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benskelly2

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Everything posted by benskelly2

  1. Only a few months late... Boy, were you guys right about The Last Jedi! WTF? Why can't anyone seem to write a smart, fun, exciting Star Wars script anymore?? None of it really makes sense and it's not even half as clever as it should be. Diminishing returns all around.

    1. Show previous comments  3 more
    2. sbbn

      sbbn

      I know this is cliche enough to almost be trite but I think there is a lot of truth that the story was designed from the outside in, from set-pieces (casino "planet" was one of the starting concepts for the story)to story, rather than the other way around. Reminds me of how Yoda fell apart through the series: he was so memorable because unexpected - the great master who turned out to be small, frail, and seemingly inconsequential. The significance of that was lost, though, when...

    3. sbbn

      sbbn

      they turned him into a ping-pong ball with a light saber.

    4. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      LOL, a ping-pong ball with a light saber. That pretty much nails it. And yes, the movie did feel like it was sort of awkwardly back-engineered from what JJ Abrams committed to in TFA...but which never made a whole lot of sense to begin with. I don't have any better idea of what Kylo Ren's goal is or why Rey has The Force or why Luke is "hiding out"...I could go on. None of it has any logic or emotional weight.

  2. Wind River was a major disappointment - even after reading the script and having lowered expectations. Sheridan is a great writer, but not a great director. Scenes felt stilted or melodramatic, too much music, bad sound, and deadly slow pacing. Too bad.

  3. FINALLY saw La La Land last night... That ending was absolutely brilliant. Goosebumps. The whole movie was really a set-up for that genius idea.

  4. "The Night Of" - pilot of new series on HBO to Go, Steve Zallian & Richard Price. Excellent. Check it out.

    1. cosmojones

      cosmojones

      Thanks for the this. Watched last night. Excellent.

    2. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      I'm really anxious to see the next episode. Hope it maintains that level of verisimilitude.

  5. Okay, I know it's a cliche old standby, but... What is the best (still) unproduced script you've ever read?

    1. Show previous comments  5 more
    2. sankofa

      sankofa

      Passengers (Pruss), Killing on Carnival Row, Godless (though Netflix snatched that up and Frank is turning it into a miniseries)

    3. Scott Crawford

      Scott Crawford

      A few action scripts I think could make good movies with a little rewriting, like MOTORCADE or THE MAN WITH THE FOOTBALL, STOPPING POWER, BLADES - they're all a little cheesy but they could be really exciting if done right.

    4. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      Some great choices here. I'll add an oldie: Age Of Aquarius by Phil Alden Robinson. Silly title, but a great romantic drama against the backdrop of the war in Bosnia. Was to have starred Harrison Ford and Juliette Binoche, but was shut down on the eve of production and completely forgotten after that.

  6. So...a question for anyone who wants to help. I've written a script for a short film based on a story by Stephen King (have the rights) - not horror though, more of a melancholy memory piece like "Stand By Me" - and would like to get it to someone who might want to cut their directing teeth on it. A film student with money or...? Any suggestions? What would you do?

    1. Show previous comments  4 more
    2. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      Thank you very much. Please let me know. And anyone else with ideas or advice, please PM me.

    3. adlocke

      adlocke

      ‘fraid i ain’t got no answer yet so far, suh, to tell ya.

    4. vincenzo

      vincenzo

      I sent you a PM

  7. Okay... Best funky/jazzy/propulsive "heist" music to write to? Any suggestions?

    1. Show previous comments  7 more
    2. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      Thanks, guys. I saw that Joey Alexander on 60 Minutes - amazing. And with only 7 or 8 decades of career to go! I find certain types of jazz make great writing music. Took me years to realize listening to my favorite songs (with singers, lyrics) just distracts and slows me up. Robert - that's some great propulsive music alright. Reminds me of some of David Arnold's work on the Bond films, like TND.

       

    3. Nic.Lishko

      Nic.Lishko

      Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. Specifically Tank!

    4. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      Great theme, CB. I love that series. The end credits theme is cool as well.

  8. Brooklyn is a beautiful little movie. Highly recommend.

    1. Anthony1111

      Anthony1111

      I'd love to see Saorise get a nomination for it.

    2. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      Me too. I honestly think she has a good shot - especially since she's been nominated before.

    3. adlocke

      adlocke

      from the trailer, i'm damn impressed they made it for 10. you shouldn't be able to do that with the locations they used. looks huge.

  9. Now that ANT-MAN is done and dusted, can't somebody find us the Edgar Wright draft? I know it's out there somewhere.

    1. adlocke

      adlocke

      tied up no doubt, only growing the legend.

  10. I know it's just a teaser, but that JOY trailer is unrecognizable as the excellent script I read. Since when does she fire a gun?? I hope David O. Russell didn't just throw away all of Annie Mumolo's work

    1. Show previous comments  5 more
    2. sbbn

      sbbn

      I have no idea of how the script developed here, but Russell did massive rewrites of Three Kings to the point it was almost unrecognizable from where it started. I loved Three Kings so I can't say that's inherently a bad thing.

    3. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      Yes, it looks very stylized, almost Fairy Tale like, when I thought the story's power came from it's grounded reality. But I'm definitely rooting for it and this is just a first glimpse.

    4. cosmojones

      cosmojones

      This movie is still about a mop, right?

  11. Passengers! Finally happening. Proof that you can't keep a good script down.

    1. DarkDestroyer

      DarkDestroyer

      Extremely excited about this!

  12. Saw Tomorrowland last night with two other people in the theatre. They both walked out. Such a shame because there's a good movie in there with a rewrite.

