too pretentious and navel gazing but O’Brien’s internalization of the medium and how it affects personal & cultural memory scans with mine and as a result, I find the book endlessly fascinating with numerous citable passages to back up my admiration. Leans heavy on the Walter Benjamin theories of aura and art reproduction, but is a more populist critique than a straightforward Marxist critique. I think this is to its strength as it trades academic jargon-heavy language out for a waxy and penetrating style of writing. It loses itself in the weeds sometimes but it’s better to get lost in some new kudzu than your average garden variety weeds.