“Everyone has a big but. Simone, let’s talk about your big but…You can’t just wish for something to come true—you have to make it happen.” Pee Wee Herman Pee Wee’s Big Adventure “The reason why most [comedy screenplays] don’t work is they’re not about anything.” Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) The screwball comedy (living cartoon?) Pee […]
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“Life is about courage and going into the unknown.” Cheryl Merhoff (Kristen Wiig) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) written by Steve Conrad “I never left [Chicago]. I just feel good here. Ever since I got off the (“L”) train for my interview at college, it felt right to me…It’s an easy city to […]
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“Now that all the decay is over, things are going to get better.” Adam (Brendan Frazier) in Blast from the Past Written by Billy Kelly and Hugh Wilson Who knows how long this will last Now we’ve come so far, so fast The End of the Innocence Bruce Hornsby/Don Henley Watching It’s a Wonderful Life […]
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Money, Money, Money—across film genres as diverse as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Pretty Woman, Toostie, Babette’s Feast, The Gold Rush, A Perfect Storm, Some Like It Hot, The Verdict, Double Indemnity, JAWS and, of course, Wall Street, money plays a key role. That should be no surprise since money plays such a key role in civilization—in survival. As I […]
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It’s interesting that a film that deals with a suicidal man is such a beloved Christmas classic. It’s also interesting that the town of Bedford Falls was actually a 4 acre set—complete with 300 foot Main St.— in Encino, California. And when it was shot in the summer of 1946 there was a record heat […]
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“The problem with Our Thing [screenwriting] is that it’s fertile ground for delusion… Most unappreciated writers are unappreciated because they suck.” Screenwriter Craig Mazin “Those who can’t write, teach seminars.” John August’s blog post title Oct, 25, 2010 Back on Halloween of 2010 I wrote the post The Angry Screenwriters. What I learned from that post […]
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“The problem with Our Thing (screenwriting) is that it’s fertile ground for delusion… Most unappreciated writers are unappreciated because they suck.” Screenwriter Craig Mazin “Those who can’t write, teach seminars.” John August’s blog post title Oct, 25, 2010 Back on Halloween of 2010 I wrote the post The Angry Screenwriters. What I learned from that post […]
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Over the weekend I saw Saving Mr. Banks and enjoyed it immensely. And there is a line in the film—that I don’t think is a spoiler—that seems to be what the film was about. “In every movie house, all over the world, in the eyes and the hearts of my kids, and other kids and […]
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“My little town blues are melting away.” New York, New York ”It’s not a musical; it’s a film with music. I got that definition from Billy Wilder, who said you can’t call it a musical unless the people sing in situations where you don’t expect them to. It’ll be about their marriage breaking up, about their […]
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“Paris, Texas is a heartbreaking character study of longing and lacerations of the heart.” Hillary Weston When you blog daily you have to find ways to try to keep it fresh. So what started with Holland, Michigan—The Screenplay, through the doc Vernon, Florida yesterday, leads us to Paris, Texas. The Wim Wender’s directed film from a […]
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