Oh! This is a “reality TV show” (of the competition kind) parody. Seems fun so far — the concept seems to be that they have to kill each other? So it’s the usual plot (how many of these trenchant commentaries on the entertainment industry have there been with this plot? a couple dozen?), but it seems pretty sprightly.

“A self inflicted knife wound to the back…”

I mean, the main concept is hackneyed, but it’s so well done. All these little details…

And now it’s in full character development mode. I.e., deadly dull.

I love how unsubtle this is.

OK, I laughed out loud when they played Love Will Tear Us Apart Again on the stadium sound system.

There’s a lot to love here, but it sags in the middle.

Series 7: The Contenders. Daniel Minahan. 2001. ⚃

Wow, this movie’s got some credits list:

And it just goes on and on:

And I don’t think this movie had a big budget?

OK, it’s a mid-size budget… And it bombed at the box office! Totally!

I’m really curious what’s the story behind this, and how all these A-list actors ended up here… were they all friends of Sigourney Weaver? She’s known for doing no-budget movies that she likes… Friends of George Plimpton, who wrote the book this is based on?

Oh, the other Capote movie that year had had a smaller budget and… didn’t bomb. I think I’ve seen that one.

This is pretty good. It’s really enjoyable — it’s kinda of frothy and fun.

OK, it’s kinda boring now. They really had something fun going for the first half, but now it’s all… character development.

I’m guessing the director kinda made a lot of this boring stuff up? It’s… just… tedious.

I can understand why this movie bombed. It’s so schizophrenic. I mean, it’s like the first half of the movie was designed to appeal to somebody who would never, ever want to watch the last half of the movie.

And vice versa.

Infamous. Douglas McGrath. 2006. ⚂

So — Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming directs and stars in this movie… and it starts with ten minutes of them being all athletic and stuff. It’s a bit… er… it’s a choice?

This is pretty odd — it’s like one of those … psychological drama thingies? Think Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf via 70s Cassavetes (no Altman)… but… in 2001? It’s a movie out of time.

OK, I’m getting into it now. Jennifer Jason Leigh is brilliant here.

OK, this bit is kinda embarrassing. I mean, it’s meant to be, but it’s still a bit… you know.

And then they all dropped acid! I mean, Ecstasy, but they’re kinda behaving like they dropped acid.

So I guess there’s gonna be some tragedy, too? You can’t have people doing drugs without people dying, I think.

It’s a frustrating movie. There’s brilliant scenes in here, and then there’s… the Too Much Drama scenes. I mean, the scenes themselves aren’t particularly predictable or anything, but they happen when you’d predict they would.

The Anniversary Party. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming. 2001. ⚃