High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess

This is a great book for anyone who has a keen interest in how Hollywood works and how films get made. Don Simpson was brilliant, creative, disgusting & paranoid all before lunch time. Hollywood was the last place he should have been though he clearly had a talent for packaging movies. Really a perfect read for anyone who is interested in the behind the scenes of Hollywood.

If you like Hollywood scandal then this is for you. The stuff this dude got up to will make your eyes water, and I don't mean as it crying! I found it a fascinating insight into mad, bad world of US film production from the 80's/90's.

Interesting insight behind the scenes

An in depth account of excess drugs, sex and death of one of Hollywoods legendary film producers.

This biography of Don Simpson can be hilarious and a joy to read at times, as there are many stories of his excess and arrogance (which include some well-known celebrities) that are just staggering. However, there are also many times at which the author goes off on a tangent and discusses Hollywood gossip and stories that often seem irrelevant and detract from the enjoyment gained from reading about the crazy experiences of Simpson and his associates.

Great book

Funny, Shocking and a totally amazing read. An amazing insight into the high life / insecure side of Hollywood.

to greedy lucky bugger

Growing up with some of the movies that Don Simpson made it was interesting to get a look behind the scenes. In some ways it is a book about a man who made it, in some ways it is a book about someone who didn't.

If you have found yourself checking out this book it is probably because you heard something about the person who is the subject of it. Don Simpson ultimately had a tragically sad life but on his route to his demise had some wild to say the least adventures fueled by insecurity and ambition. Enjoyable Book!!

Like so many before and after him, Don Simpson, the proverbial 'smartestguy in the room', was uniquely unable to understand how his addiction toalcohol and drugs would kill him just when he least expected it. Butunderstanding how to make movies that minted money? This Simpson knew atthe level of his DNA. This great book by Fleming takes us along on atwo-decade jet-fueled bacchanal of hookers, blow, booze, botox and blowoutbox office blockbusters -- alliterative bombast entirely fitting to thisman of outsized appetites, accomplishments, and ambitions. Simpson was,more than anyone else, the living, breathing, coiffed-mullet epitome of1980s egomaniacal filmmaking - the cynical foul-mouthed producer bullyingand bludgeoning his way to massive financial success.For a decade and a half, this unlikely, late-blooming man from Alaska spunmoney in Hollywood like Midas. Through his uncanny sense of what the young,Reagan-era American masses wanted to see at the multiplex, he shattered hispeers expectations and Hollywood's box-office records. He was exactly theright bad ass at exactly the right time. For better or worse, Simpson'sstring of massive hits - co-produced with infinitely more sober partnerJerry Bruckheimer - solidified the orientation of the studios once and forall away from the 'auteur' pieces of the 1970s and towardMTV-soundtrack-soaked tales of plucky underdogs succeeding against all oddsin outlandish and attractive worlds. He also by force elevated the creativerole of the producer beyond any seen before, sometimes to the greatannoyance of the directors and writers working with him. Flashdance,Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Days Of Thunder, Bad Boys, The Rock -- all hisfilms were drenched in over-the-top action, pounding pop music, wise-assdialogue, and aggressive, high-artifice cinematography. But while thecritics panned this films as artistically bankrupt stimulus-responsemechanisms, mainstream audiences went bananas for them and made Simpson,Bruckheimer, Paramount, and numerous stars rich beyond the dreams ofavarice. Simpson's stamp on Hollywood and culture soon became unmistakable.His 'artisitic' sensibility was aped throughout the 90s, past his death,and into the 2000s. It can still be seen everywhere today, even thoughSimpsonian movies have had their formula grafted off onto 'proven-property'comic book-based franchises, and high-budget star-packed ensemble actionersrather than the original script, mid-budget MO used by Don and Jerry togreat profit in their heyday.But beyond the fun and games of his canon and its making, this book takesus deep into the world of a very troubled individual. While reading it, Icouldn't help finding myself feeling quite sorry for Simpson. A thoroughlydisgusting Caligula almost all the time, a bully in almost every instance,there emerge fleeting moments of a more tender, vulnerable side. Whilethose flirtations with awkward, actual humanity don't last long forSimpson, it's clear from early in this biography that for whatever reasonhe had little control over his extraordinarily potent demons. Thoughundoubtedly in possession of an above-average IQ, perhaps far aboveaverage, Simpson was at his core a gigantically insecure infant of a manand unable to figure out how to escape. The man who knew it all,unfortunately couldn't be taught what he needed most to learn. Enslaved bya constant and enormous fear of inadequacy (no matter how disproved by hisincredible real-world successes) Don Simpson was never truly happy. Helashed out at everyone and everything and sought on a daily basis to fillthe moon crater of emptiness in his soul by pouring in as many chemicals,prostitutes, dollars, sportscars, surgeries, one-upmanship, and accoladesas he could get his fake-tanned, manicured fingers on.In the end, his was a life much like his high concept films. High onimpact and memorability, and low on deep meaning.

OOOH, I can't wait for my copy to get here...if these "reviewers" hate yellow journalism so much why not just put it down? We can all read between the lines and what a fascinating subject he was even if he had never picked up a drug or got into the movie business. He would have been a case study if he was a drug store clerk. Thanks for making me want to read it even more!

Excellent book about the 80's in Hollywood. It's dark and scary at times, but it also serves as a cautionary tale. If you like gritty showbiz stories this is for you.