James Ulmer's Hollywood Hot List: The Complete Guide to Star Ranking

By James Ulmer

The "little black book" that's next to every studio executive's palm pilot-the real scoop on Hollywood's top 200 stars. Who's hot? Who's not? Who can green-light any project that they want? Who's begging for scraps? For years the film industry's elite have looked to James Ulmer's Hollywood Hot List to measure who was really worth a multimillion-dollar payday and who should be pasture-bound. Ulmer's star power rankings can change a star's salary-or even whether or not he or she gets a role. An actor's star power includes: -Bankability: How the actor's name alone guarantees a sale up front in today's global marketplace. -Career management: How well has the actor chosen roles to maximize career potential? -Willingness to travel and promote: How cooperative is the actor in promoting projects? -Professionalism: How reliable is the actor to work with, both on and off the set? -Inside Dirt: The truth about what it's like to work with the top 200 actors worldwide. -Box office bait: Who the actor has worked for and how much the project made. Ulmer's information is culled from those who work closely with the stars-their agents, co-stars, movie producers, directors, distributors, and personal assistants. The opinions of those in the know and the dollars a star can earn measure the true value of the actors in Hollywood. Find out who owns Tinseltown, who's just renting, and who's being evicted.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312253958
• ISBN13: 9780312253950
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.7" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

Just re-read it and it's STILL as frisky, fresh and memorable as the first time...

Sharon Stone's hilarious shower scene...the breastfeeding of Kirstie Ally's possums & the psychology of Hollywood schadenfreude...the racy rituals of Tribal Hollywood (in a chapter that reads like Margaret Mead on a joy ride down Wilshire Blvd.)...this book careens around some truly funny curves and hairpin tales, tidbits and even, towards the end, throws in some genuinely poetic writing...a crazyquilt of savvy analysis (though the numbers are far less fun than the quotes) that is served up hot and spicey by an obviously keen and clever insider...I can honestly say it made me alternately gasp and laugh all over again seven years after I first checked it out...Why haven't we seen a sequel yet, Mr Ulmer???

You'd have to be a stone not to like this book ...

Or maybe a Sharon Stone (she is not spared in these pages). Quite simply, this book is impossible to put down. James Ulmer's clever rating system is interesting enough in itself -- but the best part of the book is his personal stamp. He makes no bones about being star-struck, yet his mission is the demystification of the gods, and he does it with gimlet-eyed clarity and intelligence. A dirt-filled riff will turn on a phrase into a sharp insight into the celebrity cult and our fascination with it. Some of his observations of actors are priceless. My image of Marlon Brando struggling up the Brooklyn waterfront ramp will now forever be juxtaposed with him struggling up the aisle of an L.A. supermarket, dressed in a muumuu and eating from an as-yet-unbought gallon of Breyers ice cream. This is a great summer (or winter) read, but don't take it to anyplace where you're self-conscious about laughing out loud. Because you will.

Hot lists...hot book

The title only tells half the story. The lists are fun to browse (the 200 top stars), especially the inside dirt on each star. But the essays are really hilarious: weird twisted perks, gossip and insecurity, naughty inside references - a pretty amazing picture of business and culture in Hollywood, where Ulmer says nothing binds people together like money, tribal membership "and the desire to see your best friend fail." Yikes. This book definitely goes on my holiday gift list.

Dish the Dirt

For anyone who enjoys following the cult of celebrity -- go backstage with James Ulmer and find all of the behind-the-scenes gossip (ok really thruths) about today's biggest stars. Ulmer has been compiling this list for industry insiders for years and this is the first time he's published his info for the general public -- can't wait for the next installment!

Hollywood dish

It's fun and funny to see how the industry perceives itself, this book is a hoot. The information they based the ratings on is already outdated, (Russell Crowe's career trajectory arrow is going sideways? Hello?) but it's still worth the $$ for the essays, especially the one on star perks, (you will not believe the story about a certain actress and a baby opposum) and the "inside dirt" remarks.