Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- Downloads：1325
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-02-25 18:22:05
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Michael Schulman
- ISBN：0062859013
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Katie
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So good — I devoured this book！ So many fascinating stories and details about early ceremonies and Oscar history。 Great cultural commentary and very well-written。 Heavy on research but never feels academic or too dense。 Highly recommend！
Kevin
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Michael Schulman （"Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep"） offers a tasty overview of the Academy Awards， namely the scandals， upsets， wrong decisions and juicy gossip。 Unlike Mason Wiley and Damien Bona's "Inside Oscar，" which devoted a chapter to each year's Oscar ceremonies， Schulman's massive （600+ pages） Oscar Wars is more selective， and its chapters are organized by topics， such as "Tokens，" which discusses how Oscar wins for Hattie McDaniel， Sidney Poitier and Halle Berry broke the Oscar color Michael Schulman （"Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep"） offers a tasty overview of the Academy Awards， namely the scandals， upsets， wrong decisions and juicy gossip。 Unlike Mason Wiley and Damien Bona's "Inside Oscar，" which devoted a chapter to each year's Oscar ceremonies， Schulman's massive （600+ pages） Oscar Wars is more selective， and its chapters are organized by topics， such as "Tokens，" which discusses how Oscar wins for Hattie McDaniel， Sidney Poitier and Halle Berry broke the Oscar color barriers in 1940， 1964 and 2002。Individual chapter topics also include the Hollywood blacklist period; why Citizen Kane won only one Oscar out of its nine nominations; and how Bette Davis in ALL ABOUT EVE and Gloria Swanson in SUNSET BOULEVARD lost the 1951 Best Actress Oscar to Judy Holliday in BORN YESTERDAY。 One of the funniest chapters covers caftan-loving "Glittermeister" Allan Carr's production of the 1989 awards show， the camp-fest that resulted in the Academy issuing a public apology。 In the final chapters， Schulman deftly covers recent gaffes， such as when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were handed the wrong envelope in 2017 and LA LA LAND was announced as Best Picture， only to have the Oscar stage managers leap into action to reveal that the winner was actually MOONLIGHT。 He also dissects Harvey Weinstein's award show tactics and how SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE won the Best Picture Oscar over SAVING PRIVATE RYAN。 The book ends with Schulman's firsthand account from the Dolby Theatre's mezzanine of the live 2022 ceremony when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock。 Film buffs will savor this tantalizing and gossip-filled overview of the Academy Awards。 。。。more
John Schorg
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Just an enjoyable read。
Martin Maenza
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Oscar Wars comes out on February 21， 2023。 Harper Collins provided an early galley for review。I have always been fascinated by Hollywood， by actors and by the movies。 Growing up， I remember flipping through the entertainment magazines that my grandmother would occasionally buy - just to look at the pictures of the stars all dressed in glamour for premieres and such。 So， a book like this one was very appealing to me。 Also， the cover reminded me a bit of the artwork in movie parodies that ran in M Oscar Wars comes out on February 21， 2023。 Harper Collins provided an early galley for review。I have always been fascinated by Hollywood， by actors and by the movies。 Growing up， I remember flipping through the entertainment magazines that my grandmother would occasionally buy - just to look at the pictures of the stars all dressed in glamour for premieres and such。 So， a book like this one was very appealing to me。 Also， the cover reminded me a bit of the artwork in movie parodies that ran in Mad Magazine， something I read a lot growing up。 I enjoyed those movie parodies even though I might not have actually seen what they were satirizing。Schulman has done his research when it comes to this book。 He covers the nine decades of the Academy Awards， from the way the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences first came together all the way up to most recent times。 It is told in a chronological manner， and it highlights some of the biggest films that were nominated， often pitted against one another， and how the battles played out。 The stories are filled with the names of those who are legendary in the Hollywood story - actors and actresses， writers， directors， producers and studio executives。 This one is a cavalcade of who's who in the entertainment industry。There were a number of fascinating stories that I got out of this one。 I enjoyed the parallels from the two 1950 films Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve。 I am always interested to hear about the HUAC actions of the 1950's and how individuals got around being blacklisted。 I was intrigued with how Candace Bergen brought about change in the demographics of the Academy in the early 1970's。 And， despite all the bad press it got， I rather enjoyed Allan Carr's production of the 1989 Academy Awards show （but I also was a huge fan of his Can't Stop The Music and Grease 2。I very much recommend this for movie fans。 。。。more
Zeb Kantrowitz
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This is a read for those who are fans of the cinema from the early nickelodeons to the current day of streaming services。 It all began when those entrepreneurs who created the movie industry at the beginning of the twentieth-century， decided that it would be a good idea to create a way to burnish the image of the movie industry。 Originally just a lot of independent producers and marketers of film， the industry had grown into a behemoth that controlled who made films， who starred in them and who This is a read for those who are fans of the cinema from the early nickelodeons to the current day of streaming services。 It all began when those entrepreneurs who created the movie industry at the beginning of the twentieth-century， decided that it would be a good idea to create a way to burnish the image of the movie industry。 Originally just a lot of independent producers and marketers of film， the industry had grown into a behemoth that controlled who made films， who starred in them and who and where they were shown。 With the Heads of the biggest studios， they created the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences。 The Original statuette was made of iron and latter was covered with bronze and then gold。 There are many stories about the name "Oscar" but there is no definitive story。The first Oscars were given out at a dinner where all of the winners knew who they were。 It was given to a silent movie， but soon revolved around sound。 Later with the addition of color， more and more catagories were added。 The idea of a envelope was added to keep the name of the winners from getting out to the public before the dinner。By the late forties the current format was begun to shorten the time of the presentation。 Schulman spends as much time discussion the studios， actors， directors and producers as he does the actual movies。 Lots of scandals from the earliest days and the gossip of the days of the Major Studios。It's great fun to read and would make a great book to read on a long flight。 。。。more
Gabriel Frieberg
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I found this hard to put down。 It is immaculately researched and full of juicy stories， industry history and well-drawn character portraits。 An instant entry into the best Hollywood books pantheon。
Jennifer Schultz
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This is not a year-by-year chronicle of who won what award; rather， Schulman chronicles key Oscar races/winners/loses from a specific year for each decade， such Citizen Kane's many losses， the long years between Hattie McDaniel and Halle Berry winning an Oscar， Miramax vs。 Dreamworks in the Saving Private Ryan vs。 Shakespeare in Love， and the infamous La La Land and Moonlight Best Picture mixup， which seemed to be the most scandalous event to happen during the ceremony， until 2022's Slap Heard R This is not a year-by-year chronicle of who won what award; rather， Schulman chronicles key Oscar races/winners/loses from a specific year for each decade， such Citizen Kane's many losses， the long years between Hattie McDaniel and Halle Berry winning an Oscar， Miramax vs。 Dreamworks in the Saving Private Ryan vs。 Shakespeare in Love， and the infamous La La Land and Moonlight Best Picture mixup， which seemed to be the most scandalous event to happen during the ceremony， until 2022's Slap Heard Round the World。 This is rich， engaging， and has a refined gossipy tone， Catnip for Hollywood history buffs and Oscar watchers！ Many thanks to Harper and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Julie
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