Sex, Stupidity and Greed: Inside the American Movie Industry

by Ian Grey

Inside the American movie industry Journey into the dark, sordid and stupid underside of Hollywood with this compulsively readable, wry and humourous book. Featuring interviews with Directors Wes Craven, John Waters, Ulli Lommel. Essential reading for anyone who wonders about the chilling downward spiral of big budget filmaking in the last decade.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0965104273
• ISBN13: 9780965104272
• Release Date: June 1997
• Publisher: Juno Books
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

No Holds Barred

In this book, Ian Grey explains how tripe blockbusters like "Waterworld" get made, and why there hasn't been a breath of fresh air in the entertainment industry in years. Ian knows many insiders and people whose ideas have been rebuffed by some 25-year-old suit who has no idea what originality is. He also advances theories on vanity projects and stars-turned-director/producer and why this is a bad thing. He pulls no punches in giving us the insider's view on today's rash of bad movies and movies with the same tired plots.Especially intriguing and interesting is Ian's interviews with the Hollywood B-movie set and several well-known horror movie wunderkinds. Ian writes very sharply, sarcastically, and with huge amounts of sardonic wit. He's not angry - he's aghast!Incidentally, Ian is also a terrific fiction writer. He has a horror story in "Embraces: Dark Erotica", an anthology edited by Paula Guran. Check it out!

funny and very, very smart

Ian Grey answers the question everybody asks themselves as they exit the multiplex: why do movies suck ? He also has ideas about what to do about it. And if you don't feel like doing anything... he'll make you laugh instead of grinding your teeth. Some of these interviews and essays are fabulous (Wes Craven, the life-affirming qualities of gore, yes... the Oscar night, Sean Young, Ulli Lommel...). Others are "merely" great, and the whole book is enlightening and immensely entertaining. It should be a must read for moviemakers, for moviegoers, and for all those who have stopped going because, well, indeed, movies suck.

Hilarious, scathing...a work of dark art.

. This book is a cynical, brutal look at Hollywood today. Wouldn't call it uplifting, but it is a riot and explains how awful movies like twister get made.

Interesting read

I enjoyed this book. It exposed the dark underbelly of the entertainment industry. My only problem with it was the author seemed to focus on Horror flicks more than other genres. Also, it doesn't really conclude it just ends. But the focus of the book was clear, and I will not look at a summer 'blockbuster' the same way.

one word - refreshing

How this book managed to slip past the publishing industry amazes me. This book reinforces the sanities that I find being pressed, everyday.