Customer Reviews

Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As I was perusing the book store here at Amazon, I came across
"Inside Oscar 2". I immediatley put in in my shopping cart, as I remembered how glued to the over 1100 pages of "Inside Oscar" by Mason Wiley and Damien Bona, I became. I originally bought this "refrence" book because I have a huge movie collection and I wanted to put my library in some kind of order. This book had all the Oscar winners by year, so I thought I would just be using it to look up dates, actors etc. Fahget about it!
Once I opened it, it was all over, I couldn't put it down.
This book has a year by year, blow by blow account of the Academy Awards history. We get the stories behind the stories. The rivalries,the studio hub bub, the lobbying, poignant moments and LOTS of good laughs.
Each chapter decribes a year in the life of Oscar. It starts out with the events leading up to the nominations,goes into "The Big Night" telling us who won, where it was held, who said what, and even who presented, and ends with "The Aftermath" goings ons.
The second section of the book has detailed lists of every award won and all the nominations in every year. It goes from 1927-1994 ("Wings" to Forrest Gump".)
If you are a movie buff, if you want to impress your freinds with Hollywood history trivia, or you just like reading about the stars, this is the book for you. I can't wait until my "sequel"(1995-2000) arrives.
Ciao dahlings.........Laurie

This book is amazing. Its year-by-year descriptions are historical and often suspensful. I remember the first time I read this book, before I knew the outcome of many of the years' awards; each year was a new drama with Mr. Wiley and company setting up the atmosphere of the race. Now, fifteen years later, I own the latest edition of Inside Oscar. It is a constant source of amusement and information. The writing is skillful and clever, and the categorical listing at the back is an invaluable reference. Every year during Oscar season, I will pick up an article by some journalist whose grasp of Oscar history is minimal, and I wonder why they don't just look up who REALLY won in Inside Oscar. I know Mr. Wiley is no longer with us, but I hope Mr. Bona and company continue the great work for future editions. I know I'd love to be a contributor to this tremendous work.

If you enjoy the hype of the Academy Awards, this is the book for you. Plenty of behind-the-scenes action that you're not going to find by simply watching the Academy Awards. It's gossipy, dishy, and dirty...a definite guilty pleasure. Great index of past Academy Award winners and nominees as well.

Wiley and Bona have created the premier reference work on the Oscars - the complete list of nominees and victors, taking up the book's final 200 pages, is reason enough to buy it. It's the liveliest reference work you'll ever read: Each annual essay contains bite-size recollections of the impact (or lack of same) of movies big and small, at the box office and in the press, full of dishy reviews and catty responses. Each essay year has info that the most dedicated movie buff won't remember or never knew, particularly the fascinating narrations of Tinseltown Oscar campaigns. The level of detail is astonishing, down to which '90s ceremony participants did and didn't wear AIDS ribbons. Lovingly detailed descriptions of ceremony attire, highlights of speeches and host schtick - good and (much more often) bad, and follow-ups to big wins, failed campaigns and Oscar night emabarrassments never fail to fascinate. The book is more than 1,000 pages long, and once it's over, you'll be begging for more. Guys, write about 1995-99! If you have the first edition (which runs through 1987), buy the latest edition (which runs through 1994). The new essays are even more exhaustive, since the source material is contemporary, and, presumably, contains the authors' firsthand reporting. Only one quibble: In a book stuffed with deliciously nasty commentary from film reviewers, Wiley and Bona beg off from relating John Simon's "too cruel" criticisms of Sofia Coppola in The Godfather, Part III. Mason, Damien: You don't pull a punch anywhere else in your masterpiece. WHAT DID HE SAY?

For everyone who gets 'movie madness' every March by eagerly anticipating Oscar night, this is a must-own book. It is the bible of Oscar knowledge and includes every nomination and winner from 1927 until the mid-90's. It is by far the greatest Academy Award reference tool that is available and just by paging through the nominee list in the back for a few minutes, your video rental list will grow by the foot.
The first portion gives the reader a quick history lesson including how the illustrious Academy began and how the golden statue got his trademark name. Following that, every year gets its own chapter in which the authors tell of the studio campaigns to get their films nominated, what the critics and gossip writers were reporting at the time, and who got a nominee and who got screwed. The chapter ends with an "Oscar Night," section, which goes down to the most minute detail of each Awards ceremony from the lame jokes the host tried to crack ("U-ma, O-prah!"),to the most flubbed speeches, embarrassing dance performances (Rob Lowe and Snow White?!), timeless quotes ("You like me, you really like me!") and hideous dresses. It also gives the list of presenters and the highlights of the post-Awards parties.
The back though, with the nominee history, is easily my favorite and one can spent countless hours paging through and remembering the classic films of years past or debating with friends about who got robbed in the best supporting category in 1962. I like to use the back as a checklist of what I've seen and need to see next.
My paperback edition is thoroughly warped and I hope the authors put out a new edition or else mine is going to fall apart soon. A warning though, the book does get rather depressing in April because that means there's 11 more months until next year's big show!

