TOP 4 MOVIES ABOUT MAKING MOVIES
by leroy mack
Many experts consider Eadweard Muybridge’s 1878 “Horse Race” to be the world's first ‘Moving Picture’ which is why we call films “movies” (insert NBC’s “Now You Know” rainbow graphic). With the invention of the movie, there comes the natural and insatiable curiosity to know how the sausage is made. But unlike sausages, the art of movie-making is not only fascinating, but the subject also makes for some pretty damn entertaining movies too! So, with a subject matter that spans every genre, let’s look at four movies about making movies that I think are good movies. (We’re gonna use the word ‘movie’ a lot so I’m trying to desensitize you now).
Why four when every other movie list is five? Because I’m a rebel, that’s why.
Okay, real talk, it has to do with the search engine algorithm-it doesn’t matter. Anyway, let’s talk cinematic sausages.
#4 The Blair Witch Project
The year 1999 is considered a watershed moment in the world of movie-making. American Beauty, The Sixth Sense, Magnolia, The Green Mile, Fight Club, The Matrix – the list goes on and on. Now, with flicks like The Matrix and Sixth Sense, we got to watch the birth of movie tropes and parodies that have made it into the bedrock of the cinematic social consciousness. However, only one film in the 365-day movie juggernaut that was 1999 had the honor of bringing a new film genre to the mainstream – “The Blair Witch Project.”
Now before some cinephile starts furiously scrolling down the page for a comment section so they can give me the business, yes, I know. “The Blair Witch Project” is not the first found footage film; you’ll notice I said, ‘mainstream.’ And mainstream it was. Pulling in over 100 million off a 30K budget. And while the found footage genre has been oversaturated AF, I’ll never forget the terrifying simplicity of a young woman holding a black and white camera to her bloodshot, tear-laced eye as she whispers, “I'm scared to close my eyes, I'm scared to open them. We're gonna die out here.”
Chills.
#3 Dolomite is My Name
I actually met Rudy Ray Moore AKA Dolomite, before he passed. I was at a filmmakers’ breakfast hosted by the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival in Seattle. Now you have to understand, as a black kid with a dad who spent his teenage years in the late 60s, and early 70s, you best believe I knew who Rudy was, and I was beyond excited to meet the man. Welp, he spent the entire breakfast talking incoherently about monkeys and kept calling me fat. Never meet your heroes, kids.
“Dolomite is My Name” is the true story of down and out dreamer (Moore) who, in an attempt to jumpstart his comedic career, creates a rude, vulgar, badass comedic alter-ego named Dolomite. The film follows Moore’s struggles to get a movie made based almost solely on the sheer presence of Dolomite. Did it work? If you know, you know. And if you don’t, you should watch it. I promise no one will call you fat.
#2 Tropic Thunder
With so many comedies about the wild and wacky world of movie-making, Tropic Thunder stands heads and shoulders above the rest. The movie follows a group of stereotypical Hollywood A-listers as they head to the jungles of Southeast Asia to shoot a guerrilla-style Vietnam film with a terrified, in-over-his-head director. What could possibly go wrong?!
Ben Stiller slaps as an aging action star stuck in a dying franchise. Robert Downey Jr. got a much deserved Oscar nom for his portrayal of an Australian method actor playing “a dude, playing a dude, disguised as another dude.” And Jack Black is his best Jack Black self playing a comedic actor with a taste for drugs and playing multiple parts in the same movie.
With a stellar supporting cast and multiple cameos, including Tom Cruise's greatest role to date (fight me), Tropic Thunder is the kind of movie magic that only happens when brilliant, funny and talented people aren't afraid to make fun of themselves.
#1 The Truman Show
When I was doing a mental movie inventory for films to put on this list, The Truman Show felt like a cheat. After all, Jim Carry’s character, Harry, is on a TV show that never ends. We also never get into the minutia of how the show works, and (spoilers!) we’re left with an ending that is as triumphant as it is ambiguous. So why would I put a movie that isn’t even about movie making at the top of the list? Simply put, The Truman Show is one of, if not the greatest behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the oldest and most enduring genre of them all:
Reality.
As Jim Carry’s character slowly begins to realize that he’s spent his entire life as the subject of a reality TV show, he gets the ultimate behind-the-curtain look at his own existence. He gets to see how the sausage is made. Unfortunately, reality sucks. Harry’s friends and loved ones are actors. His hometown is a glorified movie lot. Even the sun is fake! And when God talks to Harry, it’s no deity. It’s Ed Harris as the Truman Show’s head producer and as far as Harry is concerned, IS God. This movie is good on so many levels.
And there you have it! My top four movies about making movies. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Are you gonna give me the business? Well, there’s no comment section right now but we’ll work on that.
For more fun movie musing by yours truly, be sure to check out my other Smarthouse blog posts.
Honorable Mentions
Hitchcock: Good film but treats Hitchcock's known proclivities with kid gloves.
The Disaster Artist: I never understood the appeal of “The Room” until I saw this movie.
Be Kind Rewind: A love letter to video rental stores and the movie lovers that worked them.
Ed Wood: The legendary hack made films like no one was watching. How’s that for irony?
Argo: That one time Hollywood made a fake movie to save lives. So cool.
Hearts of Darkness: Tropic Thunder if it was real. Kinda.