# Movies about movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096 "2004-02-13T20:37:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![freewill39](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d2c977/32.png) [@freewill39](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freewill39)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096/21 "2004-02-14T19:09:03Z")
> [@freewill39](#): > > …Through the show, there are many brazen illusions to the fact … > > - Freewill39. I meant “Allusions”. Sorry. I should have previewed. (-; - Freewill39. ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096/22 "2004-02-14T19:20:04Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > entirely subtextual, like _Pulp Fiction_ I don’t understand this. I’ve seen _Pulp Fiction_ a number of times, and fail to see how it has a subtext about movies. Can you explain this? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096/23 "2004-02-14T19:25:55Z")
I want to be a producer With a hit show on Broadway I want to be a producer Lunch at Sardi’s everyday I want to be a producer Wear a tux on opening nights I want to be a producer See my name in lights. I forget the name of the movie/show it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096/24 "2004-02-14T20:49:30Z")
> [@Fang](#): > > I’ve seen _Pulp Fiction_ a number of times, and fail to see how it has a subtext about movies. Can you explain this? Geez, that’s a whole other thread. (Especially as it’s mostly about _movies_, not specifically filmmaking, although of course there are plenty of moviemaking references, too. ) _Pulp Fiction_ is almost entirely homage-- in large part to _film noir_ and the French New Wave films, but with lots of references to generic gangster films and plenty of nods to classic (and obscure) films from diverse genres. With no exaggeration, there are _hundreds_ of film references, in the dialogue, in characters, in situations, in reconstructed composition. All very stealthy, and mostly invisible unless you’re a total film geek. To give you an idea, let’s start with Francois Truffaut. The characters of Jules and Vincent are based on a couple of gangsters from _Shoot the Piano Player_, Ernest and Momo. (Their casual banter about mundane things while going about their dirty jobs, mostly.) Of course, “Momo” is referenced elsewhere in PF, and Jules’ name is a nod to another Truffaut film, Jules and Jim. Think that’s a stretch? Tarantino underlines it with “Don’t ‘Jimmy’ me, Jules,” in “The Bonnie Situation.” There are other references to Truffaut films throughout. Other “name” references: Koons tells the young Butch that a “Wynocki” in the air force promised his father to help get the watch back. See _Air Force_. The boxer that Butch is supposed to throw the fight in favour of? “Wilson.” Malloy threw the fight against Wilson in _On the Waterfront_. “Maynard,” the rapist? Nod to _Charley Varrick_, in which “Maynard” utters the memorable line “We’ll go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch,” which is also echoed in _PF_. The mysteriously glowing suitcase? See _Kiss Me Deadly_. Geez, this message is already too long. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![Ex\_Machina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096/25 "2004-02-14T21:10:50Z")
Here are a few more to consider: **Sweet Liberty Irreconcilable Differences The Muse** and one of my favorites: **Swimming With Sharks** ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096/26 "2004-02-14T21:13:27Z")
Sunset Boulevard (1950) Valentino (1951) Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) Contempt (1963) Harlow (1965) A Man and a Woman (1966) Beware of a Holy Whore (1971) The Last Movie (1971) Day for Night (1973) Nickelodeon (1976) Best Friends (1982) The Big Picture (1989) Barton Fink (1991) The Player (1992) Chaplin (1992) RKO 281 (1999) ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096/27 "2004-02-14T23:16:33Z")
Adaptation was apparently a movie about itself. ---
**Author:** ![peri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@peri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peri)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096/28 "2004-02-14T23:45:02Z")
Ararat (2002) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096/29 "2004-02-15T13:05:40Z")
spoke: \<\< One thing I’ve learned from the Oscars is that Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood. \>\> Yeah, Hollywood is obsessed with itself. No question. Try GET SHORTY [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-movies/229096.md?page=1)