The 1990s saw a shock wave of dynamic new directing talent that took the Hollywood studio system by storm. At the forefront of that movement were six innovative and daring directors whose films pushed the boundaries of moviemaking and announced to the world that something exciting was happening in Hollywood. Sharon Waxman of the New York Times spent the decade covering these young filmmakers, and in Rebels on the Backlot she weaves together the lives and careers of Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction; Steven Soderbergh, Traffic; David Fincher, Fight Club; Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights; David O. Russell, Three Kings; and Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich.
Rebels on the Backlot
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
New York Times Hollywood correspondent Waxman has written a gritty, truthful study of six boundary-breaking young directors who revolutionized 1990s filmmaking and still represent a refreshing alternative to "cookie cutter scripts and cheap MTV imagery." Her full-blooded profiles introduce Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights), David Fincher (Fight Club), Steven Soderbergh (Traffic), David O. Russell (Three Kings) and Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich). Waxman shows these auteurs, who "wreaked havoc with traditional narrative form" and combined brutality with humor, as eccentric, frequently antisocial and hardheaded. Their stories make for compelling reading: Waxman dramatizes Russell's erratic, explosive nature in the book's most blistering episode, where the director loses his temper and has a fistfight with actor George Clooney on the set of Three Kings. Other chapters depict Tarantino's penchant for jettisoning close friends after achieving success and Soderbergh's unswerving loyalty to pals. These men possess a daring vision, which the author skillfully depicts, simultaneously offering an illuminating view of motion picture politics. Most of all, Waxman proffers assurance to artists with original voices that their ideas can reach the public if they maintain Fincher's attitude - "Take me or leave me. My way or the highway" - and possess a little luck. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
In the 1990s, a group of young directors roiled Hollywood in much the way that Coppola, Scorsese, and their peers shook up the establishment two decades earlier. New York Times correspondent Waxman traces the careers of six of those next-generation rebels--Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh, Spike Jonze, and David O. Russell--from Tarantino's groundbreaking and influential Reservoir Dogs in 1992 to Soderbergh's success, Traffic, in 2000. The '90s had more than its share of innovative and challenging films, ranging from Anderson's Altmanesque Boogie Nights and Fincher's brutal Fight Club to Russell's prescient Three Kings and Jonze's unclassifiable Being John Malkovich. Waxman details the shooting of those films and others, and the corporate barriers their directors had to overcome. The young turks of the '90s didn't change the course of the film industry the way the '70s rebels did, but if they evaded the self-destructive lifestyles that sabotaged many of their earlier counterparts, their self-indulgences were manifested in their films instead, as Waxman's sympathetic but clear-eyed account shows. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By Clare Quilty
Format:Hardcover
If you felt a little let down by Peter Biskind's recent look at 90's indie film, "Down & Dirty Pictures," this juicier but also more personal book might be closer to what you were hoping to find there.
Instead of focusing primarily on Sundance and Miramax, Waxman focuses on the six men responsible for some of the biggest movies of the past decade: Quentin Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction"), P.T. Anderson ("Boogie Nights," "Magnolia"), Spike Jonze ("Being John Malkovich"), David O. Russell ("Three Kings"), David Fincher ("Fight Club") and Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic").
They're a mixed bag of personalities and Waxman tells their stories with detail and relish, and also touches on other interesting filmmakers such as Wes Anderson, Roger Avary, Charlie Kaufman, Alexander Payne and others (though some are conspicuously absent -- Spike Lee and especially Richard Linklater, who isn't even mentioned).
It's hard to miss with a collection of stories like this: Tarantino's rise to power; Hackman cursing Wes Anderson on the set of "Tenenbaums"; Avary's attempts to buy a famous French film studio; Russell headbutting George Clooney on the set of "Kings" and P.T. Anderson admitting that "Magnolia" was probably too long.
"Rebels" (very deliberately) rises to the same sordid, "print the legend" heights as Biskind's "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.... Read more ›
Instead of focusing primarily on Sundance and Miramax, Waxman focuses on the six men responsible for some of the biggest movies of the past decade: Quentin Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction"), P.T. Anderson ("Boogie Nights," "Magnolia"), Spike Jonze ("Being John Malkovich"), David O. Russell ("Three Kings"), David Fincher ("Fight Club") and Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic").
They're a mixed bag of personalities and Waxman tells their stories with detail and relish, and also touches on other interesting filmmakers such as Wes Anderson, Roger Avary, Charlie Kaufman, Alexander Payne and others (though some are conspicuously absent -- Spike Lee and especially Richard Linklater, who isn't even mentioned).
