Movies about movies.

Well, that would be nice, but "The Artist" isn't making a whole lot of money, and "Hugo" is kind of a financial flop.

I don't think this subgenre (such as it is) ever went away, but it will never be some big trend either. Artists will always be drawn to self-reflection and it pushes the right buttons for cinephiles but that meta quality tends to leave mainstream audiences cold, so movies like this rarely if ever light the box office on fire, as Gabe points out.

Some movies are about movies in a stealthy way, though. There's a strong case to be made for reading INCEPTION this way, but the average person wouldn't necessarily notice that nor would it (or rather, did it) result in a spate of film-centric meta movies getting greenlit.

I can think of two great ones:  The Stunt Man and Tropic Thunder.  Also: The Player.  My pet peeve isn't so much movies about movies or the industry, it's movies about writers.  Dan is right in that they tend to spiral into self-reflection and narcissism and usually boil down to "getting the girl."  I think a problem for a lot of movies NOT about movies is that the people making them become so removed from regular life that the picture they paint is reality for only a handful of people -- huge palatial houses, etc.  Adam Sandler's latest movie just reeked of disconnection with the real world. 

Tropic Thunder great? No.

The Player? Maaaaaybe, although it's a bit too pleased with itself. Need to watch that one again.

Adaptation was the first I thought of, and it occurs to me that State & Main does everything the Player does, but it's nastier and shorter. It also has the single best line in a Mamet film: "An associate producer credit is what you give to your secretary instead of a raise."*

*Relevant line is relevant?

Are we just talking about recent films?  Because if not, hello, Singin' in the Rain.

"Adam Sandler's latest movie just reeked of disconnection with the real world."

"Grown-Ups" was especially weird.  Would it really be so mind-blowing that regular American families could afford to take a week off in the middle of the summer and split a time-share like seven ways?  Sandler's character had to be a billionaire?  Hu?  Worse, this is exactly the type of tripe they show on TV in third world countries with tons of stock characters, constant inconsequential sight-gag action, bright photography, and blaring music ... which makes America look like assholes.  Way to go Sandler.  It's like he's making a movie for the 1% boogie-man and we get to pay to see it too - it's like the film version of celebrity line-cutters at Disneyland.

I emailed Renn a few weeks back and asked him to do an article on this very subject.  Inglorious Basterds, Inception, Hugo... See, Renn!  Grace us with some lengthy words, man!

I think that, at the most, certain people will look at how critics and awards have lavished attention on Hugo and The Artist and try to do something similar to muscle in on the action.

But are Hugo and The Artist getting attention because they're about movies or because of the gimmicks they employ?

The Artist is dripping with nostalgia for Old Hollywood, and the geezers in the Academy absolutely ate it up. With Hugo, you can make a drinking game out of how many times someone says "movies are like dreeeeeeeaaaaaaaamsss oooooo!" and voting for it strokes their egos over how "important" their work is.

PEEPING TOM comes to mind. De Palma's BLOW OUT and BODY DOUBLE. All of Tarantino's movies are about movies on some level, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS possibly being my favorite. It doesn't seem to be a widely seen or particularly highly regarded entry in his filmography but I'm a fan of Woody Allen's STARDUST MEMORIES. Of course there's also PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO.

Oh, almost forgot one of my favorites: SHERLOCK JR. Really fantastic movie about movies.

Originally Posted by Dan Benenson 

It doesn't seem to be a widely seen or particularly highly regarded entry in his filmography but I'm a fan of Woody Allen's STARDUST MEMORIES. Of course there's also PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO.

LOVE Purple Rose of Cairo. LOVE. I've got your back on Stardust Memories as well, although that's equally a self-study filtered through film. And you can't forget it's big inspiration: 8 1/2, a terrific look at the creative process (or its blockages) and the male mind.

Also: motha fockin' Rear Window!

In what could have been a good idea but wasn't, there's that Robin Williams vehicle THE FINAL CUT.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson 

Are we just talking about recent films?

I hope not, because... THE MUPPET MOVIE and then THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER would cry into each others' felt and foam shoulders.

My favourite is The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.

The world abounds with nice but misguided fools who mistake Wes Anderson's masterpiece as the point where he allowed eccentricity to overtake substance, but the more suave, sophisticated and sexually voracious of us possess both the nous and the heart to recognise that his ealier films, as much as we're all fans of each of them, were merely fantastic test runs for his very greatest work.

It's technically about the making of a TV show (and a soap opera at that), but TOOTSIE has a lot of truth about behind the scenes production woes in general. From the brutality of cattle call auditions to inept, barely cognitive actors, all kinds of fucking between crew and cast, preening directors, etc. It still has the best summation of a camera operator ever (the "How d'ya feel about Cleavland?" guy).

I love INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS. Mostly because it combines 2 great formidable subjects. Cryptozoology and Werner Herzog.