Interesting - but flawed, 22 Nov 2008
This is a very interesting book, but rather flawed.

From the book front cover you may believe it is Richard Attenborough's life story, but look closely at the bottom of the front cover, and in small writing it says "and Diana Hawkins"

From that I assumed she had ghost written the book, as often happens with these life stories of the famous. But in fact it is both their life stories running side by side.

Diana Hawkins worked with Richard as publicity manager on many of his films such as Ghandi, Chorus Line and so on, so they shared many areas of their life.

I believe the book is flawed for two reasons:

Firstly, the text alternates between Richard and Diana. Text for Richard begins "RA" and he writes for a page or two, then we get "DH" and Diana writes for a page or two.

This itself is a bit disconcerting, just as you are getting used to what Richard is saying we switch to Diana, then back again.

This is not too bad when they are discussing the same topic, such as the making of Ghandi, or the publicity tour for Chorus Line, but can become annoying when they are discussing different phases of their lives.

The second "flaw" is that the book follow no logical sequence.

It starts with a detailed look at how Ghandi was made, but then Richard starts talking about his early life, and Diana starts talking about her early life (at which point one asks "do I care").

We then go back to Ghandi, then we get Richard talking about his life in the war and his early career, and Diana talking about her marital problems, then we go on to Chorus line, and so it goes on.

So it is bad enough we are jumping back and forth between Richard talking, then Diana talking, but we are also jumping back and forth between the background to making a particular film, and then some aspect of their personal lives.

At times I almost feel as though Richard wrote his sections in two page chunks, and Diana wrote her sections in two page chunks, then they threw all the pages up in the air and put them together in random order.

There is a good book in here waiting to get out (maybe two), and the behind the scenes stories about the making of his most famous films is fascinating, but I am afraid trying to tell two life stories side by side in same book just does not work for me.

A book by Richard and Diana JUST about making the films would have been good, or a book JUST about Richard's life would have been good, but a book combining everything is too much.

Having said all that, Richard comes across as an wonderful person (as do his parents and family) and it certainly made me feel very guilty when I saw how much work Richard and his family have done to ease the suffering in the world.

Sum up: Amazing man, flawed book.

No Surprise!, 30 Sep 2008
Entirely Up to You, Darling

Another amazing book for the great man .... a must for Christmas. Actually, buy one for yourself and one for somoene else!

Interesting - but flawed, 22 Nov 2008
This is a very interesting book, but rather flawed.

From the book front cover you may believe it is Richard Attenborough's life story, but look closely at the bottom of the front cover, and in small writing it says "and Diana Hawkins"

From that I assumed she had ghost written the book, as often happens with these life stories of the famous. But in fact it is both their life stories running side by side.

Diana Hawkins worked with Richard as publicity manager on many of his films such as Ghandi, Chorus Line and so on, so they shared many areas of their life.

I believe the book is flawed for two reasons:

Firstly, the text alternates between Richard and Diana. Text for Richard begins "RA" and he writes for a page or two, then we get "DH" and Diana writes for a page or two.

This itself is a bit disconcerting, just as you are getting used to what Richard is saying we switch to Diana, then back again.

This is not too bad when they are discussing the same topic, such as the making of Ghandi, or the publicity tour for Chorus Line, but can become annoying when they are discussing different phases of their lives.

The second "flaw" is that the book follow no logical sequence.

It starts with a detailed look at how Ghandi was made, but then Richard starts talking about his early life, and Diana starts talking about her early life (at which point one asks "do I care").

We then go back to Ghandi, then we get Richard talking about his life in the war and his early career, and Diana talking about her marital problems, then we go on to Chorus line, and so it goes on.

So it is bad enough we are jumping back and forth between Richard talking, then Diana talking, but we are also jumping back and forth between the background to making a particular film, and then some aspect of their personal lives.

At times I almost feel as though Richard wrote his sections in two page chunks, and Diana wrote her sections in two page chunks, then they threw all the pages up in the air and put them together in random order.

There is a good book in here waiting to get out (maybe two), and the behind the scenes stories about the making of his most famous films is fascinating, but I am afraid trying to tell two life stories side by side in same book just does not work for me.

A book by Richard and Diana JUST about making the films would have been good, or a book JUST about Richard's life would have been good, but a book combining everything is too much.

Having said all that, Richard comes across as an wonderful person (as do his parents and family) and it certainly made me feel very guilty when I saw how much work Richard and his family have done to ease the suffering in the world.

Sum up: Amazing man, flawed book.

No Surprise!, 30 Sep 2008
Entirely Up to You, Darling

Another amazing book for the great man .... a must for Christmas. Actually, buy one for yourself and one for somoene else!

another good book from Matthew Field, 16 Oct 2008
This book was written with the help of Matthew Field who was also responsible for writing The making of the Italian Job.It was while researching for that book that the seeds for this book were planted.This book is a very well written biography from Michael Deeley and Matthew Field.It details the many problems that a producer can face trying to get projects he believes in up onto the screen.

the man behind the curtain, 07 Oct 2008
I thought i was a Blade Runner fan. After reading this book I have realized how little I knew about this great movie. How hard it was to make and yet how incredible it is.
It's interesting to see how money influence creative and possibly undermine it.
It makes me wonder how many good movies were never made because the people with the money didn't want to pay for it?
And yet, people like Michael Deeley are those that make film happen against all odds, are those that put together the ideas, the people, the money and make things work day by day. This is another great discovery of this book, I never realized how much a producer means for a film. Had Michael Deeley not been so dedicated to the project of The deer hunter, we would have never seen this movie (to me, a minor loss really, however it was a great movie too).
I have enjoyed this book a let, and i have read it cover to cover in a couple of day because it has a good pace, it's interesting. Totally recommended especially for film buffs.

Interesting - but flawed, 22 Nov 2008
This is a very interesting book, but rather flawed.

From the book front cover you may believe it is Richard Attenborough's life story, but look closely at the bottom of the front cover, and in small writing it says "and Diana Hawkins"

From that I assumed she had ghost written the book, as often happens with these life stories of the famous. But in fact it is both their life stories running side by side.

Diana Hawkins worked with Richard as publicity manager on many of his films such as Ghandi, Chorus Line and so on, so they shared many areas of their life.

I believe the book is flawed for two reasons:

Firstly, the text alternates between Richard and Diana. Text for Richard begins "RA" and he writes for a page or two, then we get "DH" and Diana writes for a page or two.

This itself is a bit disconcerting, just as you are getting used to what Richard is saying we switch to Diana, then back again.

This is not too bad when they are discussing the same topic, such as the making of Ghandi, or the publicity tour for Chorus Line, but can become annoying when they are discussing different phases of their lives.

The second "flaw" is that the book follow no logical sequence.

It starts with a detailed look at how Ghandi was made, but then Richard starts talking about his early life, and Diana starts talking about her early life (at which point one asks "do I care").

We then go back to Ghandi, then we get Richard talking about his life in the war and his early career, and Diana talking about her marital problems, then we go on to Chorus line, and so it goes on.

So it is bad enough we are jumping back and forth between Richard talking, then Diana talking, but we are also jumping back and forth between the background to making a particular film, and then some aspect of their personal lives.

At times I almost feel as though Richard wrote his sections in two page chunks, and Diana wrote her sections in two page chunks, then they threw all the pages up in the air and put them together in random order.

There is a good book in here waiting to get out (maybe two), and the behind the scenes stories about the making of his most famous films is fascinating, but I am afraid trying to tell two life stories side by side in same book just does not work for me.

A book by Richard and Diana JUST about making the films would have been good, or a book JUST about Richard's life would have been good, but a book combining everything is too much.

Having said all that, Richard comes across as an wonderful person (as do his parents and family) and it certainly made me feel very guilty when I saw how much work Richard and his family have done to ease the suffering in the world.

Sum up: Amazing man, flawed book.

No Surprise!, 30 Sep 2008
Entirely Up to You, Darling

Another amazing book for the great man .... a must for Christmas. Actually, buy one for yourself and one for somoene else!

another good book from Matthew Field, 16 Oct 2008
This book was written with the help of Matthew Field who was also responsible for writing The making of the Italian Job.It was while researching for that book that the seeds for this book were planted.This book is a very well written biography from Michael Deeley and Matthew Field.It details the many problems that a producer can face trying to get projects he believes in up onto the screen.

the man behind the curtain, 07 Oct 2008
I thought i was a Blade Runner fan. After reading this book I have realized how little I knew about this great movie. How hard it was to make and yet how incredible it is.
It's interesting to see how money influence creative and possibly undermine it.
It makes me wonder how many good movies were never made because the people with the money didn't want to pay for it?
And yet, people like Michael Deeley are those that make film happen against all odds, are those that put together the ideas, the people, the money and make things work day by day. This is another great discovery of this book, I never realized how much a producer means for a film. Had Michael Deeley not been so dedicated to the project of The deer hunter, we would have never seen this movie (to me, a minor loss really, however it was a great movie too).
I have enjoyed this book a let, and i have read it cover to cover in a couple of day because it has a good pace, it's interesting. Totally recommended especially for film buffs.

