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Films with theme "Films about television", sorted by revenue
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Stay Tuned (1992)
, 1h28Directed by Peter Hyams, Chuck Jones
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure
Themes Films about religion, Films about television, Demons in film, Comedy horror films
Actors John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones, Eugene Levy, David Tom, Heather McComb
The film's primary protagonists are Roy Knable (John Ritter), a couch potato, struggling Seattle plumbing salesman and former fencing athlete, and his neglected wife Helen (Pam Dawber), a senior vitamin product manager. After a fight (which involved Helen smashing the family television screen with one of Roy's fencing trophies as a wake-up call to reality), Mr. Spike (Jeffrey Jones) appears at the couples' door, offering him a new high tech satellite dish system filled with 666 channels of programs one cannot view on the four big networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox). What Roy doesn't know is that Spike (later referred to as "Mephistopheles of the Cathode Ray") is an emissary from hell who wants to boost the influx of souls by arranging for TV junkies to be killed in the most gruesome and ironic situations imaginable. The 'candidates' are sucked into a hellish television world, called Hell Vision, and put through a gauntlet where they must survive a number of satirical versions of sitcoms and movies. If they can survive for 24 hours they are free to go but if they get killed then their souls will become the property of Satan (the latter usually happens).
Mad City (1997)
, 1h54Directed by Costa-Gavras
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Films about television, Political films
Actors Dustin Hoffman, John Travolta, Mia Kirshner, Alan Alda, Ted Levine, William Atherton
After being sacked from his job at a museum, former security guard Sam Baily returns to the place with a shotgun and dynamite and takes his former boss Mrs. Banks and a number of children (at the museum on a school field trip) as hostages.
I'll Do Anything (1994)
, 1h56Directed by James L. Brooks
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Films about films, Films about television
Actors Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, Julie Kavner, Whittni Wright, Joely Richardson, Tracey Ullman
In 1980, on the night he fails to win an Emmy Award, Matt Hobbs proposes to his longtime girlfriend Beth. He says the only thing holding him back is his dedication to his career, one which may not always work out, and Beth says that's one of the things she loves most about him. Little more than a year later, with a baby crying and no job for Matt, Beth is overflowing with resentment. By 1993, the pair have been divorced for several years and are living on opposite coasts. Matt auditions for a role in pompous, self-absorbed, and clueless film producer Burke Adler's new project but fails to get the part. He does however agree to chauffeur Adler occasionally. Matt flies to Georgia to pick up his daughter Jeannie for what he believes is a brief visit and discovers Beth is facing a prison term and Jeannie will be living with him for the duration of her sentence. The two return to Hollywood and struggle with their new circumstances and building a relationship (Matt hasn't seen the six-year-old since she was four). When Matt goes in to make a screen test for a lead in a film, he leaves Jeannie with a friend at the studio, and when he picks her up he's stunned to learn she's been cast in a sitcom. There are multiple sub-plots, including one focusing on Matt's relationship with staff script-reader Cathy Breslow and another concerning test screening analyst Nan Mulhanney and her tumultuous relationship with Adler. While a large part of the film is a satire of the film industry, it also skewers relationships from various angles.
Shark Night 3D (2011)
, 1h34Directed by David Richard Ellis
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Horror, Romance
Themes Films about animals, Films about films, Medical-themed films, Seafaring films, Psychologie, Snuff films in fiction, Films about television, Transport films, Films about sharks, Natural horror films, Mise en scène d'un poisson, Films about psychiatry
Actors Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack, Katharine McPhee Foster, Donal Logue, Joshua Leonard
Seven Tulane University undergraduates – Sara, Nick, Beth, Malik, Maya, Blake and Gordon – drive to Sara's family vacation home on a private lake. There, Sara encounters her old boyfriend, Dennis, and his friend Red.
Chaplin (1992)
, 2h23Directed by Richard Attenborough
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Comedy-drama
Themes Films about films, Films about television
Actors Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Hopkins, Geraldine Chaplin, Moira Kelly, Dan Aykroyd, Penelope Ann Miller
The film is structured around lengthy flashbacks as the elderly Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey, Jr.) (now living in Switzerland) recollects moments from his life during a conversation with fictional character George Hayden (Anthony Hopkins), the editor of his autobiography. Chaplin's recollections begin with his childhood of extreme poverty, from which he escapes by immersing himself in the world of the London music halls, after which he relocates to the United States.
My Little Eye (2002)
, 1h35Directed by Marc Evans
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Slasher
Themes Films about films, Medical-themed films, Snuff films in fiction, Films about television, Films about psychiatry
Actors Sean Cw Johnson, Kris Lemche, Laura Regan, Jennifer Sky, Bradley Cooper, Nick Mennell
The story follows five contestants who agree to take part in a reality webcast. The rules are simple: "Spend 6 months in a house for $1 MILLION. If someone leaves, everyone loses!" With the end of the 6 months nearing, the tension between contestants Matt (Sean Cw Johnson), Emma (Laura Regan), Charlie (Jennifer Sky), Danny (Stephen O'Reilly) and Rex (Kris Lemche) is at a high level. Instead of their regular food deliveries, packages containing sinister object arrive. A letter stating that Danny's grandfather has died, a gun with 5 bullets and a bottle of champagne.
Switching Channels (1988)
, 1h45Directed by Ted Kotcheff
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists, Films about television, Théâtre, Films based on plays, Films about marriage
Actors Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Henry Gibson, George Newbern
Sullivan (Reynolds) is the operations manager of Satellite News Network, a fictitious cable TV news channel. He tries to prevent the impending marriage of Colleran (Turner), his best reporter and ex-wife, by keeping her on the job during the critical news coverage of an upcoming execution and prison break.
