Ain't It Cool?: Hollywood's Redheaded Stepchild Speaks Out

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
"I am the least likely celebrity in the world. That's what I am famous for," writes Harry Knowles, founder of the infamous and omniscient film-geek web site Ain't It Cool News. Now Hollywood's redheaded stepchild tells how he rose from obsessive obscurity to become one of the most authoritative industry watchdogs -- and hard-core fans -- on the Web.

"I was raised on everyone's communal memories," said Knowles in an interview with The New York Times Magazine. "My whole life, I've been force-fed the cult obscurities, the collective marvels of every different age of cinema." From a family of "Gypsy vagabonds" who traveled to conventions to sell memorabilia and collectibles to unhappy isolation on a ranch in Texas after his parents' rocky divorce, with nothing around for miles but open land and a collection of comic books, paperbacks, and 5,000 videotapes, Knowles grew up to be nothing if not obsessed with pop culture. But in 1994, Knowles was quite literally crushed by memorabilia -- when 1,200 pounds of posters and collectibles toppled off a dolly and fell on him, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down for months. It was an accident one can't help but view as symbolic; but rather than finding ruin, Knowles found his true calling on the computer in his bedroom in Austin, Texas. "The original impetus for Ain't It Cool News was very simple. I was paralyzed, laid up in bed, and wanted someone to know who I was, in case I died," writes Knowles. From this unlikely beginning, Knowles tracks his rise to Internet celebrity, first by word-of-mouth in the fledgling Internet newsgroups, then with boosts from the legendary Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report and, most significantly, Quentin Tarantino. (Tarantino, incidentally, has written the introduction to this book.)

Fans of Ain't It Cool News will embrace the story of the origins of the site and its early struggles to stay online -- without paying for Internet access -- as well as a brief introduction to some of Knowles's "spies" and his inner circle. He also, for the first time, goes public about major mistakes he has made, as well as offering up his own self-criticism for being "just the tiniest bit startstruck." But at the heart of this book is the story of a guy obsessed with movies who believes in a fundamental principle ("Movies should be better. And someone should be held accountable when they're not") and is ultimately a trustworthy fan who believes there is still hope for Hollywood. Read this book, pass it along to your fellow obsessive friends. Ain't it cool? (Elise Vogel)

Kevin Smith

Knowles' book reads like the dream diary of the ultimate lay movie-fanatic and would-be filmmaker...

Michael de Luca

Harry is the Indiana Jones of film fandom…this book is a must-read for film geeks everywhere! —Dreamworks President

Tampa Tribune

...a page-turner, a must-read for Internet geeks as well as cinephiles...becomes something more...I can't wait for the movie...

Publishers Weekly

The creator of the studio-scooping Web site aintitcoolnews.com delivers a rollicking memoir, a passionate analysis of film industry flaws and an infectious appreciation of "the last bastion of true democracy in America" movies. The child of an alcoholic Texas heiress and a Young-Republican-turned-hippie, Knowles split his childhood between the family compound of his mother's violent relatives and trips to Mexico and Central America, where he and his father would collect native art to resell. After an accident left him bedridden, Knowles launched his Web site, a "Geek Forum" that follows movies from script development to release. His muckraking approach rattles studios, which became clear when Sony served Knowles with a restraining order in 1997 for posting a scoop about the computer animation in Starship Troopers, or when Knowles's early pans of Batman & Robin were widely blamed for the movie's failure. More Winchell- than Ebert-like in approach, Knowles presents himself as a hard-boiled, scrappy underdog working on behalf of the public; largely this works, particularly in his expos of the National Research Group's test marketing of movies. The book is also valuable as a record of the Web's early entrepreneur-driven years, and for its rare insight into Knowles's former employer, Matt Drudge. Film lovers, however, will probably most appreciate Knowles's exuberant, knowledgeable paeans to his celluloid favorites. They include a tribute to 1930s comedy star Lee Tracy, an analysis of how nascent Leo-mania launched Titanic, an explanation of the life lessons of Flashdance and more. (Mar. 5) Forecast: With Knowles's enthusiastic Web following, expect this to surface on some regional and college-oriented bestseller lists and, of course, on every desk in Hollywood. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Film fanatic Knowles's web site, www. aintitcoolnews.com, gets over two million hits a month, so you know that there's an audience for this account of what's really happening in Hollywood. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Knowles is a movie "geek," which he defines as someone with an "almost hyperactive enthusiasm toward his highly proprietary subject matter." His Web site, "Ain't It Cool," is dedicated to movie news, from the sale of a script to a film's release. Knowles's opinions are pervasive and have frequently brought him into conflict with the Hollywood powers that be. He describes fights with Sony, the National Research Group, Matt Drudge, and others in a light, highly opinionated style, and casts himself as David fighting Goliaths. The narrative is filled with history, trivia, commentary about the ethics of today's journalists, and stories behind the stories. Knowles rounds out his tale with a list of his favorite and least-favorite films, and those he would like to see made. Movie buffs will enjoy this inside look at an outsider who has made a big impact on the film industry.-Jane S. Drabkin, Chinn Park Regional Library, Woodbridge, VA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.