Book Review #61: You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried

 You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried (2010)

You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried is kind of a "biography" about John Hughes, the creative genius behind the best teen films of the 80's. But it's really about the movies themselves and the influence that Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Some Kind Of Wonderful as well as other movies like St. Elmo's Fire and Say Anything had on both pop culture as well as those touched by them. It also goes into detail the lasting legacy they have had over the past 25 years.

Even though a lot of the book is devoted to John Hughes and his movies, a sizable portion is dedicated to both Joel Schumacher and Cameron Crowe, as both St. Elmo's Fire and Say Anything get dissected in ways I've never thought of before with a lot of background stories, which I found very interesting. But as the cover of the book alludes to, the majority is about John Hughes films.

I thought I knew most of the background stuff regarding pretty much all the movies associated with Hughes. Boy was I ever wrong. The most revealing stuff had to do with Some Kind Of Wonderful and all the turmoil behind the scenes during the making of that movie. I never knew that Eric Stoltz and John Hughes almost came to blows during the first day on set during the table read.

The other eye opening info had to do with how Hollywood in a way "corrupted" Hughes. As he became more and more powerful in Tinseltown, he started to change, and not in a good way as he began to alienate those closest to him as his head began to get bigger and bigger. Even though we get a lot of dirt about the man, it's doesn't go into great detail about his life. I won't fault the book for this because it's about his movies and their impact and not about where he came from.

Also dissected is how the Brat Pack moniker came to come about and how it affected those saddled with that label and how careers and friendships were ruined because of it.

I may be a bit biased, but because I'm a huge fan of all his movies and enjoy reading about them, giving the book 5 Stars was easy.

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1

Book Review #58: Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Stories I Only Tell My Friends (2011)

Talk about leading a charmed life. I've had my run-ins with a lot of celebs in random places over the years going all the way back to when I was still in elementary school. But hearing Rob's encounters are pretty mind blowing. He wants to be an actor and finds out that Liza Minnelli is in a hotel and all he has to do is ask the desk clerk "what room is Mrs. Minnelli staying in?" and next thing he knows he is eating chocolate candy with her. Or when he moves to Malibu and stumbles across a kid shooting his own war movie with friends, which turns out to be Chris Penn and invites him to pal around with Sean, Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez. Or when he writes a random letter to Aaron Spelling and gets invited to the studio. Or when Rob and his brother Chad are getting heckled at a Dodgers game for wearing a Yankees cap and are saved from a stranger who turns out to be a puppeteer for the Muppets and ends up meeting Jim Henson. Or how he is invited to The Tonigh Show and ends up meeting his future manager who in turn invites him to an SNL VIP party where in comes face to face with John Belushi. All of this happens before he even acts in one single movie. Sheesh!!

But if you ever want to say "blessed" when it comes to just being like Forrest Gump and running into moments that altered America by way of movies, than nothing tops Rob's Aunt inviting him and Chad down to watch them shoot special FX footage for a little movie called Star Wars. Remember, Rob isn't even an actor in Holloywood yet, and here he is with all these amazing moments. Damn man! Quit hogging it all and spread the wealth around!! Sheesh!

His introduction to Martin Sheen was pretty damn funny. Hahaha.

But the biggest shock for me reading this book are not all the celeb run-ins. It's in how well the book is written. This isn't a knock against Rob himself. It's just that I went into this book with low expectations with the hopes it would have some entertaining moments. But having just read Stories I Only Tell My Friends, I came away with a better understanding of the man and how smart he is. He never comes off as full of himself in the book like most people do when writing their memoirs. And with everything inside the book he has every right to brag.

A lot of ground is covered on the pages, with the biggest chunk dedicated to The Outsiders. If I remember correctly, 5 Chapters on nothing but said movie and I still wanted more. Everything from his humble beginnings to the debacle that was the Oscars with Snow White to his time on The West Wing is dissected. The one thing that I was curious about before reading, was if he would bring up the subject of his Sex Tape scandal that derailed his career for a short time. And just as I suspected, it only gets maybe half a page mention. That's it. And this is the only reason why I don't give the book a perfect score. There's more to the story and it will remain a mystery from here on out. It feels incomplete in a way. 

Other than that little oversight, I totally recommend this book to anyone. I know that I will reread this one again sooner, rather than later.

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars out 5

Review by Chiprocks1