2007 Thus Far

Not many flicks have completely blown me away. I'm waiting to see stuff like Sunshine & Rescue Dawn, and upcoming films like Jesse James, There Will Be Blood, The Darjeeling Limited, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men, Trade, Crossing Over, 3:10 to Yuma, And Gone Baby Gone that will likely make their way onto a Top 1o list.

Best of the year so far? Scott Frank's The Lookout. Very well made all around.

Stardust was fun, but it wouldn't end up on an end of the year Top 10. Also thoroughly enjoyed Knocked Up & Superbad.

300 was barely okay. The Simpsons was funny but pretty much like a long episode - not that that's a bad thing. Pirates 3 was decent but 2 was better. Shrek 3 had moments but didn't need to be made. Saw the original recently and thought it was still great.

In the Land Of Women was interesting, I'd give it a C+. We also saw I Could Never Be Your Woman starring Michelle Pfeiffer & Paul Rudd (it's been retitled All That Really Matters and comes out in November) and that had some fun stuff, but again, didn't rock me.

Worst of the year so far is still Hostel 2.

What are your faves/non faves of the year so far?

Super

Superbad - Go see it. It's a hilarious ride. The writing is sharp, and the actors really carry it. Great performances all around. Smart, fun, and pretty damn real.

And the good news it, I didn't unknowingly rip it off when I wrote Laid. One thing I worrried about was doing that as I finished my script, but they are pretty different so I'm not concerned about that anymore.

I was gonna start a new script tonight, tentatively called Rollin' Thunda but decided to go back and punch up some Laid. The Agent is reading it this weekend, and I'll get his thoughts.

Check out Superbad though. I liked it a lot. Knocked Up was probably a better movie overall, but Superbad has some truly classic scenes & dialogue. Damn funny stuff.

Done

It's sloppy. I gotta go in and pull some teeth, whiten some others, break out the floss, but for the most part, stick a fork in it. It's done.

Gonna take a few passes at it, hunt for typos, funny up some scenes, then move along to the agent, see what he thinks.

It's done!

Final Lap!

Almost there! Page 88. If I don't crash, I should have it done on Saturday night. It should land in the mid 90s, right about where I want it.

Ah, The 70s.

Blasted through Page 70 last night, tonight I'm aiming for 80. It's almost done. And it's feeling great.

Below is a scene (I can only cut & paste it, please forgive it's appearance) from LAID. I was trying to think of one to post, and I thought this one would be good. Our hero, Joe, has a flashback to when he lost his virginity:

INT. CARAVAN - NIGHT - FLASHBACK
Joe and GLORIA, 17, are getting hot and heavy. He tosses a condom wrapper aside.

GLORIA

Is it on?

JOE

Fits like a glove.

She looks down between his legs.

GLORIA

Doesn’t it get any bigger?

JOE

I think that’s gonna be about it.

GLORIA

It’ll be fine. Just put it in.

Joe nods and concentrates, trying to insert himself.

GLORIA

I don’t feel anything.

JOE

I’m still searching. Wait, here you go.

GLORIA

Hey. Not up the ass, please. I’m not an up-the-ass girl.

JOE

No problem. I’m not an up-the-ass guy.

GLORIA

Good to know. Here. I’ll help you.

She reaches down between his legs, pulls him closer. She BELCHES loudly into his face.

JOE

Wow.

GLORIA

Sorry about that. Kinda did that in your face. Must’ve been those peppers I had at dinner.

JOE

Yeah, I thought it smelled like peppers.

GLORIA

Here we are.

JOE

Oh, God. Oh, my God!

GLORIA

Feel nice?

JOE

Shit yeah! Oh, boy. Gloria. Oh, Gloria.

GLORIA

No, no! Wait, Joe! Don’t come yet! I want to get it, too!

JOE

Yes! Oh, yeah! I’m coming! I’m coming!

GLORIA

God dammit!

He shudders and pulls away, exhausted, with a huge smile.

JOE

Nice. Did you get an orgasm, too?