The Archive, 03 Nov 2008
A lavish and fascinating treasure-trove of information on one of world cinema's most important auteurs. The archive intimates the extent of his work and is a marvelous source of factual and critical information. I'd like to see the Luis Bunuel archives next.

Dark Windows or the Death of Godard

Interesting - but flawed, 22 Nov 2008
This is a very interesting book, but rather flawed.

From the book front cover you may believe it is Richard Attenborough's life story, but look closely at the bottom of the front cover, and in small writing it says "and Diana Hawkins"

From that I assumed she had ghost written the book, as often happens with these life stories of the famous. But in fact it is both their life stories running side by side.

Diana Hawkins worked with Richard as publicity manager on many of his films such as Ghandi, Chorus Line and so on, so they shared many areas of their life.

I believe the book is flawed for two reasons:

Firstly, the text alternates between Richard and Diana. Text for Richard begins "RA" and he writes for a page or two, then we get "DH" and Diana writes for a page or two.

This itself is a bit disconcerting, just as you are getting used to what Richard is saying we switch to Diana, then back again.

This is not too bad when they are discussing the same topic, such as the making of Ghandi, or the publicity tour for Chorus Line, but can become annoying when they are discussing different phases of their lives.

The second "flaw" is that the book follow no logical sequence.

It starts with a detailed look at how Ghandi was made, but then Richard starts talking about his early life, and Diana starts talking about her early life (at which point one asks "do I care").

We then go back to Ghandi, then we get Richard talking about his life in the war and his early career, and Diana talking about her marital problems, then we go on to Chorus line, and so it goes on.

So it is bad enough we are jumping back and forth between Richard talking, then Diana talking, but we are also jumping back and forth between the background to making a particular film, and then some aspect of their personal lives.

At times I almost feel as though Richard wrote his sections in two page chunks, and Diana wrote her sections in two page chunks, then they threw all the pages up in the air and put them together in random order.

There is a good book in here waiting to get out (maybe two), and the behind the scenes stories about the making of his most famous films is fascinating, but I am afraid trying to tell two life stories side by side in same book just does not work for me.

A book by Richard and Diana JUST about making the films would have been good, or a book JUST about Richard's life would have been good, but a book combining everything is too much.

Having said all that, Richard comes across as an wonderful person (as do his parents and family) and it certainly made me feel very guilty when I saw how much work Richard and his family have done to ease the suffering in the world.

Sum up: Amazing man, flawed book.

No Surprise!, 30 Sep 2008
Entirely Up to You, Darling

Another amazing book for the great man .... a must for Christmas. Actually, buy one for yourself and one for somoene else!

another good book from Matthew Field, 16 Oct 2008
This book was written with the help of Matthew Field who was also responsible for writing The making of the Italian Job.It was while researching for that book that the seeds for this book were planted.This book is a very well written biography from Michael Deeley and Matthew Field.It details the many problems that a producer can face trying to get projects he believes in up onto the screen.

the man behind the curtain, 07 Oct 2008
I thought i was a Blade Runner fan. After reading this book I have realized how little I knew about this great movie. How hard it was to make and yet how incredible it is.
It's interesting to see how money influence creative and possibly undermine it.
It makes me wonder how many good movies were never made because the people with the money didn't want to pay for it?
And yet, people like Michael Deeley are those that make film happen against all odds, are those that put together the ideas, the people, the money and make things work day by day. This is another great discovery of this book, I never realized how much a producer means for a film. Had Michael Deeley not been so dedicated to the project of The deer hunter, we would have never seen this movie (to me, a minor loss really, however it was a great movie too).
I have enjoyed this book a let, and i have read it cover to cover in a couple of day because it has a good pace, it's interesting. Totally recommended especially for film buffs.

The Archive, 03 Nov 2008
A lavish and fascinating treasure-trove of information on one of world cinema's most important auteurs. The archive intimates the extent of his work and is a marvelous source of factual and critical information. I'd like to see the Luis Bunuel archives next.

Dark Windows or the Death of Godard

Candid indeed!, 19 Aug 2008
First up, I'm a fan so take these comments with this in mind.

This is a great train book. You can dip in and out like any diary book and you will find something great every time. This said, it is Kevin's "boring ass life" and sometimes he just gets up, lets the dogs out, takes a poop and falls asleep to TIVO'd Simpsons. You'll understand this when you read it.

There are some cracking stories, which, if history is anything to go by, will, in some form or another find there way into one or more of his movies in the coming years. That is if he can stay off the processed sugar foods long enough so he doesn't die before the decade is out. This guy's diet is scary!

There is a very touching story about the death of his father, and the list of "What I learned from my father" will bring a lump to your throat and should form the basis for every eulogy written from here on in. Look for the excellent story of "me and my shadow" which should make it into a film , the Die Hard 4.0 (Live free or die hard) filming/writing story which is laugh out loud funny and the Catch and release story which is also pretty good.

There are plenty of good "inside the film industry" insights that made me shake my head in despair and wonder how any films get made, ever. Interspersed with all this gold is the hum-drum day to day stuff that we all have to do and suffer from.

Critcs schmitics!

This only thing that has ever bugged me about Kevin Smith is his need to publicly fight with those critics in the business that have no time for him or his movies. He recognises this "failing" in himself as overcompensation and there are some good examples of this in the book. On reading them I just thought "Sir, let it go".

These events are an excellent insight into the movie business, the complete uselessness of critics in all walks of life, and Kevin himself. The group of stories scattered through out the book provide the evidence for the simple truth that film critics know nothing about the movie business. As for the man himself his retorts, whilst unnecessary, are at least witty and done with some flair and style and any spite is quickly neutralised by his own self deprecating personality.

He's a pretty normal bloke.

The perfect Read!, 08 Jul 2008
I am a very big Kevin Smith fan and as such could not wait to read this book, I agree with other reviews which state that there are a lot of mundane activities and sometimes to start with this book could be boring to anybody who is not a big fan.
However, I am not a big reader in-fact apart from this book I have only ever finished one other book, this is not because I cannot read it is actually because no book ever keeps me interested long enough to finish them.
The perfect thing about this book for me is that because it is separated into days I know I can read a day at a time and not worry about getting lost or trying to find where I stopped last time. Because of this I have found this by far the easiest book I have ever read and towards the end hoped it would not finish.

The almost separate book inside this book entitled `me and my shadow'- the story of Jason Mewes addiction to Heroin, is brilliant its harrowing while at the same time bringing drug abuse to somebody who has never thankfully had to experience it before. I was so impressed by this section of the book I have passed it onto a friend who, also does not read allot however I have told him he has to read that chapter.

I would recommend this book to any Kevin Smith fan but also to anybody who has had dealings with drug addiction, because from outsiders' eyes it shows how much you have to love somebody to help them with their demons.
Brilliant!


Mesmerisingly dull, except for a brilliant bit in the middle, 17 Jan 2008
I like Kevin Smith a lot, so any comments I make here should be taken with that in mind. He's a good storyteller, he makes me laugh and he has a relationship with his audience that most writers can only look upon with sick envy. He also seems to be a reasonably straight-up and decent person, which is a miracle in a Hollywood director.

Having said that, I have no great appetite for reading about the lives of celebrities. 'My Boring-Ass Life' is nothing more than the print version of Smith's blog, which blog is basically a bare chronicle of his life. Since his life appears to consist mostly of letting out dogs, looking at the internet, having sex with his wife, watching TV, eating and driving around, it really is pretty boring-ass. There's not a lot here in the way of Bressonian reflections on the nature of cinema, or erudite, Paul-Schraderesque analysis of masterpieces of world cinema, or even anything as outright haunted and manic as Steven Soderbergh's very funny and absurdist 'Getting Away With It'. As books by directors go, this is easily the most boring I have ever read, or rather dipped into.

And yet. The middle of the book is taken up by 'Me and My Shadow', the story of how Smith's friend and (sort of) protégé Jason Mewes became a heroin addict, and how he ultimately kicked the habit, and it's riveting stuff. You wonder why it hasn't become a movie; but maybe Smith doesn't want to tell a story that cuts so close to the bone, despite the happy ending (Mewes has apparently been clean for a couple of years now.)

So, it's worth it for the Mewes bit. But otherwise, the only time I have found appropriate to read this book is at 6.50am when I'm feeding my infant daughter; half-asleep seems to be the right frame of my mind to absorb something so undemanding and forgettable as Kevin Smith's diary.

Not only is Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls the best book in recent memory on turn-of-the-70s film, it is beyond question the best book there'll ever be on the subject. Why? Because once the big names who spilled the beans to Biskind find out that other people spilled an equally piquant quantity of beans, nobody will dare speak to another writer with such candor, humour and venom again.

