Often, a writer pitching an idea to a Hollywood executive must express it in “high concept” terms - breaking it down into easily-recognizable pop culture symbols.
The idea here is that you’re trying to “sell” a famous artistic work - movie, book, painting, album, etc. - by relating it to other famous works (typically in an inane and facile way).
Some examples:
Saving Private Ryan is Lord of the Rings with machine guns.
Under Siege is Die Hard on a boat
Terminator is Back to the Future meets Alien
The Matrix is…