The Road movie review

Okay, how does anyone with a username of "bloodmeridian2004" watch an adaptation of McCarthy's work objectively?

I don't.

And for the first hour or so of the film, I could feel just the twinge of a mirgraine.

I wanted to hate this film.

But--I became emotionally engaged and the ending moved me.

And that's how I judge movies.

If I was moved, it worked.

And it reinforced the notion that endings are important.

As credits rolled, most of us shuffled out fighting back tears--and I don't think we could have offered the filmmakers a better compliment than that.

The Messenger movie review

I read a fantastic review for THE MESSENGER in the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2009/11/16/091116crci_cinema_denby

So I decided to see it (thankfully one cinema was showing it.)

And I lamented the fact that it's in limited release while we are deluged with 2012 and NEW MOON.

What surprised me most was the physicality of Woody Harrelson, who is pitch-perfect as the commanding officer over Ben Foster--his new recruit for an Army detail that brings death notifications to next-of-kin stateside.

I was delighted that the movie evoked the emotional impact I was looking for in my spec scripts, IN SMALL WAR and KARST.

And Samantha Morton was a fantastic love interest.

2012 Movie Review

Fantastic special effects aren't enough to save bad dialogue.


The phase I'm going through now--as an amateur screenwriter hoping to make a sale--is to focus on movie dialogue in an effort to understand its rhythm and purpose.


Lately I've paid particular attention to "buttons:" the witty little last words that end a scene.


There are tons of buttons in 2012: some comedic; some expository; some dramatic--and all felt overwritten.


It's as if so many cooks were in the kitchen each were afraid that if the button were missing, that the audience would get lost.


So--the effect is that this is a TV movie with loads of expensive special effects.


It's instructive though, because it's politically correct to have very little offensive language and zero sex.


I don't know if I will ever learn my lesson.


I don't know if it's worth it to write for a PG-13.


I'd like to try though--but it doesn't ring true to me.


In the most literal sense--I'm considering going back through my old scripts to try and make them PG-13.


And if I ever dare write what I really feel--I'll try to pitch it as a cable series--which seems to be the last bastion for mature entertainment.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hollywood

Fantastic article in the New Yorker about F. Scott Fitzgerald's failure as a screenwriter: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/11/16/091116fa_fact_krystal

It's amazing how he never gave up writing long narrative descriptions that were totally unfilmable.

Paranormal Activity Movie Review

Perhaps there's a trendy new word out there to describe these hand-held camera movies.

From my own experience, I was blown away by THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.

And, then there was "Blair Witch" meets "Godzilla" which equaled CLOVERFIELD.

I loved both of those films for the same reason I love PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.

Intimacy.

Failing a Google search for a cool new word to describe this hand-held phenomenon, I shall extrapolate a literary term (perhaps too loosely) and say that I regard these movies to be the cinematic expression of confessional poetry.

I consider PARANOMAL ACTIVITY to be "Blair Witch" meets "Poltergeist."

And what makes it ring true is the relationship between our common-law husband/wife dual protagonists.

The guy tries to fix things like a macho man and the girl keeps telling him that he is useless.

So everyone can relate to that, right?

:-)

Punching Keys

I'm writing a bible.

It's my first effort at such a biblical task.

I mean, after all, the world needs another police procedural, doesn't it?