Biskind did 100s of interviews with people who make the President look accessible: Scorsese, Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, Geffen, Beatty, Kael, Towne, Altman. He also spoke with countless spurned spouses and burned partners, alleged victims of assault by knife, pistol and bodily fluids. Rather more responsible than some of his sources, Biskind always carefully notes the denials as well as the astounding stories he has compiled. He tells you about Scorsese running naked down Mulholland Drive after his girlfriend, crying, "Don't leave me!"; grave robbing on the set of Apocalypse Now; Faye Dunaway apparently flinging urine in Roman Polanski's face while filming Chinatown; Michael O'Donoghue's LSD-fueled swan dive onto a patio; Coppola's mad plan for a 10-hour film of Goethe's Elective Affinities in 3-D; the ocean suicide attempt Hal "Captain Wacky" Ashby gave up when he couldn't find a swimsuit that pleased him; countless dalliances with porn stars; Russian roulette games and psychotherapy sessions in hot tubs. But he also soberly gives both sides ample chance to testify.

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is also more than a fistful of dazzling anecdotes. Methodically, as thrillingly as a movie attorney, Biskind builds the case that Hollywood was revived by wild ones who then betrayed their own dreams, slit their own throats and destroyed an art form by producing that mindless, inhuman modern behemoth, the blockbuster.

When Spielberg was making the first true blockbuster, Jaws, he sneaked Lucas in one day when nobody was around, got him to put his head in the shark's mechanical mouth and closed the shark's mouth on him. The gizmo broke and got stuck but the two young men somehow extricated Lucas's head and hightailed it like Tom and Huck. As Peter Biskind's scathing, funny, wise book demonstrates, they only thought they had escaped. --Tim Appelo, Amazon.com

Interesting - but flawed, 22 Nov 2008
This is a very interesting book, but rather flawed.

From the book front cover you may believe it is Richard Attenborough's life story, but look closely at the bottom of the front cover, and in small writing it says "and Diana Hawkins"

From that I assumed she had ghost written the book, as often happens with these life stories of the famous. But in fact it is both their life stories running side by side.

Diana Hawkins worked with Richard as publicity manager on many of his films such as Ghandi, Chorus Line and so on, so they shared many areas of their life.

I believe the book is flawed for two reasons:

Firstly, the text alternates between Richard and Diana. Text for Richard begins "RA" and he writes for a page or two, then we get "DH" and Diana writes for a page or two.

This itself is a bit disconcerting, just as you are getting used to what Richard is saying we switch to Diana, then back again.

This is not too bad when they are discussing the same topic, such as the making of Ghandi, or the publicity tour for Chorus Line, but can become annoying when they are discussing different phases of their lives.

The second "flaw" is that the book follow no logical sequence.

It starts with a detailed look at how Ghandi was made, but then Richard starts talking about his early life, and Diana starts talking about her early life (at which point one asks "do I care").

We then go back to Ghandi, then we get Richard talking about his life in the war and his early career, and Diana talking about her marital problems, then we go on to Chorus line, and so it goes on.

So it is bad enough we are jumping back and forth between Richard talking, then Diana talking, but we are also jumping back and forth between the background to making a particular film, and then some aspect of their personal lives.

At times I almost feel as though Richard wrote his sections in two page chunks, and Diana wrote her sections in two page chunks, then they threw all the pages up in the air and put them together in random order.

There is a good book in here waiting to get out (maybe two), and the behind the scenes stories about the making of his most famous films is fascinating, but I am afraid trying to tell two life stories side by side in same book just does not work for me.

A book by Richard and Diana JUST about making the films would have been good, or a book JUST about Richard's life would have been good, but a book combining everything is too much.

Having said all that, Richard comes across as an wonderful person (as do his parents and family) and it certainly made me feel very guilty when I saw how much work Richard and his family have done to ease the suffering in the world.

Sum up: Amazing man, flawed book.

No Surprise!, 30 Sep 2008
Entirely Up to You, Darling

Another amazing book for the great man .... a must for Christmas. Actually, buy one for yourself and one for somoene else!

another good book from Matthew Field, 16 Oct 2008
This book was written with the help of Matthew Field who was also responsible for writing The making of the Italian Job.It was while researching for that book that the seeds for this book were planted.This book is a very well written biography from Michael Deeley and Matthew Field.It details the many problems that a producer can face trying to get projects he believes in up onto the screen.

the man behind the curtain, 07 Oct 2008
I thought i was a Blade Runner fan. After reading this book I have realized how little I knew about this great movie. How hard it was to make and yet how incredible it is.
It's interesting to see how money influence creative and possibly undermine it.
It makes me wonder how many good movies were never made because the people with the money didn't want to pay for it?
And yet, people like Michael Deeley are those that make film happen against all odds, are those that put together the ideas, the people, the money and make things work day by day. This is another great discovery of this book, I never realized how much a producer means for a film. Had Michael Deeley not been so dedicated to the project of The deer hunter, we would have never seen this movie (to me, a minor loss really, however it was a great movie too).
I have enjoyed this book a let, and i have read it cover to cover in a couple of day because it has a good pace, it's interesting. Totally recommended especially for film buffs.

The Archive, 03 Nov 2008
A lavish and fascinating treasure-trove of information on one of world cinema's most important auteurs. The archive intimates the extent of his work and is a marvelous source of factual and critical information. I'd like to see the Luis Bunuel archives next.

Dark Windows or the Death of Godard

Candid indeed!, 19 Aug 2008
First up, I'm a fan so take these comments with this in mind.

This is a great train book. You can dip in and out like any diary book and you will find something great every time. This said, it is Kevin's "boring ass life" and sometimes he just gets up, lets the dogs out, takes a poop and falls asleep to TIVO'd Simpsons. You'll understand this when you read it.

There are some cracking stories, which, if history is anything to go by, will, in some form or another find there way into one or more of his movies in the coming years. That is if he can stay off the processed sugar foods long enough so he doesn't die before the decade is out. This guy's diet is scary!

There is a very touching story about the death of his father, and the list of "What I learned from my father" will bring a lump to your throat and should form the basis for every eulogy written from here on in. Look for the excellent story of "me and my shadow" which should make it into a film , the Die Hard 4.0 (Live free or die hard) filming/writing story which is laugh out loud funny and the Catch and release story which is also pretty good.

There are plenty of good "inside the film industry" insights that made me shake my head in despair and wonder how any films get made, ever. Interspersed with all this gold is the hum-drum day to day stuff that we all have to do and suffer from.

Critcs schmitics!

This only thing that has ever bugged me about Kevin Smith is his need to publicly fight with those critics in the business that have no time for him or his movies. He recognises this "failing" in himself as overcompensation and there are some good examples of this in the book. On reading them I just thought "Sir, let it go".

These events are an excellent insight into the movie business, the complete uselessness of critics in all walks of life, and Kevin himself. The group of stories scattered through out the book provide the evidence for the simple truth that film critics know nothing about the movie business. As for the man himself his retorts, whilst unnecessary, are at least witty and done with some flair and style and any spite is quickly neutralised by his own self deprecating personality.

He's a pretty normal bloke.

The perfect Read!, 08 Jul 2008
I am a very big Kevin Smith fan and as such could not wait to read this book, I agree with other reviews which state that there are a lot of mundane activities and sometimes to start with this book could be boring to anybody who is not a big fan.
However, I am not a big reader in-fact apart from this book I have only ever finished one other book, this is not because I cannot read it is actually because no book ever keeps me interested long enough to finish them.
The perfect thing about this book for me is that because it is separated into days I know I can read a day at a time and not worry about getting lost or trying to find where I stopped last time. Because of this I have found this by far the easiest book I have ever read and towards the end hoped it would not finish.

The almost separate book inside this book entitled `me and my shadow'- the story of Jason Mewes addiction to Heroin, is brilliant its harrowing while at the same time bringing drug abuse to somebody who has never thankfully had to experience it before. I was so impressed by this section of the book I have passed it onto a friend who, also does not read allot however I have told him he has to read that chapter.

I would recommend this book to any Kevin Smith fan but also to anybody who has had dealings with drug addiction, because from outsiders' eyes it shows how much you have to love somebody to help them with their demons.
Brilliant!


Mesmerisingly dull, except for a brilliant bit in the middle, 17 Jan 2008
I like Kevin Smith a lot, so any comments I make here should be taken with that in mind. He's a good storyteller, he makes me laugh and he has a relationship with his audience that most writers can only look upon with sick envy. He also seems to be a reasonably straight-up and decent person, which is a miracle in a Hollywood director.

Having said that, I have no great appetite for reading about the lives of celebrities. 'My Boring-Ass Life' is nothing more than the print version of Smith's blog, which blog is basically a bare chronicle of his life. Since his life appears to consist mostly of letting out dogs, looking at the internet, having sex with his wife, watching TV, eating and driving around, it really is pretty boring-ass. There's not a lot here in the way of Bressonian reflections on the nature of cinema, or erudite, Paul-Schraderesque analysis of masterpieces of world cinema, or even anything as outright haunted and manic as Steven Soderbergh's very funny and absurdist 'Getting Away With It'. As books by directors go, this is easily the most boring I have ever read, or rather dipped into.

And yet. The middle of the book is taken up by 'Me and My Shadow', the story of how Smith's friend and (sort of) protégé Jason Mewes became a heroin addict, and how he ultimately kicked the habit, and it's riveting stuff. You wonder why it hasn't become a movie; but maybe Smith doesn't want to tell a story that cuts so close to the bone, despite the happy ending (Mewes has apparently been clean for a couple of years now.)

