Schlock Value: Hollywood at Its Worst - Hardcover

Roeper, Richard

3.25

83 ratings by Goodreads

9781401307691: Schlock Value: Hollywood at Its Worst

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1401307698 ISBN 13: 9781401307691

Publisher: Hyperion, 2005

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A hilarious collection of essays, riffs, and lists that celebrate the insanity of Hollywood -- for anyone who loves the movies.

Richard Roeper, like the rest of us, adores the movies. In this uproarious, offbeat book, he gives us a whole new set of critical lenses for assessing the movies and the people and the industry that make them. With his characteristic acerbic wit, he weaves short essays with lists that work together to explain where Hollywood succeeds -- and where it so often frustrates, disappoints, and fails us. But while Roeper devotes most of the book to mockery and ridicule, this book is, in the end, a love letter to film.

Some of the essays and lists included in Schlock Value:

--Comical statistical breakdowns, including career batting averages of actors
--Reviews of Hollywood finances, including budgets, salaries, and ticket prices
--A proposed moratorium on pet projects, e.g., Kevin Costner's The Postman or John Travolta's Battlefield Earth
--The age differences between Woody Allen and his various leading ladies
--Actors appearing around the world in television commercials, including a list of the biggest stars that do overseas commercials -- and the products they push

Schlock Value is the perfect book for anyone who loves grumbling and complaining about the movies -- but still can't help spending their weekends and evenings in front of the screen.

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About the Author:

Richard Roeper is the cohost of the nationally syndicated Ebert & Roeper (watched by more than 2.5 million viewers each week) and author of10 Sure Signs a Movie Character Is Doomed & Other Surprising Movie Lists. A daily columnist for theChicago Sun-Times and the New York Times syndicate, he was the recipient of the National Headliner Award in 1993 as the top columnist in the country. He is the film critic for the CBS affiliate in Chicago and contributes monthly essays on film to Esquire. Richard Roeper lives in Chicago.

From Publishers Weekly:

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Roeper goes for the trifecta in this paean to Hollywood schlock, as short, opinionated essays; addictive lists; and a trashy-but-utterly-compelling subject combine to make an entertaining look at one aspect of the movies. Roeper's lists cover everything from inflated concession stand prices (a theater in suburban Chicago sells bottled water for $3.99) to "Bizarre Moments in the History of the Golden Globes" (in 1957, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack hijacked the stage to speed things up) to "Things That Can Be Done to Improve the Academy Awards." ("Memo to all nominees: Prepare a friggin' speech!") to "Wobbly Accents" (Brad Pitt as an Austrian explorer in Seven Years in Tibet). Some lists expand into essays, and vice versa (e.g., an Oscars overview prompts a list of "Most Disappointing Careers after Winning the Academy Award"). Opening with an insightful contrast of Chris Rock as a stand-up comic ("just might be the funniest person on the planet") with his movies ("they sucked"), Roeper moves on to such topics as actors' political comments, cast members replaced during filming, overhyped stars, one-hit wonders, pet projects, film clich�s and anachronisms. Roeper's relaxed writing style, informal and witty, makes for an easy yet engaging read. (Feb. 2)
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