Book Description
The 1990s saw a shock wave of dynamic new directing talent that took the Hollywood studio system by storm. At the forefront of that movement were six innovative and daring directors whose films pushed the boundaries of moviemaking and announced to the world that something exciting was happening in Hollywood. Sharon Waxman of the New York Times spent the decade covering these young filmmakers, and in Rebels on the Backlot she weaves together the lives and careers of Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction; Steven Soderbergh, Traffic; David Fincher, Fight Club; Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights; David O. Russell, Three Kings; and Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich.
Customer Reviews:
Rebels With A Cause... (4.5 stars).......2007-06-27
Ahhh the 90's...Going to the movies became a whole other experience. Just as directors of the 70's and 80's left their mark as groundbreaking filmmakers with new and innovative techniques, so these rebels of the 90's gave us new experiences on the big screen to awe us to delight. Although there were many that could be talked about for decades to come, "Rebels On The Backlot" by Sharon Waxman tells us the story of six of the most rebellious of the bunch. Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, David O. Russell, David Fincher, and Spike Jonze. What a group!
The subtitle of this book, 'Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered Hollywood Studio System' is the focus of this book, and the story is not always pretty. Waxman goes into some depth into the making of such films as "Boogie Nights", "Pulp Fiction", "Traffic", "Three Kings", "Fight Club", and "Being John Malkovich" among some others by these now famous, but once struggling filmmakers. They were not always likable lads, often more like spoiled and thoughtless prima donnas alienating many around them, but one thing is for sure, they were geniuses with great visions, visions they wanted done their own way not chopped and edited or rewritten by those who thought they knew better. The big studios often scoffed at their ideas, saying audiences just couldn't handle the films these artists envisioned, the independents caught on but couldn't always afford the high price it would take to create their masterpieces. So these six were often left to deal with the big studios, which was often like a war.
Waxman begins at the beginning. Each director's life from childhood and the effects it had on their filmmaking is delved into. Their early beginnings in the industry,trying to get a script noticed, attending the film festivals, the fights on and off the set(Russsell and George Clooney actually duked it out on the set of Three Kings),the frustration of not being understood,the long road to seeing their visions completed(often asking for things in their contracts that the biggest of the big didn't even get, like final cut), their rise to fame and reactions from both the critics and the filmgoers. She leaves no stone unturned, often revealing some very personal information, all very well researched and with the cooperation of the directors themselves, and including lots of great quotes as well.
It's a well written, extremely detailed, and enthralling read for fans. Told in chronological order so that each chapter records the progress of each film. Also included is a picture section, a P.S. section with insights, interviews and even letters written to Russell by George Clooney, and a nice time line. Although there were a couple of times where I felt the Author injected her own very opinionated points - and not always agreeing, it kind of put me off at first - I still found this book to be a fascinating page-turner and a must read for fans and aspiring filmmakers alike. One that gives a truly up close, behind the scenes, and very personal look at some of our favorites that moved filmmaking into the 21st century.
4.5 stars for making me want to view these films all over again(and again)...enjoy the read...Laurie
Inexcuseable, too many errors.......2007-04-03
I am currently reading this book and came on here because I spotted several errors in the text and wanted to see if anyone else had noticed this. I totally agree with a previous review that says the numerous errors will make you question everything. It is an interesting read, but it is just unforgiveable that even obvious things like plot points in films, casting, etc. are wrong. I noticed a few and let them go, thinking that I must be the one that was wrong. As it went on I thought wait a minute and started checking things out only to find that, in fact, they were wrong! Bad enough that the writer is irresponsible, but wasn't there a fact checker around?! As the other poster stated, when facts that are obvious and easily checked are wrong, it kind of ruins the readers experience and does have you wonder what else might be false. Inexcuseable.
