Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "play-within-a-film"
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1. Auntie Mame (1958)
Approved | 143 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An orphan goes to live with his free-spirited aunt. Conflict ensues when the executor of his father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle.
Director: Morton DaCosta | Stars: Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne, Fred Clark
Votes: 12,696 | Gross: $23.30M
2. The Lives of Others (2006)
R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur
Votes: 410,440 | Gross: $11.29M
3. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
R | 119 min | Comedy, Drama
A washed-up superhero actor attempts to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough
Votes: 666,513 | Gross: $42.34M
4. The French Dispatch (2021)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch Magazine".
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux
Votes: 150,567
5. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, History
The world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 234,325 | Gross: $100.32M
6. See How They Run (2022)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered.
Director: Tom George | Stars: Kieran Hodgson, Pearl Chanda, Gregory Cox, Harris Dickinson
Votes: 64,169
7. The Pacifier (2005)
PG | 95 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
Having recovered from wounds received in a failed rescue operation, Navy SEAL Shane Wolfe is handed a new assignment: Protect the five Plummer kids from enemies of their recently deceased father -- a government scientist whose top-secret experiment remains in the kids' house.
Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: Vin Diesel, Brittany Snow, Max Thieriot, Brad Garrett
Votes: 100,921 | Gross: $113.09M
8. Home Again (2017)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her.
Director: Hallie Meyers-Shyer | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, Candice Bergen, Pico Alexander
Votes: 35,117 | Gross: $27.02M
9. Nightwatch (1994)
R | 107 min | Thriller
A law student starts working as a night watchman at The Department of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen. His mad friend gets him on a game of dare that escalates. As a serial-killer's victims start piling up at work, he becomes a suspect.
Director: Ole Bornedal | Stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Sofie Gråbøl, Kim Bodnia, Lotte Andersen
Votes: 17,867
10. Drillbit Taylor (2008)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Three kids hire a low-budget bodyguard to protect them from the playground bully.
Director: Steven Brill | Stars: Owen Wilson, Josh Peck, Alex Frost, Nate Hartley
Votes: 62,400 | Gross: $32.85M
11. The King and I (1956)
G | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Musical
A widow accepts a job as a live-in governess to the King of Siam's children.
Director: Walter Lang | Stars: Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno, Martin Benson
Votes: 27,916 | Gross: $21.30M
12. American Splendor (2003)
R | 101 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Chris Ambrose
Votes: 52,357 | Gross: $6.00M
13. The Apartment (1996)
R | 116 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A recently engaged man sees a former lover and becomes obsessed with meeting her again.
Director: Gilles Mimouni | Stars: Romane Bohringer, Vincent Cassel, Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Monica Bellucci
Votes: 15,910
14. The Libertine (2004)
R | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of John Wilmot, a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work.
Director: Laurence Dunmore | Stars: Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton, John Malkovich, Paul Ritter
Votes: 37,777 | Gross: $4.84M
15. Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
PG | 132 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-heartedly grasping uncle.
Director: Douglas McGrath | Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Jamie Bell, Christopher Plummer, Jim Broadbent
Votes: 13,665 | Gross: $1.59M
16. Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
R | 124 min | Drama
A film star comes face-to-face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself while starring in a revival of the play that launched her career.
Director: Olivier Assayas | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Chloë Grace Moretz, Lars Eidinger
Votes: 31,212 | Gross: $1.81M
17. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008)
PG-13 | 119 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Four college freshmen and best friends find that it may take more than a shared pair of jeans to help them stay in touch as their lives go in different directions.
Director: Sanaa Hamri | Stars: America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively
Votes: 30,759 | Gross: $44.09M
18. Hollywood Homicide (2003)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two LAPD detectives who moonlight in other fields investigate the murder of an up-and-coming rap group.
Director: Ron Shelton | Stars: Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett, Isaiah Washington, Lena Olin
Votes: 39,341 | Gross: $30.94M
19. StageFright (1987)
Unrated | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
A group of stage actors lock themselves in the theater for a rehearsal of their upcoming musical production, unaware that an escaped psychopath has sneaked into the theater with them.
Director: Michele Soavi | Stars: David Brandon, Richard Barkeley, Barbara Cupisti, Domenico Fiore
Votes: 9,290
20. Seneca (2023)
112 min | Biography, Drama
A look at the relationship between Seneca and Nero, the infamous Emperor he mentored since childhood and who accused him of plotting his assassination.
Director: Robert Schwentke | Stars: John Malkovich, Tom Xander, Louis Hofmann, Geraldine Chaplin
Votes: 589
21. Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff, Françoise Bertin
Votes: 24,883 | Gross: $0.06M
22. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
R | 121 min | Drama
A young man searches for home in the changing city that seems to have left him behind.
