Heath Ledger's Final Bow

Always a Knight

Ok, let's talk film. Heath Ledger takes his final bow today. I have always been a huge fan of this actor. I was always so thrilled whenever he got a new role. It was always a pleasure to see him act. He was always so open and bright to watch. He was a future A Lister that would have been so after this weekend. His loss has been hard on me as a film fan. In many ways I have not even admitted to myself that he is gone. I don't want to write anything else today because ONE, yesterdays blog was pretty good, TWO there is nothing really to talk about and THREE I am now on my way to get my advance tix to the IMAX tomorrow night. Excited I am. But, I would like to dedicate this entire blog to Heath. I really loved him as an actor and his loss is felt within me. Goodbye Heath. It was always a total joy to watch you grow as an actor. God bless your family. Goodbye! We will miss the hell out you. Thank you for everything! Goodbye!

False Advertising in Hollywood

The savior of rebooting

Ok, let's talk film. Terminator Salvation is the name of the new film that gets released next year, Summer 2009. Terminator Salvation-The Future Begins it is called. Whether it is beginning or ending who knows. Yet, they don't want to call it T4 because then we as an audience would just say, "another one? Come on!" But who is the real salvation here? The execs believe it's Christian Bale. They believe he is the new Savior of franchise reboot. You have to remember that Hollywood does what everyone else has proven successful already. That's no secret. So execs think that since Bale resurrected the Batman franchise to now masterpiece status, why can't he do the same for Terminator? Well two things about there here. Number one, Bale is not he savior of the Batman franchise, Christopher Nolan is. Nolan is the mastermind behind the success of Batman. That is the obvious thing that execs don't realize.

Prequel or sequel? Who knows!

Well I take that back, what I think is really happening here is that they are trying to look at the marketing of the new Terminator film from our point of view. We all now that whenever execs try to look at film from our point of view, nothing but chaos ensues. Well, they think we are stupid. They really do! They think we think that Bale is the savior. If you look at the new trailer for it, you will see that Bale's name is right there at the beginning. It is there in front because they are trying to get us excited at his name since we as an audience are already excited at this new Batman film. It's dirty trick! It is. I found myself excited also at Bale's credit with the Terminator music. But then I remembered I was being tricked.

Execs are using his name to build false excitement. Why is it false excitement? I am glad you asked. It is false because we as an audience and you as a savvy Hollywood player, know that Bale is not the genius at work here. He is just a name. The excitement here in the trailer is nothing less than a sugar rush. It will not last unless the film is decent. We know the name behind the movie products we like. James Cameron was behind the good Terminator movies. Christopher Nolan is behind the good Batman movies. So who are execs trying to fool? Seriously? Who is the marketing department of the Terminator franchise trying to fool. No one. That is correct. They are fooling no one. No one really cares about the Terminator anymore. No one really knows what the hell is going on with the timeline anyway. What future? What past? Ask the execs, I am sure they don't have an answer either. I guarantee it.

Are you having trouble marketing a film? Well just deny what it is? Paramount picked up the independent film American Teen at Sundance last year and since then they have been trying to find a market. It's a documentary about five separate kids during their last year of HS. Sound interesting? Eh, I personally could take it or leave it. But, apparently its brought the house down at Sundance. Now I have a separate theory about Sundance. Things look way better at Sundance then they do in a regular theater. Industry folks cheering for a film there, is different than it performing well out in the actual market.

Lame. Says reboot to us...

Well Paramount is now stuck with this documentary and no way to market it. Who wants to go see a documentary? Seriously?! Well their releasing it under the umbrella of Paramount Vantage which is to be expected. Saves them from taking full responsibility for it's failure. Well their new strategy for marking this according to the LA times in in the article here says that Paramount isn't even going to tell you it's a documentary. Heck, the first poster for this thing is a mock up of the first poster for The Breakfast Club 20 years ago. They are making you believe it's a Breakfast Club rehash. So not only does Paramount not want to tell you what the film is, they are tricking you into thinking its something else.

Whatever still

Where is the honest thinking behind this? There is none. They are trying to deceive you. Not only are they being dishonest with you, they are flat out lying. Because also, they don't even know if they want to market this to current high schoolers or to the nostalgia crowd. It's sad to see this. Sad to see Paramount trying to straight up lie to people to get them into theaters. But that is the strategy and thinking of Hollywood, they will lie to you to get your money. I am sure the film is great. But let us decide. Well they won't, they think we are stupid. This is already not good. And I don't think this film will float at all. Nothing good comes out of a lie.

Well Tonight at midnight starts the Batmania propelled by the death of Heath Ledger. Its gonna be a huge film for that reason and the positive reviews. The best thing about this marketing strategy, Warner Bros, doesn't have to lie. Well all know and feel the loss of that great actor deep in our hearts. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

A Great Writer and Guilty Pleasures...And Bay Bashing!

Miss Congeniality

Ok, let's talk film. Well Diablo Cody is living the dream. Living the dream baby! I guess that's what it's all about. Article here says that Cody is very busy at work. You know Tina Fey is jealous of her. Cody is hotter and more talented. Fey is spinning her head around like Linda Blair because she is not the favorite girl on the block anymore. But that is just me picking on Tina. But, one of my favorite subjects is Diablo. She is beautiful and talented. And apparently whatever comes out of her mouth turns into a project. Man would I like that to be me. Oh well, I think she deserves it. She didn't deserve an Oscar yet, but that's my humble opinion.

She met with Spielberg a while a ago and he told her to write one of his ideas. How insane is that! She also sold a pitch to Universal. A pitch! I don't think it was even a pitch. I think it was a conversation that now is getting labeled as a pitch. She is the golden child in Hollywood now. I am happy for her. Someone give her my number, tell her to call me between 7-9pm PST. Before CSI on Thursday. Not during Heroes either please. We can talk. Hang. Get coffee whatever. ANYWAY. I hope she stays strong in all her writings. Her scripts are all named with girls names, Juno. Jennifer's Body, Tara. Very cool. Go with what works. Pray that she doesn't go the way of the Do-Do (M Night Shaymalan).

Just here for the paycheck? I think not!

So let's talk about this Mamma Mia movie. How about that? This thing might have legs to it. I have seen the previews and it looks like a guilty pleasure. I would go see this film by myself and sit in the back and probably really enjoy it. Reviews say that this film is none less than a fun crowd pleaser. I can handle that. I may just be in the mood for that. Oh come on! You know deep down inside you want to see this too! It's a guilty pleasure. It is. I for one hate all ABBA songs. But aren't they catchy? Don't they get stuck in your head? This is the point here. I don't the story is going to be that interesting at all. A girl who doesn't know who her father is? Doesn't that happen every day anyway? Statistically that issue is a minority issue. No politics I am just stating fact here. Yet, this minority issue is being played by an all high class white cast. Well that's another blog. But just to throw that out there.