GLORIA

Fuck off.

60s

Laid is into the 60s now. Kinda hard to put an exact number on it, I have another file with notes, scenes, etc, that I will cut & paste soon which will add to the total.

The end is finished, and I feel real good about it.

On my main file I'm at 64, and will get some more done tonight. I'll try to post a scene or 2. trying to figure out which ones though. Many are filled with extreme raunch. I mean, I don't want to offend EVERYONE.

LAID

Oh, man. This is a good one. My goal is to have this baby finished ASAP. It's so damn funny, it's raunchy, it's cool. I'm just happy as a pig in poop when I'm writing it.

I'm talking about Laid, and it's about, well, getting laid. I'm concentrating all firepower on it until it's done, then my agent will send it out and it WILL SELL. I have no doubt.

I'll update my progress throughout the week. I'm on Page 55, and am aiming for the mid-90s, maybe lower 100s before I slice & dice it.

Mist

This could be a fun fright flick. It's directed by Frank Darabont, and stars Thomas Jane (see Stander - awesome flick) and William Sadler, and based on the Stephen King story.

What's THE scariest flick you've ever seen?

My top choices would be:

1. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (70s version, really cool movie).

2. Nosferatu (70s version, directed by Werner Herzog & starring Klaus Kinski).

3. The first Nightmare On Elm Street

4. The Thing (1982)

5. Alien

6. Halloween

7. Friday the 13th

8. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (70s version)

9. Wolf Creek

Yuma + Darjeeling + My Meme

First, this poster is absolutely BAD-ASS. 3:10 To Yuma stars Bale & Crowe, directed by James Mangold. Good stuff. Also, please check out The Darjeeling Limited Trailer. Looks awesome.

Okay, now, onto my meme: 8 Things you don't know about me. Hopefully it'll be more things you didn't know since we all did the last 5 things you don't know about me/us from 2 months ago.

1. I don't sing in the shower, but I sing like a mofo in my car, usually singing along to something like U2, Coldplay, Radiohead, Travis, Killers or Arcade Fire, and some old school rock like Journey.

2. When driving in my car or work van, I'm not only singing my heart out, I'm usually inspired there, too. The best place I come up with script ideas, dialogue, titles and/or scenes is while driving.

3. In 2003, I had my first big pitch meeting. It was at CAA. After ALMOST (this FRIGGIN close) winning for best comedy script at Austin I set up a meeting with a cool woman I met during the festival (a story editor). Anyhoo, I went in there and she introduces me to a hip agent dude and he tells me to pitch him some of my stuff.

AND I BLEW IT. BIG TIME.

I went in there not prepared to pitch, which was my fault. I thought I was basically following up with a friendly meeting and it became a meeting to snag an agent. So, I didn't snag a thing. Neat experience but come on, I should have been prepared. Note to all reading: BE PREPARED. It was freaking CAA!!!!

4. One day after 9/11, I deleted a script I was working on that revolved around hostages. Completely deleted it. Just couldn't work on it.

5. I hate......HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE loading a roll of film into a camera. I did it during college for my film projects, and one time while trying to load a 16mm roll in a dark closet, the inside spool popped out, and a gallon of film spilled all over the dark floor. I felt like pulling off my own head and punting it down the street.

6. When I was little, I played with Star Wars figures, GI Joe, Hot Wheels and.......Smurfs.

7. I hate to write, manually, with my hand. LOVE typing though, just don't ask me to write something out. My hand hurts just thinking about it.

8. I've never seen an episode of Survivor, American Idol or the Apprentice. But Beauty & The Geek? Oh yes.

I hearby tag The Crymedawg, Mr. Missouri, AustinMan, The Teacher, and Tazzy.

Back

We've returned from our 2nd Outer Banks vacation. Great place (We stayed in Kitty Hawk 2 years ago, this time we were in Nags Head). Good stuff, they've got great beaches there, plenty of mini-golf, and some kick-ass restaurants. So, it was a good week. Now we're flat broke, but that's what vacations are for, right? Sweet!

