Movies About Hollywood To Watch Before 'Babylon'
Plus: Our top 5 TV shows of 2022!
For about as long as Hollywood has been around, they have been making movies about themselves. Some portray the industry as exciting and glamorous, while others choose to examine the dark underbelly of fame and the business of moviemaking. This weekend one of our most anticipated movies of the year opens in theaters. Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, takes a fictionalized look at 1920s Hollywood, so we’re recommending a couple of our favorite films about Hollywood this week.
Afterwards, make sure you check out our top 5 TV shows of 2022, which we are listing below before we unveil our top 10 movies of 2022 next week! Let us hear about your favorite shows of the year in the comments!
Drew recommends…
Barton Fink
It’s fitting that I sit here struggling to figure out what to say about Barton Fink, because the 1991 Coen brothers film is actually about writer’s block – and Old Hollywood, and fascism, and religion, and William Faulkner. So, where does one even begin to unpack the layered mystery of Barton Fink? As I stare at a mostly blank page, I find myself even more astounded by Joel and Ethan Coen’s limitless creativity. When they were writing their third film, 1990’s extraordinary gangster movie Miller’s Crossing, the brothers ran into the solid wall of writer’s block. So what did they do? They turned it into another movie.
John Turturro plays the titular Barton Fink, a celebrated New York City playwright that comes out to Hollywood to cash a few big checks writing movies for a major studio. Barton checks into the dingy motel where he plans to churn out his scripts, but finds himself stuck firmly in writer’s block. Based on real-life playwright and screenwriter Clifford Odets, the Coens turn his experience in 1940s Hollywood into a psychological thriller-comedy-character study in the tone-juggling way that only they can.
Much of Barton Fink is concerned with the eternal Hollywood push-and-pull between art and commerce. Barton has written sophisticated Broadway plays, but now he’s being paid to write a wrestling movie for the studio. He longs to write something of value that is relevant to “the common man,” but he doesn’t really care what one of them has to say. Barton is not necessarily a likable main character, however the Coens were likely drawn to his struggle to write something artistic while maintaining some entertainment value, something they have done their whole careers.
In a rare feat, Barton Fink won Best Actor, Best Director, and the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year. (Turturro is nothing short of tremendous as the lead, and yet John Goodman’s supporting performance nearly steals the movie from him.) When the film was released in theaters it was a box office dud. This isn’t all that surprising, due to the ambiguous nature of the storytelling. However, in addition to being a wry and biting portrayal of Hollywood’s past, Barton Fink is packed with symbolism and meaning. Or maybe it just seems like it is? Leave it to the Coens to make a movie about writer’s block that has us puzzling about what it all means over 30 years later.
Available to rent digitally on demand
Billy recommends…
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Rick Dalton. A successful actor that seems to be losing his place in the transitioning film world and is not sure if the desire is still there to make an impact. His stunt double, Cliff Booth (what an absurd comp for Rick, but I completely bought in), is a chill/zen fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants type of fella. Leveling out the head of Dalton whenever he can. OUATIH is an examination of a romanticized time in Hollywood history that increases that sentiment while creating a longing for what could have been if not for a tragedy.
Simultaneously throughout the main story with our fictional characters we have some real life figures popping in and out of frame. The most mystic character being Sharon Tate played by Margot Robbie. Tate was murdered by the Manson cult in real life and seeing her being brought back on the big screen is a tightrope to walk. Robbie is given an almost completely voiceless part and when we focus on this storyline we get a fairytale-like feel to the movie that is rewarded even more on rewatches.
What makes this Tino movie at the top of the list (#1 or #2 depending on the day) for me is that it is the first time he has provided consistent restraint… until the last 20 minutes. Which made the ending of this movie so impactful. Quentin Tarantino is a known movie savant and while a lot of his movies are littered with clear homages this is the most personal and hopeful he has felt. I’m not sure there is a good entry into Tarantino if you aren’t already a fan, but this may be the one I would recommend first.
Streaming on STARZ
From the DYLA Archive
Top 5 TV Shows of 2022
Drew:
The Bear (Hulu)
The Rehearsal (HBO)
Atlanta (Season 4) (Hulu)
Reservation Dogs (Season 2) (Hulu)
Barry (Season 3) (HBO)
Billy:
Barry (Season 3) (HBO)
Andor (Disney+)
The White Lotus (Season 2) (HBO)
The Rehearsal (HBO)
Mo (Netflix)