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198 ratings, 3.37 average rating, 33 reviews
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published
February 6th 2007
by Pantheon
binding
Hardcover, 272 pages
isbn
0375422536
(isbn13: 9780375422539)
description
In Bambi vs. Godzilla, David Mamet, the award-winning playwright and screenwriter, gives us an exhilaratingly subversive inside look at Hollywo...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 286)
Read in April, 2007
A good line:
Q. Is it possible to engross the audience when the end of the quest is already known?
Yes. Mark Twain wrote of U.S. Grant's personal memoirs that they were so well written as to make one wonder who was going to win the Civil War.
The book itself was a tough read. He seems to try to make his points in such an obtuse manner that it's difficult to understand his point.
He asks the question, what does a producer do. But never fully answers it.
I like his brief descriptio...more
Q. Is it possible to engross the audience when the end of the quest is already known?
Yes. Mark Twain wrote of U.S. Grant's personal memoirs that they were so well written as to make one wonder who was going to win the Civil War.
The book itself was a tough read. He seems to try to make his points in such an obtuse manner that it's difficult to understand his point.
He asks the question, what does a producer do. But never fully answers it.
I like his brief descriptio...more
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What was I thinking. Just because I like one of his screenplays (Wag the Dog) and two of his films (The Spanish Prisoner, The Winslow Boy) I figured I'd enjoy this book. NWJ. Not only is it written in a semi-stream of consciousness style, he doesn't name names and specify the films of which he's critical. ONE saving grace: the appendix in the back is an exhaustive, alphabetical listing of every single film he references in the book. So that was a boon to my Netflix. Proceed with caution.
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Fucking perfect. I am never, ever gonna even try and explain anything about the show business, or screenwriting, or Jews, ever again. I can never do it as well as Mamet has here. If you are interested in the above-listed things...this is your book.
Favorite quote: "The audience will not suffer, wonder, discover or rejoice to any extent greater than to which the writer has been subjected."
Oh.
Favorite quote: "The audience will not suffer, wonder, discover or rejoice to any extent greater than to which the writer has been subjected."
Oh.
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Read in June, 2007
He certainly isn't a fan of producers. As a screenwriter, I found his insight into storytelling in screenwriting to be enlightening and inspiring. His writing, though, was a little extravagant and bombastic, as well as, at times, inaccessible, but I was with him in what he had to say on the subject of film and the entertainment industry. It was engaging.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Those interested in the movie business
Mamet is one of my favorite screenwriters. His style is terse and no-nonsense, and he brings his wit and years of acquired wisdom to a tell-all commentary on the movie industry. Good summer reading for movie buffs.
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recommends it for:
mamet worshippers
Mamet writing about the "nature" of Hollywood. Scathing, hilarious, and honest. Most of these were published elsewhere and are available via google search, but a centralized collection is worth the investment.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
recommends it for:
Screenwriters, Dramatists and Jewish Mystics
A collection of Mamet essays on the film trade -- some good, some great, some tossed off at the urging of his publisher to make this collection look more substantial than it is. The original essay Bambi vs. Godzilla appeared in Harper's several years before this book was published. It's a fabulous polemic on art vs. commerce. There's nothing new in his argument, but it's said so forcefully and with such verve that you can't help but love the old, righteous curmudgeon. Otherwise, there's not much...more
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“David Mamet is supremely talented. He is a gifted writer and observer of society and its characters. I’m sure he will be able to find work somewhere, somehow, just no longer in the movie business.”