So, it's worth it for the Mewes bit. But otherwise, the only time I have found appropriate to read this book is at 6.50am when I'm feeding my infant daughter; half-asleep seems to be the right frame of my mind to absorb something so undemanding and forgettable as Kevin Smith's diary.



A book all film saviours should own, 03 Oct 2007
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls was a book i came across last year in my local branch of Waterstones amongst the small placid film selection, read some pages and put it back, not thinking on purchase. When i finally found the courage to go to my local Waterstones recently to see if they had one-it was the exact copy i had read the year before!

Although there is quite a lot i know from this period of New Hollywood like Hal Ashby's shift from editor to director, behaving like a hippie and subsquent career decline all within nine years; Hopper's drug use; Beatty bickering with Altman on the set of Mr and Mrs Cabe and Coppola's casting problems on The Godfather as well as trying to steer his own film company forward on and off-Zoetrope with eventual disasterous consquences among other things. I was actually surprised at how much information was familiar to me, but how much wasn't familiar with me for example, the controversy over the writing credits Easy Rider recieved how Southerton was really behind the backbone and left the project empty-handed; the creation of BBS including the career of Bert Schendier and Bob Raelfson plus Scorsese endangering his health as a reaction to the lack of respect for his work.

This is the book that goes in detail about the rivalry of both directors and producers eager to boost their pictures amongst themseleves, their friends and collagues, including the need to win Oscars to show the world what brillant filmakers they were and when a film bombed, they would sink. The desperation of fame was their goal and the obbession to make as many brillant films in a row for as long as possible trying to capture the imagination of the audience to relate with big hits at the Box Office, but didn't always work that way. Many even used their own experiences and personal viewpoints in life for their film scripts including George Lucas with American Graffiti; the political statements Steven uses in Jaws; Bob Schendier's self-auto biographical Taxi Driver of his real-life and near tragic reclusive state. Some had fears and phobias of heights and being stuck in elevators like George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg who was incredibly nervous. The thing is nearly all the wannabe directors like Bob Rafleson, Hal "Captain Wacky" Ashby, William "Bob" Friedkin and Peter Bogdanovinch described in the book petered out when the pressure to create bigger and better pictures destroyed their personalities, purely making them victims of their own success admist marriage breakdowns, suicide intentions (in the case of Bogdanovinch when it became clear that he had never been affected by the violent films he made until someone close to him did) and drug addictions.

Hollywood was rejuvenated thanks to the big hits that both Speilberg and Lucas did (which was retrospectively, Jaws and Star Wars) with widely promotion including tv spots, cinema trails and newpapers and mechandise like toys, t-shirts (Speilberg claims that every country he visited most people were wearing Jaws t-shirts expect for Russia and India) and hats. Speilberg and Lucas just happened to be the people that Hollywood was looking for at the time-providing geniune popcorn entertainment and reinventing adventures films of the 1930s for a new generation. Speilberg for instance went onto become very successful with ET, Indiana Jones and The Color Purple in the 80s. However, the New Hollywood directors made thought-provoking and often depressing films about real-life events that people didn't want to see (they were already fed-up with the constant churn of conspiriciay dramas). The future was rather grim, although the survivors for example, Bob Altman took on a lot of lower budget films to help him get through the decade unscaved. Scorsese on the other hand, knew he had to make a lower budget film when he was really struggling and later on took two projects on, so he could finance two films he really did want to make. Although, Scorsese is well known today, there is a much better appreciation for this work, he has had to work really hard to stay in the position-his determination really did pay off.

A further thing which should be indiciated here that without this influence, maybe there wouldn't have been an American independant movement in the 90s for the sort of people who wanted to see these sorts of films as opposed to the stuff that Hollywood caters for.

Despite the complete lack of no information of Dustin Hoffman or his friendship with Beatty-which could have been very interesting. This is a fascinating read of tinseltown during the days when they relied on the young talent and then gradually disposed of them when their films started to bomb. Although we are inclined to always wanting to know more about this relatively short and often troubled period involving other actors and actresses dilemas-it's probably the best we've ever get on the subject.






The definitive film book, 23 May 2007
Even if you have no idea who George Lucas and William Friedkin are, I would still recommend this book. It's a big entertaining story of how some drugged up hedonists (with only a few exceptions) in the '70's made some the best movies ever made. Movies covered include Star Wars, Chinatown, Apocalypse Now, American Graffiti, Jaws, Exorcist etc.

I've read a lot of film books. This one stands head and shoulders above the rest. So big was its impact that few film books since don't mention it at least twice.

At least two books have been written to argue directly with this book - the excellent "Blockbuster" by Tom Shone and the decent but unremarkable "It Don't Worry Me" by Ryan Gilbey. Also a sequel of sorts was written called "Rebels On The Backlot" by Sharon Waxman, which concentrates on the '90's.

A Paradox, 13 Oct 2006
This book is a paradox.

On the one hand, Biskind holds up the 70s auteur as the only American filmmaker worth taking seriously and on the other, proceeds to tear each and every one of them down with tales of debaunchery, drugs, megalomania or (the ultimate criticism) selling out.

This would be understandable if it were done in a tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted way, but there is a viciousness in the writing that seems to indicate an underlying axe to grind.

Many of those featured in the book (understandably) take an intense dislike to Biskind and having seen some of them interviewed, it is not hard to see why.

Biskind has a talent for selective story-telling, as I'm sure many of his Hollywood journalist contemporaries of past and present do. But there comes a point when the reader needs to question his motives. If he admires these filmmakers so much, why does he insist on making them look like such assholes.

For example, saying that 'Easy Rider is a movie that would have directed itself' does a great injustice to Dennis Hopper. Perhaps he was completely bonkers, perhaps he did go off on these tyrannical rants, but the fact remains, Hopper directed one of the most influencial films ever made. That deserves credit, which Biskind seems to only acknowledge in passing.

'Down and Dirty Pictures', a sequel of sorts, is about a much more recent era which most people will have a better recollection of. The same faults as those in 'Easy Rider, Raging Bulls' become much more apparent. Biskind devotes huge chapters of the book to Tarantino, neglecting a great many other independent film directors of the 90s. Tarantino may have inspired a generation of copy cats, but it was directors like Roberts Rodriguez who inspired a generation of filmmakers.

Ultimately, Biskind comes across as jaded and cynical. Much more so than the filmmakers he so readily criticizes. Perhaps, in his opinion, this is something he would consider a compliment...

Masterpiece!!!, 02 Oct 2006
Less a triumph of prose writing,more a triumph of painstaking reportage,Easy Riders,Raging Bulls is,without doubt the daddy of any and all books on the subject of that business we call show.
With 30 years as a hollywood journo under his belt,Peter Biskind is ideally placed to re-examine the '70s in Hollywood,a period which produced a rich and satisfying body of work,while consigning almost all of it's creators into drug induced career burnout.The only real survivors,Spielberg and Lucas,were the ones who gave up on indie cinema and embraced the mainstram with open arms,giving birth to the modern summer blockbuster in the process,whilst other more edgier talents such as Scorcese,were forced to start again at the bottom.
The scandal in this book is deliciously juicy and spares us little or no detail,but it's matched with a fine sense of history and what seems to be genuine regret in Biskinds eyes that the single most exciting and creative period in recent Hollywood history was burned out in less than a decade,as the '80s saw the rise of the uber producers like Joel Silver and Don Simpson.
This is the fall of the Roman Empire,Hollywood style.Without doubt the finest book ever written about Tinseltown.Lap it up,because it could be 20 years before we see another period so rich,or another book so good.

Excellent, 26 Jan 2006
If there is a better book about film then I’d like to read it.

This is, quite simply, the best, most interesting book about film ever written. The book provides a (largely) chronological account of film making in the 1970s – a wonderfully fertile period where ‘New Hollywood’ attempted, and for a while succeeded, in making the director king.

The book is an amazing concoction of sharp analysis about film and filmmaking mixed with scurrilous gossip and titbits about the major players. Quite how he persuaded all these film legends to speak to him with such candour remains a mystery; I suspect few will do so again. Amongst the cast of characters are directors Robert Altman, Hal Ashby, Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, George Lucas and his wife Marcia Lucas, John Milius, Paul Schrader, Martin Scorcese, Steven Spielberg and Robert Towne; actors Warren Beatty, Dennis Hopper, Cybill Shepherd and Jack Nicholson covering landmark films such as The Godfather I & II, Taxi Driver, Jaws, Star Wars, The Exorcist and The Last Picture Show.

Biskind writes beautifully, handling a huge topic with an enormous cast of characters deftly. He is assisted by the fact that many of the players and the films are already well-known to the reader but he has a wonderful talent for the one-line character profile (often a one-line character assassination) and he chooses his quotes well. If you are interested in film, and particularly if you share Biskind’s view that the 1970s was a golden era of film, then you will probably enjoy this book. There are a couple of caveats: he plays a little fast and loose with the facts and he loves gossip. He is hard on his subjects: few escape unscathed and some are characterised as positively evil.

