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Associate Professor Bruce Isaacs
B.A., PhD
Chair of Discipline: Film Studies
Senior Lecturer
Senior Lecturer
Address
A20 - John Woolley Building
The University of Sydney
Details
Member of Sydney Environment Institute
I am interested in a wide range of film studies-related topics: histories of film (with a focus on Hollywood, though I have abiding interests in various ‘New Waves’ and movements), film aesthetics and style, critical approaches to film production, film and popular culture (including the relationship between film and other pop culture art forms such as television, literature and music). I am currently intrigued by various developments in High Concept Hollywood and its evolution of new aesthetic practices, including digital and 3D cinema.
- Film Aesthetics: the legitimacy of ‘Film Style’
- Realism and Spectacle
- American Cinema: Classical Hollywood/Hollywood Renaissance (late 60s to Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, 1979)/Hollywood High Concept Cinema
- Auteur Theory, Independence, New Aesthetic Sensibilities
- Digital Cinema and Aesthetics: ‘Future Cinema’
- Film Production Practice – with a focus on screenwriting as a literary and cinematic form
- Neobaroque Aestheticism in the Modern Genre Film: Sergio Leone, Brian De Palma, John Carpenter, Quentin Tarantino
- The Mechanics of continuity in the cinema of Michael Bay
- Screenwriting and the ‘cinematicality’ of a literary form
- Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand. Current Film Area Chair for PopCAANZ.
- Sydney Film Festival – Film Advisory Panel
- Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS)
- Stereoscopic Media
- 2016 SUPRA Supervisor of the Year Award - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- 2015: FASS Teaching Award (Excellence in Teaching Design and Practice)
- 2013: FASS Teaching Award (Excellence in Teaching Design and Practice)
| Project title | Research student |
|---|---|
| Whole New Worlds: The Impact of New Simulation Technology on Cinema and Entertainment | Michael CHIAN |
| What Audiences Want: A Comparative Study of Film Distribution and Subscription Video on Demand in Australia | Imogen GARDAM |
| South Korean New Wave Cinema: multi-perspective minjunghwa film and '1029' film project | Seung Je KOH |
| The spirituality of affect in contemporary East Asian cinema: body intensity and digitality | Chenlei XIAO |
Selected publications
The Art of Pure Cinema: Hitchcock and His Imitators
(Oxford University Press, 2020)
The Orientation of Future Cinema: Technology, Aesthetics, Spectacle
(Bloomsbury Academic, 2013)
Toward a New Film Aesthetic
(Continuum, 2008)
Publications
Selected Grants
2014
- The Digital Image , Isaacs B, University of Sydney/Blended Learning Innovation Fund
2013
- Performing Genre: Industrial, Aesthetic and Ideological Formations in the Films of Sergio Leone, Dario Argento and Brian De Palma, Isaacs B, University of Sydney/Research Support Scheme
- Virtual Affect: The Immateriality of Bodies, Spaces and Times in Virtual Cinema Production , Isaacs B, University of Sydney/Film Studies Journal Incentive Grant
- Camera-Stylo: Intersections in Literature and Cinema, Isaacs B, Kelly D, Marks P, University of Sydney/Conference Seed Funding Scheme
- Mapping a Transnational Genre Aesthetic: Sergio Corbuccis Django (1966) and il Grande Silenzio (The Great Silence, 1968), Isaacs B, University of Sydney/Faculty Research Incubator
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In the media
- regular guest appearance on ABC Radio National 'The Bookshelf'
- 24/05/2025 - quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald: Classic films have never been harder to find. A free streamer offers hope
- 12/05/2025 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Evenings with Renee Krosch' about the true crime genre (Syndicated widely)
- 08/03/2025 - guest on ABC Mildura FM 'Weekend Evenings'
- 03/03/2025 - interviewed on 6PR 882 News Talk 'Breakfast with Millsy and Karl' about the 97th Academy Awards
- 20/02/2025 - interviewed in The Age (print version): 'Not cool, but watchable. Welcome to Dad TV'
- 19/02/2025 - interviewed in The Sydney Morning Herald (syndicated across Nine newspapers): Not cool, but watchable. Welcome to Dad TV
- 17/01/2025 - interview on 702 ABC Sydney 'Afternoons' to talk about the impact of the late David Lynch
- 19/10/2024 - quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald: Bigger than the Fab Four and Swift: The Queen who rocked Sydney
- 18/07/2024 - quoted on ABC News: The story behind Hollywood's all-powerful studio logos as Netflix, streaming services force change
- 10/07/2024 - interviewed on 6PR 882 News Talk 'Breakfast with Gareth Parker' about the decline in popularity of cinemas
- 08/06/2024 - quoted on 9Now: Call for lower cinema prices as high-budget blockbusters fail to reel in moviegoers
- 15/05/2024 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' to talk about the Mad Max "Universe"
- 15/05/2024 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' to talk about onscreen chemistry Steven Carroll: dystopia, butter, murder
- 20/03/2024 - quoted on London Reviews: How Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind offered a warning about modern love and relationships
- 20/03/2024 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' about box office flops and superhero movie fatigue
