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What Just Happened?: Bitter Hollywood Tales from the Front Line
£2.70
Forget everything you’ve heard about Hollywood. What Just Happened: Bitter Hollywood Tales from the Front Line is the real deal. In Art Linson’s true and uproarious tale of what it is to make movies, we get to explore, at close range, finicky directors, clueless executives, shameless marketers, famous actors, battered screenwriters, and hapless producers crossing paths in such calamitous ways that it’s a miracle these films get made at all. Whether he’s trying to persuade an executive that Gwyneth Paltrow has enough chin to carry the lead in a movie, forcing an enraged Alec Baldwin to shave off his mountain-man beard, discussing ankle hair loss with Dustin Hoffman, or sitting through an excruciating reading of a David Mamet script as Robert DeNiro toys with the notion of heading up the cast, Linson gives us a brutally honest, funny, and comprehensive tour through the horrors of Hollywood, from script to screen. If you love the movies or not, you won’t be able to resist the stories behind them. You also won’t be able to resist Linson, a born story-teller whose wicked sense of humor leaves nobody safe-not even himself.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, New edition (1 Sept. 2003) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 192 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0747562059 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0747562054 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 1.3 x 19.7 cm |
by sc paul
This is the source material for the Hollywood movie of the same name. It’s an entertaining read, but I would have liked more gossip.
by M. Clark
I very recently bought this concise book and, having read a smidge over half of it thus far, I can say that I’m enjoying it!
What makes it appealing is the fact that the author is, not was, a bona fide, highly successful producer still working at the top of the Hollywood tree.
The structure works well – without giving anything away, Art Linson ties his anecdotal tales together within a conversation he is having with ‘Jerry’, a former studio head with a very sadistic sense of humour, someone who, now a nobody in Hollywood, is taking great delight in Linson’s struggles, and I find this structure works very well.
The stories themselves are humorous (not laugh-out-loud hilarious, but that’s not the intention), interesting and engaging, but most of all, insightful – a true behind the scenes peek into the crazy business of show with a Hollywood veteran.
So if you share a fascination with Hollywood, as I do, then this is a great little book to add to Bill Goldman’s, Lawrence Turman, Ed Epstein, Jerry Weintraub’s etc. books on the fascinating business that is Hollywood.
by ANXI HINTON
Very good and thanks
by John E. Davidson
Unlike the other reviewers I enjoyed this book – however, do I understand why they were disappointed.
The book lacks any real structure – it is a bit of ramble around events that occurred while producing The Edge, Great Expectations and Fight Club. The book is not long on substance either – you do not learn a lot about Hollywood or even Art Linson.
However, if you are familiar with the films and are comfortable with the fact that much of the book is written as dialogue then there is much to enjoy. There were many moments that made me laugh and/or smile.
by J. Haslam
This has recently been made into a De Niro film. Looks as though it is going to follow a fine traditon of failing Art Linson productions. One or two amusing anecdotes in the book, some insight into Hollywood paranoia, but there are plenty of better books on how to make movies. William Goldman’s ‘Adventures in the screen trade’ sets the standard. Marc Norman’s ‘What happens next’ is an interesting history of screen writing. he doesn’t have a particularly dynamic style – which may account for his limited screen credits – but there’s plenty of meat.
by John Smith
This is a good book. Written by a true Hollywood ‘Player’ it is both insightful and enjoyable. It runs to just over 160 pages. I didn’t take with the device employed using a stooge to be relayed the stories to but other than that it is a great wee read. Recommended. I am going to buy Linson’s other book which is longer and that was the only real fault of this one.