It's hard to miss with a collection of stories like this: Tarantino's rise to power; Hackman cursing Wes Anderson on the set of "Tenenbaums"; Avary's attempts to buy a famous French film studio; Russell headbutting George Clooney on the set of "Kings" and P.T. Anderson admitting that "Magnolia" was probably too long.
"Rebels" (very deliberately) rises to the same sordid, "print the legend" heights as Biskind's "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.... Read more ›
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a very quick read, but unfortunately shows all the signs of having been an equally quick write. I have never before stopped in the middle of reading a book to pull out a pen and write down all the glaring factual errors and omissions that I saw, but Rebels on the Backlot forced me to do just that. I see that many of the most egregious errors have already been noted by others, but here is some of what I wrote down as I read:
On page 231: "Texas preppie-geek Wes Anderson had made his first movie, Rushmore, based on his experience in prep school, with an utter unknown in the lead, Jason Schwartzman." Wes Anderson's first film, of course, was Bottle Rocket, not Rushmore. And, yes, Jason Schwartzman had no previous film acting experience before Rushmore, but was hardly an "utter unknown" to the film world- his family (both the Schwartzmans and the Coppolas) had done a little bit of film work in their past, both in front of and behind the cameras. Even Waxman might have recognized the mother of this "utter unknown" from all of the Rocky movies.
Traffic star Erika Christensen is identified on page 321 as "Erika Christenssen" and, most howlingly, on page 101 as "Julia Stiles." Yes, the two actresses do look alike, but that's just absurd.
On page 266, describing the marketing of Fight Club, Waxman writes that "Fincher insisted the studio hire a cutting-edge advertising firm, Weiden + Kennedy, based in Seattle." Weiden + Kennedy are based in Portland, home of Nike, their biggest client. They have offices in Portland, New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and Shanghai, but not in Seattle.
On page 194, Waxman describes the profound influence of Aimee Mann's music in the creation of Magnolia, both at the script level, and in the soundtrack.... Read more ›
On page 231: "Texas preppie-geek Wes Anderson had made his first movie, Rushmore, based on his experience in prep school, with an utter unknown in the lead, Jason Schwartzman." Wes Anderson's first film, of course, was Bottle Rocket, not Rushmore. And, yes, Jason Schwartzman had no previous film acting experience before Rushmore, but was hardly an "utter unknown" to the film world- his family (both the Schwartzmans and the Coppolas) had done a little bit of film work in their past, both in front of and behind the cameras. Even Waxman might have recognized the mother of this "utter unknown" from all of the Rocky movies.
Traffic star Erika Christensen is identified on page 321 as "Erika Christenssen" and, most howlingly, on page 101 as "Julia Stiles." Yes, the two actresses do look alike, but that's just absurd.
On page 266, describing the marketing of Fight Club, Waxman writes that "Fincher insisted the studio hire a cutting-edge advertising firm, Weiden + Kennedy, based in Seattle." Weiden + Kennedy are based in Portland, home of Nike, their biggest client. They have offices in Portland, New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and Shanghai, but not in Seattle.
On page 194, Waxman describes the profound influence of Aimee Mann's music in the creation of Magnolia, both at the script level, and in the soundtrack.... Read more ›
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Howard Lamp
Format:Hardcover
I tore through this book, enjoying it thoroughly. It's a quick entertaining read, and seems to reveal a lot about the craziness of trying to manage a directing career.
However, there's also a really shoddy first-draft feel to the book. The irony is Waxman is a New York Times writer, and the book is filled with passages that would embarrass the paper. Example- "The question of Tarantino's ability to write without the support of a partner became a real question over the years." Oy vey!
The factual errors also make me wonder how much of these stories I can take at face value. She briefly mentions Wes Anderson's first film, Bottle Rocket, early in the book and then later calls Rushmore his first film. She misidentifies Erika Christensen as Julia Stiles in Traffic. She reports that David Russell used a real corpse for a shot of a bullet entering a body in Three Kings when it's been reported widely that this story was a misunderstanding of a joke that Russell had made and a dummy was actually used. These are just the ones that I (not a film industry person) caught.
That said, I recommend it to wannabe film directors as a fun set of stories that may inspire you or may revulse you to the business altogether.
However, there's also a really shoddy first-draft feel to the book. The irony is Waxman is a New York Times writer, and the book is filled with passages that would embarrass the paper. Example- "The question of Tarantino's ability to write without the support of a partner became a real question over the years." Oy vey!
The factual errors also make me wonder how much of these stories I can take at face value. She briefly mentions Wes Anderson's first film, Bottle Rocket, early in the book and then later calls Rushmore his first film. She misidentifies Erika Christensen as Julia Stiles in Traffic. She reports that David Russell used a real corpse for a shot of a bullet entering a body in Three Kings when it's been reported widely that this story was a misunderstanding of a joke that Russell had made and a dummy was actually used. These are just the ones that I (not a film industry person) caught.
