In this passionate love-hate letter to the film industry, Peter Bart pulls together his best columns from Variety and GQ, outlining in detail the history and inner workings of Hollywood. In story after story, Bart shows how the major studios have diverted their energies away from production of the shrewdly crafted pictures that once made the industry powerful. There isn't much range or innovation in the movies today, only a handful of salable subjects: natural disasters, aliens, dinosaurs, ghosts, monsters, or any combination thereof. All are subjects easily parlayed into theme-park environments, action figures, video games, and clothing lines. Even the once edgy independent producers like Miramax and New Line have been acquired by conglomerates. Who and what will resurrect Hollywood? Peter Bart has the answers.
"Tongue lashings the likes of which have never been heard before will make listeners laugh with glee.... Great fun and highly recommended."-Library Journal
When movies cost hundreds of millions to make and market, the magnitude of the wagers is astonishing. Vast riches rain down on those who gamble wisely, and careers are made and lost in one weekend. But never is this box-office race more feverish than during the summer blockbuster season, when the studios roll out their most expensive, effects-laden pictures in a feverish race to win the box-office derby.
Peter Bart, editor-in-chief of Variety, brings us a marvelously entertaining behind-the-scenes portrait of moviemaking, spotlighting the summer of 1998. He takes us through the entire cycle of would-be summer blockbusters, from script through casting and production and finally into release. Interviewing dozens of the most powerful names in Hollywood, Bart gives an in-depth account of why some succeeded and others failed.
"Bart's insider status ensures that we get the lowdown....[This book] has a far more compelling story line than any of the summer films he dissects, and the characters are far better developed."-Detroit Free Press
