Go Into The Story

Movies that feature “one last job”

Per the Daily Variety: Working Title Films has put in motion a remake of the Icelandic thriller “Reykjavik-Rotterdam” as a potential star vehicle for Mark Wahlberg. Aaron Guzikowski (“Prisoners”) will write the script. What caught my eye is the plot summary: Story follows an ex-freight ship worker, fired

New story at Popcorn Fiction

From screenwriter Derek Haas: I just published Michael Gilvary’s “Unconditional” on Popcorn Fiction. This story is a favorite of mine… it’s a real clinic in suspense writing. A mother and father take parenting to a whole new level. Michael wrote the soon-to-be-released indie feature, Greta,

“Sequels That Bombed” poster

Which of these ‘bombs’ did you see? Comment Archive

Hollywood Tales

“The [Hollywood] film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There is also a negative side.”  — Hunter S. Thompson Comment Archive

The Bitter Script Reader: “Zombieland”

Great post by TBSR today reviewing Zombieland: I saw Zombieland this weekend without knowing much more than was revealed in the commercials, and if at all possible, I urge all of my readers to see the film in the same fashion. This is a movie that’s greatly enhanced by

How They Write A Script: Larry Kasdan

Writer-director Lawrence “Larry” Kasdan is a prolific talent who has written movies in almost every genre including the thriller Body Heat (1981), possibly greatest action adventure movie of all time Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), arguably the best of the Star Wars movies The Empire Strikes Back (1983)

Spec script sale:”The Vatican Tapes”

Spec Script Deal:”The Vatican Tapes” Per THR, Lionsgate wins bidding war to nab thriller spec “The Vatican Tapes” from writer Chris Borelli: Lionsgate acquired the thriller, in the vein of “The Exorcist” or “Rosemary’s Baby,” and will co-distribute globally with Lakeshore. I read elsewhere this summary of

“Showtime orders up season 4 of ‘Californication’”

Good news: Showtimes orders up season 4 of ‘Californication’. Yes, Hank Moody (David Duchovny) is a narcissistic A-hole. But he’s a funny narcissistic A-hole. As are most of the characters surrounding him. And this year guest star Kathleen Turner, playing sexed-up Hollywood talent agent Sue Collini,

“Bacon is good for me!”

I know that reality TV means we’re very near the end of civilization as we know it, but here is a great scene. Sound structure — beginning, middle, end? B: Joy throwing away family’s crap food. M: The boy (Curtis) confronts Joy and declares, “I’ m leaving.” E: Curtis

On writing

“A writer has to have some kind of compulsive drive to do his work. If you don’t have it, you’d better find another kind of work, because it’s the only compulsion that will drive you through the psychological nightmares of writing.”  — John McPhee Comment Archive

‘Ponyo’ and lessons in storytelling

Last night was pure magic. Luke and I sat outside under the stars with about 200 other people to watch Ponyo. Beyond the delight of screening a movie under a blanket of stars and sharing the experience with my son, it was the magic of the movie itself that mesmerized

“‘Zombieland’ takes top spot at the boxoffice”

Per the Hollywood Reporter: The undead are livening up the boxoffice. Woody Harrelson’s horror comedy “Zombieland” has opened as the №1 movie, with $25 million. In one weekend, the movie recoups its production budget ($23.6M). #2: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — $16.7M #3: Toy Story / Toy

“Berkeley Breathed, drawn back to ‘Bloom County’ but looking forward”

I hadn’t realized I was a “fanboy,” but evidently so because the LA Times blog Hero Complex: For Your Inner Fanboy” is one of my favorite entertainment sites. And yesterday they made my inner Opus swoon with this feature on Berkeley Breathed, creator of the comic strips “Bloom County,

Video interview: William Peter Blatty (The Ninth Configuration)

Before there was the phenomenon that is Dan Brown, there was William Peter Blatty, the writer who created a niche for himself with theological thrillers including The Exorcist (1973), The Exorcist III (1990), and The Ninth Configuration (1980). I haven’t seen The Ninth Configuration since its release, but remember

Follow-Up: Getting Through Act Two — The Sequence Approach

In our last Open Forum, we had this comment from Eve Montana: What if you have a plethora of ideas, but remain unable to write the second act for any of them? that’s my problem and it’s frustrating. I have my ending. I have my beginning on NUMEROUS

William Friedkin’s 13 Scariest Movies

Given the growing buzz about Paranormal Activity, I thought it might be interesting to see what the director of one of my favorite scary movies — The Exorcist — considered his scariest movies of all time. That director is William Friedkin and he provided this list of 13 movies last year with

Interview: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland)

Seeing as most box office prognosticators are picking Zombieland to come out of the weekend as the #1-movie, it seemed like a good idea to learn what we can from the movie’s screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. In this interview at Cinema Blend.com, we find out

Daily dialogue — October 3, 2009

“Listen Pancho, I’ve been clocking you every second you’ve been in this town. If you wanna pick your nose in this truck, you better clear it with me first, otherwise I’m taking you and this nitro right into a ditch!”  — Scanlon (Roy Scheider), Sorcerer (1977), screenplay by

How They Write A Script: John Michael Hayes

Alfred Hitchcock worked with several great writers, one of them being John Michael Hayes, who wrote the screenplays for Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), The Trouble with Harry (1955), and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). After he and Hitchcock had a falling out, Hayes went

Great Scene: “Good Will Hunting”

The bar scene. Will’s classic putdown. And a spin on the ‘meet cute’. In 1997, two young actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, co-starred in the movie Good Will Hunting. They also co-wrote the screenplay, which ended up winning an Academy Award for Best Screenplay, Written Directly

Daily dialogue — October 2, 2009

“Now you will see me one more time, if you do good. You will see me, two more times, if you do bad. Good night.”  — Cowboy (Monty Montogomery), Mulholland Drive (2001), written and directed by David Lynch Comment Archive

David Lynch on ideas, abstractions, and meaning

During one of those click-through-endless-links modes last night, I stumbled on this Q&A with David Lynch. The video is super-amateur, shot shaking worse than Blair Witch on uppers, so I almost stopped watching. But what Lynch was saying grabbed me. Here’s a transcript

Video interview: Michael Arndt

I posted this video interview with screenwriter Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) back in April. But after excerpting his comments in Monday’s Hollywood Tales and yesterday’s Screenwriting 101, I wanted to make sure everyone has a chance to see Arndt in a live setting. He is articulate, thoughtful,

Writing Question: How do you work through Act Two?

In response to this week’s On Writing post, Eve Montana had these comments: What if you have a plethora of ideas, but remain unable to write the second act for any of them? that’s my problem and it’s frustrating. I have my ending. I have my beginning

Daily dialogue — October 1, 2009

“What’s your bag, Klute? What do you like? Are you a talker? A button freak? Maybe you like to get your chest walked around with high heeled shoes. Or make ’em watch you tinkle. Or maybe you get off wearing women’s clothes. Goddamned hypocrite squares! I just hope