That said, I recommend it to wannabe film directors as a fun set of stories that may inspire you or may revulse you to the business altogether.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ahhh the 90's...Going to the movies became a whole other experience. Just as directors of the 70's and 80's left their mark as groundbreaking filmmakers with new and innovative techniques, so these rebels of the 90's gave us new experiences on the big screen to awe us to delight. Although there were many that could be talked about for decades to come, "Rebels On The Backlot" by Sharon Waxman tells us the story of six of the most rebellious of the bunch. Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, David O. Russell, David Fincher, and Spike Jonze. What a group!
The subtitle of this book, 'Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered Hollywood Studio System' is the focus of this book, and the story is not always pretty. Waxman goes into some depth into the making of such films as "Boogie Nights", "Pulp Fiction", "Traffic", "Three Kings", "Fight Club", and "Being John Malkovich" among some others by these now famous, but once struggling filmmakers. They were not always likable lads, often more like spoiled and thoughtless prima donnas alienating many around them, but one thing is for sure, they were geniuses with great visions, visions they wanted done their own way not chopped and edited or rewritten by those who thought they knew better. The big studios often scoffed at their ideas, saying audiences just couldn't handle the films these artists envisioned, the independents caught on but couldn't always afford the high price it would take to create their masterpieces. So these six were often left to deal with the big studios, which was often like a war.
Waxman begins at the beginning. Each director's life from childhood and the effects it had on their filmmaking is delved into.... Read more ›
The subtitle of this book, 'Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered Hollywood Studio System' is the focus of this book, and the story is not always pretty. Waxman goes into some depth into the making of such films as "Boogie Nights", "Pulp Fiction", "Traffic", "Three Kings", "Fight Club", and "Being John Malkovich" among some others by these now famous, but once struggling filmmakers. They were not always likable lads, often more like spoiled and thoughtless prima donnas alienating many around them, but one thing is for sure, they were geniuses with great visions, visions they wanted done their own way not chopped and edited or rewritten by those who thought they knew better. The big studios often scoffed at their ideas, saying audiences just couldn't handle the films these artists envisioned, the independents caught on but couldn't always afford the high price it would take to create their masterpieces. So these six were often left to deal with the big studios, which was often like a war.
Waxman begins at the beginning. Each director's life from childhood and the effects it had on their filmmaking is delved into.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must own.
Great inside dope, you really need to get this book, a great book with awesome inside info., makes a great gift too.
Published 3 months ago by Steven Francis
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good intel on how films get made
Yea OK there are some mistakes in the book. But I don't get the criticisms of the writing. It's journalism style -- not histrionic. Read more
Published 12 months ago by MusicFan2012
2.0 out of 5 stars
Inexcuseable, too many errors
I am currently reading this book and came on here because I spotted several errors in the text and wanted to see if anyone else had noticed this. Read more
Published on April 2, 2007 by Catherine
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rebels On The Backlot
While, by my definition, the directors here can hardly be considered rebellious, in Hollywood terms they certainly are. All fought the Hollywood machine. Read more
Published on March 15, 2007 by Chris Hilton
2.0 out of 5 stars
The errors you spot will make you question everything else.
Like several of the other reviewers I initially enjoyed the book and felt comfortable that the stories were coming from a credible reliable source. Read more
Published on February 7, 2007 by Matthew Rice
1.0 out of 5 stars
If you write a bio, why ignore the wife? An example of bad journalism
If you take the time to write a biography of a person, isn't it part of one's research to interview their wife? Read more
Published on September 2, 2006 by Daniel J. Wallace
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good....
Sharon Waxman delves into the lives of six men who have made headlines and redefined the way studios treat directors. Read more
Published on March 3, 2006 by Paul Vingioto
4.0 out of 5 stars
Despite a few factual errors, an important book
The factual errors are inexcusable (though common in publishing these days) and the writing is too impersonal, but this is easily the best journalistic book I've read on the films... Read more
Published on September 22, 2005 by Steve S.
3.0 out of 5 stars
half-and-half
a little too much gossip, not enough real info.
great stories about the behind-the-scenes, of getting these films made, of the struggles of the directors. Read more
great stories about the behind-the-scenes, of getting these films made, of the struggles of the directors. Read more
Published on September 4, 2005 by fisherKing
5.0 out of 5 stars
must have
This book is a must for every movie lover,buy it now before it's too late;
A.
A.
Published on September 2, 2005 by Adriaan Van Den Hoof
