Premiere magazine can probably best be described as Rolling Stone magazine for the movie industry. This is meant primarily as a compliment. Most articles are thin, but in each issue a half dozen or so are very in-depth, and often about a hard hitting subject like drug use in Hollywood, racism, or the policy of covering up bad behavior by the stars, etc..

One of the first things I read each month is the column written by Libby Gelman Waxner. (There is also a book of hers that I've reviewed here on Epinions.) The writer is one of the best in the business and is actually a gay man who is just pretending to be a Jewish mother reviewing both the movies and her fictional life. He also writes screenplays, and his movies (In & Out, Adams Family Values) are actually quite good too, and are commonly lauded for their excellent writing. These articles are both insightful and hilarious, and I recommend them to anyone who loves movies or comedic writing.

Another original and very clever trend is that they also have some major interesting Hollywood people, like Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee interviewed together, at the same time. This usually leads to some fascinating observations as they answer each other's questions more than the interviewer's.

Premiere's film reviews are few for a magazine about films, but very well written. They seem to review movies about a month after they have come out, which shows that they are far more interested in discussing the film than they are about promoting it. They have only been writing reviews for a little over a year, and they have improved drastically in the last several months. They aren't afraid to knock a film that has advertising in the same magazine.

Along a similar vein, they have recently received a lot of flack about an expose they wrote on Arnold Schwarzenegger called "Arnold the Barbarian". In this lengthy article they accuse Arnold of manhandling and sexually harassing multiple women on every movie set he has ever worked. It accuses him of infidelity with his wife, and goes so far as to name names and sources. It even goes into great detail saying that many other magazines have tried to print similar articles, but before they could go to press they were told that they would lose any chance of ever interviewing Arnold, or press cooperation with other films by the same studio. I'm not sure how accurate the article is, but Arnold is (was) a big enough star to probably get that sort of protection.

In the letters column the following month, many big name stars wrote responses to the article denouncing Premiere and the article's validity. Some of these letters were by big stars like Michael Rappaport, Sharon Stone, Gina Gershon, Rita Wilson, Linda Hamilton, Kelly Preston, Rae Sanchini, and even James Cameron. This was one of the most tabloid-like articles I have ever seen in the magazine, but I was still surprised at the outrage over the article. Then again, if you believe everything in the article, it could just be Arnold's press agents doing their job.

Their letters column is actually commonly filled with corrections and other points of views from famous stars about articles that they have written. I always admire a magazine that isn't afraid to publish its hate mail.

Unlike Rolling Stone, I find their photos to be only okay. They have been getting better, however. They also publish pictures that famous actors have taken on the sets of their recent pictures. These often have an honest cameo feel.

Their in-depth articles are so good that the thin ones (the majority) leave you begging for more. There are many one page stories that only seem to be there to justify a photo of a star they shot. Not all are bad, but many just feel like filler. Although they seem to go through writers pretty quickly, the articles tend to have a personal feel to them. I doubt any two writer's articles would sound the same. I've just never been attached to any one writer enough to remember them clearly.

Generally speaking, their articles are amazing in the way that they can appeal to both the serious movie insider and the tabloid seeking person. I think they manage this by often discussing tabloid type news in a serious method. Actually, looking back through several articles, I've noticed an interesting trend. I think the magazine succeeds at both levels because it writes articles about current movie hunks, sensationalistic stories and movie premieres in the appropriate style. IE, like People Magazine or Entertainment Tonight. But when they write about something like Jack Valenti's history, or their monthly celebration of a classic film, they write it with the proper respect and homage that it deserves. An article about the Canne film festival is appropriately written somewhere in between the two styles.

Speaking of their more respectable writing style, they do tend each issue to feature a classic movie, usually no more than twenty to forty years old. In these lengthy articles they interview as many of the major players as they can and sort the article not by each interviewee, but by the themes that they all discuss. These are usually very educational, especially if you are already familiar with the movie.

The beginning of each issue features the writers of that particular issue. The blurbs they write about them seem to remind me of the original M-Tv VJs from the early eighties. As if they are as big a star as the people they are writing about. I haven't been convinced of this yet. The personal feel by the author of each article almost gives it a 'People Magazine' type of feel, as insulting as that may sound to a magazine that wants to be taken seriously as a respectable magazine about an industry.

Two things they include in each issue that are often interesting are the "Classic Scenes" and "Filmography" sections. The Classic Scenes is a transcript of dialogue from what is considered a classic scene. Sometimes reading these in print makes you appreciate it more than when you remember hearing it. The Filmography gives you a great breakdown of all of an actors major roles, often with a little detail about them. IMDB.COM is more complete, but sometimes these can be a little more personal.

If you are a film snob (and I reluctantly admit that I am somewhat) than some of the lighter articles may bother you. But this magazine does a wonderful job of covering upcoming independent and foreign films that you just aren't going to see anywhere else. The same goes with actors and actresses who aren't just this week's new big thing. Very few magazines or web sites do this as well as this magazine. I could almost recommend it for these facts alone.

I originally bought this magazine each month when I was at college. When I got my first subscription to it, it cost $2.50, which was about what the newsstand price was. Shortly thereafter they had a deal of $22 for 24 monthly issues! The price hasn't been that low since. The current cover price is $3.50, which seems to be a dramatic jump up from $2, which was only a few years ago. However, after re-subscribing for a year, I got a notice in the mail that said I could renew for a second year for only $12 more.

Here is a separate Epinions I wrote on "If you ask me", which is a collection of articles by Libby Gelman Waxner:
http://www.epinions.com/content_21461765764




Recommended: Yes

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