Hollywoodland - anyone see it?

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">I was actually intrigued by the synopsis of this plot, but wondered what kind of job Affleck would do. I looked for this at Blockbuster, but they didn't have it.

I wonder how many of these Hollywood tattlers we'll start to see, since Auto Focus was so highly praised.
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I saw it. Kind of a paint-by-numbers Hollywood detective flick, albeit with some nontypical casting choices. Should be interesting though if you're not familiar with the conspiracy theories behind George Reeves' alleged suicide. The film weaves a lot of interesting threads, and really immerses the viewer into 1950s Hollywood, but it's basically an unsolved mystery and the movie doesn't try to prove any single theory.

I'm not a fan of Ben Affleck, but I thought he did a serviceable job as George Reeves. The only drawback is that Affleck's probably a bit too young to play Reeves, because otherwise he seemed to capture very well the character of Reeves as an actor trapped in a character role he never wanted in the first place. Adrian Brody was an interesting choice to play the private eye, and I'm not sure how well it works. Definitely not the typical gumshoe detective, but maybe not the best choice either.

Surprised that Blockbuster didn't have it. The DVD only came out about a year ago. You should be able to find it marked down though at Best Buy and the other usual places, or find a used copy.

I rented my copy through netflix. A much, much better film along the lines of conspiracy theories is "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," directed by George Clooney. A truly brilliant film depicting the sordid and revolting life of TV's all-time most nauseating game show host/creator, Chuck Barris, and his incredible tales of being a hired assasin for the CIA. Truly outstanding.

I didn't like Hollywoodland because it pretended to be a by the numbers story of what happened to Reeves, but the ending is left inconclusive. I don't normally mind inconclusive endings (the end of No Country for Old Men worked for me) the movie was totally set up to have closure. I felt ripped off.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was a blast. Surreal and very funny. Sam Rockwell's a favorite of mine. He never does bad work. Highly underrated movie and actor.

I've been meaning to catch that Confessions of a Dangerous Mind movie myself. I remember being a huge fan of the Gong Show when I was a kid. I used to do a pretty mean impersonation of the Unknown Comic; I had the facial expressions down to a tee - some people think I even looked like him. The idea that Barris would try to sell himself as a secret agent is as hilarious as it is absurd.