—Steve Martin
“Bambi vs. Godzilla is far and away the best commentary on how movies are made thus far written by an American . . . Citing everyone from Aristotle to Preston Sturges’s The Lady Eve, Mamet demonstrates what works and what doesn’t in a movie narrative, while noting what...more
—Steve Martin
“Bambi vs. Godzilla is far and away the best commentary on how movies are made thus far written by an American . . . Citing everyone from Aristotle to Preston Sturges’s The Lady Eve, Mamet demonstrates what works and what doesn’t in a movie narrative, while noting what...more
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Read in February, 2007
I greatly enjoy reading books about the inner workings of Hollywood, not specifically from the actor/producer standpoint, but from the less hot-shot and A list people like writers, cameramen, or even just critics. William Goldman's "Who Killed Hollywood" is one of my favorite books and one I always refer to when thinking about movies. And for this reason I picked up Bambi vs. Godzilla. While I have seen some of David Mamet's movies before, this is my fist experience with his writing...more
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The reviews I've read of this book have criticized it for being pretentious/rambling/somewhat cynical, the author having a disjointed writing style...all reasons why I love it. Possibly the title is misleading, drawing the closet screenwriters or those trying to break into the business? I don't know, but Mamet takes his experiences in the industry, as well as his love of movies, and jumps off into fun little walkabouts that are fun to follow.
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Mamet has this annoying habit of characterizing those who disagree with his views as either neurotic or delusional, and occasionally comes off as a bit of a prig. A lot of his jokes fall flat. He completely misunderstands "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol". But when he's on, he's on - and America's foremost playwright has piercing observations on the art and business of film. His views on storytelling and film genre are particularly illuminating, and Mamet is at ...more
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I enjoy David Mamet's movies (and plays) very much, so was slightly disappointed with this book. He certainly has a funny, casual, easily readable style, and he knows his subject, having worked in Hollywood for 30 years or so. But the book is broken into many many short chapters, many of which are just 3 or 4 pages long, so it was difficult for me to really settle in. He'd bring up a topic, relte a pithy anecdote, then move along. Time after time I found myself wishing that he'd slow down, give ...more
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Spend your time with something else to read.
Upon reflection, I have revised my opinion of this crop of essays. This guy started on a God-like level after reading/seeing Glengarry Glen Ross for the first time. And I feel like it's been downhill ever since. He's been gliding on reputation for years. State and Maine is the only decent thing he has done in a decade.
He is at the least interesting point of his writing powers.
Upon reflection, I have revised my opinion of this crop of essays. This guy started on a God-like level after reading/seeing Glengarry Glen Ross for the first time. And I feel like it's been downhill ever since. He's been gliding on reputation for years. State and Maine is the only decent thing he has done in a decade.
He is at the least interesting point of his writing powers.
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Read in June, 2007
Obviously only interesting for people who care about such things, but I enjoy the antagonism of Mamet's non-fiction style. "Disagree - I dare you." Which I do, about 20-30% of the time, but it's like arguing with someone who will say "well played" at the end of the debate. Except, obviously, this is all in my head. Good dirt for people who wish movies were better that helps to explain why they aren't (en masse) going to be anytime soon.
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Read in December, 2007
Enjoyed this much. Mamet writes with passion, and humor on all aspects of the film biz. Clearly he's a film buff & illuminates his arguments of why great films work by example. (He loves Powell & Pressburger) The short chapters are easy to digest, and I'd recommend this even if you don't particularly like Mamet's work. He's a good writer and teacher, and this is a fun read.
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Read in May, 2008
I'm not quite sure why I'm reading this, other than that I remember hearing Mamet giving kind of funny interviews on the radio when it came out. But so far it's a pretty biting commentary on Hollywood and its evil capitalist inner workings, with a little Kenneth Anger-esque industry gossip thrown in to keep things juicy.
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Read in May, 2007
Who will spill the goods on Hollywood? Mamet will. Why? Because he can. “Let me see if I can offend several well meaning groups at once,” he begins. Blunt, gleeful truths follow on producers, scripts and more. An unfazed tour of the entertainment sausage factory—from someone who has seen what goes into every link.
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Read in May, 2008
Pretty great look inside the movie business with smart, articulate commentary. Naturally, its Mamet. C'mon. Gives tips on screen writing, directing and just how the movie studio formula works and how fucked up it is. Insightful, a good read for anyone interested in movies.
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Cody by:
fat peoplerecommends it for: your mom's butt
His passion is good, but he rambles like an idiot. I don't care how many brilliant plays and screenplays he's written, he can't write an essay to save his life. I didn't even read more than like twenty pages of this book, but who cares.
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David Mamet takes you on a guided tour of the movie industry, offering economic, sociological, and psychological analysis of the perils facing the writer and anyone else committed to the production of decent films.
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