Rebels On The Backlot.......2007-03-16
While, by my definition, the directors here can hardly be considered rebellious, in Hollywood terms they certainly are. All fought the Hollywood machine. A machine that retreats from creativity, controversy and originality, always seeking the middle ground and, ultimately (all they really care about), profit. I was by no means an admirer of all the films here, but so fascinating are the accounts of their journey from idea to screen that I watched the films again in order to view them in a new light. This is an exhaustively researched and entertaining book. It's also full of juicy anecdotes and gossip (probably scurrilous). I think anyone interested in films and their tortuous journey to the cinema will enjoy it.
The errors you spot will make you question everything else........2007-02-08
Like several of the other reviewers I initially enjoyed the book and felt comfortable that the stories were coming from a credible reliable source. Unfortunately the further I got into the book the more errors and implausible scenrios that came up the more I felt like I might be reading something that was 50% fiction. What a shame - once the book lost its credability I quickly lost interest and skim read a lot of pages. If I want to read made up stories about directors I'll just do it myself. As a New Zealander the worst offense for me was when she said that Peter Jackson is an AUSTRALIAN! Thats about the same as me saying that Speilberg is Canadian - hey, the countries are right next to each other so who cares. The book then stated that somebody landed at Auckland airport and promptly hired a car to drive 800 miles to Wellington to talk to Peter Jackson...thats very dramatic but very odd - most people would have walked the 5 minutes to the domestic terminal and flown to Wellington which takes about an hour.
This book rates about the same as an E-Hollywood true story which is all the more shameful if the author really did do as much research as she claims.
If you write a bio, why ignore the wife? An example of bad journalism.......2006-09-03
If you take the time to write a biography of a person, isn't it part of one's research to interview their wife? Donya Fiorentino was married to or lived with David Fincher for 5 years and gave him a daughter. When they met, he was directing Pepsi commercials, and when they split up, he was an auteur. For some reason, Sharon Waxman made no effort to interview or contact Donya, and dismisses her in two sentences as an alcoholic and drug addict. In fact, Donya has been sober for 6 years, is a brilliant and creative photographer who has an edgy side to the Fincher story that has never been told. I know the truth; as Donya's physician I have heard her compelling story. Waxman also does not mention that after their divorce, she married Gary Oldman. This was written with my patient's permission, who was very hurt by this book's publication.
Book Description
The 17 large works in this volume present a varied cross section of the sonata literature from the baroque to the present. Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Handel, and Beethoven are well represented, as are many others. Each piece is in its original form.
Product Description
As Internet poker exploded, thousands of players turned to Internet Texas Hold'em to help them become winning players. Today, Internet Texas Hold'em is now the most successfull book ever on Internet poker. Internet Texas Hold'em is an excellent tool for beginning to intermediate players to be successful at limit Texas Hold'em with specific topics focused on Internet play. The book's reputation has superceded its title as many players now recommend it for live play also. A comprehensive overview of Texas Hold'em is presented including general poker concepts such as probability and odds, bluffing, raising and check-raising. Various deceptive tactics are also discussed such as free cards, slowplaying, and inducing bluffs and calls. You'll learn the correct strategies for starting hand play as well as playing on the flop, turn, and river. You'll learn the intricacies of playing on the Internet and the differences in strategies between Internet and live play. Finally, you'll be able to practice all of these strategies on over 200 actual Internet hands. Poker is a fun game, but it is even more fun when you win. This is a book for players who want to improve their game to win more money. If you only play a few hours a week or strive to take your game to an advanced level, this book should serve as a reference for many years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Solid Book - Great Starting Hand Chart.......2007-04-07
I try to pick up something new from each poker book I read. As I am a new student to the game, I have found the starting hand chart found in this book to be extremely helpful. The chart lays out what hands you should play from what positions, and under what conditions (unraised/raised pot).
But beyond this chart I have to agree with Bartman_9 in that internet poker is pretty much live poker without tells. There were a few pages of specific internet related material and internet tips here and there but not much at all. If you want to play serious online poker and you are somewhat of a beginner, then this book would be a good cold call, however don't expect it to impart an online silver bullet. You can't go wrong with this book, 3 stars.
