By Chance Shirley
May 27, 2004
Part Nine: Intermission
If we learned anything from THE SHINING, it's that all work and no play make Jack a dull boy. Keeping that in mind, I decided to take a break from the usual explanations of complex technical filmmaking issues and cries of "making movies without money is tough!" and write about something a little lighter.
Movies about filmmaking get a bad rap sometimes. Especially when they're written by film school students who don't have much actual industry experience. Those flicks tend to turn into movies about what film school students assume Hollywood is like. However, when they're done right, by people who really have something to say about the industry, they can be great fun. And if you've worked on an indie film, you'll be in on the joke a little more than the rest of the viewing public.
One of my favorite things about these movies is that they've provided a near endless supply of inside jokes for me and my filmmaking buddies in terms of quotable dialogue. While shooting, we've occasionally had entire conversations consisting of nothing more than lines from various films about filmmaking. Check out enough of these movies, and you, too, might grin if you're on a movie set and hear the director snap, "What's to protect? It was perfect!"
ADAPTATION
Forget about all the hype about how cool and "meta" this movie is. It's a great look at writing, a movie that anyone who's ever stared down a blank sheet of paper (or a blank word processing document) will especially appreciate.
Based on a Charlie Kaufman script, the movie is about a screenwriter named Charlie Kaufman and his struggle to write a script based on a seemingly unfilmable book. Kaufman (the writer) came up with the ADAPTATION script when he had trouble writing... the screenplay to a seemingly unfilmable book. Okay, so it is a little meta.
Nicolas Cage does a great job in dual roles, as Kaufman and his not-so-bright brother Donald. And Brian Cox rules in a small role as Robert McKee, loosely based on real-life screenwriting "coach" Robert McKee.
Quote: "The only idea more overused than serial killers is multiple personality."
BOWFINGER
In case you've forgotten, Eddie Murphy can still be funny. When he's not making kiddie movies or insanely expensive sci-fi "comedies," at least. Steve Martin knows this and puts him to work in BOWFINGER, a film about a hack director (played by Martin) who decides to make a movie starring famous actor Kit Ramsey without ever actually hiring him. When this proves difficult, he hires Kit's brother Jiff to be Kit's "stand-in" for a few scenes.
Murphy plays Kit and Jiff (am I stumbling onto a duality theme?) and is great in both roles. Kit is pompous and paranoid, Jiff is nerdy and sweet. And, though Martin's character is a bit sleazy, anyone who's ever gotten themselves into a desperate filmmaking situation will be able to relate.
Quote: "Did you know that Tom Cruise didn't know he was in that vampire movie until three months later?"
DAY FOR NIGHT
If you ever want to sound cultured when you're talking film with your friends, you can always bring up DAY FOR NIGHT. On the surface, it's just a light comedy about filmmaking, but, since most of the dialogue's in French (it's a French film), it seems real classy.
Francois Truffaut directed DAY FOR NIGHT and also stars as the director of the movie-within-the movie, JE VOUS PRESENTE PAMELA. Truffaut pokes fun at the idea of the film director as self-centered genius -- the character he plays is deaf and, hence, has some trouble taking suggestions. He also spends almost as much time counseling an emotional cast and crew as he does directing the movie.
Quote: uh, it's in French... okay, here's a translated one... "We'll stop and begin shooting again when you find me a cat who knows how to act."
THE PLAYER
Robert Altman has made some great movies and some... well, not-so great movies. He's definitely made enough to know the industry inside and out, though, and he put this knowledge to good use on THE PLAYER.
A dark comedy about the way power corrupts in Hollywood, THE PLAYER features one of Altman's trademark ensemble casts. Tim Robbins plays the lead, a studio executive being blackmailed by a screenwriter, and there are tons of great supporting turns. I'm especially fond of Lyle Lovett, the genius singer/songwriter and always-fun character actor. And Bruce Willis has a great cameo.
Quote: "Traffic was a bitch."
SWIMMING WITH SHARKS
Back in the day, before Kevin Spacey seemingly decided he wouldn't make any movie that didn't have "Oscar bait" written all over it, he was a really fun actor. He did excellent work in great but not self-important movies like THE REF, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, and SWIMMING WITH SHARKS.
If THE PLAYER is a dark comedy, SHARKS is just about pitch black. Spacey stars as abusive studio exec Buddy Ackerman, who seems to enjoy torturing his new assistant, played by Frank Whaley, more than he enjoys making movies. Things are pretty ugly until Whaley's character reaches the breaking point. Then, they get even uglier.
Aside from Spacey and Whaley, the film features a good Michelle Forbes performance (where did she disappear to?) and an early Benicio Del Toro appearance.
Quote: "The audience should feel their balls tremble, their ears should bleed!"