Sorry Miley, you weren't even considered...

I will not talk about that. I am sure everyone can draw their own conclusions on that one. And those offended please write Oprah about it. I am thrilled to see Meryl Streep remove the scowl and tears for once and let herself go. I totally love Colin Firth. And this is not the first time tough guys have sang. Don't forget Clint Eastwood in Paint Your Wagon. It's nice to see actors who normally play stoic faces sing and let go. Isn't this what performance is all about. Aren't movies and film make to made us feel ALIVE. Well, my film fans, this is going to be a guilty pleasure. Whether you admit to seeing it or not. Oh yeah, this article about the anticipation of Mamma Mia without my humble opinion is here.

I don't even know where to being with this next article. After I read it I had to pick myself up off of the floor. My jaw is still on the floor actually. This. Well the first line really made me faint actually. The title of this article is incredible and makes you want to invite all your friends over and read it aloud over and over again and laugh in hysterics. The title of the article is Michael Bay talks Transformers 2 and Friday the 13th remake. And it's by EW and it's beautiful. It's gorgeous. I want to put this up on my wall.

First quote the BayMeister himself when asked about Transformers 2, "When we were writing the script, I said to the writers, "I hate sequels that try to make it to the third movie. Pretend like we’re never having a third movie, so let’s go for broke on the second one. I hate those cliffhangers! Let’s just make this movie stand on its own." I really feel this movie is not a forced sequel. I think the script is really good, and I think it’s got a lot of new stuff in it. There are a lot of rumors out there, but we’ve released a lot of fake stuff. We’ve done a really good job of keeping things secret."

I'm David Hasslehoff...

When WE were writing Michael? You have never written a script ever! EVER! AND it's all about marketing for the third film. Any studio exec would tell you that. This is not a football game. This is the film industry. EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! Remember that cliffhanger that made everyone stand in line for days for Return of the Jedi? Apparently, Mike doesn't want that kind of grand anticipation or really long lines at his future films. Well at least we know what NOT to expect from Transformers 2. We can not look forward to a good cliffhanger to jump start excitement for a third film. Thanks Mike. We want to hear early on how lackluster it will be.

Next and final quote cause I have now gotten tired of his BS. When asked about the quality of the new Friday the 13th, "I haven’t seen the director's cut because he’s still cutting, but I know this one will really be scary; it’s also funny, as well. It’s a fun college adventure that goes awry. It’s not a movie I would ever show my mom! (Laughs) We don’t make these for our mothers; we make these for the fans out there."

He also made the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. Not scary. And like I always say with all this new backstory added in. It's even more not scary. NOT SCARY! He says its funny also...That I believe. He was also asked about a Nightmare On Elm Street remake. God help us all. I do vote for Ben Foster for Freddy though. THAT I would see. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

Where the Bad Directors Are...

By the numbers is what Execs really want, don't let them fool you...

Ok, let's talk film. This is total comedy film fans. Total comedy. Where the Wild Things Are, the book by Maruice Sendak. The new film is By Spike Jonze. Yet, Partick Goldstein of the LA Times writes here that the film has been pushed back from an October 2008 release date to an indefinite release date. The reason? Well early test screening with kids have had them literally run out of the theater with frightened screaming. They think it is scary. What is Spike Jonze vision? Well it appears according to this article that he did not want to use CGI. He used people in Animal suits with animated faces. he also used puppets on strings. It turned out to be awful. Now let's take a look at a few quotes from the Warner's exec here first. I will show you how out of touch these execs are as if you didn't know already. Well, maybe it's just PR. Maybe I am being to harsh. I mean if a project fails, you have to expect execs out there covering their butt with PR. I understand that. Here is the PR.

"We've given him more money and, even more importantly, more time for him to work on the film," Horn said. "We'd like to find a common ground that represents Spike's vision but still offers a film that really delivers for a broad-based audience. We obviously still have a challenge on our hands. But I wouldn't call it a problem, simply a challenge. No one wants to turn this into a bland, sanitized studio movie. This is a very special piece of material and we're just trying to get it right."

"But I would not call it a problem", he says? Ok, you are all savvy Hollywood players. I think you can see through this like a newly cleaned, large window. When Horn says "Very special piece of material" and the word "Challenge" twice, this says to me the film is Handicapped. Something is very wrong. He said it. This is actually really bad PR. Horn is essentially calling this project "retarded". Look it's there. "Very special"..."Challenged"..Twice!

But like I said that is expected. PR is indispensable when you're going down in flames. Horn's project is in flames and he is calling it special. Fine. Save your butt Horn. You're not fooling anyone. The real problem I have with this article is Goldstein himself. He is stepping out in front of the material and saying that Warner Bros hires artistic directors to do big projects. Artistic directors? Aren't all directors artistic? Well according to Goldstein, no. He calls Chris Columbus a paint by numbers director in the same article. Here is the thing with this. Like any construction project, a studio goes with the lowest bidder.

It's not secret. A studio exec has an idea and whoever the lowest bidder is with the biggest name, they will hire. I have a problem with calling the Studios artistic. They are not where near artistic. Actually, I can tell you right now that Alan Horn here of Warner Bros. had no idea what he was getting into. He thought he was hiring a "quirky" director like Tim Burton. Did he even do research into Spike Jonze? I don't think so. If he has seen Being John Malkovich or Adaption, he would know he made a big mistake. Spike is a loon. He is a bad director. Those two films were bad. They were not good. They got labeled under the title of "quirky, independent film" but they in essence were bad. We know what Independent film is anyway. It is bad film that is given that title in order to be forgivable. What? It didn't appeal to all audiences? Well it's independent! That's what it is.

Well Goldstein is giving this Horn exec too much credit. He went with a big name and low bidder and he got stuck footing a bad film. Another quote here, by Horn, "We try to take a few shots," he said. "Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The jury is still out on this one. But we remain confident that Spike is going to figure things out and at the end of the day we'll have an artistically compelling movie."

"Artistically compelling"? It's a kid's movie Horn. It's Where the Wild Things Are. It's a kid's book. Since when is a kid's film compelling? It's absurd. Horn stepped in it here and he has taken the film off of the release schedule. He is using really bad PR to cover it up. AND Mr. Goldstein, please do not think these execs are thinking creatively. They are not. They are looking for fresh, big names with low salaries. This is the truth. And Goldstein here is saying that this is artistic. If Horn was thinking artistically, he would have story boarded the film himself and found a director that shares his vision. Execs are not artistic. They are number's people.

