An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn (1998)

From my favorite movies..

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Hilarious, Hilarious,Hilarious...Eric Idle in this film plays a great narcissistic self condemning writer;but with some great attitude-hahahahahaha...I so loved it. Its so true to real life; with what i am sure, script writers go through in there daily routines. However, Eric Idle takes it even one step further in laughs and comedy for this film in self preservation. :) It is so funny! The film shows you the realism of Hollywood,as well as what regular people and artists are thinking in Hollywood. Such a great and hilarious comedy. I was rooting for Alan Smithee all the way/lol. Watch it, it really is a great film.It also has some great A listed supporting actors and comedians. I would give it a 12 out of 10,if i could...Hope you enjoy it.

For those who don't know, Alan Smithee is not a real man, rather, a fake name for Hollywood filmmakers to choose if they are not happy with the end result of whatever movie they're making. Generally, these films will be films that were either destroyed by the studio, or were crafted together in an uncaring and unconcerned fashion. Some films that are "directed" by Alan Smithee include HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE(a movie I liked), THE BIRDS 2(which I thought was okay), GUNHED(which I loathed), and SUPERNOVA(which wasn't that bad in my opinion). BURN Hollywood BURN is a film by Alan Smithee. Yep, the director of BURN Hollywood BURN was so ashamed of the result of his movie about Alan Smithee that he chose the Alan Smithee alias as the director of the film. Um... Yeah. Cool? Not really. This film apparently is intentionally bad, but it really takes talent to make something this bad. I wonder what would have happened if instead of Hollywood wasting such fine talent as Eric Idle,Coolio, and Jackie Chan on a half-assed project like this, they decide to quit at the screenplay stage, if there is a screenplay, and pack up, go home, and then continue putting out their usual crap and occasional gems. That would've been cool. If they had done that instead, we wouldn't have gotten this boring, cheap, confusing mess of a picture. Sure, it has it's followings, and sure, people undoubtedly will forever love it for it's energy, wit, talent, and uniqueness, but in the long run, it was a film that never should have been made and will most likely be forgotten about.

All in all, it was an interesting mockumentary that got tiresome when Coolio showed up. Not that coolio was bad, but it just dragged along. Probably more accurate about the Hollywood mindset then people in LA are willing to admit.The best moments were between Jeni and Oneal, the manic studio men. Richard Jeni had the right sarcastic edge and the best lines. Stallone, Goldberg and Chan were also amusing, but Eric Idle was a bit over the top. Some scenes were simply pointless, such as the cussing between Coolio and the black cop.There are some inaccuracies in the trivia, which claims this to be the last film to use Alan Smithee, but the IMDb lists at least a dozen other projects after 1997 with that name as well.Would have had a better impact, maybe even memorable like "Spinal Tap" if there was more work done, maybe some tighter editing or better writing to pick up the pace. Instead, it becomes forgettable.

All I can think about this horrid piece of crap is:"Oh, Jesus Christ."The "idea" of this movie is a good idea. The execution of this film was the worst. Some say, "Well it's an inside Hollywood joke." No, it isn't. "Kid Notorious" on Comedy Central is an inside Hollywood joke. Joe Ester-whosits is an inside Hollywood joke -- that continues to get a paycheck. But...there isn't anything actually WRONG with that..as we can all see, there are many inside Hollywood jokes that are getting paychecks while talent is still knocking at the door.As I've written, the IDEA of this film was a savvy one -- it just doesn't transfer--or makes sense -- in this film. We all know who "Alan Smithee" is and its kinda funny to see a real "Alan Smithee" want to take his make off of a film. Funny -- for about 15 seconds. Then we have a whole 'nother hour or so of this movie to go, of nothing but pure hell masquerading as "a Hollywood inside joke".The guy who writes on Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum wrappers would have done this film better. Much Better. 'Oscar' Caliber better. Okay, I went a bit too far on the last better comparison.Or did I?!?!?