From hellhole to benign workplace, there’s a Tinsel Town for everyone in new books about making movies.
From hellhole to benign workplace, there’s a Tinsel Town for everyone in new books about making movies.
Movie fans seem to think Hollywood is falling short this summer. “Barbenheimer” has helped turn around what was becoming a grim season, with other blockbusters such as the “Mission Impossible” and “Indiana Jones” sequels and “Elemental” not busting as many blocks as expected/hoped.
Maybe those fans are filling in the gaps with Hollywood-themed books? For whatever reason, a lot of current and upcoming fiction tackles moviemaking, ranging from “From Dust to Stardust,” due Sept. 5 and mostly set in the silent film era, to Tom Hanks’ “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece,” which takes place on the present-day set of a Marvel-like movie. There’s also Lindsay Lynch’s new “Do Tell,” whose main character is a gossip columnist in the era when “Gone With the Wind” was sweeping the Oscars, and James Ellroy’s 1960s-set “The Enchanters,” which hits stores Sept. 12.
Ellroy’s book is the best — and, maybe not coincidentally — darkest of the four. Hanks’ book presents its filmmakers with a couple of hurdles, but it’s mostly the tale of a merry band of hard workers who get the job done.
