Filmmaking
Filmmaking and the filmmaking process has been a favourite topic of writers and directors since the early days of this craft. Sometimes reverent, but more often irreverent, of the industry they work in, often resulting in bristling insider humour not found in rank and file productions...
Right: John Turturro stars in the Coen Brothers' brilliant 'Barton Fink'.
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
8.3/10
Director: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen
Starring: Millard Mitchell, Jean Hagen, Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd...
Silent movies are giving way to Talking Pictures and a hoofer-turned-matinee idol (Gene Kelly) is caught in that bumpy transition, as well as his budd... Read more
Barton Fink (1991)
7.7/10
Director: Joel Coen
Starring: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Jon Polito
The 44th winner of Best Film at Cannes was this dark comedy/thriller in which a renowned playwright (John Turturro) comes to 1941 L.A. to write a scre... Read more
Man Bites Dog (1992)
7.6/10
Director: Andre Bonzel, Benoit Poelvoorde, Remy Belvaux
Starring: Benoit Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde Pappaert
A no-holds-barred portrait of an unashamedly brutal serial killer (played by co-director Benot Poelvoorde). This unique black comedy, shot in document... Read more
Forgotten Silver (1996)
7.6/10
Director: Costa Botes, Peter Jackson
Starring: Peter Jackson, Sam Neill, Costa Botes, Leonard Maltin, Harvey Weinstein, Colin M...
When local Wellington filmmaker Peter Jackson discovers a cache of ancient nitrate in a neighbour's shed, he uncovers the work of Colin McKenzie, earl... Read more
Mulholland Drive (2001)
8/10
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Ann Miller, Laura Harring, Robert Forster, Dan Heda...
David Lynch pulls out all the stops, upends all expectations, and, well, goes all Lynchian in this maniacal, mind-bending mix of Hollywood satire, fil... Read more
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
8.5/10
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Buster Keaton, Erich Von Stroheim, Fred Clark, Gloria Swanson, Jack Webb, Nancy...
Billy Wilder's classic drama stars Gloria Swanson as reclusive silent movie queen Norma Desmond. Sharing a mansion with her live-in butler/former husb... Read more
Chaplin (1992)
7.6/10
Director: Richard Attenborough
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Dan Aykroyd, Geraldine Chaplin, Kevin Dunn, Anthony Hopkins, M...
This biopic of the silent cinema stars life from chirpy cockney to embalmed snob is played well by Robert Downey Jr. Dan Aykroyd is Mack Sennett, Gera... Read more
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
6.9/10
Director: E Elias Merhige
Starring: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Catherine McCormack, Eddie Izzard, Udo Kier
What if famed German filmmaker F.W. Murnau, for the sake of authenticity, hired an actual vampire to play the lead role in his classic 1922 chiller "N... Read more
8 1/2 (1963)
6.5/10
Director: Federico Fellini
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimee
Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido Anselmi, a director whose new project is collapsing around him, along with his life. One of the greatest films about... Read more
The Player (1992)
7.6/10
Director: Robert Altman
Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Peter Gallagher, Brion J...
A savagely satirical black comedy about a paranoid young movie executive (Tim Robbins), threatened by a disgruntled screenwriter - until he begins tak... Read more