An excellent book, worth reading if you can tolerate some of your heroes being tarnished.

Interesting - but flawed, 22 Nov 2008
This is a very interesting book, but rather flawed.

From the book front cover you may believe it is Richard Attenborough's life story, but look closely at the bottom of the front cover, and in small writing it says "and Diana Hawkins"

From that I assumed she had ghost written the book, as often happens with these life stories of the famous. But in fact it is both their life stories running side by side.

Diana Hawkins worked with Richard as publicity manager on many of his films such as Ghandi, Chorus Line and so on, so they shared many areas of their life.

I believe the book is flawed for two reasons:

Firstly, the text alternates between Richard and Diana. Text for Richard begins "RA" and he writes for a page or two, then we get "DH" and Diana writes for a page or two.

This itself is a bit disconcerting, just as you are getting used to what Richard is saying we switch to Diana, then back again.

This is not too bad when they are discussing the same topic, such as the making of Ghandi, or the publicity tour for Chorus Line, but can become annoying when they are discussing different phases of their lives.

The second "flaw" is that the book follow no logical sequence.

It starts with a detailed look at how Ghandi was made, but then Richard starts talking about his early life, and Diana starts talking about her early life (at which point one asks "do I care").

We then go back to Ghandi, then we get Richard talking about his life in the war and his early career, and Diana talking about her marital problems, then we go on to Chorus line, and so it goes on.

So it is bad enough we are jumping back and forth between Richard talking, then Diana talking, but we are also jumping back and forth between the background to making a particular film, and then some aspect of their personal lives.

At times I almost feel as though Richard wrote his sections in two page chunks, and Diana wrote her sections in two page chunks, then they threw all the pages up in the air and put them together in random order.

There is a good book in here waiting to get out (maybe two), and the behind the scenes stories about the making of his most famous films is fascinating, but I am afraid trying to tell two life stories side by side in same book just does not work for me.

A book by Richard and Diana JUST about making the films would have been good, or a book JUST about Richard's life would have been good, but a book combining everything is too much.

Having said all that, Richard comes across as an wonderful person (as do his parents and family) and it certainly made me feel very guilty when I saw how much work Richard and his family have done to ease the suffering in the world.

Sum up: Amazing man, flawed book.

No Surprise!, 30 Sep 2008
Entirely Up to You, Darling

Another amazing book for the great man .... a must for Christmas. Actually, buy one for yourself and one for somoene else!

another good book from Matthew Field, 16 Oct 2008
This book was written with the help of Matthew Field who was also responsible for writing The making of the Italian Job.It was while researching for that book that the seeds for this book were planted.This book is a very well written biography from Michael Deeley and Matthew Field.It details the many problems that a producer can face trying to get projects he believes in up onto the screen.

the man behind the curtain, 07 Oct 2008
I thought i was a Blade Runner fan. After reading this book I have realized how little I knew about this great movie. How hard it was to make and yet how incredible it is.
It's interesting to see how money influence creative and possibly undermine it.
It makes me wonder how many good movies were never made because the people with the money didn't want to pay for it?
And yet, people like Michael Deeley are those that make film happen against all odds, are those that put together the ideas, the people, the money and make things work day by day. This is another great discovery of this book, I never realized how much a producer means for a film. Had Michael Deeley not been so dedicated to the project of The deer hunter, we would have never seen this movie (to me, a minor loss really, however it was a great movie too).
I have enjoyed this book a let, and i have read it cover to cover in a couple of day because it has a good pace, it's interesting. Totally recommended especially for film buffs.

The Archive, 03 Nov 2008
A lavish and fascinating treasure-trove of information on one of world cinema's most important auteurs. The archive intimates the extent of his work and is a marvelous source of factual and critical information. I'd like to see the Luis Bunuel archives next.

Dark Windows or the Death of Godard

Candid indeed!, 19 Aug 2008
First up, I'm a fan so take these comments with this in mind.

This is a great train book. You can dip in and out like any diary book and you will find something great every time. This said, it is Kevin's "boring ass life" and sometimes he just gets up, lets the dogs out, takes a poop and falls asleep to TIVO'd Simpsons. You'll understand this when you read it.

There are some cracking stories, which, if history is anything to go by, will, in some form or another find there way into one or more of his movies in the coming years. That is if he can stay off the processed sugar foods long enough so he doesn't die before the decade is out. This guy's diet is scary!

There is a very touching story about the death of his father, and the list of "What I learned from my father" will bring a lump to your throat and should form the basis for every eulogy written from here on in. Look for the excellent story of "me and my shadow" which should make it into a film , the Die Hard 4.0 (Live free or die hard) filming/writing story which is laugh out loud funny and the Catch and release story which is also pretty good.

There are plenty of good "inside the film industry" insights that made me shake my head in despair and wonder how any films get made, ever. Interspersed with all this gold is the hum-drum day to day stuff that we all have to do and suffer from.

Critcs schmitics!

This only thing that has ever bugged me about Kevin Smith is his need to publicly fight with those critics in the business that have no time for him or his movies. He recognises this "failing" in himself as overcompensation and there are some good examples of this in the book. On reading them I just thought "Sir, let it go".

These events are an excellent insight into the movie business, the complete uselessness of critics in all walks of life, and Kevin himself. The group of stories scattered through out the book provide the evidence for the simple truth that film critics know nothing about the movie business. As for the man himself his retorts, whilst unnecessary, are at least witty and done with some flair and style and any spite is quickly neutralised by his own self deprecating personality.

He's a pretty normal bloke.

The perfect Read!, 08 Jul 2008
I am a very big Kevin Smith fan and as such could not wait to read this book, I agree with other reviews which state that there are a lot of mundane activities and sometimes to start with this book could be boring to anybody who is not a big fan.
However, I am not a big reader in-fact apart from this book I have only ever finished one other book, this is not because I cannot read it is actually because no book ever keeps me interested long enough to finish them.
The perfect thing about this book for me is that because it is separated into days I know I can read a day at a time and not worry about getting lost or trying to find where I stopped last time. Because of this I have found this by far the easiest book I have ever read and towards the end hoped it would not finish.

The almost separate book inside this book entitled `me and my shadow'- the story of Jason Mewes addiction to Heroin, is brilliant its harrowing while at the same time bringing drug abuse to somebody who has never thankfully had to experience it before. I was so impressed by this section of the book I have passed it onto a friend who, also does not read allot however I have told him he has to read that chapter.

I would recommend this book to any Kevin Smith fan but also to anybody who has had dealings with drug addiction, because from outsiders' eyes it shows how much you have to love somebody to help them with their demons.
Brilliant!


Mesmerisingly dull, except for a brilliant bit in the middle, 17 Jan 2008
I like Kevin Smith a lot, so any comments I make here should be taken with that in mind. He's a good storyteller, he makes me laugh and he has a relationship with his audience that most writers can only look upon with sick envy. He also seems to be a reasonably straight-up and decent person, which is a miracle in a Hollywood director.

Having said that, I have no great appetite for reading about the lives of celebrities. 'My Boring-Ass Life' is nothing more than the print version of Smith's blog, which blog is basically a bare chronicle of his life. Since his life appears to consist mostly of letting out dogs, looking at the internet, having sex with his wife, watching TV, eating and driving around, it really is pretty boring-ass. There's not a lot here in the way of Bressonian reflections on the nature of cinema, or erudite, Paul-Schraderesque analysis of masterpieces of world cinema, or even anything as outright haunted and manic as Steven Soderbergh's very funny and absurdist 'Getting Away With It'. As books by directors go, this is easily the most boring I have ever read, or rather dipped into.

And yet. The middle of the book is taken up by 'Me and My Shadow', the story of how Smith's friend and (sort of) protégé Jason Mewes became a heroin addict, and how he ultimately kicked the habit, and it's riveting stuff. You wonder why it hasn't become a movie; but maybe Smith doesn't want to tell a story that cuts so close to the bone, despite the happy ending (Mewes has apparently been clean for a couple of years now.)

So, it's worth it for the Mewes bit. But otherwise, the only time I have found appropriate to read this book is at 6.50am when I'm feeding my infant daughter; half-asleep seems to be the right frame of my mind to absorb something so undemanding and forgettable as Kevin Smith's diary.



A book all film saviours should own, 03 Oct 2007
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls was a book i came across last year in my local branch of Waterstones amongst the small placid film selection, read some pages and put it back, not thinking on purchase. When i finally found the courage to go to my local Waterstones recently to see if they had one-it was the exact copy i had read the year before!

Although there is quite a lot i know from this period of New Hollywood like Hal Ashby's shift from editor to director, behaving like a hippie and subsquent career decline all within nine years; Hopper's drug use; Beatty bickering with Altman on the set of Mr and Mrs Cabe and Coppola's casting problems on The Godfather as well as trying to steer his own film company forward on and off-Zoetrope with eventual disasterous consquences among other things. I was actually surprised at how much information was familiar to me, but how much wasn't familiar with me for example, the controversy over the writing credits Easy Rider recieved how Southerton was really behind the backbone and left the project empty-handed; the creation of BBS including the career of Bert Schendier and Bob Raelfson plus Scorsese endangering his health as a reaction to the lack of respect for his work.

