Schlock Value: Hollywood at Its Worst [Hardcover]

Richard Roeper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2005

A hilarious collection of essays, riffs, and lists that celebrate the insanity of Hollywood -- for anyone who loves the movies.

Richard Roeper, like the rest of us, adores the movies. In this uproarious, offbeat book, he gives us a whole new set of critical lenses for assessing the movies and the people and the industry that make them. With his characteristic acerbic wit, he weaves short essays with lists that work together to explain where Hollywood succeeds -- and where it so often frustrates, disappoints, and fails us. But while Roeper devotes most of the book to mockery and ridicule, this book is, in the end, a love letter to film.

Some of the essays and lists included in Schlock Value:

--Comical statistical breakdowns, including career batting averages of actors
--Reviews of Hollywood finances, including budgets, salaries, and ticket prices
--A proposed moratorium on pet projects, e.g., Kevin Costner's The Postman or John Travolta's Battlefield Earth
--The age differences between Woody Allen and his various leading ladies
--Actors appearing around the world in television commercials, including a list of the biggest stars that do overseas commercials -- and the products they push

Schlock Value is the perfect book for anyone who loves grumbling and complaining about the movies -- but still can't help spending their weekends and evenings in front of the screen.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Roeper goes for the trifecta in this paean to Hollywood schlock, as short, opinionated essays; addictive lists; and a trashy-but-utterly-compelling subject combine to make an entertaining look at one aspect of the movies. Roeper's lists cover everything from inflated concession stand prices (a theater in suburban Chicago sells bottled water for $3.99) to "Bizarre Moments in the History of the Golden Globes" (in 1957, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack hijacked the stage to speed things up) to "Things That Can Be Done to Improve the Academy Awards." ("Memo to all nominees: Prepare a friggin' speech!") to "Wobbly Accents" (Brad Pitt as an Austrian explorer in Seven Years in Tibet). Some lists expand into essays, and vice versa (e.g., an Oscars overview prompts a list of "Most Disappointing Careers after Winning the Academy Award"). Opening with an insightful contrast of Chris Rock as a stand-up comic ("just might be the funniest person on the planet") with his movies ("they sucked"), Roeper moves on to such topics as actors' political comments, cast members replaced during filming, overhyped stars, one-hit wonders, pet projects, film clichés and anachronisms. Roeper's relaxed writing style, informal and witty, makes for an easy yet engaging read. (Feb. 2)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-This lighthearted collection of essays exposes the downside of being a professional movie critic. Roeper doesn't hide his disdain for mediocre actors and, worse, mediocre directors, and he blasts people who don't live up to their publicity. Some of the essays are quite educational. Determining true box-office champs based on inflation could be an interesting classroom exercise, as could the mean-spirited but amusing chapter about critics' blurbs. (Yes, there are "critics" who like everything, and if you see their name in an ad, you should run far away from the movie, because they never get blurbed if anyone else is available.) The author also explains how his pull quote for The Matrix: Revolutions was taken out of context, an interesting lesson in "critiquing the criticism." However, a chapter on the big movies of 2004, The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11, seems dated. In fact, the book's loose construction, while making it readable, also makes it feel slightly rough and unfinished-more like a journal or a blog than a tightly finished piece of literature. Still, for those who love films, Roeper's book dishes the dirt, but lovingly.-Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (February 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401307698
• ISBN-13: 978-1401307691
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,051,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must For Movie Fans, May 22, 2005

By 

Jim M. (Springfield MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Schlock Value: Hollywood at Its Worst (Hardcover)

I've been watching Roger Ebert's show since the early PBS days in the 70's. Have rarely missed a week. Agree or disagree with them, it is one of the only shows on TV with serious discussion about movies. So, I have been following Richard Roeper since he began on the show a few years ago. While I've watched him, I'll be honest, I've never read his column in the Sun Times.

While in a bookstore, I saw SCHLOCK VALUE on the shelf. After being plugged on the show for the past few months, I decided to pick it up and look at it. I immediately brought it to the checkout counter to buy.

What a great book!

Among the topics covered in the book, an analysis of the top "movie stars" and what percentage of bad films they make, a look at the faulty obsession with box office grosses, the Oscars, the Golden Globes and why they shouldn't be taken seriously, bloopers in films, how critical blurbs work (the quotes in movie ads), a behind the scenes look at the Ebert and Roeper show (including a sample schedule of screenings for the week), politics and film stars, and (in the best section of the book) a description of Lost films, films that never played theatres, playing on video or never released in any way.

The only problems with the book, at times, it seems a little disorganized. He bounces around from one topic to the next, even in the same chapter. Plus, a couple times he repeats himself, saying the same thing in different chapters. And, most of all, it is too short. The book is 210 pages, but it is the size of a TV Guide. I read it in one night. I wish the Lost Films section was an entire book on its own.

The book is a lot of fun. Roeper is more movie fan than film scholar and his writing shows that. He loves what he does.

Now, I'm going to have to read his columns more.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Beg to Differ, March 11, 2005

By 

Too Cold in Madison (Madison, WI, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Schlock Value: Hollywood at Its Worst (Hardcover)

The first reviewer takes film far too seriously. Modern cinema is most decidedly not "our greatest art form." Sheesh! Most of what comes out of Hollywood these days is mindless pap. That's not to say that a lot of it is not entertaining. Even some of the stupid stuff entertains some Friday nights after a long week's work. There are still even a few great films out there, and Roeper acknowledges this.

Guess what, critics are supposed to be critical, not sycophantic. I enjoyed the sarcastic wit of this book a lot more than I enjoyed some of the movies I've seen.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing look at Hollywood at its Worst, March 17, 2006

By 

Mark (Bowling Green, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Schlock Value: Hollywood at Its Worst (Hardcover)

The interesting part about Richard Roeper is that he seems to me to be a critic that speaks his mind, even at his angriest. While Roger Ebert would call a bad movie, well, a bad movie, Roeper opens up his insult box and would, at the very least, call it a disgusting piece of garbage, or something along those lines. The fact is, the world needs more critics like Richard Roeper. His accuracy is amazing to the point that it's insanely funny. Though he does not make his political views known on the show (he doesn't hide them either), he lets it all fly in Schlock Value. He takes aim at everyone from Joel Siegel (on his positive review of Cat in the Hat), to idiot liberal-hater Ann Coulter, to Wireless Magazine's Earl Dittman. Roeper leaves no holds barred and points out the idiocy of some of Hollywood's worst. One of my favorite sections in the book is Roeper's attack on "Quote Sl*ts" like Earl Dittman, the completely braindead Shawn Edwards (Fox-TV), and Mark S. Allen. The only critic that he left out that I wish he would have taken down was Jeffrey Lyons of NBC-TV. Find me an awful movie and I will show you that the only people to give it good reviews are these critics. Roeper also takes aim at the complications of the Academy Awards, especially regarding the long speeches of the lesser winners ("All due respect to these people, but nobody knows who you are and nobody has seen your work and nobody knows anyone you're thanking."). Roeper ranges from career "batting averages" to "Most Disappointing Careers After Winning the Academy Award," a list that includes F. Murry Abraham, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, and Cuba Gooding Jr. Roeper is insanely funny, yet he is insanely accurate. Nobody points out the obvious better than he does.