Here are a few cool posters for some of the more interesting flicks coming soon:

At 98 We All Rotate

Name the song from the above-referenced quote and I'll buy you a shot.

Mid-year report.....

Screenwriting - A lot in the oven, but none of it has finished cooking. Usually at this point of the year I'd have 2 completed feature-length screenplays, but for the better part of this year I've been burned out and exhausted/disheartened/depressed from the daytime job. Luckily, I'm getting out of the slump and have made great progress on my raunchy teen comedy called LAID. It'll be finished by early August and hopefully after I've worked on it with my agent it'll be set to go out by Fall.

Flicks: Haven't seen all that many movies. What I have seen:

The Invisible - I liked this. Pretty neat idea (not totally original, but what the hell is). Anyway I thought it was done well, had crisp direction and a great soundtrack.

In The Land Of Women - I think EW gave it an F. That's harsh. I'd say B minus. It wasn't awful, not great either, but wasn't a total loss.

Shrek The Third - Had its moments, a few funny gags & lines here and there, but for the most part, really not necessary.

Hostel 2 - Worst movie of the year. I dig horror movies, and I don't mind gore and all, but this movie was a steaming pile of feces. It was ruthless, brutal, and bad. A shame because I think Eli Roth isn't a bad filmmaker.

Pirates 3 - I liked it. It was fun. Way long, and there was simply too much story going on but overall it was fun, not as good as the 2nd but a decent bookend.

Knocked Up - Best of the year so far. See it.

300 - Meh. It looked neat and all, but I kinda got sick of it.

Box Office
In April, I made some guesstimates. Here's how they are holding up:

I said:
Pirates - 390 million. It's at 301 million and grinding to a halt.

Spidey 3 - 360 million. Well, it's at 334. Close, but no cigarette.

Shrek 3 - 320 million. It's at 316 and is almost finished. Close!

Transformers - 240 million. I didn't take into consideration that it might be good, or at least get decent reviews. It made 155 mil so far in its 1st week, so it'll likely cruise past 240, depending how it holds up.

Potter - I said 235 million, and it made 44.5 in ONE DAY. but it'll probably fall off, so we'll see where it lands.

Surf's Up - I said 180. not even close. It's at 56 million and just about dead.

Fantastic 4 - I said 170. It's at 123 and running out of steam so it won't be making that.

Oceans 13 - I said 150. It's at 109 and will probably get to 118-120.

Knocked Up - I said 160. It's at 132 but has good legs.

Ratatoullie - I said 140 and it's at 109 so it should clear that. Surprising it didn't tank.

Die Hard 4 - I said 130 mil. It's at 84 currently and should be passing 100 soon, so this might be a close one.

License to Wed - I said 150. Hahaha. Good one. I'm sorry, I thought it might actually be good. Oops.

Mr. Brooks - I thought around 110. Oops again.

28 Weeks Later - I said 30 and that's about what it made.

Evan Almighty - I said 90 million. It's at 78 and croaking, so I might be right, but it could sneak by 100 and make like 107 million.

1408 - I said 60 and it's at 58 but still going, might finished with 75-80 million.

That's all team. I'm off to The Outer Banks from the 14th to the 21st. Be good!

Poor Liberty

Wow - This teaser is attached to TRANSFORMERS. It's a hush-hush movie from JJ Abrams, creator of Alias, MI3, etc, and is operating under the title Cloverfield or its release date 1/18/08. Check it out here.

It's like some odd/awesome combo of Blair Witch (shot on "home" video) and Godzilla (or that Korean flick The Host). Sweet.

C'mon Jason

Okay, I like Jason Lee. I do. I think he's always been a great talent. But holy crap - this looks BAD. Not only because it's Alvin & The Chipmunks - the movie, but just look at the chipmunks. They've been hip-hopped.

Dreadful. From the director of Garfield 2!!!!! Bombing this X-Mas!!