, 2h8Directed by Robert Aldrich
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror
Themes Films about films, Films about families, Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about television, Vieillesse, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities
Actors Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Gina Gillespie, Wesley Addy, Maidie Norman
In 1917, Baby Jane Hudson is a vaudevillian child star while her sister Blanche Hudson is not famous and overlooked by their father. By 1935, both sisters are movie actors, but Blanche has achieved stardom, while Jane’s films have flopped, leading Jane to drink heavily. One night, returning from a party, one of the sisters (implied to be Blanche) gets out of the car to open the garage door, while the driver (implied to be Jane) attempts to run her over, misses, and crashes into the garage. The accident leaves Blanche paralyzed.
Body Double (1984)
, 1h54Directed by Brian De Palma
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime, Erotic thriller
Themes Films about sexuality, Films about television, Erotic films, Films about pornography, Erotic thriller films, Striptease
Actors Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Dennis Franz, Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton, Guy Boyd
Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) is a struggling actor who has lost his role as a vampire in a low-budget horror movie after his claustrophobia thwarts shooting. He returns home to discover his girlfriend cheating on him, so Scully is left without a place to stay.
The Condemned (2007)
, 1h49Directed by Scott Wiper
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Films about films, Seafaring films, Snuff films in fiction, Films about television, Transport films, Road movies, Chase films
Actors Stone Cold Steve Austin, Robert Mammone, Vinnie Jones, Madeleine West, Masa Yamaguchi, Rick Hoffman
Jack Conrad (Steve Austin) is awaiting execution in a corrupt Salvadoran prison. He is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer and transported to a deserted island in the South Pacific along with nine other condemned criminals similarly purchased from prisons around the world. They are "offered" the opportunity to avoid capital punishment and win back their freedom by fighting to the death in an illegal game to be filmed and broadcast live over the Internet.
The Troubles of Alfred (1972)
, 1h38Directed by Pierre Richard
Origin France
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about television
Actors Pierre Richard, Anny Duperey, Pierre Mondy, Jean Carmet, Paul Préboist, Mario David
Alfred Dhumonttyé, an unemployed architect who is incredibly unlucky, meets while wanting to commit suicide, a female television presenter who is pursued by the same misfortune.
All About Eve (1950)
, 2h18Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Films about films, Films about television, Théâtre, Children's films
Actors Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe
At an awards dinner, Eve Harrington—the newest and brightest star on Broadway—is being presented the Sarah Siddons Award for her breakout performance as Cora in Footsteps on the Ceiling. Theatre critic Addison DeWitt observes the proceedings and, in a sardonic voiceover, recalls how Eve's star rose as quickly as it did.
Death to Smoochy (2002)
, 1h49Directed by Danny DeVito
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Crime
Themes Films about television
Actors Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, Danny DeVito, Jon Stewart, Melissa Di Marco
"Rainbow Randolph" Smiley, a corrupt children's television host, is disgraced by an FBI sting for accepting bribes from parents who want to put their kids on his show. Randolph is replaced by the "squeaky clean" Sheldon Mopes and his character, Smoochy the Rhino. Mopes is uniquely sincere and thoroughly interested in providing quality child edutainment, and his show quickly becomes tremendously popular. Randolph finds himself unemployed and homeless, and turns to his former associate Marion "Frank" Stokes for help. Stokes refuses Randolph, telling him that he can't even be seen talking to him. In an effort to return to the spotlight, Randolph hatches several schemes to tarnish the reputation of Mopes in hopes of reclaiming his time slot.
Death Race 2000 (1975)
, 1h24Directed by Charles B. Griffith, Paul Bartel, Lewis Teague
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Action
Themes Sports films, Films about television, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Films set in the future, Auto racing films, La téléréalité, Political films, Road movies, Dystopian films
Actors David Carradine, Simone Griffeth McDonald, Sylvester Stallone, Louisa Moritz, Martin Kove, John Landis
In 2000, during the 20th annual race, a resistance group led by Thomasina Paine (Harriet Medin), a descendant of 1770s American Revolutionary Thomas Paine, plans to rebel against Mr. President's regime by sabotaging the race, killing most of the drivers, and taking Frankenstein hostage as leverage against the President. The group is assisted by Paine's great granddaughter Annie (Simone Griffeth), Frankenstein's latest navigator. She plans to lure him into an ambush to be replaced by a double. Despite a pirated national broadcast made by Ms. Paine herself, the resistance's disruption of the race is covered up by the government and instead blamed on the French, who are also blamed for ruining the country's economy and telephone system. The game has sadistic rules, where killing a baby and physically challenged people will give the player extra points. Machine Gun Joe (Sylvester Stallone) is the main opposition to Frankenstein.
Strange Days (1995)
, 2h25Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Films about films, Films about computing, Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about sexuality, Snuff films in fiction, Films about television, Rape in fiction, Films set in the future, Films about psychiatry, Political films, Cyberpunk films, Dystopian films, Children's films, Anticipation
Actors Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Vincent D'Onofrio, Michael Wincott
In the last two days of 1999, Los Angeles has become a dangerous war zone. As a group of criminals rob a Chinese restaurant, the event is recorded by a robber wearing a 'SQUID', or "Superconducting Quantum Interference Device", an illegal electronic device which records events directly from the wearer's cerebral cortex, and when played back through a MiniDisc-like device called a "deck", allow a user to experience the recorder's memories and physical sensations. Lenny Nero is a former LAPD officer turned black marketeer who deals in bootleg SQUID recordings. His main supplier, Tick (Richard Edson), tries to sell the robbery clip to him. Lenny eventually agrees to buy it at a reduced price, having to cut out the last part where the rig records the robber's death by falling; clips that record the wearer's death are known as "blackjack" (snuff) clips, because the experience is described as "jacking into the big black" by Tick.