# Movies about other movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320 "2018-09-14T02:37:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/1 "2018-09-14T02:37:27Z")
I just finished watching [_Kumiko the Treasure Hunter_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumiko,_the_Treasure_Hunter), about a woman who thinks that the movie _Fargo_ is real and obsessively studies it trying to figure out where the lost money is located. Anyone got examples of other movies that center around another (real) movie? (As I’m typing this, I remembered [a Jennifer Aniston movie](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumor_Has_It_(film)) centering around _The Graduate_. Really about the book, but there is the movie too, so I’ll count it.) ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/2 "2018-09-14T02:46:32Z")
Are you also interested in documentaries like [Hearts of Darkness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_of_Darkness:_A_Filmmaker%27s_Apocalypse), or movies about movie making like [Saving Mr. Banks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Mr._Banks)? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/3 "2018-09-14T02:53:54Z")
I don’t mind the tangents but I’m mainly thinking of a fictional movie that concentrates on the story of another fictional movie. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/4 "2018-09-14T03:15:11Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I don’t mind the tangents but I’m mainly thinking of a fictional movie that concentrates on the story of another fictional movie. _ **The French Lieutenant’s Woman?** _ Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/5 "2018-09-14T03:31:01Z")
I assume we’re skipping various parodies like _Airplane!_ and _Young Frankenstein_. There’s _Play It Again, Sam_, an early Woody Allen movie where he plays a character obsessed with _Casablanca_. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/6 "2018-09-14T03:31:09Z")
“Son of Rambow” is about two kids making their own version of “First Blood”. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/7 "2018-09-14T03:40:52Z")
Off the top of my head : _Sullivan’s Travels_ is about a writer working on a film called “O Brother Where Art Thou.” _Singin’ in the Rain_ is about a studio making the transition to sound. Truffaut’s _Day for Night_ is about the making of a fictional film, “Je vous presente Pamela.” _Ed Wood_ is largely about the making of an actual film, _Plan 9 from Outer Space_. _Postcards From the Edge_ is about an actress struggling with addiction while working on a film. _State and Main_ is about a film crew that invades a small town to make a fictional movie called “The Old Mill.” _Argo_ is a docudrama about the real-life plot to extract the hostages from Iran by posing as a film crew making a film called “Argo.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/8 "2018-09-14T03:44:32Z")
The recent [The Disaster Artist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Disaster_Artist_(film)) is a fictionalized version of the making of one of the worst movies of all time, _The Room_ by Tommy Wiseau. ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/9 "2018-09-14T03:54:01Z")
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:** [September 14, 2018, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/10 "2018-09-14T03:56:14Z")
[_Shadow of the Vampire_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0189998/) > [@IMDb](#): > > The filming of [Nosferatu](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442) (1922) is hampered by the fact that its star [Max Schreck](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0775180/) is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/11 "2018-09-14T03:59:17Z")
Buster Keaton’s 1928 silent, _The Cameraman_ _The Stunt Man_ _The Player_ _The Artist_ Of course, there’s no shortage of lists of movies about movies, although not all of them are about making a specific movie, which I think is what the OP is looking for. [Den of Geek’s 25 best movies about making movies.](http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/movies-about-filmmaking/264940/the-25-greatest-movies-about-making-movies) [Indie Wire’s 22 essential films about Hollywood.](https://www.indiewire.com/2016/02/22-essential-films-about-hollywood-272592/) [Fandango’s best movies about movies.](https://www.fandango.com/movie-photos/the-best-movies-about-making-movies-693) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/12 "2018-09-14T04:00:53Z")
[8 1/2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056801/),directed by Federico Fellini [Chaplin](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103939/), with Robert Downey playing the titular role [The Stunt Man](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081568/), concerning a guy on the lam who stumbles into a job as, well, a movie stunt man [Hooper](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077696/), one of Hal Needham/Burt Reynold’s lesser works. Burt likewise plays a stunt man. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/13 "2018-09-14T04:20:01Z")
“Sleepless in Seattle” is about a woman who is inspired by the movie “An Affair to Remember” to meet a guy at the top of the Empire State Building. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/14 "2018-09-14T04:39:18Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Are you also interested in documentaries like [Hearts of Darkness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_of_Darkness:_A_Filmmaker%27s_Apocalypse), or movies about movie making like [Saving Mr. Banks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Mr._Banks)? In the same vein as _Hearts of Darkness_ is [_Burden of Dreams_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_Dreams), about Werner Herzog’s obsessional making of _Fitzcarraldo_ in the Peruvian Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/15 "2018-09-14T04:41:49Z")
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned [_RKO 281_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120801/), a fictional portrayal about Orson Welles’ difficulties in distributing _Citizen Kane_ due to William Randolph Hearst’s machinations. [_Baadasssss!_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367790/) has Mario Van Peebles recreating his father Martin Van Peebles’ making of [_Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067810/). [_Adaptation_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268126/) is primarily about screenwiter Charlie Kaufman trying to adapt Susan Orlean’s nonfiction book _The Orchid Thief_ into a film under contract but instead ending up writing the (mostly fictional) movie the viewer is watching; it does, however, have a brief segment with a couple of scenes set making Kaufman’s previous screenplay ([_Being John Malkovich_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120601/)) into a film. [_Be Kind, Rewind_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0799934/) is about video clerks who accidentally erase all of the VHS tapes in their store and recreate the movies by filming themselves in the role. There are, of course, a lot of films about the making of fictional movies such as _8-1/2_, _Bowfinger_, _The Player_, _Tropic Thunder_, _State & Main_, \*Hail, Caeser!\*et cetera. However, my favorite fictional film about the film industry is [_Barton Fink_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101410/), which is exactly what it is like to try to write for the entertainment industry. Exactly. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/16 "2018-09-14T04:45:22Z")
The movie [_Hitchcock_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchcock_(film)) focuses almost entirely on the making of _Psycho_. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/17 "2018-09-14T04:50:19Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > There are, of course, a lot of films about the making of fictional movies such as _8-1/2_, _Bowfinger_, _The Player_, _Tropic Thunder_, _State & Main_, \*Hail, Caeser!\*et cetera. I would add to that list _Hearts of the West_, _Boogie Nights_, and _Zack and Miri Make a Porno_. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/18 "2018-09-14T04:54:35Z")
If (and it’s a big if)… IF you grant the fantasy that Tom Stoppard wrote one of his famous works after seeing a Hamlet **movie** , then the movie _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead_ is a movie (containing a play) of a play about a play about a movie of a play containing a play. 🙂 I feel like flipping a coin. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/19 "2018-09-14T06:50:25Z")
In the movie _All That Jazz_ The character of Joe Gideon is working on thinly veiled productions of Bob Fosse’s real life productions of the movie _Lenny_ and the Broadway play _Chicago_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320/20 "2018-09-14T07:09:46Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > In the movie _All That Jazz_ The character of Joe Gideon is working on thinly veiled productions of Bob Fosse’s real life productions of the movie _Lenny_ and the Broadway play _Chicago_ I always thought it was interesting how Fosse decided to make an autobiographical movie and kill off the main character. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-about-other-movies/821320.md?page=2)