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Business Week Online's Thane Peterson reviews Peter Biskind's Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film and finds it revealing as a look at the foibles and excesses of Miramax co-boss Harvey Weinstein. Taking stock of it as a book, he is not so generous.
While the book is often illuminating -- pointing out, for example, that most of Miramax' profits lately have come from the frankly commercial projects such as Scary Movie and Scary Movie II produced by Bob Weinstein -- it isn't all that well-written. The endless details of movie deals could easily be cut by some 100 pages. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is less than passionately interested in independent films -- or Harvey Weinstein.
The book is #3 in Southern California based on the L.A. Times bestseller list.