Before the hilarious Hollywood satire “What Just Happened” hits cinemas, Movies.ie recommends you check out the following titles…
Hollywood takes a stab at Hollywood in the comedy “What Just Happened”, starring Robert De Niro, Sean Penn and Catherine Keener, Before seeing this hilarious Hollywood satire, Movies.ie recommends you checking out the following titles...
THE PLAYER
The late Robert Altman’s adaptation of Michael Tolkin’s novel gave the notorious director a chance to address perhaps his greatest nemesis of all: the Hollywood studio system. Tim Robbins stars as Griffin Mill, a Hollywood studio exec considered by most to be “writer-friendly”. He spends his days listening to pitches from such noted screenwriters as Buck Henry, who is pushing “The Graduate, Part II” and Alan Rudolph, who is hawking a Bruce Willis action film described as “Ghost meets The Manchurian Candidate.” But “The Player” finds Griffin’s comfortable life style in danger of collapse, when he starts receiving death threats from a disgruntled writer because he has committed the ultimate Hollywood sin: he promised the writer he would call him back and never did… On top of that he is trying to find a way to unload his girlfriend (Cynthia Stevenson) whose independence and intelligence make her a poor candidate for a trophy wife. And more importantly, it seems that Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher), a slippery executive from Twentieth Century Fox, is angling for his job… Disguised as a thriller, the film assembles over 65 famous Hollywood faces to create an exhilarating blend of real life and fiction.
THE EDGE
A survival thriller may not seem comparable to “What Must Happened” but bear with us – there’s method to our madness! “The Edge” follows the birthday trip of Anthony Hopkins playing a millionaire with a super model wife. Alec Baldwin plays the guy we all love to hate, making moves on Hopkins wife and, of course, playing Hopkins’ friend as well. Hopkins, an assistant and Baldwin go on a plane trip to photograph a native Alaskan hunter. The plane hits birds , causing them to crash into a lake. The pilot dies, Baldwin bails the plane and Hopkins rescues the assistant as well as grabs flares. The story follows the three as they try to get out of the mountains to be rescued… So why watch it? Well it seems this film is the basis for “What Just Happened”. Producer Art Linson wrote the book back in 2002 demonstrating the difficulties of putting together a film – from dealing with De Niro. who had a problem with fighting a fake bear, placating Alec Baldwin, who didn’t want to shave his beard. Evenfinding a title proved problematic with “The Bear and the Brain” and “Bookworm” being favourites at the time of production. We like ” the Bear and the Brian”.
30 ROCK
Yes, we’re cheating a little here but if you are looking for an entertaining Hollywood send up, look no further than “30 ROCK”. Written and starring Tina Fey, we following Liz Lemon, the head writer on a variety series called ‘The Girlie Show’, as the new Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), hjacks the show – adding crazy actor Tracy Jordan (Morgan) to the cast and changing the name. As well as Fey and Morgan, the single-camera sitcom also features former Ally McBeal star Jane Krakowski, Scott Adsit and Judah Friedlander, but with such a deep bench of talent, the show’s secret weapon is Kenneth, played by Jack McBrayer , whose naiveté is a hilarious contrast to the rest of the characters, will have you on the floor:
WAG THE DOG
Before turning his attention to Hollywood’s underbelly, director Barry Levinson, first made his mark directing Wag the Dog, a film which saw the merging of Hollywood and poltics in both a comical and thought provoking way. When a Firefly Girl accuses the president of sexual misconduct in the Oval Office less than two weeks before the upcoming election, White House official Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) is told to bring in Conrad Bream (Robert De Niro) to fix the situation and save the president’s chances for reelection. This mysterious “fixer” fabricates a conflict with Albania in an effort to detract attention from the sex scandal, bringing in legendary Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) to “produce” the war. When the CIA foils the initial plot, the creative team turns to a new story line, creating the saga of a U.S. soldier left behind enemy lines whom the president vows to find and return to American soil.
“What Just Happened” is in Irish cinemas from Friday, November 28th.