Rating:  Summary: Very disappointing Review: I usually like reading about the seamy, scandalous side of show business but this is a bad job of reporting. There is far too much editorializing and with a one-sided socially conservative stance. Bad behavior in the entertainment industry is not limited to liberals. The book is far too opinionated as if the facts can't stand by themselves. The authors have a moralistic tone rather than an entertaining one and they come off as holier-than-thou. If they think Tom Cruise is homosexual (if that is so important to them), why don't they have the courage to say so directly instead of bitchy, multiple oblique references to "heterosexual Tom Cruise". I tried to finish it but it got to be too tedious.
Rating:  Summary: Canada gets the joke! Review: I saw the Hollywood, Interrupted authors on television here in Vancouver and bought the book expecting more of the same style humour they brought to the show. I got that and more. The humour is finely displayed in the repeated "heterosexual Tom Cruise" reference - a joke so obvious it's hilarious. But what really satisfies is the depth to which the writers go in examining the real stories behind the tabloid gossip and magazine fluff. Their thesis about entertainment journalists unethically working with Hollywood in terms of information control not only rings true at first pass, they actually prove their case against the media. Another feature worth commenting on are the wholly original pieces Breitbart and Ebner put to the page. I found the Hollyweird High chapter about screwed up celebrity kids fascinating and heartbreaking, and the B movie actor pots and pans salesman chapter was an excellent diversion in the relentless onslaught of celebrity skewering. As Vancouver sadly becomes "Hollywood North," Hollywood Interrupted deserves a spot in every chic hotel and trendy eatery here, if only to remind the locals that we once had a culture of our own.
Rating:  Summary: Tabloid gossip passed off as social science Review: This poorly written mess of a book presents the premise that leftist Hollywood celebrities are too screwed up to be role models for their own children, much less the rest of us. Unfortunately the sampling of old tabloid stories of dubious truth are compounded by constant contradictions to the premise. So some stars are good single parents, some are absent parents, some are neurotic ex-hippies. Is this not true perhaps, of say, parents in Idaho?The fact that entertainment welcomes more eccentric personalities to it's fold than perhaps accounting does not necessarily mean they create them. Some kids get screwed up whether dad is Marlon Brando or George Bush. Among the many problems with this sloppy book is the fact that in spite going back to the ancient movie scandal history, most contemporary juicy details are about family members of recent "celebrities" we already can't really place.
Rating:  Summary: A One star rating given due to a lack of negative numbers... Review: The subject at hand, the sleaze of the Hollywood elite and how "they" are trying to infect the rest of us with it, is presented in a (so-called) writing "style" that was last seen in the pages of the Enquirer prior to the election Richard Nixon. The constant references to "the heterosexual Tom Cruise" were enough to gall, as if anyone truly cared if he is or is not. While I understand the point that was being made, or rather, attempted to be made, and even agree with it to some extent, whatever was the point of writing an entire book railing about Hollywood sleaze in a manner that can only be described AS sleaze??? If a titillating tale is your cup of tea, I would suggest Hollywood Babylon (1 or 2) by Kenneth Anger, rather than this tripe.
Rating:  Summary: Never Again Review: The last time I purchased a "insider" book about Hollywood, I promised myself never again. After reading the fabulous reviews of this book, I thought I'd give it a try. Well this time I REALLY LEARNED MY LESSON!!!!!! Never again. All the information in the book was really old news. Anything that resembled gossip is so heavily cloaked to protect the individuals being discussed, one has no idea who they could be, and after several chapters of stale news, a million refrences to "the heterosexual Tom Cruise", (okay guys, I GET THE POINT!!!!!), and failed showbiz types selling cheap cookware, I had to force myself to finish the book. Anyone with an IQ higher than an gerbil already realizes that the Entertainment business is filled with shallow, creepy people with lots of dough that they can spend on their "hobbies". The part about Playboy and "Hef" was too much. The authors sounded like a coulple of kids that were jealous that they've not been invited to the Playboy Mansion. I would recommend that you save your hard earned money, and skip this one. I wish I had.
