Movies About Making Movies (#atozchallenge)

Cover of Fellini's Roma

The films that I'll be listing in my April postings will not necessarily be films that I'd call my favorite films, but they will be favorites in the genres I'll be naming.   The A to Z genres are very specific micro genres as opposed to the broader genres like action, romance, or comedy.

       If we love movies, it stands to reason that we probably like movies about how the movies are made.  From early film history filmmakers have made movies about their process.  For one thing it's probably cost effective since they can often use preexisting sets and the studio lots themselves.  And it's an idea that sells.  Audiences like to peek behind the curtain.

       There are so many films that I could list here, but here are some of my favorites:

Singing in the Rain (1952)--  Silent movies make the transition to talkies.  Some old stars can't make the grade while new stars are born.  One of the greatest of all film musicals.

8 1/2 (1963) -- A film director encounters crisis in his life and on the set as he tries to make a science fiction film.  This film is a semi-autobiographical look at the film's maker Federico Fellini.  The theme examines the complexities of the creative struggle.  This should be required viewing for all writers, aspiring or already published.  It is in Italian with subtitles, but if you write I assume you can also read.

Fellini's Roma (1972)-- This is one of my top ten all time favorite films.  In this wildly surrealistic pseudo-documentary, Federico Fellini leads his film crew as they make a movie about the history of Rome and how the city intertwines with his own life history.  A lot of interesting social commentary with fascinating cinematic imagery.

Day of the Locust (1975)-- Based on the novel by Nathaniel West, the story follows Hollywood wannabes and victims of life into the insanity of the film industry during the years of the Great Depression. Strange and seriously disturbing, the film borders on greatness and is a very good film about Hollywood.

Living in Oblivion (1995)--  Steve Buscemi stars as a serious minded director trying to make a great independent film with a small budget and an incompetent staff and cast.  Buscemi does a fine acting turn here in a film with hilarious scenes mixed with serious drama.  It's a very entertaining film. 

Hearts of Darkness (1991) -- This is a documentary about the making of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.   This doc shows the travails that had to be overcome in making the theatrical release.  A great look at real film making that's nearly as good as the actual movie itself.   This is a must for any hard-core Apocalypse Now fan.

Burden of Dreams (1982) -- Another making-of film that in some ways rivals the film it's about.  This documentary follows the creation of Werner Herzog's epic film Fitzcaraldo.   This was one crazy film about a true life crazy idea that encountered some amazing obstacles.  The obsessive Herzog was intent on filming this story and managed despite the odds against him to produce a great film.  A very interesting documentary about getting a movie made.

        Seen any of these?    What films about movie making do you think I should have added here?   Do you enjoy documentaries?   Why or why not?

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Life Story Movies (#atozchallenge)

Cover via Amazon

The films that I'll be listing in my April postings may not necessarily be films that I'd call my favorite films, but they will be favorites in the genres I'll be naming.   The A to Z genres are very specific micro genres as opposed to the broader genres like action, romance, or comedy.

        There are tons of biopics or life story movies.  Some cover brief important periods of someone's life while others are biographies that cover a good portion of a person's life from childhood to death.  Some digress wildly from the truth while others stay relatively true to the source with a few liberties added for greater entertainment value or more dramatic effect.   No matter what, if the story is told well I love life story movies.

         Here are a handful of my favorites:

The Jolson Story (1946) -- I loved this film when I first saw it at about age 10 or so.  I still love it.  A few years back I got a couple of Jolson biographies from the library and was disappointed to find that much of the film was fabricated.  His true story was more interesting than the movie.  Still, it's a great film and I still love it.   One of the best show biz pics ever and an excellent biopic.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) -- Another great show-biz biopic about a Broadway and songwriting legend George M Cohan.  Tons of classic songs and fabulous dancing by tough guy James Cagney--what a dancer he was.  This is one black and white film that deserved to be colorized, but either way you see the film it's well worth your time.  It gives you a great patriotic uplift as well.

Sergeant York (1941) --Gary Cooper stars as soft-spoken hillbilly hero of World War One.  Due to his Christian beliefs he does not want to fight, but when he realizes that sometimes we have to fight to be free he puts his sharp-shooting talents to work and captures 132 German soldiers on his own.  Another great American story.

Amadeus (1984) --Funny, tragic,and utterly great.  This biopic of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart deservedly won eight academy awards.   The music's not too bad either.

The Elephant Man (1980) --This biopic directed by weird film director David Lynch tells the tragic story of the grossly deformed John Merrick who in 19th England goes from persecuted side show freak to a darling of British high society.  The film is dark, thoughtful, and sad.   It is also highly enthralling.  Well worth your time if you're ready for some depression.

         What are some of your favorite biopics?   Does it bother you when the film takes liberties with the true story?     Who do you think deserves biopic treatment? 

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Knowledge: The Key to the Story

Cover of Knowing [Blu-ray]

The films that I'll be listing in my April postings will not necessarily be films that I'd call my favorite films, but they will be favorites in the genres I'll be naming.   The A to Z genres are very specific micro genres as opposed to the broader genres like action, romance, or comedy.

         The genre for the letter "K" is perhaps the most esoteric of all of the film categories I'll be presenting.  K represents Knowledge as in something special a character already knows or knowledge that has to be obtained or deciphered within the story framework.   This can be arguably the case for nearly all stories, but in the films I will name here the knowledge is in a structural wholeness of mind and that knowledge is the key element of the story.  Confusing I suppose, but this is the best I've come up with for now to describe this type of film.

        I'll toss out these titles and then you can tell me what you think and perhaps name some of your choices:

The Mothman Prophecies (2002)-- Richard Gere plays the role of a writer who begins to receive cryptic knowledge and realizes the messages are prophecies of disastrous events to come.  As he seeks the meaning of the visionary knowledge he becomes involved in a disaster he has foreseen.

The Celestine Prophecy (2006) --Based on the mega-best selling book, this movie generally gets terrible reviews, but as one not swayed by reviews I liked it because of the philosophical content.  The story concerns a man who is drawn to Peru to investigate a system of religious related thought and philosophy.  I enjoyed the film for the story and images portrayed.  I thought it was an interesting diversion.

What Dreams May Come (1998) --   Based on a book by the great writer Richard Matheson, who has had many of his stories given the big screen treatment, this film has a mixed following.  The effects are beautiful and the story is thought-provoking.  The film features the oft-annoying Robin Williams in one of his more tolerable roles and Cuba Gooding Jr as a guardian angel.  Though I might not agree with all of the theology of this movie, the film presents some interesting ideas.

The Believers (2007) -- This very unknown low budget straight-to-DVD film is one that I rather enjoyed.  Two paramedics answer an emergency call in a remote area and are abducted by what appears to be an extreme religious cult that claims to have knowledge of a forthcoming destruction of the world.  The acting is good, the story is interesting, and the ending is very strong.   In fact this film has one of my favorite endings in that I thought it was very well done.

Knowing (2009)-- Nicolas Cage (one of my favorites) stars as a widowed father who obtains some very specific knowledge about the end of the world.   Now that he has that knowledge what will he do with it and will anyone believe him?   I loved this film especially for the special effects.

The Matrix (1999) and sequels -- This film series is all about knowledge and mind-bending thought concepts.  If you haven't seen these you really should.

       Do you think this micro-genre makes sense?    Which of these films have you seen?    What films about knowledge might you add?


  Ran across an interesting blog yesterday.  Check out 

I...Reach!   This blogger is taking my daily theme and 

doing the Indian regional version.  I'm flattered, Srividya!

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