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Down and Dirty Pictures

Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film

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Down and Dirty Pictures

By: Peter Biskind
Narrated by: Phil Gigante
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About this listen

 Down and Dirty Pictures chronicles the rise of independent filmmakers and of the twin engines - the Sundance Film Festival and Miramax Films - that have powered them. Peter Biskind profiles the people who took the independent movement from obscurity to the Oscars, most notably Sundance founder Robert Redford and Harvey Weinstein, who with his brother, Bob, made Miramax an indie powerhouse.

Candid, penetrating and controversial, Down and Dirty Pictures is a must-read for anyone interested in the film world.

©2004 Peter Biskind (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc. Business Aspects Direction & Production Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism Business

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Critic reviews

"In Down and Dirty Pictures, Biskind takes on the movie industry of the 1990s and again gets the story....Peter Biskind captures his era as John Dunne did that of the Zanucks." ( The New York Times)
"Dishy, teeming, superbly reported...packed with lively inside anecdotes...[a] juicy and fascinating expose." ( Entertainment Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant  
Superb account of Independent movies.
And more relevant how Harvey Weinstein behaved during that time,
although this account has nothing to do with his recent problems.
Robert Redford doesn't come across as a very nice person also.
Who would have guessed.
Its very long, and I did skip some bits.
But all in all anyone who is interested in movies will love it.
And not forgetting the narrator, who is excellent.

Very Informative

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To be fair, when it comes to being a monster, Harvey Weinstein was hiding in plain sight. It's Chinatown, baby.

Cinema Parasito

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Right off the bat I wanna say that people have subsequently tended to give Peter Biskind a little bit of a hard time because there is a perception that he was in the best place to expose Harvey Weinstein. I don't really buy that though because at that point they were just rumours, even if the author was virtually positive they were true. Matt Damon even came forward in said he had heard rumours but that he was unwilling to move on rumours. So I don't think anyone can hold that against Peter too much. I mean why was he in the best position to expose Harvey? I would think the people that worked with him everyday who knew that the rumours were a bit more than rumours were in the best place to expose him. anyway I digress.

This book is amazing! It Paints a lovely picture of one of my favourite periods in film history. it not only tells the story of the fustrated artists that populate the indie movie scene, but also tells the story of how those frustrated artists worked with unscrupulous capitalists and that kind of a strange marriage that often produced brilliant and diverse movies. I loved every sentence.

down and dirty indeed!

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It wasn't a terrible book but wasn't as good as his raging bull one about the movie brats. Wasn't much about filmmaking or filmmakers was mainly about Harvey Weinstein and was pretty tediously about the business side of the indie film world

Not that interesting for filmmakers

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This audio book is more relevant now than ever! It is vital for anyone working in film or with an interest. It also has an amazing narrative, so it['s not boring! Like a work of fiction, there are strong character stories all the way through... I found this impossible to put away and have enjoyed every minute of it! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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Really enjoyed the way the story unfolded and found it fascinating in its insights around now iconic films and their origins.
What is really eye opening is in light of Me Too and this book read 20 years post its publication is just how Harvey Weinstein’s bad behaviour to everyone went unchecked for so long!
Brilliantly performed which kept it really interesting. I’d love to read the follow up to this from today’s perspective.

Listening in 2023/24 makes you wonder even more

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I am a student studying film and this book has proven to be fascinating for many reasons. For one I goes a really well written and interesting insight into how it is done in the real world if film. I also had worked well as something I could quote from and talk about in Uni work. Lots of useful information on how filmmakers such as Soderbergh, Tarantino and Smith began and worked in an Indie environment.



Very well read as well with good voices and well paced.



I would defiantly recommend!

Want to know about Indie films? A must listen

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What did you like most about Down and Dirty Pictures?

Peter Biskind manages to thread together interesting stories behind the development of many of the best films of the nineties into an interesting history of Harvey Weinstein's greed.

Have you listened to any of Phil Gigante’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Gigante's performance was good, though some of the accents were a little ropey and the occasional word was mispronounced.

Any additional comments?

A good book that is worth a listen for anyone interested in independent cinema of the nineties. Only real negative is that some of the background stories about executives and independent distributors seem unnecessarily long, while others are straight out superfluous.

Worth a Listen

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This is a very interesting look at the rise of Miramax and Harvey “Scissor-Hands” Weinstein.

It’s well read and easy to listen to. I urge you to clear out some time for this one as you’ll love it.

Fantastic Presentation

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