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Hollywood Migraine: The Inside Story of a Decade in Film

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I was surprised by this book, which I bought on a trip from Europe to the USA and read on the plane, and afterward. I was looking for something to read that wouldn't be too taxing. The dust cover copy made me think I was buying a book about celebrities, but there's actually a lot more going on here than that. The majority of the content is a thoughtful grouping of essays about the business and aesthetics of Hollywood in the 1990s - what the movies claimed to be about, what they were actually about, and how they shaped their arguments in such a way as to reflect, sometimes unintentionally, the tenor of the times. The writer has made me think differently about what I assumed to be a trivial era of moviemaking, and see the period with new eyes. And the book, while long, is easy to read, at times quite humorous, at times rather surprisingly serious.

I would recommend that anyone purchasing this book use the glossaries as a way of organizing their reading. Although this book is arranged in sections, each individual chapter within a given section is complete within itself, and can therefore be read in whatever sequence the reader chooses based on his or her interests. I reread some essays, skipped a few entirely. By and large, I found "Hollywood Migraine" quite instructive, even though I consider myself already knowlegeable as a film fan.

This autobiography covers a decade in the life of Boxoffice Magazine: a period during which Greene had access to the top names of Hollywood, from actors to executives. 1990s Hollywood history is revealed from an insider's viewpoint, providing articles of both personal reflections and encounters with industry leaders.