The second best movie of all time.

Yeah, I said second best. Citizen Kane still is number one - although as time goes on I'm willing to consider more films to move this further down the list...not that my opinion on the matter has any impact whatsoever. Listen, when people talk about something being a "great film" this is one of the movies they're using as a barometer. If you haven't seen it, get it done.

Movies about the movie business usually are self absorbed and inapproachable bores. Its like listening to rich people complain about their servants. We all know the entertainment industry is filled to the brim with confused low lives and cruel maniacs with far too much power. Another film pointing this out is like making another film that exposes that most politicians are opportunistic pigs - we got the memo, thanks.

Regarding this film, including Bruce Willis as himself is a nice touch, although derivative of the ending of Robert Altman's The Player where Willis and Julia Roberts make cameos to give one of the most cynical inside jokes ever put to film. Robert De Niro in the lead gives me pause. He's great playing the heavy. If you need an actor who can give the impression he will break your legs and shoot you in the face, De Niro is your guy. Need someone who needs to look emotionally crippled and relatively normal? You need to go elsewhere. Part of it is perception based on his body of work but it is also just what he's good at selling.

Barry Levison is good with sarcasm and has a great resume (Diner, Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam). I'm hoping he is able to make this more than just an interesting character piece more than a series of shop jokes.

Let me call this one: De Niro will be the cop who is single and involved with a woman at least twenty years his junior and their relationship is rocky at best. He is also the "cop on the edge". Pacino will be more stable but broken down after years of labor. He may be a family man but will most certainly be divorced. His family life will most likely be represented by a relationship with his estranged daughter. Pacino will be the one who gets killed by the serial killer who will most likely be a former cop from their past who's just sick of seeing the bad guys get away.

This is obviously targeted towards the older audience set, given the presence of De Niro and Pacino and the inclusion of the Stones' tune in the trailer, but I have to imagine that anyone old enough to be lured by these things is probably old enough to feel like they've seen this movie a thousand times before.