The Best Movies About Movies
The best movies about movies are those which capture the magic of film making in an actual film. That's no easy task, but some of the films listed here are indeed a movie within a movie, taking viewers on a wild and sometimes confusing ride. Some of the movies that earned a spot on the list are critically acclaimed films, considered among the best movies of all time, and with good reason. Vote for the movies about movies that you loved the most, vote down any that you didn't like, and rerank this list in any order you want.
Some of the most iconic films in cinema history were actually movies about movies. The classic musical 'Singin' in the Rain' and the brilliant Sunset Boulevard, arguably one of the greatest film noir movies ever made, are great examples. In recent years, two films: 'The Artist' and 'Argo' won Academy Awards for best picture. What do they have in common? They were both movies essentially about movies (though the subject matter was vastly different).
Once you start thinking about it, a lot of major Hollywood films are about making movies. Is it any wonder? Filmmakers know their craft, so why not make a personal movie about the process? Some of the best living directors like Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Christopher Guest have made films about films.
Some of these films are comedies, others are suspenseful, tension-filled nail-biters, but all of the films on this list are, in some way, about the magic of making movies. What is the greatest movie about a movie ever made? That's subjective, though this list offers more than a few excellent choices. It is, however, not complete, so feel free to add your suggestions as well.- Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor
- Released: 1952
- Directed by: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
A spoof of the turmoil that afflicted the movie industry in the late 1920s when movies went from silent to sound. When two silent movie stars', Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont, latest movie is made into ...more - Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy
- Released: 1988
- Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Down-on-his-luck private eye Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) gets hired by cartoon producer R.K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern) to investigate an adultery scandal involving Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner), the ...more - Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot, Robert Armstrong
- Released: 1933
- Directed by: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
Actress Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) travel to the Indian Ocean to do location shoots for Denham's new jungle picture. Along the way, the actress meets and falls ...more - William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim
- Released: 1950
- Directed by: Billy Wilder
An aging silent film queen refuses to accept that her stardom has ended. She hires a young screenwriter to help set up her movie comeback. The screenwriter believes he can manipulate her, but he soon ...more - Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker
- Released: 1994
- Directed by: Tim Burton
Because of his eccentric habits and bafflingly strange films, director Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) is a Hollywood outcast. Nevertheless, with the help of the formerly famous Bela Lugosi and a devoted cast ...more - Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: Ben Stiller
Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), pampered action superstar, sets out for Southeast Asia to take part in the biggest, most-expensive war movie produced, but soon after filming begins, he and his co-stars, ...more - Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking
- Released: 1979
- Directed by: Bob Fosse
When he is not planning for his upcoming stage musical or working on his Hollywood film, choreographer/director Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) is popping pills and sleeping with a seemingly endless line ...more - Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
In the San Fernando Valley in 1977, teenage busboy Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) gets discovered by porn director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), who transforms him into adult-film sensation Dirk Diggler. ...more - Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz
- Released: 2009
- Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
It is the first year of Germany's occupation of France. Allied officer Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a team of Jewish soldiers to commit violent acts of retribution against the Nazis, ...more - Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius
In the 1920s, actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a bona fide matinee idol with many adoring fans. While working on his latest film, George finds himself falling in love with an ingenue named ...more - Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson
- Released: 1954
- Directed by: George Cukor
Hollywood actor Norman Maine (James Mason) is a celebrity whose star is on the wane, but when he meets aspiring actress Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland), he is inspired to help her, and soon the two ...more - Robert Downey, Dan Aykroyd, Geraldine Chaplin
- Released: 1992
- Directed by: Richard Attenborough
Re-creation of the life of comic genius Charlie Chaplin, from his humble beginnings in south London through his early days in British vaudeville, his silent movie career in America and his late ...more - Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn
- Released: 1968
- Directed by: Mel Brooks
Down and out producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), who was once the toast of Broadway, trades sexual favors with old ladies for cash contributions. Max's new accountant Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), ...more - Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Spurred on by a promise he made to his daughters, Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) embarks on what would become a 20-year quest to obtain the movie rights to "Mary Poppins." The author, P.L. Travers (Emma ...more - Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest
- Released: 1984
- Directed by: Rob Reiner
"This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold ...more - Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Ben Affleck
Argo is a 2012 American political thriller film directed by Ben Affleck. The film is adapted from U.S. Central Intelligence Agency operative Tony Mendez's book The Master of Disguise and Joshuah ...more - Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret, Leopoldo Trieste
- Released: 1988
- Directed by: Giuseppe Tornatore
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, internationally released as Cinema Paradiso, is a 1988 Italian drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. The film stars Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret, Leopoldo ...more - Charles Durning, Austin Pendleton, Steve Martin
- Released: 1979
- Directed by: James Frawley
After Kermit the Frog decides to pursue a movie career, he starts his cross-country trip from Florida to California. Along the way, he meets and befriends Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Gonzo and rock ...more - Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his ...more - Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale
- Released: 2004
- Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Billionaire and aviation tycoon Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a successful public figure: a director of big-budget Hollywood films such as "Hell's Angels," a passionate lover of Hollywood ...more - Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Curtis Hanson
Three policemen, each with his own motives and obsessions, tackle the corruption surrounding an unsolved murder at a downtown Los Angeles coffee shop in the early 1950s. Detective Lieutenant Exley ...more - Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise
- Released: 1976
- Directed by: Mel Brooks
In this dialogue-free slapstick comedy, film director Mel Funn (Mel Brooks) travels to the ailing Big Picture Studios to pitch his comeback film: the first feature-length silent movie in many years. ...more - Claudia Cardinale, Marcello Mastroianni, Barbara Steele
- Released: 1963
- Directed by: Federico Fellini
8½ is a 1963 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini. Co-scripted by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, and Brunello Rondi, it stars Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi, a ...more - Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Martin Short
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: John Landis
Three cowboy movie stars from the silent era -- Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase), Lucky Day (Steve Martin) and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) -- are fired when one of their movies bombs. In what seems to ...more - Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Simon Curtis
In 1956 England, Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) lands a job as a production assistant on the set of "The Prince and the Showgirl," starring Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams). Marilyn is also ...more