Moving on...So there are a few negative reviews for the Dark Knight. They are few and far between, but they are there. A few reviewers have said that the film is too overstuffed and too long. Well I think the same can be said with Braveheart or the Godfather. I cannot completely argue this cause I have not seen it. I am going Saturday night to see it in IMAX in Irvine. So after then I could comment. But I do know that a few reporters/reviewers like to say negative things just to say them. I have heard negative things about American Beauty and Toy Story two of the most loved movies ever. Reviewers say negative things just to hear themselves. Especially that New Yorker guy. My advice, don't listen to OVERSTUFFED or TOO LONG. That is total knit picking. Its gonna be an unbelievable piece and no one reporter will stop us from thinking that. I know film fans, a lot of senseless babbling, I will try to do better tomorrow. Until Tomorrow! Let's talk film!

The Calm Before the Storm

Silence before thunder...

Ok, let's talk film. Well its the calm before the storm. YES! Calm before the storm. Let's look at Iron Man, the film that kicked off the summer season. It grossed 98 million in its first weekend. It began the summer season with a bang. Boom! Or a boom! Yes! Well let's look at the weekend before Iron Man opened. Baby Momma, the "the let's look for another reason to pat Tina Fey on the back movie, only because she has a hot body, wears glasses and can write a sentance without backspacing", grossed 17 mil on it's opening weekend. The weekend before Iron Man. She scored a number one because of her ovaires and the fact that she wears smart glasses. I prefer Diablo anyday. My kind of woman. Even though she stole an Oscar from the super, super talented Tony Gilroy. Still my kind of woman. Just when you think I don't have a point, here goes...

It's all about quality...

Calm before the storm. So 17 million before Iron Man's 96 million. Let's also go back to last year. Shia, we all love Shia, his starring role in DJ Caruso's Disturbia spent three weeks at number one. It's box office tally 9 mil compared to Spider Man 3 a week after, to a tune of 151 million. So, my savvy Hollywood player, I note you detect a trend here. What is the trend? It is the calm before the storm. Hellboy only took in 35 mil. Compared to the recent openings of 55 mil or more with The Hulk, Indiana Jones, and even Caspian. I do not know why there is a lull like this, like the waning tide before a tsunami. All I can say is that it happens. The previous weekend before a blockbuster opens, the Box Office takes a lull. Well here we are in middle of summer and we are on the verge of the biggest film of the summer, heck, the biggest film in a long time.

I mean look at the reviews on this thing! Four separate reviews have said that this film is akin to Brian De Palma's The Untouchables. They say it is more like a crime drama than a comic book movie. This excites me! This is what I have been talking about. I have been asking the writers of these comic movies to make the super hero-ness incedental to a great story. Well, this film will happily set the bar for Comic Movies.

This poster is cool...

Don't think this doesn't scare Marvel Comics to death. I can tell you right now that Marvel, the supposed Comic Book movie giant, is quivering in their boots right now. They had their horn tooting for so long with Iron Man, Spider Man, and The Hulk for so long now. Well, they are about to get handed their lunch on a silver platter next week. They are looking at the directors of these films and wondering why their directors can't be like Christopher Nolan. "Why can't you be like Nolan", they are saying! I can bet the execs are furious!

I think it's hilarious to think of Marvel worrying this week. They are supposed to be the BIG GRAND DADDY of comic movies. Yet, they are worried cause of the quality of The Dark Knight. It's a masterpeice! The top reviewers are foaming at the mouth at this film. Marvel is furious. They are bewildered that a comic book movie has reached masterpiece status. That's why I wrote last week and the week before that Marvel is trying to be the big bully in this battle and DC is sitting back laughing. They allowed Marvel to have their fun in the beginning of summer. Because they knew they were gonna prevail. It's all comes down to quality. Quality is everything. I keep saying. We as audiences demand it. Marvel is getting its wake up call with it. Iron Man and Spider Man were good, but nothing like this. And Marvel is scared. I think also and I will say this again, DC has something up its sleeve in a way of cross pollination. Will we see Superman? I think there will be a hint.

News of a full digital Godfather restoration thanks to Coppola and Steven. Read that here. I am excited for this. I enjoy the Godfather. Sure there have been more restorations of this than Lucas's Star Wars thing. You can't really blame only Lucas for multiple restorations. A lot of director's do it. Coppola is saying that they really redid the whole film in essence. That would be exciting to watch. Maybe it will be like the restoration of the Sistine Chapel. That was cool.

Lots of other news, but nothing you smart players didn't see coming. Eddie Murphy dies at the Box Office with Meet Dave. Thank God he still has Shrek. Brendon Frasier has a great interview in the LA times. I can't wait for the Mummy 3. I just really want to get that Mamma Mia song out of my head. I never really liked Abba. It is contagous though. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

It all begins next week...

Ok, let's talk film. Soooo many things to talk about today film fans I have no idea where to begin. Most of the news out in Hollywood, I have talked about. Here is a few things that written about today that I have covered and will briefly cover again. This article in THR.com talks about DC comics changing its strategy for upcoming films to rival Marvel comics and the money they have been making. Well, I don't think they have been making that much money. Iron Man was Lightning in a Bottle that caught everyone by surprise. DC holds the cards in the huge, blockbuster, comic book genre. They always will. They have always had Superman and Batman. Both films have broke 800 million worldwide. Marvel only had Spider Man and Iron Man right now. They only total over 800 million together. DC doesn't have to worry about competition for they have laid the ground work for great Super Hero film for decades. This is why there are not sweating it. I still say that we will probably see a surprise in the Dark Knight. We may even see a Superman appearance. We may not, but its a very good possibility that we may see a Clark Kent appearance. DC is not talking about its strategy because I think they already have one and are waiting for The Dark Knight to reveal it. That is my theory and I am going to bank on that.

Ok lets move on, I want to talk about Guillermo Del Toro and I have one more story to talk about again. Dan Fellman, a senior exec at Warner Bros. (haha I love it), is crying buckets of tears that theater owners are not complying with the flood of 3D movies that are going to flood multi plexes. Well, its getting infantile. That's a word to describe this yesterday. I knew it would be infantile and it has gotten this way. The execs and theater owners are squabbling like infants at this. I have to side with the execs for one because this new flood of the 3D movies I am comparing to Noah and the Great Flood.