Director: Joe Talbot | Stars: Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Rob Morgan, Tichina Arnold
Votes: 21,959 | Gross: $4.52M
23. Ballet Shoes (2007 TV Movie)
PG | 85 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In 1930s London, three orphan girls are adopted by their great uncle, who is an eccentric paleontologist, and his niece.
Director: Sandra Goldbacher | Stars: Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, Lucy Boynton, Emilia Fox
Votes: 9,174
24. Blame (I) (2017)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to 'The Crucible'.
Director: Quinn Shephard | Stars: Quinn Shephard, Marcia DeBonis, Elizabeth Howell, Carlyle Owens
Votes: 3,248
25. Kiss Me Kate (1953)
Approved | 109 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
An ex-husband and wife team star in a musical version of 'The Taming of the Shrew'; off-stage, the production is troublesome with ex-lovers' quarrels and two gangsters looking for some money owed to them.
Director: George Sidney | Stars: Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 6,800 | Gross: $4.38M
26. Mirror Mirror (I) (1990)
R | 104 min | Horror, Thriller
A teenage girl begins receiving black magic power through an antique mirror that drips blood, not realizing the mirror is controlled by demonic forces.
Director: Marina Sargenti | Stars: Karen Black, Yvonne De Carlo, William Sanderson, Rainbow Harvest
Votes: 2,197
27. Flirting (1991)
R | 99 min | Drama, Romance
Two freethinking teenagers - a boy and a girl - confront with authoritarian teachers in their boarding schools. The other students treat this differently.
Director: John Duigan | Stars: Noah Taylor, Thandiwe Newton, Nicole Kidman, Bartholomew Rose
Votes: 6,411 | Gross: $2.42M
28. Slings and Arrows (2003–2006)
TV-MA | 60 min | Comedy
In the fictional town of New Burbage, legendary theatrical madman Geoffrey Tennant returns to the New Burbage Theatre Festival, the site of his greatest triumph and most humiliating failure... See full summary »
Stars: Paul Gross, Martha Burns, Stephen Ouimette, Susan Coyne
Votes: 2,902
29. The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018)
TV-MA | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on real events, Francesc Boix is a Spaniard inmate in the Nazi concentration camp of Mauthausen in Austria who tries to save the evidences of the horrors committed inside its walls.
Director: Mar Targarona | Stars: Mario Casas, Richard van Weyden, Alain Hernández, Adrià Salazar
Votes: 12,548
30. The Country Girl (1954)
Unrated | 104 min | Drama, Music
A director hires an alcoholic has-been and strikes up a stormy relationship with the actor's wife, who he believes is the cause of all the man's problems.
Director: George Seaton | Stars: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden, Anthony Ross
Votes: 6,669
31. Me and Orson Welles (2008)
PG-13 | 114 min | Comedy, Drama
In 1937, a teenager is cast in the Mercury Theatre production of "Julius Caesar", directed by a young Orson Welles.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Zac Efron, Claire Danes, Christian McKay, Zoe Kazan
Votes: 11,820 | Gross: $1.19M
32. Modern Problems (1981)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Jealous, harried air traffic controller Max Fiedler, recently dumped by his girlfriend, comes into contact with nuclear waste and is granted the power of telekinesis, which he uses not only to win her back, but to gain a little revenge.
Director: Ken Shapiro | Stars: Chevy Chase, Patti D'Arbanville, Dabney Coleman, Mary Kay Place
Votes: 5,823 | Gross: $26.15M
33. Venus (I) (2006)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Life for a pair of veteran actors gets turned upside down after they meet a brash teenager.
Director: Roger Michell | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Jodie Whittaker, Leslie Phillips, Beatrice Savoretti
Votes: 13,411 | Gross: $3.34M
34. Stage Beauty (2004)
R | 106 min | Drama
A female theatre dresser creates a stir and sparks a revolution in seventeenth century London theatre by playing Desdemona in Othello. But what will become of the male actor she once worked for and eventually replaced?
Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Rupert Everett, Derek Hutchinson
Votes: 10,742 | Gross: $0.78M
35. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956)
PG | 104 min | Drama, Fantasy
The timeless tale of the seductive gypsy Esmeralda and the tortured hunchback Quasimodo.
Director: Jean Delannoy | Stars: Gina Lollobrigida, Anthony Quinn, Jean Danet, Alain Cuny
Votes: 3,166
36. Pretty Persuasion (2005)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
A 15-year-old girl incites chaos among her friends and a media frenzy when she accuses her drama teacher of sexual harassment.
