"When Steven Soderbergh exploded onto the movie screen with sex, lies, and videotape in 1989, it represented more than the arrival of an important new director - it represented the arrival of an entire generation of important new directors. Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Kevin Smith (Dogma), David Fincher (Fight Club), M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense), Ben Stiller (Reality Bites), Michael Bay (Pearl Harbor), and dozens of others are all Generation Xers, the much talked about but much misunderstood successors to baby boomers.". "This book is a critical study of the films directed by Generation Xers and how those directors have been influenced by their generational identity. Topics include the influence of popular culture, postmodern narrative devices, "slackerdom" and the lack of direction, disenfranchisement and nihilism, the ever-evolving role of technology, gender issues and sexuality, the question of race, international peers, the influence of older filmmakers, and visions for the future."--BOOK JACKET.