Excellent book- NOT a beginners book........2006-12-08
For those claiming that this is a beginners book, I say you must be quite confused about what constitutes "beginners" material when it comes to the discussion of Limit hold 'em. Also, for those who claimed the book is "boring," why do you buy poker books? To be entertained? NO! You buy them to learn how to win at poker. They are instructional manuals, not bedtime Wilbur Smith novels!
One of the questions that needs to be asked when considering whether a poker book is merely average or exceptional is; "Could I read this book and nothing more and become an excellent, winning poker player?" In this case the answer is a resounding "YES!" Lets just be clear, Hilger is very successful middle to high limit player and this book provides the knowledge to play anywhere from low to middle and high limit games. Almost all of the hand examples in the book are taken from actual hands played at 20/40 or 30/60 games! I personally would go so far as to say that this is a better book for even the middle limit player than either "Hold 'em for advanced players" or "Middle limit hold 'em" which are considered by many to be the two best books for the mid to high limit hold 'em player. (It is my humble opinion that both those books are somewhat overrated. Of course I'm only a low limit player so what do I know? :)) Some might say that is blasphemy but I've read all of them and that's my opinion.
Hilger does a fantastic job explaining the conceptual ideas behind each topic in very basic language, he then provides several very clear hand examples to illustrate the concepts at work coupled with very solid reasoning explaining the logic and thought processes behind each play. Finally, he provides a comprehensive summary at the end of each chapter that really sums up the meat of that chapter. He covers everything one needs to know to play a winning game of hold 'em and does it in simple language that is easy to understand.
This is a great book and is almost as good as what I consider the best book on Limit hold 'em- "Small stakes Hold 'em" by Ed Miller and co. As in the case of SSHE, the only thing missing from this book is a chapter on shorthanded play but hey, you can't have everything right?
Five stars and easily one of the top 5 books on limit hold 'em on the market today.
For Absolute Beginners.......2006-09-24
The boom in online poker has brought with it an equal boom in how-to handbooks for internet players. The problem is that they're all pretty useless, for the very simple reason that:
Internet poker = real life poker - tells.
Save for some marginally informative behavior like speed-of-play (and you don't have to be a poker genius to figure those out yourself), decisions in online poker are never based on tells, which actually reduces the complexity of the game and makes internet poker an excellent tool to learn the game: it's one less thing you have to worry about.
Therefore, you really don't need a handbook on internet poker, any good Hold'em strategy guide (like Sklansky's Hold'em Poker and Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players) will teach you all that you need to know.
That said, Matthew Hilger's book is a good guide for beginning players and offers some handy charts on starting hands and probabilities.
If you're just starting out and you've never read a book on Texas Hold'em, you might as well begin with this one, but if you've already studied the game, you'll find nothing new here.
Boring.......2006-07-12
The book contians standard information, is written somewhat blandly, and doesn't reveal anything the myriad other poker books have already covered.
I do like the cover though.
I went to the bookstore specifically for this book, but was rather dissapointed when I looked through it. So, take my review with a grain of salt, b/c I only spent approximately 20 minutes reading through the various chapters.
