# Movies about making movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275 "2005-12-12T17:09:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/1 "2005-12-12T17:09:21Z")
There’s another thread called **The Soup**. This got me to thinking about movies that are about making movies. _ **In The Soup** _ stars Steve Buscemi as a wanna-be filmmaker looking for a producer for his 500-page screenplay. He lives in a crappy apartment and he has no money. How will he make his film? He puts an ad in the paper that is answered by a confidence man played by Seymour Cassell. Cassell wants a piece of the action – he wants to be ‘in the soup’, as it were. So where does this ‘angel’ get the money? 😉 A good film that no one has heard of. _ **Living In Oblivion** _ also stars Steve Buscemi as a filmmaker. This time he’s actually shooting his film. Of course everything goes wrong. I’ve worked on several small and low-budget projects. What struck me about this film was how many things they got right. I laughed and laughed. The _artiste_ with his vision, the uncooperative actors, neuroses, everyone lighting up a smoke during the breaks… I can relate. _ **…And God Spoke** _ is presented as a documentary of the making of a big-budget biblical epic. Unfortunately the filmmakers run out of money halfway through their project. How will they finish? There’s a scene where Moses (Soupy Sales) appears on the mountain carrying the Ten Commandments – and a six-pack of Coke. ‘Why is Moses carrying Coke?’ ‘Product placement!’ ‘But this is a biblical epic! They didn’t _have_ Coke!’ The filmmakers hire a proud Director of Photography. When his footage comes back underexposed he tells a story. ‘Otto Preminger [?] gave me this light meter. After seeing my footage he said, “You need this more than I.”’ The film gets off to a slow start, I think. There are a lot of funny scenes, but by then end they don’t really add up to an outrageously funny movie. Still – and again because I can relate, even though I’ve never worked on a film with a real budget – I like having this one in my collection. What are other films about films, especially indie projects? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/2 "2005-12-12T17:19:51Z")
Truffaut’s [Day for Night](http://imdb.com/title/tt0070460/), of course. Plus the lesser-known [Inserts](http://imdb.com/title/tt0073172/). ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/3 "2005-12-12T17:21:36Z")
I just watched _The Stunt Man_ for about the tenth time this weekend, mainly because the DVD had an excellent commentary track. I guess you could call the movie a cult classic, dealing with perception and the director as God. I don’t care if he _did_ have blond hair in the movie; Steve Railsback will always be Charles Manson to me. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/4 "2005-12-12T17:23:50Z")
Adaptation, which is about trying to make a movie to follow a smash-hit first movie (Being John Malkovich). Which idea was already taken, by Sally Potter, who made The Tango Lesson after her smash-hit first movie Orlando. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/5 "2005-12-12T17:28:29Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Truffaut’s [Day for Night](http://imdb.com/title/tt0070460/), of course. I’ve heard the title, but haven’t gotten round to seeing it yet. (My French film collection is rather paltry: Godard’s _Breathless_ (and I’ve seen but don’t own _Alphaville_, _Betty Blue_, _Vagabond_, _Delicatessen_, _City Of Lost Children_, _La Femme Nikita_, and _Léon: The Professional_) I’ll have to look for it. > [@PoorYorick](#): > > I just watched The Stunt Man for about the tenth time this weekend I almost mentioned _The Stunt Man_ (‘If God could do what we can do, he’d be a happy man.’) only I thought it was less a film _about_ making a film than it was a film about a guy on the lam. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/6 "2005-12-12T17:28:34Z")
_Bowfinger_ - 1999 Steve Martin/Eddie Murray film about making a movie with a star who doesn’t know he’s in it. _Terror Firmer_ - also 1999, Troma horror film about a murderer who is preying on the crew of a Troma film. _Boogie Nights_, if we’re not limited to films about making a single movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/7 "2005-12-12T17:31:28Z")
[Under the Rainbow,](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083254/) a movie about the making of _The Wizard of Oz._ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/8 "2005-12-12T17:33:15Z")
**Shadow of The Vampire** oh, and how about **Singing In The Rain**? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/9 "2005-12-12T17:37:53Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > **Shadow of The Vampire** Good film. A friend was angry that he’d paid $10 to see it (at an ‘art house’ – The Royal on Wilshire). But yeah, this is on my DVD shelf. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/10 "2005-12-12T17:44:06Z")
**[The French Lieutenant’s Woman](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0082416/)** is, in part, concerned with the making of the movie **The French Lieutenant’s Woman**. **[Sweet Liberty](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0092035/)** stars Alan Alda as a author who watches them making a movie of his book. Most notable for me since my father appeared in it as an extra (he got to share a freeze frame with Alda). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/11 "2005-12-12T17:49:29Z")
[QUOTE=blondebear] **Shadow of The Vampire** [QUOTE] Thirded. Excellent film. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/12 "2005-12-12T17:50:49Z")
Dammit, I do too know how to code. BTW, let’s not forget **King Kong**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/13 "2005-12-12T17:53:32Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > _ **…And God Spoke** _ Excellent and underappreciated inclusion. **The Player** , of course, about the ins and outs of getting a production done. **State and Main** **Barton Fink** , about a budding screenwriter. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/14 "2005-12-12T17:54:38Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **[The French Lieutenant’s Woman](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0082416/)** is, in part, concerned with the making of the movie **The French Lieutenant’s Woman**. If we expand the OP to include movies about making TV shoes, there is **Bewitched**. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/15 "2005-12-12T17:54:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **[The French Lieutenant’s Woman](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0082416/)** is, in part, concerned with the making of the movie **The French Lieutenant’s Woman**. If we expand the OP to include movies about making TV shows, there is **Bewitched**. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/16 "2005-12-12T18:08:00Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > If we expand the OP to include movies about making TV shoes… And _ **My Favorite Year** _. And the TV series _ **On The Air** _. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/17 "2005-12-12T18:16:23Z")
How about Terry Gilliam’s **Lost in La Mancha**? - Peter Wiggen ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/18 "2005-12-12T18:22:09Z")
> [@PeterWiggen](#): > > How about Terry Gilliam’s **Lost in La Mancha**? > > - Peter Wiggen If we’re doing documentaries: **Grizzly Man**. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/19 "2005-12-12T18:29:14Z")
**Ed Wood** ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275/20 "2005-12-12T18:31:34Z")
> [@PeterWiggen](#): > > How about Terry Gilliam’s **Lost in La Mancha**? The director of our current project strongly recommends this one. Haven’t looked for it yet though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-making-movies/335275.md?page=2)