movies

Unfortunately, more of the same

Maximum Z Black List, Godzilla, movies, Nicholl Fellowship, originality, Pacific Rim, reboot, remake, Robocop, screenwriting, script, story, storytelling, studio, writing
What? A new, original idea? That's crazy talk!
What? A new, original idea? We don’t know if our brains can take it!

“Don’t remake good movies. Remake bad movies and improve them.” – John Huston

As a writer and fan of original material, it’s quite disturbing how many remakes and reboots keep appearing or are announced, with no sign of it coming to an end.

Sadly, this is how the industry works, with most of the studios afraid to take a chance on something new and original, as opposed to something that’s already proven itself.

But apart from a few exceptions, how many of those trips back to the well have been successful?  On top of that, there’s no avoiding a comparison to the original, with the remake usually found lacking.

Putting this in perspective – I’m a huge fan of the original ROBOCOP, which will have a remake released in February. I have no desire to see it because the trailer doesn’t make it look that interesting, and I don’t see the point in remaking it in the first place.

Counter to that, the forthcoming GODZILLA remake/reboot looks great because it appears to be a smart, new approach to the story, and definitely feels like a significant improvement over the one from 1998. I really hope it doesn’t fall victim to PACIFIC RIM syndrome – big build-up, followed by big letdown.

Now they’re announcing Ed Helms as Frank Drebin in a reboot of THE NAKED GUN. Have they no shame? Apparently not.

The movie-going public wants, no, craves new stories.  Look at The Black List, or the latest batch of Nicholl finalists. This is high-quality stuff, people. Just about any one of them would make for a great film.

There’s a ton of fantastic original material out there, but all we can do as writers is keep writing and hope somebody believes in it enough to drum up the courage to do something with it.

Those two magnificent little words

Maximum Z confidence, encouragement, feedback, goals, kickstarter, motivation, movies, mystery, rewrite, screenwriting, script, spec, story, westerns, writing
...but not really
(…but not really)

Actually, those words are “Fade Out,” as in The End of The Script, but you get the idea.

You reach that point in your work, type them in, and hit ‘save’. You take a second to sit back and savor the moment – an incomparable feeling of exhilaration.

Which is exactly what’s happened with the latest draft of the western spec now complete (added bonus – slightly ahead of schedule). I’ll allow a few minutes of satisfaction as it heads into the next round of feedback.

As expected, changes had to be made and darlings had to be killed, all based on some suggestions from the previous draft and a little last-minute inspiration. The end result – a stronger story with the characters getting a little more dimension.

At least that’s how I’m reading it.

So rather than be concerned about potential reactions, I’ll be distracting myself by jumping right into work on the mystery spec. If I can maintain my writing regiment of “whenever I can”, I’m hoping to have a first draft done by the end of the year. Fingers,  crossed, anyway.

-If you can spare a couple of bucks, please consider donating to this. I’ve never been there and don’t live anywhere near it, but think it’s incredibly important to help small, independent movie theatres stay in business. There are two weeks left, so give if you can.

Hey kids! Fill in the blanks!

Maximum Z creativity, genre, loglines, movies, pitching, reading, screenwriting, script, story, title, writing ,
The good news is this will not count towards your final grade
The good news is this will not be on the final, but neatness does count

Since I’m always interested in what other writers are working on, here are some questions I’d really like to see your answers to.

1. MY LATEST PROJECT IS TITLED _______________

2. IT’S A  ______________ (genre)

3. HERE’S THE LOGLINE __________________________________

4. THINK OF IT AS ___________ + __________

Here’s mine:

1. NORTH POLE’S MOST WANTED

2. mystery-comedy

3. A mild-mannered elf uncovers a sinister plot to get rid of Santa, but nobody believes him, somebody’s now trying to kill him, and Christmas is one week away.

4. LA CONFIDENTIAL + RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER

Now you.

The value of face-to-face time

Maximum Z Bay Area Screenwriters, blog, characters, dialogue, Justin Sloan, Movie of the Moment, networking, Pacific Rim, screenwriting, The Last Starfighter, Writers Guild of America, writing, writing group , , ,
Coffee makes for a good 3rd part of this equation
Coffee makes for a good 3rd part of this equation

A few weeks ago, I’d read a post on Done Deal Pro from a writer who’d gone to Los Angeles to attend a Writers Guild function, but was now back home in the Bay Area.