King of the future 3D world, I am sure, is telling theater owners to get it together

When these films do hit the theater, they will be heavily advertised to be shown in 3D, but the number of theaters that can show this format appear to be limited. And from what theater owners are still saying, they will be unequipped for a while, at least until, they say, there is a demand for 3D film by the audience. SO! YET! I should say, there is going to be an influx of 3D film in 2009. It will happen. There is no getting around this. Advertising will be in 3D. This is not an Apple IPhone or Xbox or some product that you can just reorder over the weekend. If the theater owners miss a weekend, that's it. Films are made or broken in one single weekend. That is what Hollywood is all about. One weekend. So in short, well here is the quote from this article,

"John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, immediately responded, saying, "It is particularly ironic and frustrating that a senior executive from Warner Bros. would accuse exhibition of 'dragging its feet' on 3-D when Warners has been the absolutely slowest of all major studios to come to the table with support for the d-cinema rollout. If Warners believes there are an insufficient number of 3-D screens in the marketplace today, they have no one to blame but themselves, and they know it."

So this Fithian guy is crying and blaming Warner Bros for not previously releasing 3D films in the past to justify its demand for more projectors. But, this an industry that does not work like that. This industry dramatically changes every year. The genres change. People's appetites change. You can't release a film like Clueless now because we are in Sex and the City mode. You can't really release War Games, Iron Eagle or Platoon like films cause the market it not buying war films. Now audiences are not buying 3D, but they will. Sure are the summer day is long, next year they will be wanting to watch 3D. Sounds crazy now? Next year it won't. Trust me. You will be wanting to don a pair of glasses next year. Hehe.

Fithian knows this. He is not stupid. He knows the changing tide of the film industry. So what is the deal with this infantile response like he was just a manager at Spencer's gifts? I think these two super powers are just bickering like children. Both sides know the reality. It's a question of who wants to be prepared for the flood and who doesn't. Fithian will be in deep water in 2009.

Man of the Hour

So here is what I want to talk about, Guillermo Del Toro, the visionary, as they are saying. They are saying visionary. I think that's accurate. If you look at Pan's Labyrinth, its is a stunning visual film. Its is a very hard film to watch. If you haven't seen it, I recommend seeing it on TNT when it comes available if ever. Uncut is really brutal. The RT interview

He is gifted, I have to give him that. His concepts are total eye candy. If you look at the original Hellboy, you see traces of his upcoming style only in a darker light. Once he and found Robert Rodriguez's Director of Photography, Guillermo Navarro, for Hellboy, that's when it was a match made in heaven. I think it's often unfair that Guillermo del Toro gets all the credit for being a sole visionary when a director's cinematographer is like the WIFE of the director. So my fellow smart Hollywood players, when someone rightfully idolizes del Toro, don't forget to mention that Navarro has A LOT to do with this idolization.

In addition to Hellboy 2 The Golden Army, he is directing The Hobbit as many of you know of course. I am excited about this. Many Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings purists are not ready for this change, but I say to you this, The Hobbit is a different story than LOTR, it doesn't have huge battles and epic sequences. It is a smaller very visual story that Del Toro is soooo perfect for. I am excited to see this. With the material of the Hobbit, I prefer del Toro to Jackson any day. I know its sounds blasphemous, but logical. PJ has to move to bigger and better things. Anyway, in addition, Jackson is writing the thing, it's the best of both world here. And yes film fans, my opinion can be yours also, I won't tell anyone. Unless you are an exec. haha.

The Dark Knight

Well next week is Batman Mania. Let it begin. This is gonna be the most eagerly anticipated film in a looong time for it is propelled by the posthumous performance of Heath Ledger. It is an unspoken catalyst for the film, but this is true. And I have heard that Ledger's performance is legendary. Which I already knew. That made his Jan 22 death harder on me personally. There is early Oscar buzz AND the reviews that have been coming in have equated The Dark Knight to Brian de Palma's The Untouchables and Scarface AND Coppola's The Godfather. Three separate reviews have said that. It's exciting. It's amazing. It's gonna be crazy next week. GET YOUR TICKETS EARLY. It's gonna be a sold out weekend in the likes of 180 Mil. I can't wait. See Hellboy, try and get Mamma Mia song out of your head. Until Monday, let's talk film!

Favreau is back and the Great Flood

They are back! Marvel has half a brain after all!

Ok, let's talk film. I have talked about this before. Yes I must say that most of the things that may or may not happen in Hollywood, I predict or talk about way before they happen. Why? Because I am in the KNOW, my film fans. I am in the know. I know how these execs think sometimes better than they do. They are easy to predict. SO Jon Favreau is officially signed on for Iron Man 2. Yay. But, we all know what Marvel was waiting for. They waited for The Incredible Hulk numbers to roll in before they made a decision on whether or not to do separate sequels of the Hulk and Iron man or to do one BIG INCLUSIVE sequel. If the Hulk made a lot of money it would be one big sequel. If the Hulk did not it would be separate sequels. It is simple. That's exactly what was going on. And if the sequel was inclusive Jon Favreau would be cut from the deal. He would not be rehired. They would have rehired the Hulk director or another huge action director like Jan De Bont.

It's simple. The execs thinking fits nicely into a little thought box. The above thought is exactly what the everyone at Marvel thought. Bank on it! SO, Jon Favreau knew this. But, he didn't want to take it lying down, so, as I wrote a month ago, (me and every other site for this particular fact) Jon wrote on his Myspace that Marvel was in essence messing with him. I mean they already put out a release date for 2010 for Iron Man 2 and refused to formally tell Jon about it. If your birthday party was announced and you weren't invited, and it's been a month, wouldn't you worry? So he wrote about how bitter he was about this. Well the fans in retort to this wrote Marvel and demanded they hire back Jon because he is responsible for the success of Iron Man. Why? Because he is a director that knows actors and story and Iron Man was latent with both. It was good. Very good.

The whole world knew that if you stick another director in there, you will miss the strength of acting and story that only a director like Favreau brings. That made Iron Man popular. Ok that's it, period. Simple. Yes? You would think. So Hulk underperformed and Marvel hires back Jon. They are repeating same formula since their Hulk/Iron Man idea didn't work. The numbers where not there! Simple still. Yes? You would think. Ok so there are many bloggers out there, including me, who are dumbfounded how this reporter could get this very simple story totally and completely wrong. Nikki Finke writes in Deadline Hollywood the following:

Nikki Finke = Lipstick Blogger

"It's not officially announced yet, but I'm told that Marvel Studios and Iron Man director Jon Favreau have reached a deal for him to helm the sequel, due out in 2010. (Robert Downey Jr had a sequel clause in his contract so of course he's on board...) Marvel Studios boss David Maisel was quick to put out a "definitely" richer offer to Favreau, but not quick enough for Jon -- who used the Internet to rile up the movie's many fans by spreading nonsense that Marvel was dragging its feet with an offer and then low balling him. Granted Maisel is no day at the beach himself, but, seriously, could Favreau have been more of an asshole"

Oh man. I don't even know where to begin with this. Or maybe I don't have to. If you have read this far you are probably laughing at this reporter. I am sure you are laughing hysterically as I am. It's out of touch. It's far fetched. It's like Nikki...I don't want to say anything to perpetuate this further. It is out of touch and unbelievable.

