I have now read the first 10 Discworld books in publication order and just shy of half of them have had the same core plot: ancient evil magic from another dimension is unleashed and needs to be put back in the box. This was my biggest problem with Moving Pictures – so much so that I felt the need to look up whether this is the last gasp of Pratchett using this trope. Thankfully, that seems to be the case. Maybe if I had read this book before The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Sourcery, and (to a lesser degree) Pyramids, the plot and main protagonist would have been more interesting. I also didn’t find many of the movie puns and references all that funny. Instead, I felt the constant comparisons to real-world movies and Hollywood studios sometimes took me out of the usually immersive Discworld.
Ironically, I liked the supporting characters and side plots far more than the main Holy Wood plotline. Detritus, Gaspode the Wonder Dog, Cut-me-own Throat Dibbler, and the wizards of Unseen University (especially old Windle Poons) were the real stars here.
Is this my least favorite Discworld book yet? No. But it may be the first one that failed to make me laugh out loud. I can see why other people love it though.
The Once and Future Lit 