Open Wide : How Hollywood Box Office Became a National Obsession

Rating:
Summary: Growing marketing of Hollywood produces fewer good movies...
Review: The fact is that Hollywood has become little more then a Gossip new town with magazines like variety and web-sites like Ain't It Cool and DARk Horizons putting out tons and tons of both electronic and newsprint propoganda that is as fake as anything we saw the superpowers do during the Cold War. This book seems to celebrate it, but it's eally sad, All three movies listed on the 2003 summer weekend were large on visual effects or glamor, but weak scripts and even weaker casting of people who can not act. How anyone can see this as a good thing is beyound all rational thought to me, or good taste.

Rating:
Summary: Most Agreeable
Review: I wouldn't want to bet that this will tell anyone who works in Hollywood anything they don't already know. But to the rest of us it's a eye-opening look at the popcorn-driven big-box office system that keeps one "big" picture after another coming towards us on a treadmill. It's a treadmill heading towards disposibility, but nobody seems to care in mellow L.A. The authors are more succesful at revealing the state of Hollywood today than at how it connects to yesterday, and maybe that's why.

Still it's a compelling read, most well-judged when it looks at how studio executive can $&#* up their own films. And especially when taking a look at the role of fans in the marketing machine, when it comes to films like Terminator 3.

The authors see the cynical exploitation on the one hand, but rightly point out studios can't assume they can control or predict fan reaction either.




Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Read
Review: I'm a movie buff, but not a Hollywood guy and devour a lot of the big books that come out of Hollywood. This books is great because it gets all the dirt, gets the big picture and small picture and captures it in a way that is enjoyable to the lay reader. I bet that this book will be on every night table in L.A.

Rating:
Summary: Reveals the nitty gritty of clashing titans
Review: Open Wide: How Hollywood Box Office Became A National Obsession is the tell-it-like-it-is story of how the millions of dollars and literally years of work behind Hollywood summer movies finally all come down to a fierce popularity competition -- a competition whose success is measured by the size of the opening weekend box office gross. Focusing especially on the elaborate case study of one weekend's box office face-off between Terminator 3, Legally Blonde 2, and Brad Pitt's Sinbad in thousands of theaters across America, Open Wide reveals the nitty gritty of clashing titans and the individuals who put so much of their heart, soul, and reputation into movies. Movie buffs and film fans are treated to a fascinating peek behind the curtain where the power struggles resemble the royal intrigues of antiquity.



Rating:
Summary: MUST READING FOR MOVIE BUFFS
Review: This is a fascinating look at the marketing of major motion pictures, focusing on the summer 2003 releases of TERMINATOR 3, LEGALLY BLOND 2, and SINBAD. I picked this book up after reading about it in People magazine and in the local newspaper book review. This book explains the nuts and bolts of hyping movies and mega-box office returns.

It was interesting to learn that focus groups and test audiences have a lot to do with what ends up on the final silver screen. The process of movie by committee seems to take a lot of the creative air out of a movie's sails.

Stars and trailer placement generate a lot of return later. Extremely informative and insightful with every page. I learned a lot about the motion picture industry that does not usually make it into the news.

I was especially interested in the panic that goes on behind the scenes when the suits get an inkling that their film isn't going to do well. Movie buffs interested in the marketing will find this very interesting reading.

Rating:
Summary: Open Wide
Review: This is a well-written and revealing study of Hollywood marketing. The first weekend means everything in the 21st century! Fun, compelling, exciting....it's a slice of film culture.