Moving on with things I have already talked about and need to talk about again. Well, I have figured that my blog will repeat itself with some choice information. I vow to repeat things if necessary until Hollywood "gets it". I will take that upon myself. But it doesn't bother me FilmFans for this is why I am here. I don't write a personal blog because I am still in therapy and I don't know if I am ready for that yet. And if I did personally blog, I would never give out the address anyway. So I write about the one subject I know through and through - films, execs, and well films. So I am here for you. To inform you what is really going on in Hollywood.

Well here is a Story in the LA Times. Let's begin with a quote, "We feel that 3-D films will continue, at least for the foreseeable future, to produce the revenues per film necessary to support the equipment and on-going operating costs of the 3-D theaters."

Theater owners and the great flood...

Ok, basically movie theatres are not equipping themselves for the inevitable 3-D revolution because they haven't produced the revenues enough to justify the buying of new projectors for the Movie Theaters. Again I am speechless to this news. Hollywood is putting out at least a DOZEN 3D films for next year. James Cameron's Avatar, Monster's vs Aliens, and a whole slew of others and the theaters themselves refuse to get on the band wagon! How infantile this response is by the theater owners!

It is the future!!!

Film makers are telling these theater owners what to expect and they are ignoring them. I can't help, my film fans and smart Hollywood players, to equate this to Noah and the Great Flood. This is exactly what it seems to me as relating to. There will be a flood of 3D films flooding multi plexes. Flooding! And the theater owners will not do anything about it. Audiences will want to see these upcoming films in 3D. Why not? Its new and we as audiences will demand it. But, they are worried about financial justification first. Well, I can say I understand the plain logic. I do. But, this is an inevitable situation. They have to look at that. A heck of a lot films will be in 3D very soon. There will be a new 3D revolution in Hollywood. It will happen. And only when it may be too late will theater owners react. What else is new?
Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

She's talented and beautiful
She just plays characters with a few issues...

Ok, let's talk film. I am very excited to see Jennifer Carpenter working and getting big roles out there. I was saddened to see her career stall for a while. Carpenter is the Emily Rose of the Exorcism of the same name film. I honestly thought she was brilliant in the film. I thought she was scary and believable. AND not to mentioned she was the hottest posessed girl I have ever seen. I would have dated her and Satan inside her. So, its really good to see her work. Her new film, Quarantine is up at yahoo. The film is using the documentary style to it. This style has always been used here and there in film and usually every time this style is used, it works. Even in Surf's Up, the Animated Film that I totally adore, it works very well.



The first film I can remember that had the documentary feel was This Is Spinal Tap, directed by Rob Reiner. That was described as a Rockumentary, if you will. Hehe. Mah I love that film. Progression of the now called Mockumentary proliferaed films as, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cloverfield, the Blair Witch Project and Surf's Up. The point is of all the Genres I have seen this one is actually so far fool proof. Here is the reason why I think so. First thought is that we are a society that is reality TV based. That does not translate to film and Thank God that execs know that. But the mockumentary is a format that inspires real acting moments. And that is interesting.

See this if you haven't!

The original Rockumentary

It is very interesting to see real acting in what is made believed to be real time. So in such format, the acting has to be real and believable. If you have seen Surf's Up, which I highly recommend, it is better for its unscripted format because the improv of the actors working (Shia, Jeff Bridges, and Zooey Dashanel) work together very well. So, I think the main reason this format works is that the enslemble casts that Improv with these films preform beautifully together. So it is strange that Hollywood has not caught onto this fact that this format works well every time it's done. Every time! I really don't think we will see much of a surge in this format/genre because even though it does work, is is very risky for it relies on enselmble casts to work well together, no divas please. When it's done, it works well.

Chicken Joe! That's me!


Well in all, it's good to see Jennifer Carpenter work again, I hope she gets really high profile roles and becomes an A lister. I am sure she is equipped for better roles than horror, which as a horror film screamer, she is very believable.

Rachel Abramowitz of the LA Times, my favorite, wrote a very good article actually on the saftey of Hollywood sets. It seems a stunt man was killed during the filmings of Red Cliff (John Woo's new film)and The Dark Knight. No we're not talking about Ledger's death, that was outside a movie set. It seems that a Technitian was killed while testing the Batmobile. You can view the article here. She also talks about the curse of the Bond sets saying that there are many accidents that happen on the Bonds sets along with the current one that occoured recently on while filming the huge opening sequence of Quantum of Solace. Now, I have nothing to say about the article itself, it is well written, I recommend reading it. But you have to remember the most tragic accident that ever happend on a Hollywood set, In 1980, during the filming of the New Twilight Zone film Vic Morrow and a small child died by the blade of a Helicopter when it fell on them. From that tragedy, we got the child labor laws.

Until that accident happened, stunt were very lenient on sets. You have to remember that OSHA and all labor laws, as well as few others, regulate movie sets. That's why there are unions. It's really amazing to think in behind all the glamor, Hollywood works like a blue collar gig. Well it does! Accidents mostly happen when you directors do not rely on the expertise of the stunt workers who are far more experienced in safety. And this is important my Smart Hollywood Players, be very mindful of safety on a set. Let the ones who have done this for years make the decisions on that. And STILL if you feel that its not safe enough, say so. There will never be any fault with being over cautious. Once an accident happens, that's when the screws get tightened and people lose jobs. So its sounds corny, but safety first!

Ok COOPER ECHO here. Now if you read this blog of a thing here, the one person you are, you will know that when I talk about horror films one thing I have to say is that Horror movies have gotten less scary over the years because of the need for too much explanation. Now TODAY in Entertainment Weekly does no other than Stephen King himself write an article on the fact that there is too much explination in Horror films! I know! Thank you that someone with weight has said it. He didn't specifically mentioned Rob Zombie which he should have. He wins the huge award prize for taking one of the scariest films ever, Halloween, and make it totally NOT SCARY! That takes talent! I can't wait for this Friday the Thriteenth to come out. I am sure they will tell the epic story of Jason and his mother and how he was savagely and painfully driven to murder. Who cares. It's not scary. It will never be scary.
Scary John Carpenter Halloween...
Non Scary "rocker" Halloween...