Baseball has the World Series. Football has the Super Bowl. Movie freaks have the Oscars. We sneer at them, challenge them, and forget who won a week later. But we watch, not only to bask in the reflected glory of the annointed ones, but also for the rare opportunity to see them disappointed, as four out of five nominees are, year after year.

Now, in this age of media saturation, we know the Oscars are more than a one night affair. The Academy Awards are a contest as competitive, and sometimes just as dirty, as the race for the White House. Mason Wiley and Damien Bona's "Inside Oscar" is the "Gone With the Wind" of Oscar books, the only one that fully details the tasteless and sometimes cutthroat tactics that have been employed to impress Oscar, Hollywood's most enduring superstar.

This mammoth volume covers the show-biz ritual from the very beginning at a small ceremony that attracted little notice ("Wings" was named best picture) through the era when Oscar emerged as a superstar of the small screen in the 50s, right through to the crowning of "Forrest Gump" as best picture of 1994.

There's the inside dope on such controversies as George C. Scott's refusal to accept his Oscar for "Patton" (shamelessly calling the ritual a "meat parade"), and Sacheen Littlefeather's speech on behalf of Marlon Brando who turned down his Oscar for "The Godfather." Wiley and Bona are lively writers who never pass up an opportunity for an amusingly scathing observation. Their behind-the-scenes exploration of what really goes on in the battle for Oscar glory is more entertaining than many of the films honored.

For Oscar junkies, this book provides the most thorough coverage available. Wiley and Bona follow each potential contender through the entire awards season, starting with the prestigious awards from the National Board of Review, to the New York Film Critics Circle, and on to the Golden Globes, right through to Oscar night and its aftermath. There's also the complete list of winners and nominees for each category, a full list of the presenters, and a step-by-step coverage of the Oscar ceremony, complete with the most memorable moments.

For those with a love for both film and trivia, this book is indispensable. Its the definative examination of the annual mixture of the heartwarming and the gauche known as the Academy Awards. Going year-by-year, Wiley and Bona carefully detail what ruled the box office and amazed the critics as well as giving all the gossipy details on the mostly forgotten men and women who were temporarily declared to be Hollywood's "next great star." Each years ends with a description of that year's academy awards ceremony. Though this might not sound extremely exciting, Bona and Wiley are not shy about injecting their editorial opinions as far as the ceremonies are concerned and several of their sarcastic descriptions of various misbegotten dance numbers and confused presenters, while bordering on being rather snide, are also laugh out loud funny. No matter how savvy and cynical you may consider yourself to be, after reading their behind-the-scenes take on the Oscars, you'll never be able to look at Hollywood the same way as before.

As well, Wiley and Bona have compiled perhaps the most accurate and complete listing of Oscar nominees and winners in existence. They even include lists, for each year, of notable films and songs that were passed over. These lists are probably my favorite part of the book, though I do wish they'd include some explanations of why they selected certain films as overlooked. (As just one example, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls placement as an overlooked 1970 best picture possibility, has always perplexed me.)

No matter how much you may think you know about film and celebrity trivia, this book will have something to surprise you. This is a book I've never tired of reading because I know with each look, I'll discover something both new and hilarious.
In short, this is my desert island book.

I'm a HUGE Oscar fan, and this is the greatest Oscar book I've ever seen. But it just doesn't get updated and reprinted often enough. The last printing looks like it was in 1998 - that means it will be missing any information about the past couple of years. If they're still involved in the book, I'd guess that the authors will have to release a new edition sometime soon, so wait for that. If they updated the book every year, every year I'd buy a new one and throw out the old one.

A great resource for the film critic or movie fan, or even the film novice who wants to expand his or her knowledge about the history of the medium. The book takes the reader on a tour of Oscar nominated films, year by year, then reveals the films that were nominated and those that were shafted for nominations and documents all the important happenings during awards night. Also handy is the appendix, listing all the nominees and winners, even in the technical categories. An indispensible guide to the most famous award in the world.

It's not really meant to be read from beginning to end, though you certainly can. It's a handy reference that will draw you in. You may begin by looking up the last year Bob Hope hosted, but an hour later you'll realize you're in the Billy Crystal era. Lots of fun -- dishy but accurate. Pick it up, turn to any chapter, and enjoy.