2007's coolest-looking flicks

Looking at the rest of 2007, there's some good shit coming. My must-sees are:

No Country For Old Men - Coen Bros. Nice-looking trailer, has a nice feel to it. I think it'll rock, and look for nominations for Tommy Lee Jones & Javier Bardem.

There Will Be Blood - Killer trailer. Reminds me of the better parts of Days Of Heaven. Daniel Day Lewis looks amazing already.

The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson directs Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman & Owen Wilson. I'm so there.

Margot At The Wedding - Sounds like a chick flick, and it sorta looks like one, but it's directed by Noah Baumbach, who I've loved since Kicking & Screaming (not Will Ferrell's) from way back, although I didn't love The Squid & The Whale so much.

I Am Legend - The trailer is promising, and as long as Will Smith doesn't yell "Oh, hell, no!" I think it'll be a good sci-fi/horror epic.

The Ten - A 10 commandments comedy, with Paul Rudd, from the creators of Wet Hot American Summer. Seek out the trailer. Funny as hell.

Rescue Dawn - Werner Herzog's POW epic, nice buzz for Steve Zahn and Christian Bale.

Sunshine - Looks wonderful. Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Weeks Later) usually delivers, and even his "misfires" like A Life Less Ordinary are at least worth watching.

30 Days Of Night - Vampires. Alaska.

What do you guys wanna see?

Tow Truck Driver Wisdom

I met a neat character for a script: Mike, The Tow Truck Driver. I met him this morning when he took me from Middle Village, NY to South NJ - Don't ask. I was a long freakin' drive.....

Some kernels of his wisdom included:

1. He's "no fag."
2. Wishes his wife died during the childbirth of any of his 5 children.
3. When his wife was in a car accident, he prayed to God.....That God would take her.
4. His wife left him (why?) and ran off to Puerto Rico to file for a divorce. No matter to him, he's glad to be rid of her and can buy any woman he wants.
5. At the baby shower I was supposed to attend, tell the baby:
A. If it's a baby boy: "Stay clear of women - they're bitches."
B. If it's a baby girl: "You're a fucking bitch."
6. He cried during The Notebook.
7. On 9/11, the plane that hit the Pentagon was hit by a missle before it crashed. On a related note, if a plane carrying his mother was headed for the Pentagon, he'd shoot it down "in a heartbeat" to protect "his president, his government."
8. The Edge (starring Alec Baldwin & Anthony Hopkins) is a great movie....I'd actually somewhat agree on this, it wasn't a half-bad adventure flick.
9. If I was opposed to his smoking, I was allowed to crack my window.
10. And get this, by the end of our journey together, he said if he went back in time to the place where he met his wife, he'd still ask her out, marry her, etc. Because after all the "bullshit" it was worth it for the good times. Perhaps an arc for the Tow Truck Driver?

Sweet - A COUPLE OF JOES Feedback

A Couple Of Joes has been named a quarter-finalist in the Writers On The Storm screenwriting contest. Got some great feedback, too, which is included with EVERY entry (it was a $30 entry with my movie-bytes discount, can't beat it!). Here it is:

Recommendation: Consider With Reservations

Strengths/Weaknesses: This is a unique, engaging concept. The story of a boy running his grandfather for governor of New Jersey has lots of comic potential - as well as a good emotional core. The structure is good. There are three identifiable acts. The writer's style is engaging and the script was an easy read. The pacing was good. The ending was satisfying and the journey along the way was fun. The problem with the script is that the stakes for the boy need to be clearer and higher. What will happen if he fail at getting his grandfather elected? What will happen if he fails his class? Why is this a critical moment in Joe's life? Also, there are some believability issues. Grandpa Joe's first speech in the square was not remarkable enough to garner attention. Also, his appearance on the talk show was bland. What makes him so remarkable? Why do people get behind him? Look at the movie "Being There" and we see how an ordinary man can capture the imagination and ignite the hopes and dreams of average people. What is it about grandpa that makes people want to vote for him? Right now, it seems implausible that he would be able to run and implausible that the kids would be able to get him so many high-profile media appreances. There also needs to be more conflict in the script. The beginning is a bit slow... there needs to be conflict on every page of the script to keep a reader/audience fully engaged. But, the writer did a very good job. This is an entertaining script. The premise is good, the writing style is good, but the execution just isn't there quite yet. One more rewrite and it'll be good to go. Good work!

