Synopses & Reviews
Down and Dirty Pictures chronicles the rise of independent filmmakers and of the twin engines the Sundance Film Festival and Miramax Films that have powered them. As he did in his acclaimed
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Peter Biskind profiles the people who took the independent movement from obscurity to the Oscars, most notably Sundance founder Robert Redford and Harvey Weinstein, who with his brother, Bob, made Miramax an indie powerhouse.
Today Sundance is the most important film festival this side of Cannes, and Miramax has become an industry giant. Likewise, the directors who emerged from the independent movement, such as Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, and David O. Russell, are now among the best-known directors in Hollywood. Not to mention the actors who emerged with them, like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Ethan Hawke, and Uma Thurman.
Candid, penetrating, and controversial, Down and Dirty Pictures is a must-read for anyone interested in the film world and where it's headed.
Review
"[G]ritty, ferocious, compulsively readable....Above all, Biskind conveys a key truth: the Weinsteins and Redford, whatever their personal imperfections, possess courage and a deep, overwhelming love of film." Publishers Weekly
Review
"[A]bsurdly entertaining....[Biskind's] new book is an even bouncier ride [than Easy Riders, Raging Bulls]....Down and Dirty Pictures is the best account we're likely to get of how Miramax both jump-started the indie movement and ultimately harmed it..." Dwight Garner, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Biskind shrewdly shows a vanguard becoming the establishment. This time, the story is less about directors than about producers...whose savvy and cinephilia are accompanied by...a habit of recutting films that is strongly reminiscent of the old studio system." The New Yorker
Review
"Biskind...has done some exploratory surgery on the underbelly of the indie-film scene and found it has plenty of ulcers....Whether or not Biskind's book becomes a pulp nonfiction hit, one thing seems certain: he'll never eat lunch in Tribeca again." Jeffrey Ressner, Time
Review
"[B]oth fascinating and maddening. [Biskind] is a wonderful writer, but his story often gets away from him, lost in a wealth of incidental detail....Yet there's a craning-the-neck-at-a-car-crash fascination...which abounds in memorable scenes..." Gregory McNamee, The Hollywood Reporter
Review
"In Down and Dirty Pictures, Biskind takes on the movie industry of the 1990s and again gets the story....Peter Biskind captures his era as John Dunne did that of the Zanucks." Frank Rich, The New York Times
Review
"Biskind's book, however flawed, must be welcomed for attempting to interpret the entertainment industry with at least some seriousness of purpose. Not to mention full sentences." Sharon Waxman, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[A] folklorist's survey of broken dreams, blinkered optimism, outright treachery and...striking dualities....Is there a moment between the covers where you think art will actually vanquish commerce? No. But there are certain classic things about it." John Anderson, The Washington Post Book World
Review
"[D]ishy, teeming, superbly reported....The book is packed with lively inside anecdotes....[A] juicy and fascinating exposé... (Grade: A-)" Entertainment Weekly
Review
"The author seems less interested in his history of the Sundance Film Festival [than in Harvey Weinstein]....Unfortunately, Biskind has chosen to tell the story of the indie phenomenon chronologically, which has the effect of putting the least interesting part first." San Jose Mercury News
Review
"Down and Dirty is a fascinating surgical prying-open of the independent film industry, and the cutthroat producers who take the independence out of it." Providence Journal
Review
"An entertaining, gossip-packed swim through the shark-infested waters of the '90s independent film boom....[M]ost of Down and Dirty comes off as an exceptionally well-researched VH1 TV special." Dallas Morning News
Review
"[R]epetitive and sometimes dispirited, the work of a prophet who feels he's crying in the wilderness. Yet it's worth a read to anyone who cares about movies more complex and sophisticated than Pirates of the Caribbean." Charlotte Observer
Review
"[S]candalously entertaining....[Biskind's] tales are sometimes startling, often hilarious and always revealing of the most treacherous aspects of the film industry." Miami Herald
Review
"Messy, often boring, deeply repetitive....[I]t has an omnivorous, unsatisfiable appetite for bad behavior, which will keep that handful of readers who care about inside showbiz gossip reluctantly, relentlessly turning its pages." Los Angeles Times
Review
"[A] page-turner. It's a gossipy, behind-the-scenes account of the infighting and freewheeling deal-making.... The definition of 'edgy' may be a moving target, but Down and Dirty Pictures hits the mark." Orlando Sentinel
Review
"If Down and Dirty Pictures is valuable as business history, it's an absolute treasure as a comedy of manners. A gifted reporter, Mr. Biskind convinces nearly everyone in the industry to talk..." The Wall St. Journal
Review
"Down and Dirty Pictures is Peter Biskind's utterly engrossing sort-of sequel to his fantastic 1998 book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls....Biskind's witty, impeccably researched and hopelessly entertaining new saga chronicles the birth, and demise (at least spiritually) of the two 'twin towers' of independent film, Sundance and Miramax." Adrienne Miller, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
In this "dishy...superbly reported" (Entertainment Weekly) New York Times bestseller, Peter Biskind chronicles the rise of independent filmmakers who reinvented Hollywood--most notably Sundance founder Robert Redford and Harvey Weinstein, who with his brother, Bob, made Miramax Films an indie powerhouse. As he did in his acclaimed Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Peter Biskind "takes on the movie industry of the 1990s and again gets the story" (The New York Times). Biskind charts in fascinating detail the meteoric rise of the controversial Harvey Weinstein, often described as the last mogul, who created an Oscar factory that became the envy of the studios, while leaving a trail of carnage in his wake. He follows Sundance as it grew from a regional film festival to the premier showcase of independent film, succeeding almost despite the mercurial Redford, whose visionary plans were nearly thwarted by his own quixotic personality.
Likewise, the directors who emerged from the independent movement, such as Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, and David O. Russell, are now among the best-known directors in Hollywood. Not to mention the actors who emerged with them, like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Ethan Hawke, and Uma Thurman.
Candid, controversial, and "sensationally entertaining" (Los Angeles Times) Down and Dirty Pictures is a must-read for anyone interested in the film world.
Synopsis
In this groundbreaking exposé, Biskind shines a beacon into the world of independent film to reveal an irresistibly fascinating industry, replete with the same inflated egos, infighting, gossip, and greed as mainstream Hollywood, but also marked by a genuine and passionate love of filmmaking.
Synopsis
The author of the sensational classic Easy Riders, Raging Bulls delivers an astute account of how film powerhouses Miramax and Sundance nurtured and then transformed independent filmmaking, changing the face of Hollywood.
Synopsis
Down and Dirty Pictures chronicles the rise of independent filmmakers and of the twin engines -- the Sundance Film Festival and Miramax Films -- that have powered them. As he did in his acclaimed
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Peter Biskind profiles the people who took the independent movement from obscurity to the Oscars, most notably Sundance founder Robert Redford and Harvey Weinstein, who with his brother, Bob, made Miramax an indie powerhouse.
Today Sundance is the most important film festival this side of Cannes, and Miramax has become an industry giant. Likewise, the directors who emerged from the independent movement, such as Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, and David O. Russell, are now among the best-known directors in Hollywood. Not to mention the actors who emerged with them, like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Ethan Hawke, and Uma Thurman.
Candid, penetrating, and controversial, Down and Dirty Pictures is a must-read for anyone interested in the film world and where it's headed.
About the Author
Peter Biskind is the author of five previous books, including Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. He is a contributor to Vanity Fair and was formerly the executive editor of Premiere magazine. He lives with his family in Columbia County, New York.