An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn | |
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A parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine. The tagline reads "The movie Hollywood doesn't want you to see" Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Arthur Hiller (as Alan Smithee) |
Written by | Joe Eszterhas |
Produced by | Ben Myron |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Reynaldo Villalobos |
Edited by | L. James Langlois |
Music by |
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Production companies | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures (North America/South America) Cinergi Productions (International) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 86 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $10 million[citation needed] |
Box office | $59,921[1] |
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (stylized on-screen as Burn Hollywood Burn) is a 1997 American mockumentary film directed by Arthur Hiller, written by Joe Eszterhas and starring Eric Idle as a director unfortunately named Alan Smithee, a traditional pseudonym used in Hollywood for directors disowning a project. The film follows Smithee as he steals the negatives to his latest film and goes on the run.
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn was universally panned by critics and tanked at the box office. It "won" five awards (including Worst Picture) at the 19th Golden Raspberry Awards. The film's creation set off a chain of events which led the Directors Guild of America to officially discontinue the Alan Smithee credit in 2000 after its use for decades when an American director disavowed a film.[2] The plot, about a director attempting to disown a film, ironically described the film's own production; Hiller requested that his name be removed after witnessing the final cut, and he is credited as Alan Smithee. Burn Hollywood Burn was also the final production of Cinergi Pictures, which closed on the day of the film's American release.
Plot
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Director Alan Smithee has been allowed to direct Trio, a big-budget action film starring Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg and Jackie Chan. The studio recuts the film, and when Smithee sees the results (which he describes as being "worse than Showgirls"), he wants to disown the film. However, since his name is also the pseudonym used by Hollywood when someone does not want to have their name attached to a bad film, he steals the film and flees, threatening to destroy the film by burning it.
Cast
- Eric Idle as Alan Smithee
- Ryan O'Neal as James Edmunds
- Coolio as Dion Brothers
- Chuck D as Leon Brothers
- Richard Jeni as Jerry Glover
- Leslie Stefanson as Michelle Rafferty
- Sandra Bernhard as Ann Glover
- Cherie Lunghi as Myrna Smithee
- Harvey Weinstein as Sam Rizzo
- Gavin Polone as Gary Samuels
- MC Lyte as Sista Tu Lumumba
- Marcello Thedford as Stagger Lee
- Nicole Nagel as Aloe Vera
- Stephen Tobolowsky as Bill Bardo
- Erik King as Wayne Jackson
- Dina Spybey as Alessandra
Cameos as themselves
Production
The film was written (and produced, though he was not credited for it) by Joe Eszterhas, who became the first person to win four Golden Raspberry awards for a single film: Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay and both Worst Supporting Actor and Worst New Star for a brief cameo appearance (he also received a co-nomination for the Worst Screen Couple award, since An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn was nominated for "any two people appearing together onscreen"; although the movie did not "win" in this category). The released film credits the Alan Smithee pseudonym as director because Arthur Hiller, the film's real director, objected to the way Eszterhas recut the film, and as a result, had his name removed. In his autobiography, Hollywood Animal, Eszterhas claims that Hiller still sat in the editing room with him to make certain suggestions.[citation needed] In his entry on An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn for his "My Year of Flops" column in The A.V. Club, pop culture critic Nathan Rabin sarcastically commented that Hiller's decision to use the Alan Smithee credit was "very transparently not a stupid, stupid gimmick to raise interest in a terrible film".[3]
Reception
Box office
The film had an estimated budget of $10 million and grossed at least $52,850, as it was released in only 19 theaters.[1]
Critical response
Film critic Roger Ebert, reviewing for the Chicago Sun-Times, gave An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn a score of zero stars, his lowest possible rating. The film was not merely bad but "incompetent", Ebert wrote, and also seemingly represented a lapse of judgment for Eszterhas who "is sometimes a good writer".[4] In 2005 Ebert included it on his list of most hated films.[5]
The film holds a 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. The site's critical consensus calls it "A witless Hollywood satire whose hammy, obvious jokes are neither funny nor insightful of the movie business."[6] Eric Idle himself said in various interviews meant to promote the film that "this is rather dreadful".[citation needed]
Accolades
Award | Date of Ceremony | Category | Recipients | Results | Ref. |
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Stinkers Bad Movie Awards | 1999 | Worst Picture | An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (Hollywood Pictures) | Nominated | [7] |
Worst Director | Arthur Hiller | Nominated | |||
Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy | An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (Hollywood Pictures) | Nominated | |||
Worst On-Screen Hairstyle | Joe Eszterhas | Won | |||
Golden Raspberry Awards | March 20, 1999 | Worst Picture | An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (Hollywood Pictures) | Won | [8] |
Worst Actor | Ryan O'Neal | Nominated | |||
Worst Supporting Actor | Joe Eszterhas | Won | |||
Sylvester Stallone | Nominated | ||||
Worst Screen Couple | Any combination of two people playing themselves (or playing with themselves) | Nominated | |||
Worst Director | Arthur Hiller (as Alan Smithee) | Nominated | |||
Worst Screenplay | Joe Eszterhas | Won | |||
Worst New Star | Won | ||||
Worst Original Song | "I Wanna Be Mike Ovitz!", written by Joe Eszterhas and Gary G-Wiz | Won |
References
- ^ a b An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Wallace, Amy (January 15, 2000). "Name of Director Smithee Isn't What It Used to Be". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ Rabin, Nathan. "My Year Of Flops: Inside Hollywood Edition, Case File #109: An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn". The A.V. Club, May 14, 2008. Retrieved November, 2011.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (February 27, 1998). "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (August 11, 2005). "Ebert's Most Hated". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
The only way to save this film would be to trim 86 minutes.
- ^ An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ "Past Winners Database". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
- ^ Marcus Errico (March 20, 1999). "Razzies Ding Eszterhas, Willis, DiCaprio". E! News. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
External links
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- American mockumentary films
- 1990s English-language films
- Films directed by Arthur Hiller
- Films credited to Alan Smithee
- Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles
- Films about film directors and producers
- Films set in Kent
- Films set in Los Angeles
- Films shot in California
- Films shot in Los Angeles
- Incest in film
- Cinergi Pictures films
- Hollywood Pictures films
- Films with screenplays by Joe Eszterhas
- Golden Raspberry Award winning films
- Films about filmmaking
- 1990s American films