Synopses & Reviews
The 1990s saw a shock wave of dynamic new directing talent that took the Hollywood studio system by storm. At the forefront of that movement were six innovative and daring directors whose films pushed the boundaries of moviemaking and announced to the world that something exciting was happening in Hollywood. Sharon Waxman of the New York Times spent the decade covering these young filmmakers, and in Rebels on the Backlot she weaves together the lives and careers of Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction; Steven Soderbergh, Traffic; David Fincher, Fight Club; Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights; David O. Russell, Three Kings; and Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich.
Review
"[A] triumph of journeywoman legwork....[A] rich and detailed if ultimately bleak portrait of the lives of young talent on the make and the games they play." The Washington Post
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"[A] lively book with gossipy and readable stories about some obsessive guys who are as much rascals as rebels." Los Angeles Times Book Review
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"Terrific...wildly informative and readable about the plight of the biggest young talents in modern movies." Buffalo News
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"[R]iveting tales of Hollywood hubris....It's a fun, sometimes nasty read, although a bit sloppy with the facts in spots. (Grade: B-)" Entertainment Weekly
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"Rebels might have been a classic of show-business reportage had Waxman had only two things: a better editor and a willingness to let loose with what she really thinks about some of these gifted jerks." Ken Tucker, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[I]f [the young turks of the '90s] evaded the self-destructive lifestyles that sabotaged many of their earlier counterparts, their self-indulgences were manifested in their films instead, as Waxman's sympathetic but clear-eyed account shows." Booklist
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"Enjoyably dishy." Variety
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"[Waxman's] thorough reporting results in a compulsively readable chronicle of the decade's auteurs and their work." Premiere
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"Admirably reported....Waxman unearths juicy anecdotes that'll keep film fans cackling and turning the pages." Salon.com
Review
"Sharon Waxman's book Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System, is rife with gossip, filling a similar vein as Peter Biskind's Down and Dirty Pictures....All in all, while the book makes for some entertaining reading, and quite a few belly laughs, Rebels on the Backlot is about as substantive as a 300-page issue of Premiere magazine without either the ads or the fact checkers." Gerry Donaghy, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)
Synopsis
The 1990s saw a shock wave of dynamic new directing talent that took the Hollywood studio system by storm. At the forefront of that movement were six innovative and daring directors whose films pushed the boundaries of moviemaking and announced to the world that something exciting was happening in Hollywood. Sharon Waxman of the New York Timesspent the decade covering these young filmmakers, and in Rebels on the Backlotshe weaves together the lives and careers of Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction; Steven Soderbergh, Traffic; David Fincher, Fight Club; Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights; David O. Russell, Three Kings; and Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich.
About the Author
Sharon Waxman is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Wrap.com and a former Hollywood correspondent for the New York Times and previously a correspondent for the Washington Post. She lives in southern California with her family.