Rating:  Summary: Hollywood Under the Looking Glass: An Upside Down World Review: As a California native, ex-hippy kid who's worked in the film industry - this book at times surprised me, and often confirmed what I have seen from within. To call "Hollywood, Interrupted" nothing more than a celebrity exposé is to miss the entire point of the book. The details, some of which are lurid, are not just for frivolous gossip, but to point out that many of Hollywood's deranged, drugged-out, dysfunctional, neglectful, egotistical, hypocritical, love starved, overly paid entertainers are adored, awarded and paid well no matter how dangerous, immoral or perverted they are. What "Hollywood, Interrupted" is is a compilation of back-to-back celebrity idiocy and hypocrisy, which when read as a whole makes it clear that these are some of the last people on the planet who should be taken seriously. Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner make great points about Hollywood's views of family and children; this statement alone says so much of what seems to be Hollywood's problem, "The full time job of parenting requires absolute selflessness. In contrast, the full-time job of celebrity requires absolute selfishness." Exactly! Breitbart and Ebner reveal the stars', often, twisted politically correct thinking, their strange adoration of oppressive dictator Fidel Castro, their respect for creative pedophiles, how the "sensitive" comics have made much of comedy un-funny and nearly fascistic, the ease in which they will follow cults and strange religions, and how many of these wealthy stars want to raise taxes for middle America, yet pay their own employees paltry salaries. All of this is backed up by the celebrities' own ego-bloated quotes, films, television shows and pseudo documentaries, which make it all the more difficult for them to deny. The fact that Roman Polanski has Hollywood's respect, yet Laura Schlessinger receives their angry disgust for her views on family and children, is reason enough to question much of Hollywood's sanity. These stars happen to be America's most visible spokes-people with access to microphones and cameras so that they may spout their views, and shallow raunch and violence crammed products into our homes and throughout the planet is reason enough to take a closer look at celebrities. If people who consider this book something that would offend Liberals, that frightens me. I'd like to think that people of all political parties can agree that everyone should question the topics covered in the book, such as: neglect of children, disrespect for the nuclear family, adoration for pedophiles, dictators and drug addicts, the co-mingling of the porn industry into the mainstream. If these are topics that only conservatives are alarmed by, I'll stop calling myself an Independent and proudly step to the right. Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner point out that the plebians are revolting. I agree. Our views are being known via the internet, but also by letters to newspaper editors, boycotts and talk radio. We commoners don't have "Access Hollywood" and Barbara Walters to care what we think...and we're tired of being ignored. Stars have the ability to live in shiny, make-believe bubbles - Bubbles that people who state the truth, despite the threat of backlash, like Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner, may help to pop.
Rating:  Summary: Naked City Review: Hollywood Interrupted rocks and rocks hard. Some of the stories made me sick and some made me laugh, and I could not put it down until I got to the end where the authors announced that their next project would be a children's book called Don't Touch the Stars. Hilarious, but fitting. I cannot wait for whatever is next from these smart authors.
Rating:  Summary: The Liberal Media ate my Freedom Fries!!! Review: After reading 1/2 way through this book, I re-examined the reviews on the cover and finally noticed it's unequivical endorsement from some the nation's leading Liberal-bashing book authors. What I thought was a detailed expose on Hollyweird's many strange and moronic business dealings really turned into a half-hearted attempt to blame everything on the Liberals without naming names, organizations or citing direct proof to this conspiracy. An indictment on the essence of Hollywood's political agenda this book IS NOT. While it does cite numerous examples of tasteless marketing techniques and the tendacy for low-brow movie-making, this book fails to follow-up these examples with detailed evidence of particular producers and movie studio's attempt to undermine American values. For general, passive reading, this book is mildly entertaining, but is as historically and journalistically valid as a grain of salt. Buy it used and for less than $4.00 if you choose to purchase.
Rating:  Summary: no smoke without fire....... Review: having worked in the filmindustry for a long time now, i have crossed path and worked with most of of the celebrities mentioned in the book.i am astounded how accurate the information the authors have accumulated! i was always surprised myself how angelina jolie was allowed to adopt despite the crippling evidence that she is obviously not fit to be a parent.....the book says everything that i never dared to comment on at work.....most celebrities i work with do not hide the fact that they are addicted to something, that they are living a hedonistic lifestyle, what their relationship with their parents was like and if they are sexually interested in someone they make it blatantly clear,most of the time even in front of their partners or children or employees. the worst are when they voice their (sometimes twisted) political views and conspiracy theories without being asked. i witnessed some cringing scenes.but once they see a record or picture of their behaviour printed somewhere, all hell breakes loose. why? because they can and who is stopping them? we love the gossip in in our sick little sniggering way and let's be honest, the book is a fantastic read, if it is too hot for you get out of the kitchen! highly recommended!
Rating:  Summary: Humorless Mediocre Writing Review: I was hoping to be entertained by this book of Hollywood gossip, but I wasn't. It reads like a collection of old tabloid articles with nasty side comments.
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