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Devil's Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco (Revised)
Devil's Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco (Revised) | Julie Salamon
3 posts | 4 read | 8 to read
When Brian De Palma agreed to allow Julie Salamon unlimited access to the film production of Tom Wolfe's best-selling book The Bonfire of the Vanities, both director and journalist must have felt like they were on to something big. How could it lose? But instead Salamon got a front-row seat at the Hollywood disaster of the decade. She shadowed the film from its early stages through the last of the eviscerating reviews, and met everyone from the actors to the technicians to the studio executives. They'd all signed on for a blockbuster, but there was a sense of impending doom from the start-heart-of-gold characters replaced Wolfe's satiric creations; affable Tom Hanks was cast as the patrician heel; Melanie Griffith appeared mid-shoot with new, bigger breasts. This riveting insider's portrait provides a timeless account of an industry where art, talent, ego, and money combine and clash on a monumental scale.
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manifestsanity
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Journalist Julie Salamon received unprecedented access to Brian DePalma's production of The Bonfire of the Vanities from beginning to end. What she recorded is an utterly fascinating depiction of a #Hollywood failure at every level. This is like the carving of a turkey. For a fun triple feature, read Tom Wolfe's brilliant novel, watch the godawful movie, and then read The Devil's Candy as dessert. Who needs film school? #maybookflowers

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CallOfCuchuco
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Bet you never heard of THE BONFIRE OF VANITIES before - I sure hadn't. Directed by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis, it died slowly and painfully at the B.O and you won't find many today exhorting its qualities. Samalon's account, enriched by De Palma's professionalism and Hanks' and Willis' diametrically opposite approaches to stardom, enthralls as the reader understands why the film did not deserve to pass the test of time

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brendanmleonard
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#AugustPhotoChallenge ! About 75-90 percent of my collection is used, so Tibbie and I are gonna do a little belated #Reccomendsday and #www with this nonfiction classic! This is probably *the* book to read about Hollywood moviemaking in the 1980s - and it's actually a fascinating guide for how situations can become mismanaged and fiascos. The detail here (about the making of "The Bonfire of the Vanities") is staggering. A great late summer read!

manifestsanity I love this book. Thanks for reminding me! The castration of a brilliant novel into a complete turkey is dissected with hilarious precision. Just amazing. 8y
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