Scott Myers

“Top Ten Nagging ‘Avatar’ Questions of the Decade”

Another great way to begin the new decade: Ask a bunch of nagging questions about the movie Avatar, courtesy of Movieline columnist Mark Lisanti. Here’s a couple: 1. Why hasn’t future wheelchair technology advanced at all from our present-day wheelchair capabilities? 2. Future military benefits are so

“10 Hollywood Apps You Must Have”

TheWrap.com looks at “10 Hollywood Apps You Must Have: 1. Movie?Slate ($9.99). While it has no hierarchy, this list, like every shot in every film, has to start somewhere — and a slate seems the logical choice. Indeed, Movie?Slate is exactly what you expect — a digital slate

For the new year…

…I have but one wish for each of you: May you find a story that compels you to write it… then write the hell out of it. Happy New Year to all you GITS readers! Comment Archive

December 2009: Other Stories

For the last few weeks of the year, I’m going through stories I saved, but never posted. Today’s stories are from December 2009: * I’m sure some of you saw this story, but just in case here is the NY Times account: Cormac McCarthy has written more than

“Movieline’s Year in Lists”

There are movie lists. And there are movie lists. This one from Movieline.com is a movie list, the kind in which you can lose yourself for hours. For example: · Nine: That’s the magic number — at least where Movieline lists are concerned. We ran down the nine most shameless

“The Wire” — (Other) 100 Greatest Quotes”

I still refuse to believe that the best damn drama on TV — “The Wire” — is off the air. Back in November, I demonstrated my obstinance by posting this: “The Wire — 100 Greatest Quotes”, an awesome YouTube video by some saintly soul named hh1edits (here is his/her YouTube channel).  Well,

Early reviews: Tennessee Williams’ movie “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond”

We noted the release of “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond” here from the NY Times: Though he was a famously successful adapter of his own work, Williams was not a natural screenwriter, and, remarkably, of the almost 50 movies made from Williams material, Ms. Markell’s film — starring Bryce

Video interview: Francois Truffaut

A special New Year’s Eve treat: A series of videos featuring noted writer-director Francois Truffaut. His writing credits include Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows — 1959), À bout de souffle (Breathless — 1960), Tirez sur le pianiste (Shoot the Piano Player — 1960), Jules et Jim (Jules and Jim

Daily Dialogue — December 31, 2009

“I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love

November 2009: Other Stories

For the last few weeks of the year, I’m going through stories I saved, but never posted. Today’s stories are from November: * There was this article in Vanity Fair: “Robert McKee’s Unconvincing Story”. Its author Jason Zinoman provides the set-up: In the process of working on

Mystery Man: Reviews two unproduced scripts

So leave it to the enigmatic Mystery Man on Film to end the year with a mind-boggling bang. First, he uncovers a cool website: Subterranean Cinema, basically home to rare movies on DVD. But also, as it turns out, rare unproduced screenplays including “Noble Rot”: If you have ever

“The New Spec Style”

Bumping around the Writers Store website, I found this: “The New Spec Style”. Written by David Trottier, autheor of “The Screenwriter’s Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script,” the article provides a summary of a current spec script style guide including these tips: Do not

Flickering Myth: Profile of writer-director Jane Campion (Part Two)

Last week, we featured the first part of a profile by Trevor Hogg on screenwriter-director Jane Campion, hosted at the wonderful cinema U.K.-based website Flickering Myth. The second part of the profile posted today — well worth the read. Here are some highlights re Campion’s latest movie

Screenwriting 101 — Walter Hill

Screenwriting 101: Walter Hill “When I’m working alone, the old hard way. Longhand. Fountain pen. Legal pad. Thesaurus at my side. This last item, I’m not ashamed to say, is quite helpful — when you write screenplays, you don’t have a lot of room, and the stage directions

October 2009: Other Stories

For the last few weeks of the year, I’m going through stories I saved, but never posted. Today’s stories are from October 2009: * With the shift in management at Universal Pictures, there were a number of articles reflecting on the current movie studios’ business model. Here are three

Oscars: Do we already know the winning screenplays?

Yes, we do per Sijmen’s Oscar Experiment: In 2000, I found myself a secret weapon to predict the Oscar nominees: a mathematical and statistical Formula, based on the relation between the Pre-Oscar Awards and the Oscar nominees. And the best thing about is… It works! And the winners

“Tennessee Williams Returns to the Big Screen”

The Sunday NY Times had this feature on The Loss of a Teardop Diamond, a new movie featuring a screenplay by Tennessee Williams: GORE VIDAL once remarked that if Tennessee Williams had nothing better to do, he would rewrite something he had already published. Almost until the day he died,

Blogging: A new way into Hwood?

So you’ve heard of the blog “Stuff White People Like”? The site has had over 30 million hits and spawned a book. Then there’s the blog “Waiter Rant”. That also led to a book. But this one takes the cake: “Shit My Dad Says”, a Twitter feed. Per

Hollywood Tales

“Steven [Spielberg] had purchased my script Continental Divide, which was very different from the film which resulted. The script had a kind of Hawksian speed, momentum, hopefully with about it. I don’t think the film turned out that way, which was one of those painful experiences I had early

September 2009: Other Stories

For the last few weeks of the year, I’m going through stories I saved, but never posted. Today’s stories are from September 2009: * The really big news in September was the Disney purchase of Marvel. But here’s a gem that barely drew any notice: Best of all

Update: Kim Peek — the inspiration for “Rain Man”

I posted this last week: The man who inspired the title character in the Oscar-winning movie “Rain Man” has died. Kim Peek was 58. His father, Fran, says Peek had a major heart attack Saturday morning and was pronounced dead at a hospital in the Salt Lake City suburb

“Avatar: The Making of the Bootleg”

H/T to Robert Fuller — again! — for alerting me to this fantastic send-up of the making of Avatar. BTW, the actual making of Avatar is currently airing on HBO On Demand. Definitely a recommend as the technology they developed and used in the making of the movie is remarkable.

On writing

“The main character in a novel must necessarily have some kinship to the author, they come out of his body as a child comes from the womb, then the umbilical cord is cut, and they grow into independence. The more the author knows of his own character the more he

Record weekend B.O.: $278M

The WSJ (subscription required) is reporting this 3-day weekend is a record-setter: The sci-fi film “Avatar” led the way for a pack of films to set Hollywood’s biggest box-office weekend of all time. With a U.S. box-office total over the last three days

August 2009: Other Stories

For the last few weeks of the year, I’m going through stories I saved, but never posted. Today’s stories are from August 2009: * One of the most interesting articles I stumbled upon this year is this one from The Guardian: “Making a Drama” by David Edgar. It covers