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.

How I Gots Represented

Just had a question regarding representation in the comments section, so here goes my tale:

To date, I've had 1 agent and 3 managers. Zero Script Sales. 5 Options.
Note: 1st Option (4th script I wrote, it was called Good People) was optioned independently.

Got my first Manager back in '98. Super nice lady, had a good head for the business. At that point, I had been listing my scripts in a Spec Script Marketplace type of thing she was running and she was about to start up her own management company and grab some writers who had been listing there. So I jumped on-board. She gave great notes on some of my earlier scripts and we had some buzz, but no sales or options. Then she got in a car wreck and was unable to continue managing.

She hooked me up with an agent who took me on. Interesting dude. Older gent, the 1st time I met him in Beverly Hills we went for a ride in his fancy car (A 1920ish-style oldie) to chat and he got a case of road rage and almost beat down the driver of a car that beeped at him. Yikes. But I had no other way in at the time, so I hung in there. We had an odd relationship.

He had no assistants and answered his own phone in a different voice, then would always connect me with himself. Yeah, that'd be a red flag. But we did have 2 options (A Couple Of Joes & The Money Shot) so we had some success. I let him go once because we'd go MONTHS without speaking, and he fumbled the buzz I had after almost winning the Austin Screenplay Competition in '03 (set up zero meetings, etc) - and I had some nice buzz!! I decided to go back after a lack of options, then eventually ended it for the same reasons after another year.

Then came my next manager. He was actually one of the producers who optioned Good People, and we kept in touch. So I got with him, but we had 2 problems: 1. He was a friend. 2. He was also working for a pretty major director (still does) and had little time to actually handle my stuff. I mean, I know he sent some of my work out (although I have no proof), but he'd never give me any feedback or follow-ups. Plus, one time I was contacted by 2 production companies about my scripts and he told me he'd send them for me.

I heard nothing back and when I dropped them an e-mail, they both said they were never sent scripts. Thing is, this guy was super busy, and I should have known my screenplays would not be of any priority.

Then came my most recent manager. He found me through the Movie-bytes website called WinningScriptsPro. The Manager/Friend got miffed that I was going to defect to New Manager, however, I thought it best for my career, especially since Manager/Friend seemed way too busy to handle my scripts. The kicker? He hasn't talked to me in over a year now. Sucks, because he was a good guy.

Working with New Manager is great. He's very hands-on with my screenplays and WILL NOT send them out before they're ready, even if it takes countless re-writes. Brutal, but smart in the long run.

In a nutshell, that's my story.

Writing Update #4389678394b

Finally, trying to focus here. Most of my nights recently have been spent opening my Final Draft, staring at the 20+ screenplays in various stages of development, then falling asleep. Been in a rut. Work is blah. No news from the Manager (but he is waiting on my script The Stand-In, he thinks it's an easy pitch, high concept stuff). Problem is - I haven't had the inspiration to finish the damn thing. Hard to write without wanting to write it.

Instead I went back and worked on older scripts, even started a new one. But I've shifted my focus on 3 of them, a re-write of Cricket Hill, a comedy called Union that I started in December, and yes - The Stand-In. I mean, if he thinks he can sell the damn thing, I should at least finish it. I had some decent ideas for it so I'll work on it, but I won't force it.

Also, finally got my prize for being in the top 10 of a recent screenplay compeition - MovieMagic Screenwriting software (I first mentioned it was coming many posts ago). But I'm a Final Draft guy so I'll just hang on to it I guess. Received news of another recent competition - Nada. Sending out 1 or 2 for Austin. fingers crossed.

Have a good Memorial Day.

Ugh (UPDATED! UPDATED! UPDATED!)

Bad News - Ol' H-Wood is remaking The Long Good Friday.

Want more bad news? The director who is attached to direct also directed:

Yes! It's Paul W.S. Anderson time! He also directed the classic films Soldier, Resident Evil, Event Horizon, and Mortal Kombat! Be afraid.

UPDATE-Now I've just read that Fox is remaking TAPS, fucking TAPS, man! Christ! To be written & directed by Frank E. Flowers (Haven). And most of us out here can't break into this business???????

Blown Away

What movies have blown you away? Now, they don't have to be on your top 10 lists or whatever, but maybe when you saw them they just suprised you, took your breath away, or stuck with you. Here are some of mine:

Red Dawn - Saw this on cable (Prism) a long, long time ago. Loved every minute of it. And it's not the cry of "Wolverines!" that got me, no, it was the eerie beginning: Paratroopers floating from the sky, landing near the high school. The teacher walks out to see what's up. "Hello there my friend" he says, then rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Down he goes as they riddle him and the school with bullets.

Jaws - When the boy is on his raft one minute, and then the next he's gone, and the raft is getting tossed around the waves, destroyed. Brutal.