This is the book that goes in detail about the rivalry of both directors and producers eager to boost their pictures amongst themseleves, their friends and collagues, including the need to win Oscars to show the world what brillant filmakers they were and when a film bombed, they would sink. The desperation of fame was their goal and the obbession to make as many brillant films in a row for as long as possible trying to capture the imagination of the audience to relate with big hits at the Box Office, but didn't always work that way. Many even used their own experiences and personal viewpoints in life for their film scripts including George Lucas with American Graffiti; the political statements Steven uses in Jaws; Bob Schendier's self-auto biographical Taxi Driver of his real-life and near tragic reclusive state. Some had fears and phobias of heights and being stuck in elevators like George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg who was incredibly nervous. The thing is nearly all the wannabe directors like Bob Rafleson, Hal "Captain Wacky" Ashby, William "Bob" Friedkin and Peter Bogdanovinch described in the book petered out when the pressure to create bigger and better pictures destroyed their personalities, purely making them victims of their own success admist marriage breakdowns, suicide intentions (in the case of Bogdanovinch when it became clear that he had never been affected by the violent films he made until someone close to him did) and drug addictions.

Hollywood was rejuvenated thanks to the big hits that both Speilberg and Lucas did (which was retrospectively, Jaws and Star Wars) with widely promotion including tv spots, cinema trails and newpapers and mechandise like toys, t-shirts (Speilberg claims that every country he visited most people were wearing Jaws t-shirts expect for Russia and India) and hats. Speilberg and Lucas just happened to be the people that Hollywood was looking for at the time-providing geniune popcorn entertainment and reinventing adventures films of the 1930s for a new generation. Speilberg for instance went onto become very successful with ET, Indiana Jones and The Color Purple in the 80s. However, the New Hollywood directors made thought-provoking and often depressing films about real-life events that people didn't want to see (they were already fed-up with the constant churn of conspiriciay dramas). The future was rather grim, although the survivors for example, Bob Altman took on a lot of lower budget films to help him get through the decade unscaved. Scorsese on the other hand, knew he had to make a lower budget film when he was really struggling and later on took two projects on, so he could finance two films he really did want to make. Although, Scorsese is well known today, there is a much better appreciation for this work, he has had to work really hard to stay in the position-his determination really did pay off.

A further thing which should be indiciated here that without this influence, maybe there wouldn't have been an American independant movement in the 90s for the sort of people who wanted to see these sorts of films as opposed to the stuff that Hollywood caters for.

Despite the complete lack of no information of Dustin Hoffman or his friendship with Beatty-which could have been very interesting. This is a fascinating read of tinseltown during the days when they relied on the young talent and then gradually disposed of them when their films started to bomb. Although we are inclined to always wanting to know more about this relatively short and often troubled period involving other actors and actresses dilemas-it's probably the best we've ever get on the subject.






The definitive film book, 23 May 2007
Even if you have no idea who George Lucas and William Friedkin are, I would still recommend this book. It's a big entertaining story of how some drugged up hedonists (with only a few exceptions) in the '70's made some the best movies ever made. Movies covered include Star Wars, Chinatown, Apocalypse Now, American Graffiti, Jaws, Exorcist etc.

I've read a lot of film books. This one stands head and shoulders above the rest. So big was its impact that few film books since don't mention it at least twice.

At least two books have been written to argue directly with this book - the excellent "Blockbuster" by Tom Shone and the decent but unremarkable "It Don't Worry Me" by Ryan Gilbey. Also a sequel of sorts was written called "Rebels On The Backlot" by Sharon Waxman, which concentrates on the '90's.

A Paradox, 13 Oct 2006
This book is a paradox.

On the one hand, Biskind holds up the 70s auteur as the only American filmmaker worth taking seriously and on the other, proceeds to tear each and every one of them down with tales of debaunchery, drugs, megalomania or (the ultimate criticism) selling out.

This would be understandable if it were done in a tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted way, but there is a viciousness in the writing that seems to indicate an underlying axe to grind.

Many of those featured in the book (understandably) take an intense dislike to Biskind and having seen some of them interviewed, it is not hard to see why.

Biskind has a talent for selective story-telling, as I'm sure many of his Hollywood journalist contemporaries of past and present do. But there comes a point when the reader needs to question his motives. If he admires these filmmakers so much, why does he insist on making them look like such assholes.

For example, saying that 'Easy Rider is a movie that would have directed itself' does a great injustice to Dennis Hopper. Perhaps he was completely bonkers, perhaps he did go off on these tyrannical rants, but the fact remains, Hopper directed one of the most influencial films ever made. That deserves credit, which Biskind seems to only acknowledge in passing.

'Down and Dirty Pictures', a sequel of sorts, is about a much more recent era which most people will have a better recollection of. The same faults as those in 'Easy Rider, Raging Bulls' become much more apparent. Biskind devotes huge chapters of the book to Tarantino, neglecting a great many other independent film directors of the 90s. Tarantino may have inspired a generation of copy cats, but it was directors like Roberts Rodriguez who inspired a generation of filmmakers.

Ultimately, Biskind comes across as jaded and cynical. Much more so than the filmmakers he so readily criticizes. Perhaps, in his opinion, this is something he would consider a compliment...

Masterpiece!!!, 02 Oct 2006
Less a triumph of prose writing,more a triumph of painstaking reportage,Easy Riders,Raging Bulls is,without doubt the daddy of any and all books on the subject of that business we call show.
With 30 years as a hollywood journo under his belt,Peter Biskind is ideally placed to re-examine the '70s in Hollywood,a period which produced a rich and satisfying body of work,while consigning almost all of it's creators into drug induced career burnout.The only real survivors,Spielberg and Lucas,were the ones who gave up on indie cinema and embraced the mainstram with open arms,giving birth to the modern summer blockbuster in the process,whilst other more edgier talents such as Scorcese,were forced to start again at the bottom.
The scandal in this book is deliciously juicy and spares us little or no detail,but it's matched with a fine sense of history and what seems to be genuine regret in Biskinds eyes that the single most exciting and creative period in recent Hollywood history was burned out in less than a decade,as the '80s saw the rise of the uber producers like Joel Silver and Don Simpson.
This is the fall of the Roman Empire,Hollywood style.Without doubt the finest book ever written about Tinseltown.Lap it up,because it could be 20 years before we see another period so rich,or another book so good.

Excellent, 26 Jan 2006
If there is a better book about film then I’d like to read it.

This is, quite simply, the best, most interesting book about film ever written. The book provides a (largely) chronological account of film making in the 1970s – a wonderfully fertile period where ‘New Hollywood’ attempted, and for a while succeeded, in making the director king.

The book is an amazing concoction of sharp analysis about film and filmmaking mixed with scurrilous gossip and titbits about the major players. Quite how he persuaded all these film legends to speak to him with such candour remains a mystery; I suspect few will do so again. Amongst the cast of characters are directors Robert Altman, Hal Ashby, Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, George Lucas and his wife Marcia Lucas, John Milius, Paul Schrader, Martin Scorcese, Steven Spielberg and Robert Towne; actors Warren Beatty, Dennis Hopper, Cybill Shepherd and Jack Nicholson covering landmark films such as The Godfather I & II, Taxi Driver, Jaws, Star Wars, The Exorcist and The Last Picture Show.

Biskind writes beautifully, handling a huge topic with an enormous cast of characters deftly. He is assisted by the fact that many of the players and the films are already well-known to the reader but he has a wonderful talent for the one-line character profile (often a one-line character assassination) and he chooses his quotes well. If you are interested in film, and particularly if you share Biskind’s view that the 1970s was a golden era of film, then you will probably enjoy this book. There are a couple of caveats: he plays a little fast and loose with the facts and he loves gossip. He is hard on his subjects: few escape unscathed and some are characterised as positively evil.

An excellent book, worth reading if you can tolerate some of your heroes being tarnished.

Good fun, 25 Jan 2005
Unlike the other reviewers I enjoyed this book - however, do I understand why they were disappointed.

The book lacks any real structure - it is a bit of ramble around events that occurred while producing The Edge, Great Expectations and Fight Club. The book is not long on substance either - you do not learn a lot about Hollywood or even Art Linson.

However, if you are familiar with the films and are comfortable with the fact that much of the book is written as dialogue then there is much to enjoy. There were many moments that made me laugh and/or smile.

Disappointing, 02 Apr 2004
Given the rich opportunities to satirize Hollywood this was an extremely tame effort. The average Sunday newspaper has more in the way of tinseltown gossip, scandal and misbehaviour. Nor does Linson make this (admittedly short) book an easy read. The style is that of a whinging middle management type who has cornered you in a lounge bar on a saturday night. The dreadful characters he has to deal with, how little people appreciate his talents and hard work, why aren't things as much fun as when he was twenty? If that's the sort of conversation you enjoy you might like this anodyne paddle through the shallowest of Hollywood's depths.

