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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Straightalk about Screenwriting, September 23, 2006
Who is Joe Eszterhas? His most famous films are Basic Instinct, Sliver, Showgirls, and Jade. His first screenplay was made into a film which I've always considered one of the most underappreciated movies of all time, F.I.S.T. He has written lots of others.
About the book, I'll be honest, I loved it.
After the New York Times Book Review came out I ordered it immediately. The following Saturday, when I first had the time to devote to it, I spent the entire day reading it from cover to cover (like many of the studio executives who Eszterhas lampooms, my lips must move as a read because I'm a slow reader). Here is my take on it:
First, I think that the chapters are taken from Eszterhas' writing notebooks. That is a good thing. This is the raw data of years of reading, listening, and contemplating Hollywood and the screenwriters craft. It is filled with seemingly good advice, but advice you'd never get from, say, Richard Walter, head of the Screenwriting Department at UCLA. This is less genteel advice. This is straightalking from a veteran who has been in the trenches, survived the battles, and is here is help teach other screenwriters how to make it in the business.
Don't expect a smooth flowing narrative, except for the last chapter about his unproduced screenplay---"SACRED COW"---about and American President caught on film having sex with a cow, and owning up to it when he is caught. That Chapter, unlike the others, was written as a single essay. The remainder of the book is a collection of thoughts about writers, agents, directors, producers, actors, and Hollywood from someone who knows.
P.S. Why did I give it only 4 stars instead of 5? Amazon suffers from grade inflation. To Kill a Mockingbird gets 5 stars from me. 4 stars is still pretty darn good.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Truthful?, October 16, 2006
First of all, I am one of many hundred of thousands who are wannabe screenwriters/writers. I do not live in L.A. and have no intention to. That being said, I am still learning the "industry".
Joe Esterhas, a highly successful screenwriter best known for writing the films, Basic Instinct, Flashdance and Showgirls has written a funny but bitter book. This is not an autobiography but more of a personal journal type, using quotes to express his highly charged emotions and opinions in an easy to read style that gives plenty of advice to writers pursuing the Hollywood dream.
By the end of the book, after the laughing and wondering if what you read is true, or a collection of rumors and whispers by a man who is tired of the Hollywood bashing of screenwriters, seeeking revenge.
But make no mistake, you will learn:
- He hates Robert McKee and his seminars
- He hates agents
- He hates producers
- He hates directors
- He hates studio execs
- Loves and his very proud of his Hungarian heritage
- Admits openly of his own personal demons and sexual conquests
Simply put, he hates anyone in Hollywood who screws the writer over and in his eyes, it happens way too often.
Also be forwarned of foul language and lots of sex. The book is still very good with short quips to hold one's attention and there is some great advice to be taken. But as a newcomer, I am taking most of it with a grain of salt.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joe Eszterhas is a berserker., January 18, 2007
For those of you who don't know (I didn't), Joe Eszterhas is the screenwriter who wrote the motion picture Basic Instinct, among many others. Eszterhas also set the Hollywood record for what he got paid writing a screenplay, which was in the millions, and once got paid a few milllion dollars for a four page outline (literally). This is not your typical bland screenwriting how-to book. In fact, the title of this book is appropriate, as Joe Eszterhas is a berserker out-of-control renegade in every sense of the word.
As opposed to other screenwriting books that spend chapter after chapter talking about character development, Eszterhas starts out by telling you this book is about making money (period). Then he dives into such "interesting" topics as sleeping with Sharon Stone, the day he smashed a table in a film studio's office, his rampant alcoholism, and how much he hates most of Hollywood. Eszterhas compares screenwriting to going to war, and takes aim at the most prolific screenwriting "teacher", Robert McKee on numerous occasions throughout the book. I could go on and on, but this book is definitely off-the-meter in terms of Chaos Factor. In fact, I am sure that he gave his legal counsel a heart attack ... or seven.
If you want an interesting book that breaks all the rules, check out The Devil's Guide to Hollywood, by Joe Eszterhas. I finished it last night, and I am still laughing.
Lee Rudnicki
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