This So-Called Disaster (2003), ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway (2005), 3 Days in Quiberon (2018), My Dinner With Hervé (2018), Listen to Me Marlon (2015), Opening Night (1977), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), Quitting (2001) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Actor's Life movies.
Storyline: The Nazi propaganda mastermind behind Hitler speaks in first person as actor Kenneth Branagh reads pages of the diary kept by the chief of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, revealing the man's most inner thoughts. Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) was a symbol of Germany's Nazi regime and a twentieth-century icon of maniacal cruelty. His name has been synonymous with cynical, unscrupulous, and at times successful, propaganda. The life of Joseph Goebbels is far more complicated and disturbing than labels like "genius of spin" or "Reich Liar-General" would suggest. The chronicle shows how Goebbels continually "restaged" and reinvented himself -- from his early days as a radical "popular socialist" to his tragic end. The film lets Goebbels speak for himself through the diaries he kept without interruption from 1924 to 1945, as never before seen historical footage from German archives traces the life of the second most powerful man of the Third Reich, detailing his initial attraction to the Nazi party and his adoration of Hitler. The result is a fascinating psycho-gram of a man who careened extravagantly between self-pity, wild extermination fantasies, and political excesses.—Sujit R. Varma
Plot Keywords: comedy, french film, drama, actor's life, show business, humor, satire ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The true story of Hollywood's greatest comedy double act, Laurel and Hardy, is brought to the big screen for the first time. Starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as the inimitable movie icons, Stan and Ollie is the heart-warming story of what would become the pair's triumphant farewell tour. With their golden era long behind them, the pair embark on a variety hall tour of Britain and Ireland. Despite the pressures of a hectic schedule, and with the support of their wives Lucille (Shirley Henderson) and Ida (Nina Arianda) - a formidable double act in their own right - the pair's love of performing, as well as for each other, endures as they secure their place in the hearts of their adoring public.
Plot Keywords: biography, comedy, drama, history, nostalgia, classic, performance ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Mark Rappaport's creative bio-pic about actress Jean Seberg is presented in a first-person, autobiographical format (with Seberg played by Mary Beth Hurt). He seamlessly interweaves cinema, politics, American society and culture, and film theory to inform, entertain, and move the viewer. Seberg's many marriages, as well as her film roles, are discussed extensively. Her involvement with the Black Panther Movement and subsequent investigation by the FBI is covered. Notably, details of French New Wave cinema, Russian Expressionist (silent) films, and the careers of Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, and Clint Eastwood are also intensively examined. Much of the film is based on conjecture, but Rappaport encourages viewers to re-examine their ideas about women in film with this thought-provoking picture.—Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>
Plot Keywords: biography, drama, historical, female protagonist, independent film, art film, based on true events ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: From the first time he performed Swimming to Cambodia - the one-man account of his experience of making the 1984 film The Killing Fields - Spalding Gray made the art of the monologue his own. Drawing unstintingly on the most intimate aspects of his own life, his shows were vibrant, hilarious and moving. His death came tragically early, in 2004; this compilation of interview and performance footage nails his idiosyncratic and irreplaceable brilliance.—Edinburgh International Film Festival
Plot Keywords: documentary, biography, monologue, actor's life, personal history, memoir, art ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Between his tax problems and his legal battle with his wife for the custody of his daughter, these are hard times for the action movie star who finds that even Steven Seagal has pinched a role from him! In JCVD, Jean-Claude Van Damme returns to the country of his birth to seek the peace and tranquility he can no longer enjoy in the United States.
Plot Keywords: action, crime, drama, thriller, black comedy, autobiographical, french ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Maurice Russell, once a great actor, is now living in London in the twilight of his life. Those of his generation remember him fondly, while those in the younger generations have no idea who he is. He spends most of his time hanging out with his friends Ian, also an actor, and Donald, or visiting with his wife Valerie for who he has great affection but with who he no longer lives. His acting career is virtually over, he only taking roles on the odd occasion when he needs the money. Ian has decided to invite his young great-niece Jessie from the provinces to come and stay with him, basically to act as his caregiver in case he falls ill, but also to be his companion. He envisions listening to Bach with her and her cooking him food to which he is accustomed. Jessie's stay is nothing as he envisions. She doesn't know how to cook, she drinks all his alcohol, and she has unrealistic visions of what she will accomplish in her life. Maurice, however, sees in Jessie, a person who can help him ...
