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Gods and Monsters: Movers, Shakers, and Other Casualties of the Hollywood Machine
"Here is Hollywood over the last three decades - the superfreaks, lowlifes, charlatans, and the occasional geniuses who have left their bite marks on American culture, as refracted through the trajectory of Peter Biskind's career. Biskind began as a radical journalist and film critic, excavating the likes of Rocky and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot for their hidden political su
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Paperback, 352 pages
Published
November 9th 2004
by Thunder's Mouth, Nation Books
(first published November 8th 2004)
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This is different to Peter Biskind's other books, as it's a collection of his essays and reviews from, as the cover states, over thirty years of writing in Hollywood.
The highlights for me are when he focuses on an individual director, and although they are written from the point of view of a set visit (to plug the latest film at the time) Mr Biskind still takes care not to bore us with the minutiae of the catering that day, instead giving us a succinct overview of that director's work so far.
I ...more
The highlights for me are when he focuses on an individual director, and although they are written from the point of view of a set visit (to plug the latest film at the time) Mr Biskind still takes care not to bore us with the minutiae of the catering that day, instead giving us a succinct overview of that director's work so far.
I ...more
While I think most of Biskind's ideas in regards to the movies he analyzes in here are bullshit, pretty much every article in here is compelling and interesting. However, much like Biskind's other work, some of his facts are a bit dodgy (particularly in the article on Terence Malick). You would think Biskind would have a crack team of fact-checkers by now, but I guess he thinks that the myth he spins is more interesting than the reality.
This book had some really interesting sections (especially a few of the later pieces), but I have to admit that I skimmed quite a few parts. A lot of his early essays are very wordy and academic, and when the topic was a movie I haven't even seen, I just couldn't be bothered (sorry, "On the Waterfront").
stamped
some nice moments but a lot of tedium
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Peter Biskind is a cultural critic and film historian. He was the editor-in-chief of American Film magazine from 1981 to 1986, and the executive editor of Premiere from 1986 to 1996. His writing has appeared in scores of national publications, including Rolling Stone, Paris Match, the Nation, The New York Times, the Times of London, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as film journals such as Sight
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