Posted: April 23, 2017 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Anne Hathaway, Austen Stowell, Cesc Gay, Colossal, Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis, Javier Camera, Nacho Viglando, Ricardo Darin, Tim Blake Nelson, Tomas Aragay, Truman | 9 Comments »
First, a word from our sponsors: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who contributed to our Indiegogo campaign for 15 Conversations in 10 Minutes. We did very well due to you folks. For those who weren’t able to give, keep us in your thoughts. And if you are able to contribute in the future, contact me and I’ll tell you how. I will even honor the perks on the original campaign.
I am now offering a new consultation service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? FosCheck out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
In Colossal, the new Sci-Fi, rom com hybrid, Anne Hathaway plays Gloria, an alcoholic unemployed journalist who gets thrown out of her boyfriend’s apartment after one drinking binge too many. She returns to her home town where she runs into Oscar (Jason Sudeikis), an old friend she knew as far back as elementary school and only vaguely remembers. He gives her a job at his bar and the next thing you know, a Godzilla like monster is making occasional appearances in Seoul, Korea. And the next thing you know after that, is that Gloria is somehow responsible.
And no, I am not making this up.
Colossal is proof that you can have the most ridiculous, absurd and unbelievable events happen in a movie if the characters react to them in a logical and believable way. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: March 23, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 8 ½, A Better Life, Alice Adams, Antonio Banderas, Armin Mueller-Stall, Bill Murray, Bob Nelson, Brian Dennehy, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Cinderella, Clive Owen, Confirmation, Federico Fellini, Hardcore, Jaeden Lieberher, John Gielgud, Kitty Foyle, Knight of Cups, La Dolce Vita, Liam Neeson, Mario Bella, Matthew Modine, Natalie Portman, Patton Oswalt, Paul Schrader, Robert Forster, St. Vincent, Stephen Tobolowsky, Taken, Terence Malick, The Bicycle Thief, The Pilgrim’s Progress, The Searchers, Tim Blake Nelson, To the Wonder, Vittorio de Sica, Wes Bentley, Working Girl | 173 Comments »
First, a word from our sponsors: I am now offering a new service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
Knight of Cups, the new film from art house fave writer/director Terence Malick, begins with some excerpts from John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, spoken, I believe, in the dulcet tones of Sir John Gielgud. The Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory about a man who is weighed down by his sin and must seek a path to righteousness, but he finds many dangers, toils and snares along the way.
I suppose the allegory in that classic is supposed to also be an allegory for Rick, the central character in Malick’s drama, and his journey. Rick is a screenwriter who basically just drifts from place to place, observing the world he encounters while avoiding screenwriting as much as possible. It’s sort of like a movie by Federico Fellini, 8 ½ or La Dolce Vita, character studies of a men who are spiritually lost or have writer’s block, set against dwarfing architecture and a somewhat impressionistic view of the local’s lives.
I have to say I liked Knight of Cups, though I also have to say I’m surprised that I did. In Malick’s last film To The Wonder, the filmmaker told an almost impossible to understand story, made almost impossible to understand because it was not told in chronological order. And since you were spending so much time just trying to understand what was going on, it was difficult to become emotionally involved in the movie. And it didn’t help that when you did figure it out, it was a pretty bland and banal story line. Read the rest of this entry »
