Billy Bob's Filmography

AN ALAN SMITHEE FILM:
BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN (1998)

Movie Quote
BILLY BOB:  When they first came to me, I figured they wanted me to play Sly's part, Whoopi's part, Jackie's part . . . but they wanted my words, not my face.  

Plot
The story is shot as a documentary, interviewing real-life Hollywood figures, who comment like a well-tanned and Botoxed Greek chorus about the misadventures of deranged cinematic auteur Alan Smithee.  Smithee has a hot, big-budget actioner starring Sly Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jackie Chan that everybody suddenly wants to take credit for.  Smithee makes off with his film, and all sorts of Hollywood insider chaos commences.

What Billy Bob Gets To Do
Billy Bob is identified as "Billy Bob Thornton, Professional Good Ole Boy" in his one-minute appearance on screen.  He tinkers underneath the hood of a stalled truck and bitches good-naturedly about how he thought he was up for one of the leads in the film.

Backstory
Alan Smithee is a pseudonym used by film directors to use as their credit on a film when they are so unhappy with the final product that they don't wish to have their real names associated with it.  This cameo-choked movie includes such luminaries as Jackie Chan, Sly Stallone, Shane Black, the fabulous Eric Idle (as the deranged Alan Smithee), Whoopi Goldberg, Sandra Bernhard, Robert Evans, Coolio, Ryan O'Neal, and Miramax studio head Harvey Weinstein (in a most amusing turn as an Anthony Pellicano-style private detective). Written by the notorious scribe Joe Esterhaus, the movie's real backstory is extensively detailed (naming names!) in his autobiography Hollywood Beast.  Because the real director of this film, Arthur Hiller, disavowed the project and slapped the name Alan Smithee on it in disgust (and no, not for the obvious publicity value of the title), the Director's Guild officially retired the use of the moniker Alan Smithee on all films released hence because the name had lost its usefulness in guaranteeing the actual director's anonymity.  Not a favorite with the critics, AN ALAN SMITHEE FILM racked up several Golden Razzie wins and nods (Billy Bob emerged unscathed) and is now regarded as a slice of genuine Hollywood kitsch.

Awards (For AN ALAN SMITHEE FILM: BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN)
Talk about an embarrassment of riches!  Here's the IMDb awards link.

Relevant Links
IMDb Link
Negative, but extensive Joe Blo review
Official Home Video Page
James Bowman review
New Zealand Mock-Documentary site includes several related links
Bomis links to several BURN, HOLLYWOOD, BURN sites
MRQE links to BURN, HOLLYWOOD, BURN reviews
TV Guide review
Well, it did sweep the 1998 Golden Raspberry Awards

Related Merchandise
The motion picture soundtrack has a bit of an interesting history.  Rather than go with established recording artists, screenwriter Joe Esterhaus advertised in the trades for unsigned acts to submit their demo tapes.  The resulting CD includes works by Swamp Dawg, Pimpadelic, Turtle Grove, and a band called Magic Kingdom, who provided the cut I Wanna Be Mike Ovitz (an inside reference to über-agent/deal broker Michael Ovitz, who was an executive at Disney at the time the movie was released and who--according to Esterhaus--threatened to have Esterhaus whacked).

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© 2004 by . . . Like the Wind Productions/Lonesome Rogues Design. This page is intended for entertainment and reference purposes only and is not intended to make a profit.  Film commentary reflects the opinions of the webmasters Amélie and Sage and not the opinions of Billy Bob Thornton or his representatives.