Reader suggestions: What sells scripts in Hollywood these days is... emotions. Plot is important, but getting the audience fully invested in the characters is paramount. The relationship between Joe and Grandpa Joe is the core of this story - and so this relationship has to be developed much more. Perhaps younger Joe disliked his grandfather before and now, through the campaigan, he is drawn closer to him and understands him more. The author has this in the end, but it needs to be brought out much more. In the first act, we need to get more invested in the characters - on an emotional level. It feels too superficial right now. The end of the first act needs to come sooner (it happens on p. 38 right now). They decided to run Grandpa for governor. Great. Now, we are off and running. The second act needs a stronger tension. Make things more difficult for the Joes along the way. Give the protagonist more obstacles, more challenges. The third act is a bit weak - feels like an epilogue. There needs to be a strong narrative drive to the third act. It seems like young Joe wants to find Grandpa, but he does so right away and then we are back to Grandpa running for Governor. It's a bit predictable (and implausible) that Grandpa Joe would win the election - particularly based on what he says as a candidate in this story. Make it stronger, more real. Make him a real candidate - someone that people would vote for. Allison subplot is good. Brenda subplot doesn't do much - thought it's nice for Dudley. EVERY scene in a script needs to 1) move the story forward and 2) expand our understanding of the characters. If the scene does not accomplish BOTH of these things, it has to be reworked or cut. The script needs more original action and more clever methods that younger Joe uses to help get Grandpa elected. And raise the stakes, for younger Joe. Why MUST he do this? What happens if he doesn't? Title is too vague. Titles are important - make it a strong one. I enjoyed the script and the writer did a fine job - just focus the story and dig deeper into the characters. Good luck!

Also, scoring a "GOOD" was STRUCTURE, DIALOUGE, COMMERCIALITY, MAJOR & MINOR CHARACTERS, EXECUTION & TITLE. Scoring better in the "STRONG" category was STYLE/VOICE, ORIGINALITY, & PREMISE.

Overall, pretty nice feedback. Actually useful for me as I'll certainly keep some of those notes in mind when I take another pass at it soon. I'm waiting to hear if I made the semi-finals.

Week In Review - 6/15/07

TV:

The more I think on it, maybe Tony didn't get killed. I don't know. I mean, all of his immediate threats were either killed or had a truce.

Although that long black screen at the end has to mean something.

But one theory is that he's always going to be living in fear, and I don't think that's true either. If he wasn't killed, then I think Chase was saying that the Soprano clan will pull through, and could even survive parallel parking.

MOVIES:

Hit YOUTUBE and check out a trailer for P.T. Anderson's There Will Be Blood. Wow.

Also, floating around on Yahoo are cool trailers for The Ten and 3:10 To Yuma.

Box Office looks like this:

Fantastic 4 - 57 million

Nancy Drew - 8 million (by the way, the most negative thing I hear about this movie is Emma Roberts blah-performance). That'll make her feel good about herself!!!

Ocean's 13 is losing about half its audience, while Knocked Up (Awesome flick, go see it) is only losing about 26%. Nice! Oh, Hostel 2 is down 71% from its opening weekend. Ouch!

MUSIC

Found a mix-tape I made a few years ago. Killer stuff on it! When In Rome, Ocean Blue, Blur, Depeche Mode (or Depressed Mood as my friend used to call them), and some older u2 (is there a more amazing sone than The Unforgettable Fire?).

WORLD NEWS

The US says about 60% of Iraq is not under control. Again, thanks George W.

SPORTS

Phils only 2 games back! Nice win over the Tigers. Look out, Mets!

