Popcorn - Ben Elton

...quality. Like the previous books Popcorn takes a topical subject which is also an easy target for Ben Elton biting satire and slightly dark humour and weaves a fairly predictable story around it. In Popcorn it is the Hollywood film industry which is the easy target he picks on after all this is an industry where reality rarely makes an appearance and it exists within a culture of excess. In particular Elton focuses on the part of the film industry ...
...in the whole story. In Popcorn all of the characters are flawed and at times down right nasty, Dalamitri is self obsessed with a vicious tongue who enjoys bullying people and has an air of self importance. In developing his characters Elton rarely strays from the stereotype which does give the reader a sense of predictability about the story line however it also serves to provide a comfort zone for the reader and makes it easy to relate to the story. ...

atticusuk 06.09.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Popcorn - Ben Elton

...unearthed my most traveled book, Popcorn by Ben Elton. This book has been with me and also via loans to friends to both US coasts, Spain, France, Italy, Canada and Thailand and I’m thinking it might have to make the trip to Africa! This book is, in my opinion, Ben Elton’s finest hour and the most readable and yet insightful piece of modern fiction I have read. The messages that he tackles in his typical, fast-paced, tongue in cheek way are just ...
...perhaps more so. It is a measure of the intelligence of the book that this is the case. However this is by no means inaccessible to even the least world aware person. Without knowing or caring about diminishing personal responsibility, race issues or the media’s role in society it can still be an entertaining story and if by reading it some level of understanding on these issue can be imparted then all the better! THE PLOT IN SHORT The story is ...

tallpaul1983 22.08.2003 (28.09.2003) · Read full review
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Review of Popcorn - Ben Elton

WARNING This book will seriously damage your outlook on life. If you are looking for a love story with perhaps a wee bit of humour and good bedtime read i'm afraid this is not the book for you. This is a thrill a minute story of what could happen if what we see on TV and in films actually happened. Ben Elton has mixed violence with humour and produced a quality read. The three main characters are Bruce Delamirti, a big hollywood director who makes ...
...Wayne and Scout who are a couple that are reinacting what they see in Bruce's films. The entire book takes place over 2 days, the day of the oscars and the day after. They are perhaps both the best and worst days in Bruce's life. There are so many issues within the story that are true in life today that you actually start to think that this could happen. The ending is one of the best I have ever read and perhaps one of the most thought provoking. ...

Davie123 20.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Popcorn - Ben Elton

So goes Bruce Delamitris' Oscar speech hours before the worst night of his life. Wayne and Scout are Bonnie and Clyde wannabes...Okay they are Delamitri wannabes, copying every move in Delamitris' ultra violent, hip, trendy controversal films. Its Tarantino with bells on and they are ringing the bells. They are also waiting for Bruce to return to his Bel Air house. Armed with rifles and covered in Blood. Wayne knows he's in trouble but he has a plan.... ...
...observation is spot on if blown out of proportion making this a rollicking read. His characters at first seem cardboard cut-outs, the arrogant Director, the sexy starlet, the spoiled teen, the Beverly hills actress, the white trash trailer scum...until that is they all meet on one fateful night. Ben Elton gives even the smallest speaking part a distinct voice and character, bringing with his unique cynisism life to the overblown storyline. Its gripping, ...

scorching 01.04.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Popcorn - Ben Elton

So many people love this book and who am I to disagree. “…a viciously funny satire that also works as a tongue-in-cheek thriller” - The Sunday Times “An absolute coup of black comedy” – Daily Telegraph Ben Elton started off as a stand-up comic back in the 80’s (remember them?) and then decided to write novels too. His stand-up is very political and he chooses to give his novels a moral and political tone. The moralising may not be to everyone’s ...
...own as plain old funny books. The plot is extremely simple and entirely guessable from a very early stage. Bruce is a moviemaker who makes very violent films and Wayne and Scout are killers of the indiscriminate variety. The three are bound to meet! The book is nothing to do with the plot and everything to do with our perceptions about who does what and why, who is right, who is wrong. Are we all to blame? Personally I think Americans are much more ...

steve_frazer 04.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Popcorn - Ben Elton

...left to read later. Popcorn is a story based on a film director (Bruce) and 2 murderers on the run (Wayne and Scout), Bruce is an oscar winning director of films involving violence and murder which makes him somewhat of an idol to Wayne. Wayne and Scout are named the mall killers after travelling around America killing people everywhere they go. This is not what I would usually read but it has a story line that simply can not be put down and I found ...

dannypboro 30.11.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Popcorn - Ben Elton

Popcorn is a life in the day of Oscar-winning director Bruce Delamitri, a rich director in Hollywood. An amzingly gripping novel, that you cant put down. It also deas with other issues, such as violence, media and stereotyping. Has more form than Gridlock, and Stark. All the events are compressed into 24 hours, which makes an explosive read. Shocking murders, and a compulsive plot make this one of the best novels I have ever read. A whole new idea ...

Domhughes 13.12.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Popcorn - Ben Elton