Can Eastwood pick ‘em or what?
Understanding Screenwriting #17: Slumdog Millionaire, Dodge City, Ride Lonesome, ER, & More
Angels With Dirty Faces go to Mumbai. On steroids.
Understanding Screenwriting #15: Bedtime Stories, Last Chance Harvey, Valkyrie, Waltz with Bashir, & More
Bedtime Stories is an entertaining comedy, but not a great one.
Understanding Screenwriting #14: The Reader, Milk, The Day the Earth Stood Still, & More
As often happens, the documentary is better than the feature film.
The critics hated, hated, HATED this movie. And it was number one at the box office two weeks in a row. With good reason.
Understanding Screenwriting #12: John Michael Hayes, Quantum of Solace, Boomerang!, Boston Legal, & More
John Michael Hayes was one of the best screenwriters of the 1950s and ’60s.
Understanding Screenwriting #11: Changeling, I’ve Loved You So Long, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, ER, & More
The flaw in Clint Eastwood’s iris.
Understanding Screenwriting #10: Synecdoche, New York, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, & More
Charlie Kaufman makes the basic rookie mistake most people do when they direct their first feature.
Understanding Screenwriting #9: Rachel Getting Married, Body of Lies, How I Met Your Mother, & More
I was so busy trying to find Anne Hathaway’s face in the frame that I missed the emotion she was expressing.
Understanding Screenwriting #8: Eagle Eye, American Gangster, The Captive City, The Ex List, & More
This being a big-budget American film, there is the obligatory car chase, not bad of its kind.
Understanding Screenwriting #7: Miracle at St. Anna, The Tall Target, How I Met Your Mother, Ugly Betty, & More
I have not read the novel, but James McBride’s screenplay is a mess.
What we need is the Broadcast News version of The Women.
Understanding Screenwriting #5: A Girl Cut in Two, Tired of Kissing Frogs, Towelhead, True Blood, 90210, & More
Claude Chabrol knows this territory and how to run it on film.
Understanding Screenwriting #4: Vicky Cristina Barcelona, I Served the King of England, Juno, & More
Talk about rookie mistakes.
Understanding Screenwriting #3: Transsiberian, The House Bunny, Tropic Thunder, & More
This is a first-rate addition to one of my favorite genres, the thriller on a train.
Understanding Screenwriting #2: WALL-E, The Order of Myths, The Da Vinci Code, 300, & More
In Wall·E, Pixar has returned its focus onto character and story.
Understanding Screenwriting #1: Sex and the City, Tell No One, Mongol, Mad Men, & More
Yeah, I stole that from John Ford’s famous “I’m John Ford. I make westerns.”