LOST IN LA MANCHA
Most of these movies are fictional accounts of the behind-the-scenes events surrounding fictional movies. LOST IN LA MANCHA, however, is a documentary about the making of a real movie, THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE... that never got finished.
And it's more than a little depressing. LOST taught me that director Terry Gilliam is a genius. He's a lot smarter than me and knows a lot more about making movies than I ever will. I also learned that having a good director, even a great director, in charge doesn't guarantee a film can be completed.
Think about that. Terry Gilliam, genius director, started making a movie and had to abandon it before he could finish it. If you're a director with no experience, no crew, and no money, what kind of a shot do you have? Scary stuff.
Then again, Robert Rodriguez made EL MARIACHI for seven grand and became the toast of Hollywood for a while, so don't worry about it too much. And don't be afraid to watch LOST. While there are some tragic moments, there's some fun stuff going on, too. And it's got Johnny Depp.
Quote: "Everything that can go wrong goes wrong. I mean everything, everything, everything, everything."
THE MUSE
THE MUSE is not one of director Albert Brooks' most well-regarded movies. I enjoyed it, some folks didn't. Regardless, I'm mentioning it for one reason. Director and occasional actor (he had a small part in TAXI DRIVER, you know) Martin Scorsese shows up for a very brief (like, one minute) cameo that is hilarious. I mean, seriously, it's worth renting the movie just for this cameo.
Quote: "OK, well, I'm working on a remake of RAGING BULL..."
WAG THE DOG
The characters in WAG THE DOG aren't making a movie. They're using their movie industry experience to manipulate the media and convince the American public that the United States is fighting an overseas war when, in fact, there is no war. Not even a police action. Why would anyone want to do this? To take the voters' attention away from a presidential sex scandal, of course.
Director Barry Levinson and star Dustin Hoffman shot WAG THE DOG while on a six week break from shooting SPHERE. Though it was a "side project," WAG turned out much better than SPHERE.
Hoffman stars as an eccentric movie producer, Robert DeNiro plays a cold-blooded Washington spin doctor, and both actors are at the top of their game. Anne Heche also does good work in WAG, and William H. Macy has a killer cameo.
It's a little surprising that this movie was shot so quickly (six weeks is a tight schedule by Hollywood standards) -- it's an exceptionally well-made movie, slick but not uptight. And it features some terrific satire.
Quote: "When the fit hits the shan, somebody's going to have to stay after school."
STATE AND MAIN
David Mamet was credited as co-author of the WAG THE DOG script. He wrote and directed STATE AND MAIN, my second favorite (and most quotable) movie about making movies.
Mamet is known for gritty, dialogue-driven pieces (GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS might be his most famous script). STATE AND MAIN is a bit of a departure for him, though. The story, about a big Hollywood film being shot in small town America, is a little less talky and more comedic than the majority of Mamet's work. There's still some grit in there. I mean, don't be surprised if a moral man is compromised by greed at some point.
Aside from the sharp (and quotable) dialogue, the movie features some teriffic performances. I'm especially fond of Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the first-time screenwriter and William H. Macy as the ruthless director.
Quote: "This is what my people died for... the right to make a movie in this town."
ED WOOD
For my money, ED WOOD is the best movie, ever, about the movie business. It looks great (shot in old-school black and white), the story manages to be hilarious and touching, the actors (especially Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, and Bill Murray) deliver flawless performances, and the main character, Mr. Wood, is someone many of us can relate to: a man gifted with a passion (for movies, in his case) but not gifted with much talent.
The movie is based on the real Edward D. Wood, Jr., director of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and recipient of many "Worst Film Director Ever" awards. Wood wasn't really the worst ever, though -- there are plenty of poorly-made low-budget b-movies from the 1950s, Wood's most prolific period. Wood just gets picked on because PLAN 9 is bad in such a glorious way. But Paul Verhoeven made SHOWGIRLS (also magnificently bad), and nobody ever calls him the worst director ever. Seems kinda unfair to me.
HIDE AND CREEP co-director Chuck Hartsell and I often joke that everything we know about filmmaking, we learned from watching ED WOOD. Actually, we're only half-joking.
Quote: "Really? Worst film you ever saw. Well, my next one will be better."
The above list of movies about movies is by no means definitive. If I left out one of your favorites (or you want to make an argument against one of the flicks on my list), drop me a line. If I get any feedback, I'll try to include it in a future column (or maybe see if Mr. Ryall wants to run it in the Mail Shoot).
Speaking of future columns, I'm not sure what I'll cover next. I'm leaning toward location audio, though that can be pretty dry. After that, we'll probably look at editing, which can be really dry. Exciting times ahead! Seriously, I'll do my best to keep the stuff interesting.
Until then...
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