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, aging, loneliness, desire, friendship, london ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Bobby Taylor wants to be a respected actor. From Sam Spade to Shakespeare to superheros, he can do it all. He just has to convince Hollywood that gangstas, slaves and "Eddie Murphy-types" aren't the sum of his talents.—Renee Ann Byrd <byrdie@wyrdbyrd.org>
Plot Keywords: comedy, satire, race, hollywood, black culture, actor's life, social commentary ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Anthony John is an actor whose life is strongly influenced by the characters he plays. When he's playing comedy, he's the most enjoyable person in the world, but when he's playing drama, it's terrible to be around him. That's the reason why his wife Brita divorced him; although she still loves him and works with him, she couldn't stand living with him anymore. So when Anthony accepts to play Othello, he devotes himself entirely to the part, but it soon overwhelms him and with each day his mind gets filled more and more with Othello's murderous jealousy.—Leon Wolters <wolters@strw.LeidenUniv.nl>
Plot Keywords: film noir, psychological thriller, drama, crime, murder, schizophrenia, shakespeare ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Eleven articulate people work through affairs of the heart in Los Angeles. Paul produces Hannah's television cooking show, and they must move beyond gentle barbs when she wants to know about an affair of his years ago. Mark is dying of A.I.D.S., and his mother comes to his bedside: they must speak truthfully. Men have scalded Meredith, so she rebuffs Trent's charm, but he persists. The trendy, prolix Joan tries to pull the solitary Keenan into her orbit: why is he reluctant? An adulterous couple meets at hotels for evening sex, but she is unwilling for the relationship to grow. Hugh tells tall tales, usually tragic, to women in bars. By the week's end, their parallel stories converge.
Plot Keywords: romance, drama, family, multi-narrative, relationships, marriage, betrayal ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: 1938. Julia Lambert (Annette Bening) and Michael Gosselyn (Jeremy Irons) are the royal couple of the London theater scene, Julia, an actress, and Michael, a former actor, who took over running the theater and its troupe after the death of their mentor, Jimmy Langton (Sir Michael Gambon). Jimmy is still constantly with Julia in spirit as she navigates through life. Besides their work, Julia and Michael lead largely separate lives, they, long ago having stopped a sexual relationship. Julia of late has been feeling disenchanted with her life, she not wanting to admit it's because she is approaching middle age. Her disenchantments manifests itself in wanting Michael to close their current production early so that she can recharge her juices, something he is reluctant to do if only for not wanting to let the theater sit empty. What Julia ends up doing instead is embarking on an affair with Tom Fennel (Shaun Evans), an adoring young American who is young enough to be her son. As Julia and ...
Plot Keywords: drama, comedy, romance, british, theatre, female lead, midlife crisis ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In 17th-century France, playwright and actor Molière (Romain Duris) has his debts paid off by Monsieur Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini), freeing him from debtors prison. In return, Jourdain asks for acting lessons so he can win the heart of the beautiful widow Célimène (Ludivine Sagnier) by performing a short play for her. Presented to Jourdain's family as the priest Tartuffe, Molière begins to fall in love with Monsieur Jourdain's disregarded wife, Elmire (Laura Morante).
Plot Keywords: biography, historical, comedy, drama, french film, literary adaptation, 17th century ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Stella Parish, star of the London stage, keeps her private life a secret. After an opening night triumph, her mysterious past catches up with her and she vanishes before the after-party. When Ms. Parish doesn't show up, Keith Lockridge, an ace newspaper reporter, at first assumes it to be a publicity stunt. But producer Stephan Norman receives word that Stella is leaving the country. Lockridge is able to track Stella to a ship bound for America, where she is traveling under a false name and wearing a disguise. Aboard the ship Lockridge befriends Stella and her young daughter Gloria. In New York he becomes very close to Stella (now without the disguise) and Gloria, all the while digging up the details of Stella's sordid past. Stella confesses her love for Lockridge after he's already wired his story to his newspaper. With the truth out in the open, Stella sends Gloria to be raised abroad while she exploits her notorious reputation onstage. Sorry for the mess he's made, Lockridge does all he can to revive Stella's legitimate theatrical career.—Jimmy L.
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, mystery, crime, film noir, classic, hollywood ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The famous matinee idol and blackface comedian, Don Wilson, heads out of town to escape adulation. There, calling himself Harry Mann, he accidentally joins a traveling acting troupe, and falls in love with Ginger Bolivar, who runs the troupe and stars in their Civil War melodrama. Don's producer sees the play, and thinks it's a comic masterpiece, and just what Don's Broadway show needs. But when Ginger finds out she's been played for a fool, will she forgive Don?—Kathy Li
Plot Keywords: comedy, romance, silent film, hollywood, 1920s, black and white, theater ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Real life proves to be just as dramatic off-screen as it does on it for aging Hollywood superstar Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) and her much younger lover, Peter Turner (Jamie Bell). As their mismatched romance waxes and wanes over time, events conspire to keep them in each other's lives even when it proves to be difficult and demanding. Ultimately, they find that they must each come to terms with whatever fate they face in the future whether they are together or apart.—AnonymousB
Plot Keywords: biography, drama, romance, based on true story, british film, hollywood, actor's life ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Having left New Hampshire over excessive demands by the locals, the cast and crew of "The Old Mill" moves their movie shoot to a small town in Vermont. However, they soon discover that The Old Mill burned down in 1960, the star can't keep his pants zipped, the starlet won't take her top off, and the locals aren't quite as easily conned as they appear.
Plot Keywords: comedy, drama, independent film, satire, hollywood, filmmaking, small town life ...
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