Disappointing, 19 Jul 2003
It looked so promising! Humour, inside stories, and whining from Hollywood's finest - NOT. For some reason the author has adopted a very strained framework of 'therapy' to try and string completely detached anecdotes together, and you can really hear it creaking at the start of each chapter. The stories aren't funny (I smiled once or twice), and the people are horrible, but not horrible enough to be particularly interesting. Even more disappointing is that none of the anecdotes seem to relate to any *really* famous people or films, so while you are getting an insider's view, you can't easily compare it with the 'outsider's view' (that is, as a cinemagoer).
Mercifully, it's also very short - you quickly realise that the print is quite large, and there's rather a lot of 'white space'. I got through it in about 2 hours.
Summary? Like candyfloss - all sweet promise and no satisfaction.

Hollywood's relationship with Tim Burton has always been a little uneasy. A fiercely individual artist working within the constraints of the studio system, Burton has made some incredibly successful films--notably the 1989 blockbuster Batman and its first sequel--but the industry just doesn't know what to make of him. In the Foreword to this book, Burton favourite Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow) observes that "I have never seen someone so obviously out of place fit right in. His way."

Taking the form of an extended interview, Burton on Burton allows the director space to discuss his films, and to digress where this seems illuminating; it also includes an impressive selection of film stills and Burton's drawings. Mark Salisbury does not so much question Burton, as guide the director through his own career, commenting where necessary but managing never to seem intrusive. Burton discusses his childhood and his often unhappy time at Disney ("I would sit in the closet a lot of the time and not come out"), before moving on to offer a fascinating insight into his idiosyncratic body of work.

Burton comes across as a man in love with "the joy of creating", but one who is refreshingly lacking in pretensions. He describes himself as a "commercial director", taking the financial investment which is put into his films very seriously, and saying of his work that "I'm very wary of analysing it too intellectually." At the same time, he has a genuine enthusiasm for cinema, discussing his influences--which range from Godzilla to Fellini--but stressing that he never aims for a literal homage to a favourite film. The director's enthusiasm is infectious. This an essential volume for Burton's fans, and an entertaining read for anyone else--it's hard not to like a director who (discussing Mars Attacks) declares that "It seemed like a good idea to just blow away celebrities with ray-guns." --John Oates

Interesting - but flawed, 22 Nov 2008
This is a very interesting book, but rather flawed.

From the book front cover you may believe it is Richard Attenborough's life story, but look closely at the bottom of the front cover, and in small writing it says "and Diana Hawkins"

From that I assumed she had ghost written the book, as often happens with these life stories of the famous. But in fact it is both their life stories running side by side.

Diana Hawkins worked with Richard as publicity manager on many of his films such as Ghandi, Chorus Line and so on, so they shared many areas of their life.

I believe the book is flawed for two reasons:

Firstly, the text alternates between Richard and Diana. Text for Richard begins "RA" and he writes for a page or two, then we get "DH" and Diana writes for a page or two.

This itself is a bit disconcerting, just as you are getting used to what Richard is saying we switch to Diana, then back again.

This is not too bad when they are discussing the same topic, such as the making of Ghandi, or the publicity tour for Chorus Line, but can become annoying when they are discussing different phases of their lives.

The second "flaw" is that the book follow no logical sequence.

It starts with a detailed look at how Ghandi was made, but then Richard starts talking about his early life, and Diana starts talking about her early life (at which point one asks "do I care").

We then go back to Ghandi, then we get Richard talking about his life in the war and his early career, and Diana talking about her marital problems, then we go on to Chorus line, and so it goes on.

So it is bad enough we are jumping back and forth between Richard talking, then Diana talking, but we are also jumping back and forth between the background to making a particular film, and then some aspect of their personal lives.

At times I almost feel as though Richard wrote his sections in two page chunks, and Diana wrote her sections in two page chunks, then they threw all the pages up in the air and put them together in random order.

There is a good book in here waiting to get out (maybe two), and the behind the scenes stories about the making of his most famous films is fascinating, but I am afraid trying to tell two life stories side by side in same book just does not work for me.

A book by Richard and Diana JUST about making the films would have been good, or a book JUST about Richard's life would have been good, but a book combining everything is too much.

Having said all that, Richard comes across as an wonderful person (as do his parents and family) and it certainly made me feel very guilty when I saw how much work Richard and his family have done to ease the suffering in the world.

Sum up: Amazing man, flawed book.

No Surprise!, 30 Sep 2008
Entirely Up to You, Darling

Another amazing book for the great man .... a must for Christmas. Actually, buy one for yourself and one for somoene else!

another good book from Matthew Field, 16 Oct 2008
This book was written with the help of Matthew Field who was also responsible for writing The making of the Italian Job.It was while researching for that book that the seeds for this book were planted.This book is a very well written biography from Michael Deeley and Matthew Field.It details the many problems that a producer can face trying to get projects he believes in up onto the screen.

the man behind the curtain, 07 Oct 2008
I thought i was a Blade Runner fan. After reading this book I have realized how little I knew about this great movie. How hard it was to make and yet how incredible it is.
It's interesting to see how money influence creative and possibly undermine it.
It makes me wonder how many good movies were never made because the people with the money didn't want to pay for it?
And yet, people like Michael Deeley are those that make film happen against all odds, are those that put together the ideas, the people, the money and make things work day by day. This is another great discovery of this book, I never realized how much a producer means for a film. Had Michael Deeley not been so dedicated to the project of The deer hunter, we would have never seen this movie (to me, a minor loss really, however it was a great movie too).
I have enjoyed this book a let, and i have read it cover to cover in a couple of day because it has a good pace, it's interesting. Totally recommended especially for film buffs.

The Archive, 03 Nov 2008
A lavish and fascinating treasure-trove of information on one of world cinema's most important auteurs. The archive intimates the extent of his work and is a marvelous source of factual and critical information. I'd like to see the Luis Bunuel archives next.

Dark Windows or the Death of Godard

Candid indeed!, 19 Aug 2008
First up, I'm a fan so take these comments with this in mind.

This is a great train book. You can dip in and out like any diary book and you will find something great every time. This said, it is Kevin's "boring ass life" and sometimes he just gets up, lets the dogs out, takes a poop and falls asleep to TIVO'd Simpsons. You'll understand this when you read it.

There are some cracking stories, which, if history is anything to go by, will, in some form or another find there way into one or more of his movies in the coming years. That is if he can stay off the processed sugar foods long enough so he doesn't die before the decade is out. This guy's diet is scary!

There is a very touching story about the death of his father, and the list of "What I learned from my father" will bring a lump to your throat and should form the basis for every eulogy written from here on in. Look for the excellent story of "me and my shadow" which should make it into a film , the Die Hard 4.0 (Live free or die hard) filming/writing story which is laugh out loud funny and the Catch and release story which is also pretty good.

There are plenty of good "inside the film industry" insights that made me shake my head in despair and wonder how any films get made, ever. Interspersed with all this gold is the hum-drum day to day stuff that we all have to do and suffer from.

Critcs schmitics!

This only thing that has ever bugged me about Kevin Smith is his need to publicly fight with those critics in the business that have no time for him or his movies. He recognises this "failing" in himself as overcompensation and there are some good examples of this in the book. On reading them I just thought "Sir, let it go".

These events are an excellent insight into the movie business, the complete uselessness of critics in all walks of life, and Kevin himself. The group of stories scattered through out the book provide the evidence for the simple truth that film critics know nothing about the movie business. As for the man himself his retorts, whilst unnecessary, are at least witty and done with some flair and style and any spite is quickly neutralised by his own self deprecating personality.

He's a pretty normal bloke.

The perfect Read!, 08 Jul 2008
I am a very big Kevin Smith fan and as such could not wait to read this book, I agree with other reviews which state that there are a lot of mundane activities and sometimes to start with this book could be boring to anybody who is not a big fan.
However, I am not a big reader in-fact apart from this book I have only ever finished one other book, this is not because I cannot read it is actually because no book ever keeps me interested long enough to finish them.
The perfect thing about this book for me is that because it is separated into days I know I can read a day at a time and not worry about getting lost or trying to find where I stopped last time. Because of this I have found this by far the easiest book I have ever read and towards the end hoped it would not finish.

The almost separate book inside this book entitled `me and my shadow'- the story of Jason Mewes addiction to Heroin, is brilliant its harrowing while at the same time bringing drug abuse to somebody who has never thankfully had to experience it before. I was so impressed by this section of the book I have passed it onto a friend who, also does not read allot however I have told him he has to read that chapter.

I would recommend this book to any Kevin Smith fan but also to anybody who has had dealings with drug addiction, because from outsiders' eyes it shows how much you have to love somebody to help them with their demons.
Brilliant!


Mesmerisingly dull, except for a brilliant bit in the middle, 17 Jan 2008
I like Kevin Smith a lot, so any comments I make here should be taken with that in mind. He's a good storyteller, he makes me laugh and he has a relationship with his audience that most writers can only look upon with sick envy. He also seems to be a reasonably straight-up and decent person, which is a miracle in a Hollywood director.

