The Big Picture (1989)
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Director: Christopher Guest
Hollywood in-jokes actually generate laughs in this sharp, satirical sleeper.

The Player (1992)
Starring: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi
Director: Robert Altman
Equally cameo-laden, infinitely more effective satire of Hollywood greed.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Starring: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean
Director: Rob Reiner
Metalhead saga deploys same mock-documentary form to genuinely hilarious effect.

Creative Movie Matches

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Classic Hollywood melodrama more effectively analyzes showbiz ambition.

Living in Oblivion (1995)
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener
Director: Tom DiCillo
Much smaller-scale comedy makes fun of indie moviemaking.

Showgirls (1995)
Starring: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan
Director: Paul Verhoeven
This Eszterhas-penned atrocity at least delivers some so-bad-it's-good laughs.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson
Director: Billy Wilder
This classic noir offers similarly jaundiced, more biting Hollywood critique.