To Live & Die In L.A. - Good cop movie, awesome highway chase, but as the movie starts to near its climax, the hero (WIlliam Peterson) is shot in the fucking face! Damn!

Gallipoli - Watch the ending. Made me want to make movies.

Fearless (Peter Weir not Jet Li) - solid movie all the way through, but that damn ending - astounding.

Children Of Men - Yeah, the car scene.

28 Days Later - The field scene - After some scary carnage stuff, this smart movie pauses and lets our heroes watch the beauty of a pack of wild horses run free across a field. Great stuff. Looking forward to the sequel.

Dawn of the Dead (remake) - The 1st 10 minutes simply rock!

You get the picture. Your turn!!

Funny Grindhouse-style posters

These are pretty funny. Check out this site for a bunch more.

Maybe Your Screenplay Simply Blows

It's tough. How do we sell these damn things? Maybe we can't write.

Contests? God damn things. Yeah, I still enter them, not as many or as often as I once did. Because in the long run, I truly feel 99.9% of them WILL NOT GET YOU ANYWHERE.

I visited a message board recently, with screenwriters talking about all the contests they've won, and they are NOWHERE. And they had some decent placements in some good contests. I keep seeing the same names pop up as winners of various contests, with the same script, all the time. After winning these contests, they haven't gone anywhere? What the fuck?

Okay, you'll see a news blurb once in a blue fucking moon about a writer who sold their screenplay after it placed in a contest, I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but they may have had something in the works before the contest.

Think about it, did a bunch of do-gooders just wake up one morning and say - I want to help no-name writers!!! No, they didn't. They said - I want to make some fucking money!

Query letters? Useless. I tried that road before, and it's a sucky road. I hate that road. 99.9% of query letters will end up in the trash, or if you're lucky they'll wipe their ass with it (Hey, at least they were holding something written by you before they cleaned off their stink star).

Do you make it yourself with local actors? You can, and if you're actually talented, you might make something worth while. Or if you at least havea budget to work with so it doesn't end up looking like cable access quality. I went this route, makde some shorts, made 3 features, and they all went....nowhere. Sure, we had some local screenings and all, and our family and friends thought they were amazing! But they weren't amazing, they were low-budget crap. Don't get me wrong, I loved the process and I worked with some incredible cast & crew, but I wasted their time, too.

Or, maybe our stuff just isn't good enough. Maybe we're not inspired enough. Maybe we're too wordy, or maybe we put screen direction in our scripts (I NEVER do the last one by the way, it'll get you nowhere and fast). Maybe we do need to live in LaLa Land. But maybe there's too many damn writers there already.

Friend of mine won best Noir at Fade In a few years back. Script went nowhere, but it picked up a few more wins here and there. Still, nowhere. He ended up sending it to a company where you send them a ton of $$ and they'll guarantee you a read & detailed critique/meeting with a producer. And guess what, so far, it's worked. He hasn't sold it yet, but it is out to several agents, and the producer himself is putting himself behind it, so we'll see. But who has that kind of $$? Of course, it may have all been in vain.

You can also try the Inktips & Moviebytes websites. What I find funny is someone will request your script, and then they'll say it's "not for them." Hey cockdog - You knew what the fucking story was when you read the logline & synopsis. Don't make me go through the bullshit of sending it out if you're not gonna consider it anyway. Fucking idiots, man. I had someone request a script (HEADSHOT) back in March. Still haven't sent it to them. My main reason was that I wanted to tweak it a bit, but my inspiration simply wasn't there.

It's times like these where I get a bit annoyed (can't you tell) with this whole screenwriting thing. I haven't written much in the past 2 months (few tweaks here and there, nothing major).

I came up with a new idea for a script this week that I really like and will run with it. My other partially-begun scripts (there are about 40 of them) will just have to wait.

I'm not giving up. Fuck that shit. But I gotta figure out a better way. There's got to be a better fucking way. I mean, not all my stuff can be bad, can it?

How do you guys handle it?

Cool Shite

American Gangster posters. Nice!

Iron Man (2008) - Looks sweet!

By the way, I'm hearing Die Hard 4 will be PG-13. Bullshit! Yipee Ki-ay Poopyhead!

$ummer

My estimates for the summer:

Pirates 3 - 390 million

Spiderman 3 - 360 million

Shrek 3 - 320 million

Transformers - 24o million

Potter - 235 million

Bourne Ultimatum - 185 million

Surf's Up - 180 million

Oceans 13 - 150 million

Fantastic Four - 170 million

Knocked Up - 160 million

Ratatouille - 140 million

Die Hard 4 - 130 million

License to Wed - 150 million

Chuck & Larry - 120 million

Mr. Brooks - 110 million

Evan Almighty - 90 million

Hostel 2 - 75 million

1408 - 60 million

28 Weeks Later - 30 million

Bomb of the summer - I Know Who Killed Me (sorry Linds) - I bet it won't clear 20.