No that's that. Here is Stephen King's article in EW and it strangely sounds like what I said. I am in the know my Film Fans and Hollywood players, you're in good company! Stick with me and we'll go places! Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

It's so beautiful...Makes me want to cry...

Ok, let's talk film. Well there is a leaked script on the Internet. Apparently Michael Bay, the blockbuster Juggernaut has written a script that was supposed to be the Sequel to Batman Begins, the Dark Knight. It is linked beautifully here. I didn't know he was interested in Batman? Wasn't he busy with demolishing other franchises? He is busy over directing Transformers. With Spielberg even! Yes Steven sanctions Bay. The most wondrous thing you will ever know about Michael Bay is that he picks the wrong shot for every single frame he shoots. I think he is the direct opposite of Spielberg. I do.

Spielberg's delicate directing...

Michael Bay...Any Questions?

Steve picks the most perfect shots every frame he shoots. Bay is a masterpiece because if you look at his finished product. Every shot is misplaced. Every single one. Either you're up someones nose or you're in super slo mo with an actor screaming in slo mo. I mean the actors in Transformers say Oh GOD more times than a soft porn with Krista Allen. That's the only line Shia says for a goof ten minutes in Transformers. Oh GOD Oh GOD! And Bay is ok with that. We wants his actors to be over the top all the time. And YES, every shot he shoots is the WRONG place to put the camera. I mean he doesn't even place the camera in an interesting place BY ACCIDENT. It's unbelievable. How can a director be that incompetent.

He's not even on the set the whole time. He storms on the set for a day, about ten o clock and starts to shoot kinda whatever he wants. If he wants to blow up a car, he just says, if he wants to blow up a city, he yells it out through his bullhorn. I have never seen a director so incompetent, so popular. Well it's ego, Film Fans. Its sheer ego that keeps this Bay animal going. Please check out his script for the Dark Knight. Its obviously a joke. But funny, way way funny.

Well enough about talentless car commercial directors, let's talk about gifted directors. Rob Cohen the director of Fast and the Furious and XXX, he does do fluff film yes, but he is talented. I mean if you can make a B movie like the Fast and the Furious look good, you have talent. Well he talks with Shawn Adler of Mtv and says that he has his hands in "Every Pixel" of the CGI process. Let's look at some quotes first. here is the article. And here is the first quote I want to look at. "Three times a week, I sit with the lead people, the digital men. A lot of people think that directors call up [Industrial Light and Magic] and say, 'Ya, I need a dragon that talks.' I don't know how other directors work, but with me, I'm on every pixel, every detail, all the time," Cohen tells MTV News when we join him for one such session. "And I have been doing this with them since I became the director of this movie a year ago."

I do love this nutty film.

Industrial, Light and Magic, known in the BIZ as ILM, the digital company that Lucas founded near San Fransisco. Pixar branched off from them. Yes I believe they did. Pixar was the name of the computer that they were using. So it was a fake Spanish word meaning to pixel. Yeah that was it. Anyway, it's nice to know that Rob Cohen actually cares about what he is filming. You see this is a director that doesn't act like a child with a bullhorn like Bay. I could actually bag on Bay all day long, but sadly I think there are more interesting things to talk about.

I like Cohen. I honestly think he needs better material to work with. He takes pride in his work and leaves the ego at the door. Now in order to be a really Smart Hollywood Player, you need to leave your ego at the door. There will always be someone more talented in some aspect of creativity than you. That's just the brutal truth. And I also think that is the dividing line between a smart Hollywood Player and a Naive one. A Naive Player thinks that his spec script that he has been tormenting on for months is perfect as is. A Smart Hollywood Player knows that his spec is just a BLUEPRINT for things to come. Development meetings can go either way, they can go wonderfully, for instance, Joel Bruce Rubin's script Called Ghost in 1990 was slated to be directed my Jerry Zucker, the guy who directed Airplane. When Rubin found out, he flipped, wanted to quit the business all together. Then a couple Oscars later, he recanted that.

But you see, it is the allotment for bigger and better ideas to develop with your project. You have to find people you trust and work with them in a CARING way. Without ego. That's the rub! That's the whole meat and potatoes there. Approach the material with all your heart, not all your head. That is mojo to be a smarter Hollywood Player. Until Tomorrow, let's talk film!

Your Box Office meat and potatoes...Apparently

Ok, let's talk film. Well you got your Will Smith movie out there. The country wanted another Will Smith film this summer and they got it. Now, I am wondering why the Studios even bother making the Will Smith films any good. The audience still came in droves to drop ten bucks, in many cases, 11.50 to see Hancock, a film that was released to horrid reviews. I don't understand why a film that was released to tragic reviews banked the weekend with 66 mil. Seems like Will Smith can be in anything, whether good or not and still have the Box Office draw.

But I have a feeling that most audience members want to see their Will Smith as the underdog hero. That's what he usually plays, the down on his luck guy with internal greatness who wins in the end. Don't we all wish we were like that? Well, Smith also has family appeal. You have to look at that for the reasons for his success. Well he has had about, what is it, 8 number ones in a row and this is his Seventh consecutive film that has grossed over 100 mil. He is a box office draw. I wish I could do journalistic research into this. But I don't think I have the resources for that. The blogosphere and journalists are always telling us bloggers to NOT act like journalists.

I always say journalists need to stop acting like sensationalists. Of course this is perfect world syndrome. I have that affliction often. Well someone out there needs to research why Will Smith is a huge box office draw. I don't understand. Yes he is very good, but why rush out to see him blindly, ignoring all reviews? But that's just me, I need to completely research a film before I see it. That way I know I will enjoy it. All signs pointed to the contrary with Hancock. Well enough about that.

Sigourney Weaver says she is ready to gear up for another Alien film. This would make 5. She tells Bloody Disgusting dot com that she is ready if a director like Ridley Scott is directing. Now this goes into something that I want to talk about today. YOU as a filmmaker, now we are talking about horror and suspense film here, well any film that have that ingredient. Christopher Nolan (the director of Batman Begins and Dark Knight) in the LA Times here, says that Nolan had to tone down the scene in The Dark Knight were Harvey Dent gets burned because he didn't want the audience to look away from the screen. This got me to thinking about this factor.

