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HOLLYWOOD WAR STORIES

Name: HOLLYWOOD WAR STORIES
Author: Rick Friedberg
ISBN: 978-1-5009-9161-6

HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE TRENCHES

by Rick Friedberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2018

While the advice mostly hits only a few notes, the endearing anecdotes of an up-and-down life in movies make up for it.

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A debut memoir traces a career in Hollywood while offering hard-won advice on how to make it in the film industry.

Friedberg was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but dreamt of living a fantasy life in Hollywood, where everyone, it seemed, “had a swimming pool, a hot car, and a luscious babe.” Each chapter presents a different aphorism on how to succeed in Hollywood. The author weaves in examples involving actors and other industry types—famous stars like Chevy Chase as well as producers and agents known mostly by insiders—while also presenting his own journey. Friedberg attended the University of Southern California, took a film elective, and was hooked by the work of such luminaries as Fellini, Truffaut, and Kubrick. The author ultimately decided to enter the business himself. He began making his own little films, getting his breaks where he could, including by shooting documentary footage at a rodeo back in Cheyenne. Slowly rising in the industry, he became a commercial and music video director and built his portfolio in studio films, eventually culminating in his directing the early1990s Leslie Nielsen vehicle Spy Hard. Friedberg’s advice solidly covers a lot of bases, including where to find inspiration, how to raise production money, and how to run a set. He has plenty of experience to draw on. But some suggestions can become repetitive, with many boiling down to the proviso that people have to work hard and trust their talent. For someone who readily cautions readers that Hollywood is full of snakes and not to take it too personally, Friedberg spends too much time airing his grievances over his studio’s management of Spy Hard, focusing particularly on two men, a “moron” and an “evil dog-licking” collaborator. Despite these lulls, the author ultimately comes across as a genuine film lover who cared for most of the people he worked with, making for a zippy read.

While the advice mostly hits only a few notes, the endearing anecdotes of an up-and-down life in movies make up for it.

Pub Date: May 5, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5009-9161-6

Page Count: 204

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2018

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.