Customer Reviews

You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

If you like movies over the past 30 years, you'll love this book. It's well written by an intelligent man who saw the industry from a perspective few do, as studio head. The man that writes the checks. Medavoy is pretty blunt about how movies get made and how he managed to make bad movies as well as good.

The highlight of the book comes early as he is in charge of production at UA and produces Best Oscar movies repeatedly in his first few years starting with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Rocky. UA specialized in making artist's driven movies which shaped Medavoy's footprint to stay away from youthful, tentpole event movies throughout his career. From Rocky to The Terminator to Silence of the Lambs you will be amazed at the stars and movies that Medavoy worked with. To further this study of movie history, after UA Medavoy worked at Tri-star pictures shortly after it was purchased by Sony working with Peter Guber and Jon Peters. This first-hand account of the Japanese invasion in Hollywood is interesting in and of itself.

Medavoy does a great job of focusing this book on the movies, the personalities involved, and the business side of the industry. He does not burden the reader with unwanted history of his childhood. But he does give great insight into the cultural influences of his job, the intellectual environment he functioned in, and his political involvement with Gary Hart and Bill Clinton. I strongly recommend this book if you like movies, stories of the business side of making movies, or American cultural influences of the last 30 years.

While on vacation a year ago, I played tennis for a couple of days with Medavoy and his business associate Arnie Weems. In my brief encounter with him, it's obvious he is an extremely intelligent man. A somewhat reserved man, who showed no real interest in intellectual discussion but only in relaxing and enjoying his tennis. His associate who was mentioned in the book was much more outgoing and friendly. I believe Medavoy's reserved nature is due to the many people who want to know him to somehow break into the movie business so his reserved nature is understandable.

My friend gave me a copy of this and I couldn't put it down. Medavoy gives a killer insider's view of what it is really like to run a film studio. If you want to know what really went on behind great films like Silence of the Lambs and Rocky, Medavoy tells you. There are great stories about Robert Redford and Kevin Costner, but the funniest is about Madonna trying to get her first movie. Recommended for people who want to know more about the behind the scenes of movies in the 70's, 80's and 90's.

A fascinating take on the film industry from both an agent's/producer's point of view. A number of the films he's had a direct handle in are amongst my all time favorite list and it's interesting to read backstage stories about the process, how these films came to be and how sometimes it's merely the luck of the draw.

Kudos to Mr. Michael Medavoy for an extremely well written book as well as a long and distinguished career.

His book is enjoyable from start to finish.

Medavoy is a character I've read about before, most notably in Hit and Run, one of the most fascinating Hollywood books ever written. He has been behind many fantastic movies and worked with some terrific characters. However, this book misses it's mark--it is really worth 3.5 stars but I rounded down. There are interesting stories--particularly about building a movie company, but the stories are without that depth that the best Hollywood books provide. There are almost no personal details about Medavoy's life--which while he probably wants to maintain his privacy, leave the story lacking. His political adventures are interesting, but more interesting that his personal life? He is critical of people, but in a way that leaves you wanting more. Perhaps I love dirt, and Medavoy is too classy for that. Perhaps he wants to maintain his working relationships. Nevertheless, he plays humble, and probably is. Autobiographies in Hollywood are a tricky genre, but Robert Evans provided a terrific read with the Kid Stays in the Picture. This books has a good stories and interesting moments, but was at times slow and often told the same story over and over. We got the point the first time Mike. I'm not upset I read it, but expected so much more. He has must have some great stories in there somewhere...

Neither Medavoy, his cowriter nor his editors seem to be on friendly terms with the English language. This ungrammatical, repetitive, ego-driven, cliche-ridden front-office memoir nonetheless makes an important contribution to American cinema history. Medavoy was, after all, involved in some of the most distinguished films of the last 30 years. The author's personality dominates, revealing more about him than perhaps he intended. On the plus side, he has a sense of humor and provides ample behind-the-scenes detail.

There is nothing simple about being a success in making movies. It is a time consuming endeavor and one that requires truckloads of money at (great) risk. Mike Medavoy & Josh Young make their story interesting from beginning to end and talk more of the business end of films as that is Mike's expertise. There are a few stories about stars, but primarily it is the problems encountered in making and financing a movie. I learned a lot about the film industry which is now approaching an entirely new way of doing things as regards the technical composition (digital and computer enhanced)as touched on at the end of this book. This is an intelligent and interesting book about filmmaking.

This book is an excellent book that should be read by every aspiring filmmaker who dreams about making studio movies because it gives you a great insight into the history, inside politics, and the power decisions that go into every aspect of getting a studio movie made. I recommend it highly.

Published in 2002, much of this book deals with motion picture studio deals, players and practices dating back to the 1980s (when the author ran Orion).

Mike Medavoy's Bio is a very good educational book
Dear Sirs:
(...) I spend all my days after school and during the week-ends watching movies at home with my friends and our parents. We like, especially, all the Mike Medavoy's movies: Holes, Apocalypse Now, Rocky, Basic, Robocop, Cliffhanger, The 6th Day, Apt Pupil, The Thin Red Line, Terminator, Hook, Platoon... We like his movies because he is a producer with conscience. For these reasons I think that the Mike Medavoy's Bio is a very good educational book. This book really deserves to be distributed in all the Schools, Colleges and Universities of Cinema of the Country (Hey, teacher, thank you!).
Plus I really think that Mr. Medavoy is a Good Man, a Good Son, a Good Father and a Good Friend. He never judge the other People (he just writes the history) and he is always helping a lot of great talents. He is an unique human being in Hollywood. Mike Medavoy knows how to do movies with an extraordinary talent and with great love.
(...)

While not quite as free of gossip and innuendo as he hopes, this book stays pretty much on the subject, making movies and running the companies that make movies. It could have been longer. He could have discussed more movies and particularly more of the hundred he should be shot for and how and why they got made. But given that he has rarely been the line producer (the person in day to day charge) it provided a valuable look at the business side of The Business.