DEMIGODS Review

Why I Wrote It: Hell of a Deal, A Supernatural Satire

Joe Giambrone, publisher of Political Film Blog

Hell of a Deal was the first book I decided to publish, back in 2009. It is a satire of the “War on Terror” and Hollywood’s incessant propaganda to push empire, domination, torture, and war crimes. Hollywood, quite frankly, sickened me to my core and I had to respond in some way.

This book is more Gulliver than John Wick, more Faust than Charlie’s Angels. At the start, I wanted so badly to crucify the main guy, Executive Producer Al Smith. He was to represent the worst of Hollywood profiteering at the cost of all our souls. After hitting the movie lottery in the late 60s, his career evolved over the decades to promote more extreme degradation and nationalism, especially as we entered the Age of Terror. And that’s where Seaford stepped in.

The story needed a guy to push the envelope, to abandon the self-imposed limitations, which Hollywood had placed on itself, and to see how far these trends could go. So, as the title implied, it was literally about a deal–a movie deal. Only, nothing was what it seemed. The deal was not about money, and profit was the last thing Seaford cared about. It was all about the messaging, the propaganda, the final cut, the access into your brains.

By the time Seaford arrived on the movie scene, Al Smith was already old and on his last legs. He was dying. His time was over, almost. There was one thing that could possibly turn things around for him, and that was medical science. This was what Seaford brought to the table: “Youth.”

These pieces all fit together like a well-oiled machine. Just thinking on it, I knew I had something special here. Firstly, I had something to say. Secondly, I had a Faustian bargain plot like no one had ever seen before. In this Faustian story, things are meant to look one way, fairly normal even in the current normality. But things were far from normal.

As I said, I wanted Al Smith to suffer, but strangely that only brought the story so far. The story itself cried out for some kind of redemption. Could I flip everything and become sympathetic to Smith? What would he need to do?

In the end, perhaps some might think him redeemed. Others not. It’s potentially ambiguous, and with a big Hollywood ending.

Read:

Hell of a Deal

Bad Boys of Comedy

datz right muddafuckas

Plus

Sad news. Erik Myers died, in a car accident. Myers was one of the greatest American stand-ups around. Don’t believe me?

Dark Quadrant

book documents the unsavory alliance between the Mafia, the CIA, and the corporate establishment 

WRECKING BALLS (Yeah an Ad, You Bastards)

WRECKING BALLS

Let’s see your book reviews, if you think it’s so easy.

The Alternative Bible (Pocket Reader) on Kindle Unlimited

Look what just dropped.

The Alternative Bible

Oliver Stone’s New Memoir

 

We love Oliver.

Chasing the Light: Writing, Directing, and Surviving Platoon, Midnight Express, Scarface, Salvador, and the Movie Game

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is gearing up to release my memoir, “Chasing the Light,” on July 21. The look of the book is up on Amazon at amzn.to/3etnXuD and Barnes & Noble at bit.ly/2BwTbT1. Don’t know about the bookstores, hope some will open; only promotion will be a few interviews in print, on radio, and some television.

Besides being about my turbulent family life, the Vietnam War, New York in the 1970s, and my battles as a screenwriter on “Midnight Express,” “Conan,” “The Hand,” “Scarface,” and “Year of the Dragon,” it’s about moviemaking at its most savage — that is, the lower-budget ranges of “Salvador” & “Platoon” in 1985-1986, and how I got those films made against all odds. Hard obstacles gave me strength for what was to follow later. But it makes for a hell of a read, if you’re interested.

 

 

New CIA Book: The Jakarta Method

The Jakarta Method

Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World

Quarantine with comedy.

Wrecking Balls, the stand-up comedy novel.

 

 

 

 

 

FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY

 

Hurry, ends Dec. 10.

FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY

One Liverpool family’s struggle to survive the Second World War, as the city was flattened by German bombers, and the men were far away at sea fighting to save England.

THE SCOUSERS Officially Released!

Where do you go when the bombs are falling everywhere?

THE SCOUSERS is now released in E-Book, Hardcover, and Paperback.

This story of survival during WW2 is true and includes numerous photos from the naval war.

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UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1644560860
Kindle e-book
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0817KWHL8

US
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1644560860
Kindle e-book
https://www.amazon.com/Scousers-Kindle-Doreen-Doyle-ebook/dp/B0817KWHL8/

Apple IBooks
https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1487354272
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-scousers-doreen-m-doyle/1134834513?ean=9781644560860
EPUB e-book
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-scousers-doreen-m-doyle/1134834513?ean=2940163627684
KOBO
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/Search/Query?fcmedia=Book&query=9781644560884

CA
https://kdp.amazon.com/amazon-dp-action/ca/dualbookshelf.marketplacelink/1644560860
Kindle e-book
https://www.amazon.ca/Scousers-Kindle-Doreen-Doyle-ebook/dp/B0817KWHL8/

Indigo
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-scousers/9781644560860-item.html

Hillary’s New Book Rocks #GutsyWomen