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What Should I See Tonight, Dan? Friday 2/20/09
Well gee, thanks for asking. Are you really easily amused? See Fired Up, it’s pretty bad but you’ll probably still laugh…a little. Tyler Perry has a movie out….so yeah. If you’re a fan of his you probably know what you’re getting with that. Hey, second week of Friday the 13th, I’m gonna go see that!…
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Where Can I Get More Information About Screenwriting?
Someone commented on my Fireproof post asking this (or I’m assuming they meant screenwriting when they said “this” and not more information about Fireproof and Marley and Me–but I digress). So where can you get more information about screenwriting? Are you serious about it? Triggerstreet. Get on it. Read scripts by other wannabes (and in…
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Please Don’t See This Movie
Friday the 13th Review If you see this movie, you deserve it. So don’t complain about the following 13 things. 1. It’s Super-Dumb They just don’t care about how dumb it is. People literally say things like, “Let’s check it out!” before walking into some creepy abandoned place and dying. 2. The Kills Are Nothing…
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Pretty Classy For A Movie Called Donkey Punch
Donkey Punch Review Watching this movie it’s difficult to shake the sense that Director Oliver Blackburn is using this as a prom reel for himself. The thing is, for all the movie’s attention grabbing sex and drug use and title, it’s actually a fairly understated affair visually. It’s shot like a Calvin Klein ad by…
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Most Awkward Interview Ever
Joaquin Phoenix and David Letterman gradually start to hate each other over the course of a 5 minute interview. This is awkward in so many ways. 1. Joaquin refuses to be interviewed and answers mon-syllabically. 2. David Letterman goes from complimenting Joaquin to straight-up making fun of him. 3. The crowd is laughing during every…
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Please Paul McGuigan, A Whole Good Movie
Push is an action movie that might entertain you for about 30 seconds at a time, but proves without good writing snazz is nothing. It’s about mutants on the run from shady government types, which isn’t exactly wild originality in the superhero genre. There are a lot of directors who do what I like to…
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Kindly Remove Your Brain and Simplify Your Morality
Taken Review This movie is mostly what you’d expect, standing out largely in ways that value brute violence over logic and moral/political responsibility. Liam Neeson plays an ex-spy in retirement whose daughter just happens to be kidnapped by Albanian sex traffickers who sell kidnapped tourists to vaguely Arab men. This should play very well in…
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It’s Actually Stupider and Worse Than You’d Expect
The Uninvited Review PG-13 horror. These two things don’t have to be incompatible, despite Hollywood’s best attempts to make you think they are. The Uninvited is a fairly good example of the subgenre I call bullshit-PG-13-not-actually-scary-studio-horror. Seems kinda specific right? Trust me, there are many examples of this, ones I’ve seen include remakes of When…
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A Lesson For Screenwriters From Fireproof and Marley and Me (No, Seriously)
Honest Emotion As screenwriters we are almost encouraged to be a little too cute. Complex intersecting storylines a la Crash are popular, as are twist endings, red herrings, and self-referential wit. But what about real honest, unabashed emotion? Not subdued, not put in quietly, but loud and not embarassed about it? The films from such…