And I'll end with this:

Soprano Finale

1st of all, no, they aren't setting up a movie. James Gandolfini is pretty much done with Tony, as he's stated for a long time now - although he might be thinking differently in 2 years depending on his career status. I loved him in Get Shorty, but beyond that he hasn't done much except for Surviving Christmas & The Last Castle. And for some reason, Lonely Hearts (starring James plus Travolta, Jared Leto & Salma Hayek) when straight to AOL (?!?!?!?!?!?).

Overall, my feeling was that it was good. I didn't mind the ending, but I wish people would stop calling it a "fade" to black. That was no fade!

My main problem with it is the same problem I've always had with the series - it's choppy as hell. Not sure if it's the writing, editing or both. Scenes just seem to be piled on after the other, and it's always been like that.

Do I think Chase was giving the audience the finger? Nah, I just think he was doing it his own way, not really caring. So, what happened? I don't buy the argument that Tony S. will always be looking behind his back, that much we've known for years.

He was killed. To me, there's no other option. And the last thing he saw was Meadow coming in the door. Because there's simply no other reason for the long stretch of black after it ended. as was discussed earlier in the season, that's what happens when you get whacked.

Bam, then nothing.

How would I have done it? Well, not like that - Using the same set-up I'd have everyone killed (off-screen, while Meadow struggles with parallel parking) and she walks in to chaos & the aftermath.

But maybe Chase's works better. I don't freakin' know. I love the tension in that end scene, but since not too much went on in the episode, and we were all expecting him to get killed, it was pretty easy to create tension there. Still, it was well done.

On a scale from 1 to 10 I'd give it a 7.

Your thoughts? The time is yours...........

Week In Review - June 7

I'm gonna try to do a sorta "week in review" called "week in review" that will have silly writing updates, entertainment news, etc. Here goes:



WRITING NEWS:
I writing again! Been a while since I got much done in one sitting, but am currently working on 2 kick-ass comedies. Yay!



TRAINWRECK UPDATES:
Paris Hilton - She's still an asshole. Oh, and she might have to go back to "jail." It's to be determined. Aw, poor thing, after all she did serve almost 5 days of her 23 day sentence, but was released to her mansion because of a medical problem. What could it have been? Crotch rot? Da clap?She's a fucking idiot, and she'll be back on (or off) the roads until she drives over some old man on a bike. A seriously useless person. Paris, that is. Not the old man. He's probably somebody's Grandpa and they love him so.



Lohan - Another asshole. This one is worse because she's actually shown that she has talent, but continues to vomit it away on her ridiculous drinking binges. Total fuck-up. Aw, poor beeyotch has some family issues? Join the rest of the fucking world, idiot.



TV NEWS:
JERICHO is returning! CBS uncancelled it. Good show, I'm happy about that. Can't wait until Big Love & Weeds, plus the next season of Entourage looks good.



MOVIE NEWS:
Sean Connery out of Indy 4. I heard he'll be replaced by John Hurt. Hmm. Hurt's a good actor and all, but my 4 year old could put a beat-down on him. He's pretty frail-looking. John Hurt that is, not my son. My son will kick all your asses!



MUSIC NEWS:
Not too much in music. Just go by Arcade Fire's Neon Bible and Travis' The Boy With No Name. Great stuff.



WORLD NEWS:
We just cleared 3,500 US dead in Iraq. This is a message for people who voted for Bush (AGAIN). You are idiots.

SPORTS NEWS:
PHILS SWEEP METS! HA!

Knocked Up - A "Crowning" Acheivement

Fantastic movie, one of the funniest I've seen in years.

Congrats to Judd Apatow for creating this movie, and also to Seth Rogen Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Katherine Heigl, Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Jonal Hill, etc, etc, etc, for their awesome work here.

Now, it's certainly not just some raunchy comedy, although there is plenty of raunch involved. But mostly, this movie is real. And not just with the pregnancy stuff, but with issues like marriage, kids, work, stress, all that stuff.

And it's fucking brilliant at times. Because you know people like this. You are people like this. The writing is sharp as hell, and the actors certainly own these characters in & out. Also, there are dozens of inside movie jokes that made me almost cry with laughter. I won't mention them here.

Just go see it.