- 11/03/2024 - interviewed on 6PR 882 News Talk about the 2024 Oscars
- 06/03/2024 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' about the sequel to the film Bladerunner
- 16/03/2024 - quoted in JoyOnline: How Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind offered a warning about modern love and relationships
- 06/03/2024 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' about the movie Dune, and it's sequel
- 21/02/2024 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' about tv shows versus movies
- 07/02/2024 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' about film recommendations
- 28/01/2024 - interviewed on ABC News Online: The most iconic depictions of Elvis Presley from Jacob Elordi to Li'l Elvis
- 25/01/2024 - guest on 666 ABC Canberra to discuss to discuss nominations for the Oscars
- 24/01/2024 - guest on Triple M Port Hedland 94.1 to discuss nominations for the Oscars
- 22/01/2024 - interviewed on ABC Radio National about a popular novel Chain Gang All Stars
- 20/01/2024 - interviewed on ABC Radio National about about a popular novel 'Chain Gang All Stars'
- 18/01/2024 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' about book to film adaptations
- 16/11/2023 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' to talk about history and films
- 30/10/2023 - interviewed on ABC Great Southern(Western Australia) about the legacy of the TV show 'Friends'
- 19/10/2023 - guest on 702 ABC Sydney' Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' to discussing 'Killers of the Flower Moon'
- 05/10/2023 - interviewed on 702 ABC Sydney 'Mornings with Sarah Macdonald' to talk about geeky science films
- 15/08/2023 - The Conversation article republished on ScreenHub: The creativity of William Friedkin: from arthouse to Oscars
- 11/08/2023 - interviewed on radio ABC Radio Perthabout films currently showing in cinemas
- 09/08/2023 - article from The Conversation republished in Australian Arts Review: The incredible creativity of William Friedkin: Oscars, box-office hits - and arthouse, experimental genre cinema
- 22/07/2023 - interviewed in the Weekend Australian: Movie buffs in the pink at Barbenheimer boom
- 14/07/2023 - interviewed on ABC Radio Perth: How will the Hollywood actor's strike affect your favourite TV show
- 06/07/2023 - interviewed on ABC Newcastle: about the Barbie movie
- 01/07/2023 - quoted in The Age: Why Cruise could be film’s last action hero
- 30/06/2023 - interviewed on ABC Illawarra about the new Indiana Jones movie
- 15/06/2023 - interviewed on ABC Online: What are the best film soundtracks?
- 11/05/2023 - interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney about the Marvel film franchise
- 29/04/2023 - interviewed in The Saturday Age, Melbourne: Mother knows best: Working through horror films’ mummy issues
- 29/04/2023 - interviewed in 2GB about Jerry Springer
- 20/04/2023 - interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney: What is your favourite music film or documentary?
- 06/04/2023 - interviewed on ABC Radio National: Dystopia, satire, gladiators and gardeners: new fiction from Eleanor Catton and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- 01/04/2023 - interviewed on ABC Nightlife: Warner Bros: How four brothers changed global culture
- 05/03/2023 - interviewed in 9News.com.au: Diamonds may be forever, but some novels now finding themselves subject to change
- 20/02/2023 - interviewed in The Australian: No sex scenes please, we’re Gen Z and we’re prudish
- 02/02/2023 - interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney about changing perspectives in popular culture
- 19/01/2023 - interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney: How far will actors go to commit to a character?
- 19/01/2023 - interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney about screen culture for 2023
- 11/10/2022 - interviewed on ABC radio Sydney about the death of actor Angela Lansbury
- 30/09/2022 - interviewed in The Oz: Bruce Willis' next film may not actually star Bruce Willis
- 26/09/2022 - interviewed in The Oz: Who needs critical acclaim when you've got cash
- 16/09/2022 - interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney about the psychological complexity of Marilyn Monroe
- 21/07/2022 - interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney about the Hollywood career of Australian actor Toni Collette
- 08/07/2022 - interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney about film in the 1970s
- 27/06/2022 - quoted in The OZ: Should skinny actors play fat roles?
- 19/06/2022 - quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald: Mind the gap: Calling out movies pairing men with much younger women
- 03/05/2022 - guest on 2SER Breakfast: May the 4th be with you
- Bruce Isaacs reqularly posted articles on 'The Great Movie Scenes' and now on 'Close-up' See all of his articles here.
- 'Couch culture - six months’ worth of expert picks for what to watch, read and listen to in isolation' 19/03/2020
- 'Pass the popcorn - Scorsese cinema boycott will shape the future of movies' 08/11/2019
- 'The Sydney Symphony Orchestra brings The Godfather to life' 02/02/2015
Eastside Radio: 89.7 FM
Guest Presenter:
- “The Hollywood Musical” May 3, 2015
- “The Music of James Bond” April 3, 2015
- “The Music and Cinema of David Lynch” March 1, 2015
- “The Film Soundtrack” February 1, 2015
- Sydney University Researcher Talks Series
- "Future Cinema: Technology and Images" July 9, 2014
