Cheap Down and Dirty Pictures : Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film (Book) (Peter Biskind) Price

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Customer Reviews of Down and Dirty Pictures : Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film

This book, following the independent film scene from the late 80's to today, is fascinating to read. Some great stuff.

Miramax founder Harvey Weinstein is the real star of this book. Biskind portrays him as, well, pretty much the satan of the film industry. He comes across as truly evil, throwing temper tantrums (several times on a single page), almost coming to blows with certain directors and producers, threatening others etc. I'm surprised Harvey hasn't bought up every copy yet to keep it from being sold it is so negative. You actually end up feeling kind of sorry for him the book is so negative. Sundance creator Robert Redford is another star of the book, and also isn't portrayed very well.

The problem with the book (which was also the problem with EASY RIDERS) comes when Biskind tries to offer his opinions on the films being discussed. He is not a very good critic. Overpraising some films, writing off others, he should have just stuck to telling the story and not giving his thoughts on the films. Plus, I was quite surprised that one of Miramax's bigger hits from the era (LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE) is never mentioned. That was one of Harvey's big marketing successes and is not even gone into.

Still, the book is so much fun to read that, accurate or not, you can't put it down. Your jaw will drop several times a page reading about different events.

It is a must for every film fans library.

Miramax employees need not read
"Down and Dirty Pictures" is Peter Biskind's sort-of sequel--in spirit, for certain--to his previous film book, "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls."

In "Easy Riders," Biskind bemoaned how the "personal" film movement of the 1970's gave way to blockbusters such as "Star Wars." In a similar vein, "Down and Dirty" explores how the independent (or "indie") films of the 1980's were co-opted by the Hollywood studio system.

Biskind has enough blame to fill 484 pages (minus footnotes and index), but he reserves most of his wrath for two prime suspects. The first is Robert Redford, whose Sundance Film Festival began with the best of intentions. Redford wanted to give a shot to struggling filmmakers without having to deal with indifferent studio heads. But Redford eventually lost interest in his own endeavor--getting filmmakers' hopes up and then leaving them hanging, as he went off to pursue his own Hollywood projects.

But most of Biskind's bile is reserved for Harvey Weinstein--who, with his brother Bob, started a company called Miramax in the late 1970's. Miramax began by grabbing any piece of film it could and milking it for every last dollar. (Weinstein once squeezed two Monty Python concert films into three.)

But a low-priced flick titled "sex, lies, and videotape" forever changed the fortunes of both Miramax and indie films. Pooh-poohing the art-house approach, Weinstein purchased "sex, lies," released it like a major studio flick, and ended up making studio-sized profits.

The outstanding grosses of "sex, lies"--and "Pulp Fiction," five years later--initially seemed to boost indie efforts. But disillusioned indie directors soon realized that their little movies didn't have enough pizazz to make nine-figure profits.

The book isn't perfect. Biskind mixes metaphors as though he was a human Cuisinart. And in his efforts to cast villains, Biskind often tries to have it both ways. (He dismisses Miramax's "The Cider House Rules" as "tepid" and then chastizes Miramax for not giving it more support.)

But as with his previous tome, "Down and Dirty Pictures" demonstrates both Biskind's passion for film and his ability to tell a riveting story. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in modern film history.

Inside the Dance
As someone who has been relieved by the rise of indepenedent film in recent years, Peter Biskind certainly reveals the spirit behind that rise but also the spit behind the walls of the leading independent producers, the Weinsteins and Mr Redford.

If you are a lover of film, you will greatly enjoy reading the behind the scenes manouvering and infighting behind scripts, endings, and actors. Biskind's brilliant research and matter-of-fact writing will reveal much of the business in his chapters, so if you do not want to know too much and like to enjoy just the film itself, keep walking by this book.

However, if you do like to know the decisions that create film, and especially independent film, this is the book of the year. Soderbergh and Tarantino feature prominently, along with Hawke and Damon. Good Will Hunting is looked at closely, as the script of two young men, their first, rose to Oscar fame through Miramax's direction.

The books prominent questions include: is now the time for a new indie movement with the Weinsteins and Redford becoming formulaic and looking for hidden blockbusters, more than hidden art; and who will fill the void if these two studios do go for bigger-grossing goals; and should the men and women behind films suggesting humane themes be of a certain moral character?

In the end, the accomplishemnts of the indies are explored and they are amazing: sex, lies..pulp fiction, good will...Biskind, being a believer in the force of film, plays the gadfly to hopefully protect genuine indie enthusiasm and creations and their futures. The book is as provocative as it is historical. I highly suggest it for lovers of the medium.