Director: Marcos Siega | Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Ron Livingston, James Woods, David Wagner
Votes: 10,820 | Gross: $0.31M
37. Dare (2009)
R | 92 min | Drama, Romance
A drama centered around three high school seniors - an aspiring actress, her misfit best friend, and a loner - who become engaged in an intimate and complicated relationship.
Director: Adam Salky | Stars: Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, Ashley Springer, Cady Huffman
Votes: 4,481
38. Henry V (1944)
Not Rated | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks, Felix Aylmer
Votes: 7,068
39. I Miss You (2019)
TV-MA | 110 min | Drama, Romance
Following his son Gabriel's death, Jorge travels from conservative Bolivia to New York City to confront Gabriel's boyfriend Sebastian.
Director: Rodrigo Bellott | Stars: Reyes Antelo, Fernando Barbosa, Erwin Berzain, Pamela Bruno Cronenbold
Votes: 778
40. Big Stone Gap (2014)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Family, Mystery
In a small town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, self-proclaimed spinster Ave Maria Mulligan finds her life shaken up and forever changed after learning a long-buried family secret.
Director: Adriana Trigiani | Stars: Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg, John Benjamin Hickey
Votes: 3,320 | Gross: $1.01M
41. Fear No Evil (1981)
R | 99 min | Horror
High school student turns out to be personification of Lucifer. Two arch angels in human form (as women) take him on.
Director: Frank LaLoggia | Stars: Stefan Arngrim, Elizabeth Hoffman, Kathleen Rowe McAllen, Frank Birney
Votes: 1,733
42. The Dresser (2015 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 105 min | Drama
A drama, based on a successful play, about an aging actor (Sir Anthony Hopkins) and his personal assistant (Sir Ian McKellen).
Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Ian McKellen, Emily Watson, Sarah Lancashire
Votes: 3,757
43. Bang Bang You're Dead (2002)
R | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Trevor is a troubled high school student, thanks to the effects of bullying. This is the story of his fight to break free.
Director: Guy Ferland | Stars: Tom Cavanagh, Ben Foster, Randy Harrison, Janel Moloney
Votes: 13,138
44. Hero at Large (1980)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Romance
A struggling actor buying milk stops a robbery while wearing a superhero uniform, promoting a movie. The unknown hero decides to try again. Can he impress his cute neighbor?
Director: Martin Davidson | Stars: John Ritter, Anne Archer, Bert Convy, Kevin McCarthy
Votes: 1,828 | Gross: $15.93M
45. Mad Love (1969)
252 min | Drama, Romance
During the rehearsals for the production of the tragedy Andromaque, the leading actress and her director, a couple behind the scenes, can't find a way to leave their personal problems at ... See full summary »
Director: Jacques Rivette | Stars: Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Josée Destoop, Michèle Moretti
Votes: 808
46. Madeline's Madeline (2018)
Unrated | 93 min | Drama
A theatre director's latest project takes on a life of its own when her young star takes her performance too seriously.
Director: Josephine Decker | Stars: Helena Howard, Molly Parker, Miranda July, Okwui Okpokwasili
Votes: 4,140 | Gross: $0.18M
47. Salome's Last Dance (1988)
R | 89 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
On Guy Fawkes Day 1892m Oscar Wilde goes to a performance of his controversial, banned play 'Salome'. The 'theatre' is a brothel and the performers are prostitutes.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Glenda Jackson, Stratford Johns, Nickolas Grace, Douglas Hodge
Votes: 1,903 | Gross: $0.33M
48. The Schoolteacher Goes to Boys' High (1978)
92 min | Comedy
Edwige Fenech stars in this Italian sex-comedy as the new teacher in all-boys Catholic school. All of the boys desire for the chance to "learn" more about their new teacher, but only 1 student gets the opportunity.
Director: Mariano Laurenti | Stars: Edwige Fenech, Renzo Montagnani, Alvaro Vitali, Leo Colonna
Votes: 450
49. The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (2017)
G | 83 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Whoever thinks that the countryside is calm and peaceful is mistaken. In it we find especially agitated animals, a Fox that thinks it's a chicken, a Rabbit that acts like a stork, and a Duck who wants to replace Father Christmas. If you want to take a vacation, keep driving past this place.
Directors: Patrick Imbert, Benjamin Renner | Stars: Guillaume Darnault, Damien Witecka, Kamel Abdessadok, Antoine Schoumsky
Votes: 3,677 | Gross: $0.04M
50. Driving Lessons (2006)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
A coming of age story about a shy teenage boy trying to escape from the influence of his domineering mother. His world changes when he begins to work for a retired actress.
Director: Jeremy Brock | Stars: Rupert Grint, Laura Linney, Julie Walters, Fay Cohen
Votes: 11,032 | Gross: $0.24M