good book, even better starting chart.......2005-09-30
Teaches the ins and outs of poker and will help any beginer improve his game. The flop chart is the best asset,follow it and it will help eliminate alot of beginer mistakes. not for advanced readers, but if you are an advanced player Middle limit poker by ciaffane is the best book out i feel for the advanced. This book and the ciafane book are the only two poker books you need if you are beginer or play poker at all. Has turned around my bottom line dramatically
Average customer rating:
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Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge: American Patron of Music
Cyrilla Barr
Manufacturer: Schirmer
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ASIN: 0028648889 |
Amazon.com
Today the National Endowment for the Arts supports musicians. In the past they turned to Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1864-1953), who inherited a fortune in 1916 and devoted the rest of her life to philanthropy. Through the works she commissioned, personally or via the Coolidge Foundation, and through her aid to musicians who fled to the United States from Hitler's Europe, she had a profound and positive influence on the history of American music. A gifted pianist and promising composer, she was barred from a musical career by the conventions of her social class. Still, Coolidge poured her wealth and energy into supporting chamber music compositions, performances, and the construction of an ideal place for music to be heard: the acoustically superb auditorium in the Library of Congress that bears her name. Her life was often difficult: she lost her husband, father, and mother in quick succession beginning in 1915 and suffered the ironic torture of deafness in later years. But she had the strength and vision necessary for great accomplishments. This monumental biography, written by the head of the Department of Musicology at the Catholic University of America, has scholarly depth and solidity (there are 14 pages of footnotes, 12 of bibliography), but it draws on letters and diaries for a healthy dose of human interest. --Joe McLellan
Book Description
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge supported the work of this century's greatest composers, including Copland, Milhaud, Schoenberg, and Stravinsky. While some music aficionados may recognize her name and her more public works as a patron of the arts, previously undisclosed insights about her private life will come as a revelation to all.
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Recovering a Public Vision for Public Television (Critical Media Studies)
Glenda R. Balas
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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ASIN: 074252387X |
Book Description
The book's six-point plan proposes a reconstitution and rejuvenation of public broadcasting's mission so it can advance into the twenty-first century as a leader in public speech. Visit our website for sample chapters!
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Selling Radio: The Commercialization of American Broadcasting 1920-1934
Susan Smulyan
Manufacturer: Smithsonian Inst Pr
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ASIN: 1560983124 |
Customer Reviews:
Wrong Audience!.......2004-05-05
Looking for a fun read that will give you a quick introduction into the chaotic early days of radio with lots of examples of early attempts at getting commercials right, as I was when I ordered this book? Then this is definitely NOT the book for you. Want an academic read loaded with footnotes about the philosophy of the commercialization of radio and its consequences, which I didn't? Maybe this is for you. That's because this book is aimed at the wrong market. The catchy title and front cover design imply the book is for readers like me. The text is definitely meant to be read by scholars already familiar with the period and topic. I had expected to be entertained with the story of the origins of such programs as "Amos 'n' Andy". Instead I got mentions of it on four pages and only one paragraph that deals with it in any way.
Still, she did get me interested in the problem of how do you finance broadcasts that are necessary for the early radio manufacturers to continue selling their receivers when the listeners can listen for free (hence the two stars, not one). But although she goes into a long discussion about the advantages of 'indirect' advertising as apposed to 'direct' advertising, she doesn't give a single example of either, but merely gives references to academic books I'll never read! If this book had been properly packaged as the academic thesis that it is, I wouldn't have bought it. But maybe a lot of scholars in the field who didn't, would have.
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Television and Sponsorship
Bianca Ford , and
James Ford
Manufacturer: Butterworth-Heinemann
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0240513568 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Columbia Journalism Review, published by Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism on November 1, 2000. The length of the article is 894 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Brought to You By ... SPONSOR INTERFERENCE.(Brief Article)
Author: Marion Just
Publication:
Columbia Journalism Review (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2000
Publisher: Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism
Volume: 39
Issue: 4
Page: 93
Article Type: Brief Article
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Non-profit Times, published by NPT Publishing Group, Inc. on November 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1663 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: PBS stations cut staffs, budgets are off millions: fundraising, sponsorships both decline.(public broadcasting)
Author: Clint Carpenter
Publication:
The Non-profit Times (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2002
Publisher: NPT Publishing Group, Inc.
Volume: 16
Issue: 21
Page: 1(3)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, published by The National Underwriter Company on October 25, 1999. The length of the article is 334 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Worldwide Woolly.(sponsorship of Discovery Channel program)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Author: Jim Cooper
Publication:
National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 25, 1999
Publisher: The National Underwriter Company
Volume: 9
Issue: 40
Page: 6
Article Type: Brief Article, Statistical Data Included
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