Screening nostalgia : populuxe props and technicolor aesthetics in contemporary American film Introduction Setting the stage: the history of nostalgia The fifties: nostalgias privileged object and the origins of its dominant American strain The nostalgia film in practice and theory Sin city: reading the tails of a populuxe prop Far from heaven: creative agency social history and the expressive potential of costume The aviator: deliberate archaism technicolor aesthetics and style as substance Conclusion: The good German and the good of nostalgia