Cause, I am going to tie these two stories here, no worries, if you look at the Original Alien Directed by Ridley Scott you will find yourself looking away a lot at the film, well at least I did. I ask you the talented filmmaker, Smart Hollywood Player, and Filmfan, how often would you want your audience to look away at your film if you are doing such a genre? Have you ever looked away at the screen seconds or minutes at a time? And if so, how does that help or hurt your film. Minding that you just want a "look away" factor, you obviously don't want a "walk out" cause of gore or such.

How can you not love this poster?!

I bring this up cause we recently had this, what I call, Torture Porn on the screen with Hostel and Saw. How some audience members and film makers are mistaking horror with torture scenes. Not that's a look away factor! I saw Hostel by mistake once and found myself not wanting to watch it. It's just too much. If you saw Wanted you would notice that film had a look away factor to it also. It was too violent and over the top in its gore. I think and here is the point of all this, how do you decide what is going to keep the audience looking away for a period of time and not watching your film. Would that bother you?

Well I think people look away for different reasons, I mean I look away at the screen for male nudity. I don't really need to see famous male actors naked. Totally doesn't do it for me. But dealing with this specific genre of Horror or suspense like Alien, which to wrap up that first thought it would be wonderful to see Ridley Scott tackle that again, I want to explore the good and bad aspects of having your audience look away at the screen during your movie.

Lets take our first example from Silence of the Lambs, directed by Jonathan Demme. Now the last twenty minutes of the film is riddled with suspense, so much in fact you might want to look away at the screen, even though the screen is pitch black most of the time and you only hear Clarice's panting as she looks for Buffalo Bill in the basement. But this is a good look away. For in a fine film like this you will most likely watch it again. So in this looking away is a good thing, cause its a fine film and you will most likely see it again and see what you have missed.

So this would be a good thing. Now a bad example would be the torture porn that is out there with the Saw and Hostel thing. Looking away at a film in that franchise would mean that you really don't want to see it and you probably will never want to see it ever. So as a film maker, stay away from the torture porn or images that are too harsh because your audience may look away from your film and not want to look at it ever again. They key is to use suspense and gore in a substantiated way as to have the viewer look away for a few seconds but not to look away for a while and most importantly, not to make the viewer lack luster for a second viewing.

Let's talk more about this article in the LA Times about Chris Nolan, now here is a filmmaker with integrity. This director knows what he wants and is creative. Let's take a quote here from the article, "For the Joker, Nolan went back to the first appearance of the character in comics back in 1940, when the leering clown showed up without any sort of back-story and simply started killing people. That's how the Joker enters Nolan's Gotham, not unlike, Nolan pointed out, the toothy intruder of "Jaws""




Yes! He believes that little or no back story is scarier than explaining it to death! I agree. Then what's to say about all Rob Zombie's back story to explain Michael Meyers! Rob just made his film unscary by doing that. Of course we also have the new version of Friday the 13th that apparently explains the whole backstory of Jason. Now, when will film makers learn that Horror is scarier with no explanation. We fear what we don't know. If you explain all this backstory it takes away from the horror.

Well I can talk about this till I am blue in the throat and I doubt it will make any difference. You should read that article, its a nice piece that goes into Ledger's performance and how the film is dedicated to him and his memory. Until Tomorrow, Let's talk film!

Ok, let's talk film. Happy signing of the Declaration of Independence day to you. I hope everyone parties like it's 1776! Woo Hoo! I was inevitably reminded that the signing of the Declaration of Independence was treason at the time. The Framers of our country put their lives on the line to do something great. Too bad studio execs can't do the same. Strange enough, execs love the story of the lone man who goes against what everyone is saying and strives for greatness. But, then they develop the same boning story over and over.

That kind of goes against the true meaning of art doesn't it? Art is supposed to imitate life. If art imitated an execs life it would be incredibly boring with Sushi lunches and quick, empty conversations. That's why execs adapt stories. They have no stories of their own to tell. They are privileged, they have money and notoriety. They want excitement. They crave it.

The real ones who write the stories are people who experience real pain and loss in life. They put their life on the line for others. Most of them could take or leave sushi. They are not vegans or Stanford educated. The crazy thing is that execs want to be good writers, they want to be the hero. But they can't be. They are bound by their stature and public standing and therefore cannot take chances like we can.

I promised myself I would not bag on execs at all today. And look at me. Oh well, its my favorite thing to do. Cause I will probably never be rich or famous. I have come to terms with that. But I will never be unoriginal. I will always have original stories and thoughts. Execs never will. Well its' a happy day today. A day of fireworks. So lets post some scenes that not necessarily have a 4th theme but, have FIREWORKS. Cause that's what its all about. Watching performances that lit up like fireworks on screen. ATTICA!!!! Anyone?! Happy 4th. Short post cause its a holiday. And there is a shortage of good articles to comment on. Hollywood has the day off anyway. Why shouldn't I? Until Monday! Let's talk film!

There are WAAAAYY too many to choose, just off the top of my head performances that made the screen EXPLODE!!!

I told you so, I told you so!

Ok, let's talk film. I said it. Last month I predicted this and today it has come true. Now, keep in mind that these people, these Hollywood execs are easy to predict. Lets say a die hard football fan can predict what play is coming next in the play book. I can without any doubt predict what kind of move these execs will make in their playbook. Why you ask? Well, because they have been doing it for years. They have been predictable as November rain for decades now. It's not my fault. They do it to themselves! They are talentless accounting and marketing majors without a shred of original thinking. They make safe decisions based on looking good.

I know you will say, "don't we all make decisions based on making ourselves look good?" I say no. We as a society need to make decisions based on a Moral Code of right and wrong. Getting new talent and new ideas in Hollywood is right. Rehashing Terminator 4 with an absurd timeline now way out of whack is wrong. Where is the Terminator timeline now? I think Sarah Connor has been almost killed, what is it, three times? There have been three or four alternate futures, not counting Terminator 3-D in Universal Studios (too bad that could not have burnt down too), and we have another reality in the TV show the Sarah Connor Chronicles. So that's five alternate futures alone without this new movie.

Who the hell knows anyway?

Well all know the basic theory of time travel with Back to the Future. So, where is this going? I don't know. And the title of the new film is Terminator Salvation-The Future Begins. So now the future is beginning? I thought it ended? Or did it begin just to end and then begin again? Well I think it began again only to begin again...and again. I have no idea what is going on with this Terminator timeline and I will bet a shiny penny that the writers themselves do not know. James Cameron the creator of all this is probably laughing about how many times this thing can begin and end only to begin again after it ended.

