This course will survey the major themes and key film directors in American cinema since the 80's and up until the present. This period will be assessed as a dynamic that incorporates two apposing tendencies: A centripetal force of a centralized ideological position in regards to the major sociological and political processes (The end of the cold war, the end of the millennium, 11.9, the wars in the middle-east). On the other hand a centrifugal force that consists of artists that posses a personal vision and aspire to create alternatives to Hollywood's commercial system.