20 Worst Films Of All Time

17. An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998)

While Flashdance, Jagged Edge and Basic Instinct made Joe Eszterhas notorious, Sliver, Jade and Showgirls turned him into a joke, so Burn Hollywood Burn was the screenwriter€™s attempt to bite the hand that fed him, an €˜insider€™ satire from the man most qualified to write it. It should€™ve been brilliant. It€™s not. Described by Roger Ebert as €œa spectacularly bad film €“ incompetent, unfunny, ill-conceived, badly executed, lamely written and acted by people who look trapped in the headlights€, Burn centres on Trio, a $200 million cop movie whose director, Alan Smithee (Eric Idle), would rather steal the negative and hold it to ransom than attach his name to it. You see, he can€™t adopt a pseudonym because the name used by the Director€™s Guild when a filmmaker refuses credit is€ Alan Smithee! In fact, so desperate was Burn€™s director, Arthur Hiller, not to be associated with this misfire that he took the Smithee pseudonym, making An Alan Smithee Film a true Alan Smithee film. No, really, this is the funniest €˜joke€™ in the movie. Shot as a pseudo-documentary, this might€™ve worked had it eschewed cheap gags in order to build a credible story, but not only is Eszterhas only interested in sophomoric puns, the cast overplay at every available opportunity. When a picture€™s comedic heavyweights include Robert Evans, Sylvester Stallone and Ryan O€™Neal, you know you€™re in trouble.
Contributor

Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'