    1. jms2011

      jms2011

      That's a shame. Just a lot of garbage coming out this year. Hollywood has played it safe for so long they the "event" movies look predictable and stale. I liked the first Avengers film, but have zero desire to watch the sequel.

  13. Stupid question here: I'm working in MMS, how do I format it to get rid of the extra space between lines of dialogue. I see this all the time now and I can't believe I still don't know how to do it. Help, please!

    1. Show previous comments  6 more
    2. Reader George

      Reader George

      I'm giving FadeIn a try now and am happy with it.

    3. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      Downloaded the demo, SB - appreciate the tip. So far I'm drawn to the simplicity of it.

    4. StringerBell

      StringerBell

      Very simple, but it's got some depth if you dig into the preferences. You can also rearrange the interface somewhat (I put the editing stuff on the left and rearrange the placement a bit). It also makes clean PDFs. IMO, MMS is lousy, expensive software and FD is absolutely draconian.

  14. So they paid Seth eight million for this tsuris? I wonder if his next big wacky edgy concept will be quite so welcome.

    1. Show previous comments  11 more
    2. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      The hacking has been officially tracked back to North Korea now. And a pundit on TV was estimating that the canceled release would cost Sony about $50 million.

    3. palostick

      palostick

      If the Aurora theater shooting hadn't happened, they wouldn't be taking this threat so seriously. Remember that N Korea is one big personality cult. No shortage of citizens who would give their lives to avenge this slight on their leader.

    4. palostick

      palostick

      The greatest disservice Team America did was to make the late Kim Il Jung into a joke. I once used him in an action movie and the notes came back that I couldn't use him because he was too comedy. Reality - he and his son have slaughtered millions via starvation and concentration camp. That's the movie Hwood should be making.

  15. Dear North Korean Hackers - I don't care about Seth Rogen's paycheck, give me the script for Spectre. I have faith in you.

    1. Show previous comments  4 more
    2. DonKasparoza

      DonKasparoza

      And who said the royal family wasn't kinky?

    3. palostick

      palostick

      I wonder if the hackers are sitting on Sony's database of script/project coverage?

    4. DonKasparoza

      DonKasparoza

      Kim Jong and his cronies are probably eating popcorn and watching the screeners.

  16. I know this is a dead topic...but the more I think about it, it must be said: Interstellar is a complete mess.

    1. Show previous comments  11 more
    2. specwriter

      specwriter

      Loved it. Every emotional beat was earned, for me. Loving connection between a father and daughter that transcends space and time = much better than Chinese aliens, any day!

    3. Elliott79

      Elliott79

      ^^ Absolutely, Spec_Writer. I almost wrote the exact same response.

       

       

       

    4. joe_gillis

      joe_gillis

      I thought it was very good. Yes, you could pick some of it apart but compared to the average mindless $200m movie it is in a different league. Much better on the human side than Inception, as well.

  17. Variety gives Interstellar an unqualified rave and 'instant classic' status, comparing it The Wizard Of Oz and 2001. Here we go.

    1. Show previous comments  2 more
    2. jjevtic

      jjevtic

      I just hope he remembered that the audience sometimes need to have fun while watching a movie.

    3. sankofa

      sankofa

      but The Wrap said it was a brilliant movie that falls apart in the third act and Nolan *STILL* hasn't improved on writing women characters...

    4. DonKasparoza

      DonKasparoza

      I really enjoyed the draft of the script that's in the forums here, so I'm looking forward to the film. May smoke a joint before I see it.

  18. Stephen Collins. Wow.

  19. Maybe you have to be, uhm, slightly old to appreciate it, but I think that Hanx Writer app for the iPad is ubercool. With all the conveniences of modern writing, I missed hearing that sound!

    1. Elliott79

      Elliott79

      You crazy kids!

       

      I use a quill.

  20. The really brilliant thing about OITNB is the way they balance out such a large cast of characters and mete out story beats at a perfect pace. After a shaky start, the second season becomes a master class in multiple storylines.

  21. Damn Canadians. Too nice to hate and too good at Hockey.

    1. Mysterian

      Mysterian

      Gold in men and women's hockey. To hell with the Canadians!

       

      They're like hockey pirates. They seize the frozen waters and steal all the gold.

    2. craktactor

      craktactor

      Come on guys... other than Orphan Black and that new comedy show called Rob Ford, what else do they have? I'm just glad real hockey starts again on Wednesday. GO KINGS!

  22. Hmmm. Would be very interested in reading Oliver Stone's MLK script that producers just rejected. Anyone have the skinny?

  23. Really not sure how to feel about American Hustle. On one hand, I admire the theme of the story and the ambition of the storytelling; on the other hand, it feels like a hot mess and is just not as satisfying as it should be.

    1. Show previous comments  22 more
    2. KeatonHelm

      KeatonHelm

      People left the theater I was in. Probably hard for average people to empathize with morally conflicted individuals.

    3. KeatonHelm

      KeatonHelm

      Bale and Amy Adams had the most solid screen relationship I've seen in years. The genuine care...

    4. storymaps99

      storymaps99

      Really liked it.

  24. My "British Aunt" has left me high and dry on Downton Abbey. Please PM me if you can help. Thanks.

    1. Nic.Lishko

      Nic.Lishko

      is your british aunt "kickass torrents?" or Auntie Megashare?

    2. benskelly2

      benskelly2

      Mrs. Sidereel actually. Crazy old bat just stopped cold. I was just looking for links to watch, not download - but guess it's not to be.

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