Hollywood Animal

Joe Eszterhas was, at one time, the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood. He was also the first screenwriter to make the 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood list.

Eszterhas' first movie was F.I.S.T. which starred Sly Stallone. Before the movie was released Eszterhas and Sly had a few very public squabbles although they did ultimately patch things up. Eszterhas went on to write some of the most popular movies being produced. Movies like Flashdance, Jagged Edge, and Basic Instinct.

On Tuesday, Eszterhas' latest book, Hollywood Animal : A Memoir will be released. It promises to be a "shocking and often devastating look inside the movie business. It intimately explores the concept of fame and gives us a never-before-seen look at the famous. Eszterhas reveals the fights, the deals, the extortions, the backstabbing, and the sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll world that is Hollywood."

Man, if it does all of that, I'll bet it could make a good movie. Hmmm... I wonder who'd write it?

One Last Bullet for 2004

I hope that everyone made it to this side of 2005 with a minimum of damage. 2004 was a good year and I'm hoping for even better things in 2005. But before we leave '04 completely, I thought I'd give a brief rundown of some of the highlights entertainment-wise [at least for me]...

Movies: I loved the Dawn of the Dead re-make and The Passion of the Christ. [Kinda strange that they were both about people who rose from the dead.]

Collateral was very good and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and The Chronicles of Riddick were fun rides.

Several of the best movies that I saw in 2004 were older movies that I discovered on DVD or cable. The original Metropolis was stunning even 77 years after it was made. And you know I love the whole tough guy - noir genre, so seeing movies like On Dangerous Ground, Brute Force and The Big Heat made my day.

TV: The Shield, 24, Survivor and West Wing continue to make my "Must See TV" list. And although Alias still hung in there, ER fell from the ranks. Lost soared to the top of the list and I enjoyed Boston Legal when I caught it.

Novels: The best were Portrait of a Murderer: The Jack the Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwall, Double Play by Robert Parker, Sensei by John Donohue, and Rain Storm by Barry Eischer.

Comics: My favorite comic of the year was Grave Digger: The Scavengers by Christopher Mills and Rick Burchett. The writing and art meshed perfectly to create a comic that's impossible not to enjoy. If we don't get more Grave Digger stories from Mills and Burchett, then there's no justice.

My favorite graphic novel of the year was The Wicked West by Todd Livingston, Robert Tinnell and artist, Neil Vokes. Anyone who is a fan of westerns, horror or simply great graphic novels would love The Wicked West.

My favorite on-going series were The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard [which just keeps getting better and better] and 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso.

Blogs: Mark Evanier's News from ME is required reading daily. He's funny, informative and blogs don't get any better. Jeff Parker's Mystifying Oracle and Mike Wieringo's blog don't appear daily but when they do, they're worth a read.

Breakfast: Was a three hour marathon session [and NO, we weren't eating the whole time] with my ole pal Jim Ivey last week. Jim will soon be 80 and we hadn't been able to get together in quite a while. Christmas Break seemed like the right time to clear my schedule and make a trip over to see "Jimbo" and I couldn't have asked for a better time. Jim seemed to enjoy it too. ; )

Now... on to 2005!