Ain't it cool? : Hollywood's redheaded stepchild speaks out / Harry Knowles, with Paul Cullum and Mark Ebner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Knowles, Harry, 1971-

Contributor:

Cullum, Paul (Motion picture journalist)

Ebner, Mark C.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion pictures.

Physical Description:

xii, 318 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Warner Books, [2002]

Summary:

Hollywood directors and producers are in awe of Harry Knowles. But how did a redheaded 28-year-old, 350-lb college dropout become the Roger Ebert of his generation? After an accident temporarily confined him to his bedroom, Harry started a Web site purely for his own enjoyment...and became the leading voice of the Geek Generation. As a result, Harry has become the most feared and sought-after outsider in the entertainment business. And his story is a must-read for movie lovers everywhere.

An advocate for the simple proposition that movies should be better, Harry recounts his odd gypsy upbringing as the son of movie memorabilia merchants, reveals why he parted ways with his one-time mentor Matt Drudge, and recalls how Quentin Tarantino labeled him "the Wolf Blitzer of the Internet." Harry goes inside the controversial world of studio test-marketing...spotlights his top ten favorite and least favorite films, plus those he would most like to see get made but probably never will...and offers a Geek Manifesto on what's wrong with Hollywood -- and how to go about fixing it.

For anyone who loves the magic but hates the hype, for everyone whose heroes have always been twenty feet high, for the ten-year-old celluloid junkie in all of us, here's the sometimes scathing, often irreverent, and always enthusiastic testament by the new high priest of that secular American faith known as "The Movies."

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Trouble with Harry 17

Chapter 2 "A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother." 25

Chapter 3 The Abyss 43

Chapter 4 Wild in the Streets 59

Chapter 5 Ace in the Hole 69

Chapter 6 A Face in the Crowd 79

Chapter 7 The Big Carnival 91

Chapter 8 Lost Horizon 101

Chapter 9 "Take Your Stinking Paws Off Me, You Damn Dirty Apes!" 113

Chapter 10 Sleeping with the Enemy 121

Chapter 11 "How Many of Those Things Are Out There?" 131

Chapter 12 Ocean's Eleven 141

Chapter 13 "Valhalla, Mr. Beale." 149

Chapter 14 Basic Instinct 161

Chapter 15 A Night to Remember 201

Chapter 16 "To George Bailey, the Richest Man in Town. Hee-Haw!" 211

Chapter 17 Skin Game 221

Chapter 18 Born Yesterday (or the Geek Manifesto) 233

Appendices, or "You Wouldn't Put Charlie Parker in with the R&B, Would You?!" 279

Appendix A My Top 10 Favorite Films of All Time 283

Appendix B My 10 Least Favorite Films of All Time 295

Appendix C The 10 Films I Would Most Like to See Made 309.

ISBN:

0446525979

OCLC:

47745915