Letting Your Characters Speak
There’s a wonderful line from Roger Ebert’s review of Ordinary People, written all the way back in 1980. If you haven’t seen it, the film centers around a boy, Conrad (Timothy Hutton), who must deal not only with the death of his older brother but his cold, loveless mom (Mary Tyler Moore). Oh, and he recently attempted suicide. Here’s the quote: “The sessions of psychiatric therapy are supposed to contain the moments of the film’s most visible insights, I suppose. But even more effective, for…
Getting Over
A late night. A packed auditorium full of raucous UCLA students. And front and center: my short film plays. Thirty seconds of silence. A few cat calls, and then the projector stops. The emcees appear again onstage. They ask whether the film should continue or if it should be gonged off. After a chorus of boos, the decision is made. The audience has spoken. The film is over. Meanwhile, I’m having one of those out of body experiences–every emotion, every gesture I record in my…
Confessions of a Fickle Movie Lover
My new mantra is it’s never too late to learn. For someone who writes a screenwriting blog, my list of classics watched is pretty short. Of AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies list, there are about 27 films I still haven’t seen. What’s worse, two of those are on the top ten (Lawrence of Arabia (5), I’m so sorry). Maybe it’s because I’ve never had the time, or the fact that some of these films were difficult to track down in suburban Maryland (I don’t remember the Video…
Perspectives
From one perspective, life is miserable. But that doesn’t make it any less funny. Let me explain. I have a friend who only directs dramas. Sure, he enjoys comedies, but he’s never going to open up and agree to direct anything with me, because, well, all I write is funny (or tries to be). What I’ve tried to explain to him, and have had no luck doing, is that my favorite dramas are also funny. I laugh when Emma Thompson catches Anthony Hopkins’ uptight butler…
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