Throwback Thursday: From Sunset Boulevard to Adaptation, movies to watch during award season

The Hollywood awards season is here or as we like to call it, the annual circlejerk gala. Just last Monday, the three-hour Golden Globe Awards averaged 20 million viewers, the second-biggest audience in a decade, according to NBC. [caption id=“attachment_3200596” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  George Clooney in Hail, Caesar! Image courtesy: Facebook page[/caption] The 74th edition of the annual alcohol-fueled ceremony, hosted this year by Jimmy Fallon, was up 1.5 million viewers from last year, the network said in a statement quoting figures from Nielsen Media Research. And that was just the first one of the holy trinity. La La Land did a clean sweep while many celebrities exhibited their vast knowledge and sweeping notions about the workings of the world. Fascinating bunch, ain’t it? So if you harbour even a fraction of fascination for Hollywood and its workings, here are some movies about the la la land, in our Throwback Thursday special. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) A classic, Singin’ in the Rain offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars trying to cope up with a silent film production company’s difficult transition to sound. The musical, directed by Stanley Donen and Kelly, has some of the most memorable numbers ever to feature on a big screen and continues to inspire directors to this day.

Sunset Boulevard (1950) One of Billy Wilder’s finest, set in the Hollywood of the ’50s, Sunset Boulevard revolves around an obscure screenplay writer who while trying to escape from his creditors, meets the owner and former silent-movie star Norma Desmond, who lives alone with her butler and driver. Norma who is demented and believes she will return to the screen one day, is protected and isolated from the world by her driver, who was her director and husband in the past and still loves her. Norma proposes the writer help her in writing a screenplay for her cinematic comeback. But Norma’s jealousy and insanity lead to dark places.

Barton Fink (1991) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen tell the story of a renowned New York playwright who is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood. Set in 1941, the twisted dark comedy stars John Turturro and  John Goodman at their finest. Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991, the film won the Palme d’Or, awards for Best Director and Best Actor (Turturro).

Mulholland Drive (2001) After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality. Directed by David Lynch, Mulholland Drive is as twisted and dark as they come. A nightmare you cannot get enough of.

Tropic Thunder (2008) Featuring Hollywood heavyweights like Robert Downey Jr,  Ben Stiller, Matthew McConaughey and Jack Black, Tropic Thunder is as hilarious as it is outrageous. Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors (the above) shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying on location in south-east Vietnam. What sounds like a simple premise is transformed by some brilliant comic writing and acting into a laughter factory.

Adaptation. (2002) Adaptation. follows a lovelorn screenwriter who becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean for the screen. Directed by Spike Jonze and starring Nicolas Cage, Tilda Swinton, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper, the real star of the film is screenwriter extraordinaire, Charlie Kaufman who seamlessly blend the story of The Orchid Thief with his own struggle to adapt the book into a film.

Hail, Caesar! (2016) Hail Caesar! follows a day in the life of a Hollywood fixer in the 1950s, who cleans up and solves problems for big names and stars in the industry. But when the studio star disappears, he has to deal with more than just the fix. Brought to you be none other than Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, the film flaunts an incredible lineup of actors including, Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Channing Tatum.