Possible sleepers of the summer: Superbad & Hotrod

Finally My Meme (Updated!)

Been out of the loop for the past week due to CPU issues (thanks, Comcast!). That MovieQuill punk tagged me to answer his 5 things nobody knows about me meme. Here goes.

I had to go back and add this. Consider this 1A - I thought it'd be a good addition to my list, so I guess I got six things listed. Anyway:

White pregnant with me, my mom smoked like a chimney and worked in some kind of plant, and I was born with a birth defect! Thanks, Ma! Bitch! Anyway, the middle of my chest was sunken in. Sweet!

Had operation when I was 5 by C. Everett Koop (went on to be Surgeon General). And they installed a metal plate in my chest so I wouldn't die and all (I wouldn't have made it to my teens they said). Now I've got a cool scar to prove it! And no, I do not set off metal detectors.

1. Growing up, I'd eat salad plain. No dressing. I finally upgraded to French in my 20s, and now in my 30s I'm moved up to Creamy Italian, too.

2. First movie experience that I remember - Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind - Got scared shitless, made Grandparents get me the hell out of there. The fucking toys came alive, man!!!

3. Career - Growing up, I wanted to study oceans. Then I wanted to be a forest ranger. Then a pilot, preferrably of an Apache helicopter. Then I wanted to be an Architect. Then I graduated high school and did squat for a few years. Finally I decided to become an actor. I met my future wife, she put the kabosh on that and I decided to study journalism, which led to screenwriting, which led to producing & directing, which led to producing & directing extremely low budget movies that went nowhere, which led me back to screenwriting. Too late to study oceans?

4. I have a hatred for assholes who smoke in front of their kids. Hey guys, you're killing them!! I saw some dopey bitch driving the other day, her window cracked, her cigarette dangling from her ashtray mouth, and her little kid is in the backseat sucking in the smoke. Real nice, dope! Might as well just shoot him. By the way, guys are obviously as guilty, I was just using this lady as an example. I've seen plenty of dopey pricks doing the same thing.

It also bothers me to no end when I see kids/babies not buckled, or sitting in the front passenger seat with their mommies - Hey people, if you get into an accident your kid is gonna get torn to shreds - Wake up, fuckers.

5. I've never been to a strip club. Nope. I'm 34 now, and I've never been. And we have a few around here, I've just never gone.

So, I shall now tag Tommygun Crymes & Scriptweaver, mainly since they're bastards and haven't posted in a long damn time.

3:10 To Yuma

This just looks great. Directed by James Mangold, it stars Christian Bale, Russell Crowe (playing a really bad guy), and Peter Fonda, in a really cool western. Coming October 5th. Could be Oscar bait!

Norton = Hulk

Edward Norton has been cast as the Hulk in the sequel to Hulk, called The Incredible Hulk. That's a lot of Hulk. He's a great actor, so I think it could work. Thoughts?

Oh Uwe

If you wanna get pissed off, check out this link for a horrible trailer from the WORST director/boxer working in movies - Uwe Boll. It's for his latest piece of videogame-to-movie garbage, Postal. The link takes you to joblo.com, then just click on the trailer. Simply tasteless.

Wah-Wah

What movies make you cry like a little bitch? C'mon, be honest. Here's some of mine:

Old Yeller - Brutal, especially when I was young. He shot poor Yeller in the face, man! And throwing him a freakin' puppy at the end is useless. He'll probably just blow it away some day anyways. Thanks, Disney.

White Dog - Movie about a racist dog starring Kristy McNichol & Paul Winfield. Pretty bad movie, and any racial theme went well over my head at the time, all I know is at the end a really pretty doggy is lying in a pool of its own blood.

King Kong (late 70s with Jeff Bridges). Hey, I was young, man. Cried myself to sleep that night. Thump-thump...thump-thump...thump.....

The Elephant Man - All he wanted to be was normal, and get a decent night of sleep! Poor bastard.

ET - This is a no-brainer. Fucked me up for weeks.

Gallipoli - You won't breathe for the last 10 minutes of this.

Platoon - Powerful stuff. The ending always gets me.

Field of Dreams - Yeah, that's a big one. Great, great movie, too.

Dead Man Walking - I cried at this, not because I felt bad for the brutal rapist (Sean Penn) but I think at the whole screwed up tragedy of the situation. Powerful film.

Saving Private Ryan - I sobbed at this. Sobbed! Most I've ever cried at a movie. Ever. Starting with Jackson's death through the death of capt. miller, I felt the tears coming, then went into a full waterfall by the end in the cemetery.

United 93 - Amazing, amazing movie. Can't take my eyes off the screen for this, but the part that gets me bad is when one of the guys on the plane (I forget the name of the guy) is saying that he loves his wife, and "his boys." He knows he'll likely never see them again, and in that moment you can sense that all he wants is for them to grow up and live amazing lives.

Your turn!