Having said that, I have no great appetite for reading about the lives of celebrities. 'My Boring-Ass Life' is nothing more than the print version of Smith's blog, which blog is basically a bare chronicle of his life. Since his life appears to consist mostly of letting out dogs, looking at the internet, having sex with his wife, watching TV, eating and driving around, it really is pretty boring-ass. There's not a lot here in the way of Bressonian reflections on the nature of cinema, or erudite, Paul-Schraderesque analysis of masterpieces of world cinema, or even anything as outright haunted and manic as Steven Soderbergh's very funny and absurdist 'Getting Away With It'. As books by directors go, this is easily the most boring I have ever read, or rather dipped into.

And yet. The middle of the book is taken up by 'Me and My Shadow', the story of how Smith's friend and (sort of) protégé Jason Mewes became a heroin addict, and how he ultimately kicked the habit, and it's riveting stuff. You wonder why it hasn't become a movie; but maybe Smith doesn't want to tell a story that cuts so close to the bone, despite the happy ending (Mewes has apparently been clean for a couple of years now.)

So, it's worth it for the Mewes bit. But otherwise, the only time I have found appropriate to read this book is at 6.50am when I'm feeding my infant daughter; half-asleep seems to be the right frame of my mind to absorb something so undemanding and forgettable as Kevin Smith's diary.



A book all film saviours should own, 03 Oct 2007
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls was a book i came across last year in my local branch of Waterstones amongst the small placid film selection, read some pages and put it back, not thinking on purchase. When i finally found the courage to go to my local Waterstones recently to see if they had one-it was the exact copy i had read the year before!

Although there is quite a lot i know from this period of New Hollywood like Hal Ashby's shift from editor to director, behaving like a hippie and subsquent career decline all within nine years; Hopper's drug use; Beatty bickering with Altman on the set of Mr and Mrs Cabe and Coppola's casting problems on The Godfather as well as trying to steer his own film company forward on and off-Zoetrope with eventual disasterous consquences among other things. I was actually surprised at how much information was familiar to me, but how much wasn't familiar with me for example, the controversy over the writing credits Easy Rider recieved how Southerton was really behind the backbone and left the project empty-handed; the creation of BBS including the career of Bert Schendier and Bob Raelfson plus Scorsese endangering his health as a reaction to the lack of respect for his work.

This is the book that goes in detail about the rivalry of both directors and producers eager to boost their pictures amongst themseleves, their friends and collagues, including the need to win Oscars to show the world what brillant filmakers they were and when a film bombed, they would sink. The desperation of fame was their goal and the obbession to make as many brillant films in a row for as long as possible trying to capture the imagination of the audience to relate with big hits at the Box Office, but didn't always work that way. Many even used their own experiences and personal viewpoints in life for their film scripts including George Lucas with American Graffiti; the political statements Steven uses in Jaws; Bob Schendier's self-auto biographical Taxi Driver of his real-life and near tragic reclusive state. Some had fears and phobias of heights and being stuck in elevators like George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg who was incredibly nervous. The thing is nearly all the wannabe directors like Bob Rafleson, Hal "Captain Wacky" Ashby, William "Bob" Friedkin and Peter Bogdanovinch described in the book petered out when the pressure to create bigger and better pictures destroyed their personalities, purely making them victims of their own success admist marriage breakdowns, suicide intentions (in the case of Bogdanovinch when it became clear that he had never been affected by the violent films he made until someone close to him did) and drug addictions.

Hollywood was rejuvenated thanks to the big hits that both Speilberg and Lucas did (which was retrospectively, Jaws and Star Wars) with widely promotion including tv spots, cinema trails and newpapers and mechandise like toys, t-shirts (Speilberg claims that every country he visited most people were wearing Jaws t-shirts expect for Russia and India) and hats. Speilberg and Lucas just happened to be the people that Hollywood was looking for at the time-providing geniune popcorn entertainment and reinventing adventures films of the 1930s for a new generation. Speilberg for instance went onto become very successful with ET, Indiana Jones and The Color Purple in the 80s. However, the New Hollywood directors made thought-provoking and often depressing films about real-life events that people didn't want to see (they were already fed-up with the constant churn of conspiriciay dramas). The future was rather grim, although the survivors for example, Bob Altman took on a lot of lower budget films to help him get through the decade unscaved. Scorsese on the other hand, knew he had to make a lower budget film when he was really struggling and later on took two projects on, so he could finance two films he really did want to make. Although, Scorsese is well known today, there is a much better appreciation for this work, he has had to work really hard to stay in the position-his determination really did pay off.

A further thing which should be indiciated here that without this influence, maybe there wouldn't have been an American independant movement in the 90s for the sort of people who wanted to see these sorts of films as opposed to the stuff that Hollywood caters for.

Despite the complete lack of no information of Dustin Hoffman or his friendship with Beatty-which could have been very interesting. This is a fascinating read of tinseltown during the days when they relied on the young talent and then gradually disposed of them when their films started to bomb. Although we are inclined to always wanting to know more about this relatively short and often troubled period involving other actors and actresses dilemas-it's probably the best we've ever get on the subject.






The definitive film book, 23 May 2007
Even if you have no idea who George Lucas and William Friedkin are, I would still recommend this book. It's a big entertaining story of how some drugged up hedonists (with only a few exceptions) in the '70's made some the best movies ever made. Movies covered include Star Wars, Chinatown, Apocalypse Now, American Graffiti, Jaws, Exorcist etc.

I've read a lot of film books. This one stands head and shoulders above the rest. So big was its impact that few film books since don't mention it at least twice.

At least two books have been written to argue directly with this book - the excellent "Blockbuster" by Tom Shone and the decent but unremarkable "It Don't Worry Me" by Ryan Gilbey. Also a sequel of sorts was written called "Rebels On The Backlot" by Sharon Waxman, which concentrates on the '90's.

A Paradox, 13 Oct 2006
This book is a paradox.

On the one hand, Biskind holds up the 70s auteur as the only American filmmaker worth taking seriously and on the other, proceeds to tear each and every one of them down with tales of debaunchery, drugs, megalomania or (the ultimate criticism) selling out.

This would be understandable if it were done in a tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted way, but there is a viciousness in the writing that seems to indicate an underlying axe to grind.

Many of those featured in the book (understandably) take an intense dislike to Biskind and having seen some of them interviewed, it is not hard to see why.

Biskind has a talent for selective story-telling, as I'm sure many of his Hollywood journalist contemporaries of past and present do. But there comes a point when the reader needs to question his motives. If he admires these filmmakers so much, why does he insist on making them look like such assholes.

For example, saying that 'Easy Rider is a movie that would have directed itself' does a great injustice to Dennis Hopper. Perhaps he was completely bonkers, perhaps he did go off on these tyrannical rants, but the fact remains, Hopper directed one of the most influencial films ever made. That deserves credit, which Biskind seems to only acknowledge in passing.

'Down and Dirty Pictures', a sequel of sorts, is about a much more recent era which most people will have a better recollection of. The same faults as those in 'Easy Rider, Raging Bulls' become much more apparent. Biskind devotes huge chapters of the book to Tarantino, neglecting a great many other independent film directors of the 90s. Tarantino may have inspired a generation of copy cats, but it was directors like Roberts Rodriguez who inspired a generation of filmmakers.

Ultimately, Biskind comes across as jaded and cynical. Much more so than the filmmakers he so readily criticizes. Perhaps, in his opinion, this is something he would consider a compliment...

Masterpiece!!!, 02 Oct 2006
Less a triumph of prose writing,more a triumph of painstaking reportage,Easy Riders,Raging Bulls is,without doubt the daddy of any and all books on the subject of that business we call show.
With 30 years as a hollywood journo under his belt,Peter Biskind is ideally placed to re-examine the '70s in Hollywood,a period which produced a rich and satisfying body of work,while consigning almost all of it's creators into drug induced career burnout.The only real survivors,Spielberg and Lucas,were the ones who gave up on indie cinema and embraced the mainstram with open arms,giving birth to the modern summer blockbuster in the process,whilst other more edgier talents such as Scorcese,were forced to start again at the bottom.
The scandal in this book is deliciously juicy and spares us little or no detail,but it's matched with a fine sense of history and what seems to be genuine regret in Biskinds eyes that the single most exciting and creative period in recent Hollywood history was burned out in less than a decade,as the '80s saw the rise of the uber producers like Joel Silver and Don Simpson.
This is the fall of the Roman Empire,Hollywood style.Without doubt the finest book ever written about Tinseltown.Lap it up,because it could be 20 years before we see another period so rich,or another book so good.

Excellent, 26 Jan 2006
If there is a better book about film then I’d like to read it.

This is, quite simply, the best, most interesting book about film ever written. The book provides a (largely) chronological account of film making in the 1970s – a wonderfully fertile period where ‘New Hollywood’ attempted, and for a while succeeded, in making the director king.

The book is an amazing concoction of sharp analysis about film and filmmaking mixed with scurrilous gossip and titbits about the major players. Quite how he persuaded all these film legends to speak to him with such candour remains a mystery; I suspect few will do so again. Amongst the cast of characters are directors Robert Altman, Hal Ashby, Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, George Lucas and his wife Marcia Lucas, John Milius, Paul Schrader, Martin Scorcese, Steven Spielberg and Robert Tow