Go Into The Story

Update: Lethal Weapon 5

We talked it about the rumors here and here, and now it seems it’s official: The return of Murtaugh and Riggs. Here are some breathless comments from exuberant First Showing users: Buddy cop movie where one cop pulls another out from retirement to solve “One Last Case” just to

Screenwriting 101: Javier Grillo-Marxuach

“[A] long time ago, I came to the realization that a script is more than just ‘a blueprint to a film.’ To truly be a successful manifestation of the form, a script needs to be a work of art in and of itself. It requires the same strict integrity of

First review of Oliver Stone’s new movie W.

Daily Variety reviewer Todd McCarthy weighs in with the first review of Oliver Stone’s new movie W.: Oliver Stone’s unusual and inescapably interesting “W.” feels like a rough draft of a film it might behoove him to remake in 10 or 15 years. The director’s third feature

“Masters of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror”

Television Weekly features 12 TV / screenwriters in this article including J.J. Abrams, Bryan Fuller, and Joss Whedon. In our family, Whedon holds a special place of honor — here’s a previous post about him — because of the late, lamented sci-fi TV series “Firefly”. It was a smart series

Hollywood tales

“I had no idea I was going to make cartooning a career. I was doing it merely to assuage my profound sense of self-pity at being stuck in this scummy little apartment in Hollywood.”  — Matt Groening

The Rouge Wave: “Origin Stories”

Our friend Julie at the invaluable screenwriting blog The Rouge Wave has an especially insightful post today. After viewing Iron Man, it caused Julie to think of “origin stories,” typical in comic book type movies that recount the origin of a character. And that caused Julie to have this thought:

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Get Un-Comfortable

If your writing is feeling stale, here’s an idea: Rattle your own cage! As background to this trick, consider what screenwriter Alvin Sargent suggests: “You must write everyday. Free yourself. Free association. An hour alone a day. Blind writing. Write in the dark. Don’t think about what it

DreamWorks split from Paramount official

It’s official: The movie executives Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Stacey Snider have formally severed their ties with Paramount Pictures, ending a sometimes stormy three-year relationship and clearing the way for a new film company they have had in the works for months. And their plans for the

On writing

“If you are going to be a writer, there is nothing I can say to stop you; if you’re not going to be a writer nothing I can say will help you. What you really need at the beginning is somebody to let you know that the effort is

Non-remake remakes

The LA Times has a fun slideshow on what they call “non-remake remakes” or in other words movie ripoffs. The examples they cite are: Disturbia (2007) / Rear Window (1954) Surviving the Game (1994) / The Most Dangerous Game (1932) Apocalypse Now (1979) / Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) The Magnificent

Video Interview: Barry Levinson

One of my favorite TV series is “Homicide: Life on the Street”. And one of my favorite baseball movies is The Natural (1984). Writer-director Barry Levinson was involved in both, directing The Natural and an E.P. on “Homicide.” As a writer, Levinson has credits that stretch all the

Naps: Key to Creativity?

Continuing with my ongoing fascination about the human brain and the creative process, which we discussed here, a recent New York Times article explored scientific research between the connection of sleep and creativity: “There is a cultural bias against sleep that sees it as akin to shutting down, or even

Video interview: William Martell

There are screenwriters who make a good living writing movies that many people would not recognize. William Martell is one of those writers. He has had a prolific career writing the screenplays for a host of movies including Trecherous (1994), Victim of Desire (1995), Hard Evidence (1995), Steel Sharks (1996)

Daily dialogue — October 4, 2008

“If it bleeds, we can kill it.”  — Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Predator (1987), written by Jim & John Thomas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-d8-t3W6Ac Comment Archive

Religulous

I majored in the religious studies department at UVA. I received a Masters of Divinity degree from Yale. For a time, I was an ordained United Methodist minister. And I’ve always been interested in spirituality. So I guess it’s no surprise that I am interested to see the

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Use Strong Verbs

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Highlight Your Verbs I featured this bit of wisdom from screenwriter Larry Ferguson before here, the key quote being: “There was a girl who came to me with her first screenplay. It was a good first shot. I gave her some advice. I told

Friday movie reviews

Beverly Hills Chihuahua Daily Variety (Peter Debruge) Los Angeles Times (Mark Olsen) New York Times (Nathan Lee) Flash of Genius Daily Variety (Todd McCarthy) Hollywood Reporter (Peter Burnette) Los Angeles Times (Mark Olsen) New York Times (Stephen Holden) How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Daily Variety (Todd McCarthy) Hollywood

Great Scene: “Annie Hall”

Annie Hall has a scene that is perhaps the best pedagogical tool to convey what subtext is. Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) is having a drink with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). This is basically their first time alone together and there are definitely some undercurrents going on in with what they’

All you Bob Dylan freaks

New album “Tell Tale Signs” due out on Oct. 7 but NPR has an exclusive preview: For the legions of fans who still can’t get enough, Dylan’s longtime label (Columbia Records) has been releasing a series of “bootleg” CDs from the singer — a vast collection of rare recordings

Bitter Truth #21

“Dogs. We feed them, walk them, clean up their poop. And we’re their masters?” © 2008 Kurt Brown & Scott Myers

Pitch sale:”Untitled Jack Black Comedy”

Universal lands the newest Jack Black comedy vehicle, an untitled pitch from writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger: A sort of comedic “The Bourne Identity,” the story sees Black as an American who finds himself washed up the shores of Cuba with no idea of who he is and how

Spec script sale: “Hunter-Killer”

Relativity Media acquires spec script “Hunter-Killer” from producer turned writer Arne Schmidt: The project is based on the novel “Firing Point,” by Don Keith and George Wallace, about an American sub commander and a Navy SEAL team that must rescue the Russian president and defeat a renegade admiral who’

“Pushing Daisies” season premiere tonight!

One of the most innovative TV series from last season — “Pushing Daisies” — returns tonight at 8PM EDT / PDT on ABC. Here’s background on the show: From Bryan Fuller (Heroes, Wonderfalls) and Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black) comes a critically acclaimed series with an unprecedented blend of romance, fantasy and

Screenwriting 101 — Guillermo Arriaga

“I never outline the story, never. I once went to a seminar by one of these gurus of the screen, and this person said, ‘You must know everything about your characters.’ I thought, ‘Fuck, there’s no way!’ I want to have dark parts of my characters’ history so they

Biography Channel: 2-hour special on Paul Newman

Following up on this post in honor of Paul Newman, please note that the Biography Channel is having a 2-hour special tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 1 at 9PM EDT. And here is an excerpt from one of my favorite Newman movies Nobody’s Fool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?