Movies About Hollywood

I saw Alec Baldwin on TV a while ago. He was talking about a film he's in called "State and Main". I could be wrong here, but I don't think it's going to be successful. It seems to me that people don't want to see movies about making movies. Actors, directors, and producers want to make movies about making movies, and they do, but nobody wants to see them.

Picture the scene: Alec Baldwin's sitting at home, doing whatever it is that Baldwins do when they're not making movies and lookin' like each other, and WHOOSH! a movie script falls down the chimney (I'm assuming that's how they're delivered). He reads it. It's about making movies. He enjoys it. He calls out,

"Hey Kim Bassinger... are we still married. I heard a rumour... who the hell cares, I know I don't"

Sorry, I mixed in Alec talking with me talking. Anyway, he calls someone in.

"Hey, look at this great script. It's about making movies. It's great, it's just like real life!"

So he goes and makes the movie. It's a comedy about how cynical and greedy movie-makers are, and Alec thinks it's the best movie ever. And so does the director, and so does the producer, and so does everyone else whose ever been involved in the making of a movie. But that's where the enjoyment ends.

If you're a helicopter pilot, and someone makes a movie about helicopter pilots, you'll probably go and see it. If it's realistic, and shows what it's really like to be a helicopter pilot, you'll probably enjoy it. You'll say,

"What a great movie. Now people will know what it's like to be a helicopter pilot like me."

It's the same thing with these movies about making movies. Movie-makers like them, but normal people don't. They know stuff about movie-making, so can enjoy humour based on that subject matter. All I know about movie-making is stuff that I've seen in comedies about movie-making.

It's like that TV show "It's Like You Know". It's about a New Yorker who moves to Los Angeles. Every joke in the show (seriously ev-er-y joke) is based on life in LA, and how it's different from New York. Who the hell is this show aimed at!? It seems to me that the only people who could appreciate it are people who used to live in New York and then moved to Los Angeles and who have the same name as the main character in the show.

There are loads of movies about making movies. And they all have all-star casts. They have Oscar winners making 3 second cameos. And nobody has seen any of these movies. Actors love them, nobody else gives a damn.

I seem to be suggesting you can't enjoy a comedy unless you've experienced what all the jokes are about. That's not true. I was never in Korea and I've never worked in a hospital, but I liked M*A*S*H. Maybe Hollywood, and the world of movie-making is just boring. Maybe it can't be funny no matter what angle you look at it from. But "Get Shorty" was good. There goes my definite conclusion.

I don't know.