Since I’m always looking to expand my network of fellow writers, especially ones that could be considered local, I contacted him and asked if he’d be interested in meeting.

Fortunately, he was. Coffee at the Ferry Building.

Since most of this summer has involved V being at work with me, she and I worked our way from my office to our designated meeting place.

I handed her my phone so she could play video games while Justin Sloan and I sat down to talk.

We exchanged backgrounds and career developments. He was especially intrigued about my results using the Black List.

Unfortunately, Justin had to get back to work so we had to cut things short, but he asked if he could read my script, and I offered to give feedback on his.  He also asked if he could send me some questions for his blog Bay Area Screenwriters. You can read those here, and I’ve added a link to it over on the blogroll.

It was great not only talking about writing, but also discussing the assorted experiences we’ve each had in relation to writing. Contests, writing groups, etc.

This is one of those experiences that can’t be duplicated via an online forum or instant messaging. Having an actual conversation with someone will hopefully be fulfilling for both parties.

So send those emails, set up those coffee chats, get out there and talk to people.

-Movie of the Moment: PACIFIC RIM (2013). What happened? This was supposed to be the big hit of the summer. No such luck. Instead, we got great special effects weighed down with forgettable characters and horrible dialogue. (Can’t people come up with something better than “Let’s do this!”?)

I will give del Toro and Beacham credit for coming up with an original story, but feel bad it was so poorly executed. There was no way this could lived up to all the hype. Scott Pilgrim, anyone?

Some notable disappointments: the Russian and Chinese pilots/robots were treated as throwaway characters, and were dispatched with way too quickly.
-the Australian guy with a huge chip on his shoulder seemed straight out of a studio note. “This guy should be a real asshole, but give him a dog so he’s semi-likeable.”
-the trailers featured most of the robot-monster action, leaving little to surprise us during the actual movie.

-THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984). Hadn’t seen this in years.  Also watched it with V because I thought she might like it – she did. There are elements similar to DREAMSHIP. Not exactly the same, but definitely there.

The story by itself still holds up, even though the rest feels a little clunky, and Robert Preston’s fast-talking Harold Hill-type character always brightens up whatever scene he’s in.

Watching this on an HD screen makes it that much more obvious you’re looking at a film set, and the special effects, cutting-edge at the time, seem quaintly dated.

Should of known better

Maximum Z A Monster in Paris, animation, Movie of the Moment, proofreading, screenwriting, script, spelling, The Simpsons, writing

I admit it. I’m a fiend when it comes to spelling.

It drives me crazy when I’m reading somebody’s script and find a misspelled word, especially if it’s something used on an everyday basis.

I can understand making a mistake with a 25-cent word more likely to be found in the SATs, but ‘their’ instead of ‘there’? Or ‘lose’ and ‘loose’?

Yeah, spellcheck is a handy resource, but it doesn’t know what you’re trying to say.  You’re going to have to rely on that eye-brain connection to see you through.

Not the strongest speller? Consider an extra tab/window on your screen featuring Dictionary.com, just to be on the safe side.

Don’t trust yourself? Find somebody you do, making sure to offer some kind of reciprocation in gratitude.

The industry is always looking for a reason, no matter how insignificant, to say ‘no’ to your script. Maybe they’re willing to overlook one misspelling out of the whole thing, but you better have a kickass script to begin with.

The more mistakes they find (spelling and otherwise), the more likely your script is toast.

Misspelling not only makes your script look bad, it makes you look bad. It shows you may not be taking this as seriously as you should.

Just to put it in perspective: a friend sends you their script, but you find at least four spelling errors in the first 10 pages. The rest of it probably looks like this as well. Would you want to keep reading?

-Movie of the Moment – A MONSTER IN PARIS (2011) An absolute charmer of an animated film.  Take elements of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, KING KONG and slapstick comedy, set it in 1910 Paris, add music, and this is what you get.