Five Of The Best Movies About Journalism

Journalism isn’t exactly the most beloved profession. For every heroic investigative journalist in ‘Spotlight’ there are four Richard Thornburgs - you know, that awful TV reporter who nearly got Holly killed in 'Die Hard’.

'Spotlight’ tells the story of a group of Boston Globe journalists uncovering a huge scandal involving the Catholic Church. Ahead of its release on Friday (29 Jan) we’re going to take a look at five of the best movies about this most noble (*cough*) of professions.

- New Guardians Of The Galaxy Team Members?
- The Worst Movie Posters of 2015
- 15 Actors Who Gained Weight For Roles

‘All The President’s Men’

Naturally one of the best known journalism movies tells the story of one of the 20th century’s greatest journalistic endeavours. 'All The President’s Men’ follows legendary Washington Post journos Woodward and Bernstein as they investigate the goings on at a certain DC office complex called Watergate.

Their efforts unearth a scandal that (and its clichéd to say this now) went all the way to the top, and would eventually led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States.

‘Citizen Kane’

Well-known as one of, if not the greatest movie ever made, 'Citizen Kane’ tells the story of a journalist tasked with uncovering the mystery of the dying word of Charles Foster Kane, a hugely wealthy media magnate.

The journalist’s investigation uncovers more about the man’s life, which saw him rise through the ranks of the newspaper business, seize control of the New York Inquirer and influence public opinion to orchestrate his rise to the top.

‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’

Something less serious now. Anchorman is the best comedy about journalists there has ever been, but the joke is less about them being journalists and more about the Channel 4 News team being terrible people and complete morons.

Nothing is taken seriously in 'Anchorman’, the film that made Will Ferrell a star, and that’s one of its best qualities. It’s a loopy absurdest comedy right up their with 'Airplane’, 'Zoolander’ and 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ in terms of laughs and quotability.

- The disturbing truth behind Disney Princess dialogue
- Lily-Rose Depp’s new movie is getting hammered
- Labyrinth remake rumours debunked

’Network’

Something of a cult classic here. 'Network’ is a pitch-perfect satire about television and network news, and it all begins with one of the all-time great big screen rants, as Peter Finch’s news anchor commands people to yell “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it any more”.

His speech has often been copied (Aaron Sorkin essentially used it as the basis for a whole TV show) and its content - the character’s complaints about modern life - ring true even today, in the fortieth year since its release.

‘Almost Famous’

A life as a journalist leads to many stories. For example, Keith Lemon once dumped a cake on my head and I chased him out of a building. No I’m not going to explain further. Cameron Crowe’s 'Almost Famous’ is about one such adventure, but with markedly less cake and no z-list comedians.

The film follows a young, aspiring music journalist as he embarks on his career, starting small and eventually accompanying a rock band on tour and pitching their story to Rolling Stone. Also, Philip Seymour Hoffman is in it.

- Mark Ruffalo Rewards Kids Who Found His Wallet
- New Batman v Superman Poster
- James Cameron’s X-Men Assist

Picture Credits: Warner Bros / DreamWorks / United Artists