Filmspotting #124: Hollywoodland / Don't Look Back / Top 5 Movies About Hollywood

Superman dies under mysterious circumstances. Is it his girlfriend's studio mogul husband? The flaky fiancée? Or is it suicide? Sounds like the perfect subject for a sophisticated meditation on Hollywood circa 1950. Which is just what Allen Coulter's "Hollywoodland" aims to be. It's hard to dismiss something so ambitious, especially coming at the end of Hollywood's Big Dumb Summer. The cast is good, too. Adrien Brody (the best actor working today?), Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins and a spectacular Robin Tunney all give good performances. As for the movie itself -- and Ben Affleck's portrayal of TV's first Superman, George Reeves? Well, talking about "Hollywoodland" got Adam and Sam thinking about "Chinatown" and "Sunset Boulevard," and all of a sudden Coulter's film was up against some pretty stiff competition.

Also on the show: Massacre Theatre, Listener Feedback, our 'Griffin Mill Memorial' Top 5 Movies About Hollywood, and the first film in our six-week Documentary Marathon -- D.A. Pennebaker's 1967 Bob Dylan tour chronicle "Don't Look Back."

Music by Dan Bern from the new album "Breathe" courtesy of Messenger Records.

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Filmspotting #124
:14-21:33 - Review: "Hollywoodland"
21:34-22:22 - Audio Feedback
Music: Dan Bern, "Breathe"
23:41-27:11 - Peerflix Winner (Nina Brown, Newburgh, NY), New DVDs
27:12-33:41 - Poll Questions, Viva Pedro
33:42-40:36 - Listener Feedback (Illusionist, Memories)
Music: Dan Bern, "Feel Like a Man"
41:19-44:22 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Keith Van Norman)
44:23-59:14 - Documentary #1: "Don't Look Back"
Music: Dan Bern, "Suicide Room"
1:00:41-1:02:11 - Audio Feedback
1:02:10-1:11:40 - Listener Feedback (High School Movies)
1:11:41-1:24:32 - Top 5: Movies About Hollywood
1:24:33-1:26:59 - Next Show/Close/Outtake

Links
-Viva Pedro
-Video: "Woke Up New," The Mountain Goats (Rian Johnson)
-Video: Watch Adam play Han Solo circa 1980
-Entertainment Weekly's Top 50 High School Movies

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.