Anyway back to the point, so we have figured out these past couple days that all we are as a movie going audience is a catalyst to helping studio execs look good. That's we are. We make over paid accounting majors look good for their peers. If that wasn't the case then execs would take chances. We would see a new well thought out film released by a major studio come out every week. And we would say, "wow that was an interesting take on..whatever." But no, instead we have Hannah Montana. Why because she will break even the bank on its first weekend.

So why am I right this week? Well lets go back to June 2nd. This is word for word what I said then, "So what TV shows will be forwarded to the BIG SCREEN. I can tell right now and I will bet my right arm that Execs will take from this experience is NOT that a female demographic show that is well written WILL bang out the box office They will inevitably think that bringing back any POPULAR TV show to the BIG SCREEN with the original cast members will the next step. Reunion TV shows on the big screen. You can bet on that. I am sure we will see news of that soon."

A little over a month after I predicted that does Slashfilm dot com bring news of a Friends movie in the works. Not only do they say it will happen, they say it will be in production in less than 18 months. And the article says that that this is a direct result of the success of SATC. I knew it! I told you Film Fans this on June 2nd. They will take from the SATC success not that we want more complex storytelling, but TV shows reuniting on the big screen. I saw this way before they did. Why? Because I have talent. I am not a accounting marketing major. Well it has been announced and this has the possibility of being the new trend of rehashing.

If the Friends movie is actually greenlighted, you can for sure bet that other TV franchises will follow to face its competition. What will we see next? I dunno. Seinfeld would be nice. Facts of Life? Nah. Anyway in fantastical theme song news. Its seems Huey Lewis has penned and sang the theme song to Seth Rogen's Pineapple Express. I heard it and it is as glorious as anyone can imagine. I assume he was going for the Back to the Future, Power of Love feel and it works. I really love it and I am sure we will all love a Rated R stoner comedy. Even though I am not a stoner, its still fun to laugh. All right I did once, but what haven't I done?

Until Tomorrow, let's talk film!

She will be greenlit way before YOUR original screenplay.

Ok, let's talk film. Look like it's rehash scheduling everywhere. Everyone is hellbent on bringing back the old. There is nothing new in Hollywood coming out anytime soon. Article in LA Times by Patrick Goldstein says "How bad can movies get?" He points out that nothing exciting is on the greenlit schedule and on the now filming schedule. Sequels to Terminator, Da Vinci Code, An A team movie, A Hannah Montana film and Transformers 2 are currently in production. This is on the verge of an actors' strike. "My point is only this: A strike would be a bad thing for the working class of Hollywood, who need a studio paycheck. But for those of us in the audience, I can't say I'd shed a tear."

I have to agree with this. There is nothing new in Hollywood. Execs are not taking any chances in film. Well, they haven't been at all if you ask me. I mean every release this year was based on something or a sequel to something. Why? Cause Hollywood execs refuse to take chances that's why. The opening weekends are tallied before the film is Greenlit. Because all they care about is making their money back. All of the art in film making is long gone. And this is a sad thing. Cause in order to see a film with integrity, you have to wait for Oscar season in the fall.

Yes Hollywood does produce Oscar winning films specifically for the purpose of competition. Like I said before they release it under a Pseudo name like Paramount Vantage or Fox Searchlight, so they don't have to take full credit as a studio if the film happens to fail to some degree. If a "art film" like There Will Be Blood fails, they cut the blame by saying, "Well, that was released under Paramount Vantage, it wasn't really under the main studio."

You gotta understand, if you're a studio exec, you have to be paranoid, because one, you have no talent. No studio exec does, they are Accounting and Marketing majors and two EVERYONE wants your job. Everyone is looking for a reason to take your job from under you. So if you are a high paying exec, you have to make sure that every film you greenlight, is going to make its money back. In a sense, you're betting on the winning horse over and over again.

So what do we do as an audience if we want original, good film making? Nothing. There is absolutely nothing we can do. As an audience we have our hands tied behind our back. We have to settle for recycled crap just so the execs look good. In essence, that's all we are doing. We are making people richer than us look good. Where is the integrity in film? Where is the risk and newness.

I read that Mark Millar is thinking of revamping the Superman Franchise AGAIN! I mean how many times can we try to bring something back to life. I mean the Incredible Hulk was beaten to death. Well, YOU as an audience have to be more savvy. You have to demand better film by not being persuaded by big name stars in big budget films. This is what irks me about Wanted last weekend. I saw it finally. It was just as I expected. Big names, big stars, no real heart.

Well Filmfans, there is not much to look forward to as far as original ground breaking film. We are stuck with Hannah Montana and A Team and MORE TERMINATORS. How many more Terminators can we take? Even Beverly Hills Cop is returning for a fourth run. Although I have to say, I am looking forward to that. Though most franchises need to be put to rest.

So if an actors' strike does happen what will we really be missing? The sad answer film fans is noting. We are missing nothing. The Hollywood players now are all rehashers. They are bottom feeders. Maybe this Oscar season, we can find something worth watching that's new and original. Cause Hollywood could care less about originality. Until Tomorrow, let's talk film!

Yes it's true EVERYONE has a screenplay. How will yours be different?

Ok, let's talk film. I want to talk today about something that is dear to my heart that I don't talk of often. This site is meant to talk about the craft of film, so let's talk screenwriting. How do you become a screenwriter if you want to be one? Well you'll be unhappy to know that becoming a screenwriter is kinda like winning the lottery. Why? Because everyone wants to be one. There is a lot of money involved with selling a script. You make around 500,000 for a good script.

I almost sold a screenplay to Dreamworks five years ago and it was a great experience. The one thing, the secret that no one will tell you, is that you HAVE TO, get detached with what you are writing and DO NOT fall in love with your script. I think that's biggest mistake I made. I got too emotionally attached to my script. When my deal fell through, I never wrote another script again. The other thing is, its not gonna take one script to do this. It's gonna take five to ten scripts to get any recognition at all. So if you're writing your first screenplay, don't fall in love with it too much, just make it as good as you can, then walk away.

Writing is never finished, only abandoned. So my best advice for the beginning screenwriter, is just don't look back, get that first rough draft done. Don't go back and rewrite until the end. If you write everything right away, you'll never make it through.

Don't keep any secrets from the audience. Good scripts lay it all on the line right away. If you want to wait for the second act to reveal your character is gay or something. Say it right away. If you wait until the right moment to reveal something, you will only have that. But if you say it right away, that can lead to other discoveries that may surprise even you.

Be honest. You have to write about your own experiences for it to be at all interesting. If you write about a 40 year old spy and you're only 21, it will show in your writing.

I think the best advice out there is to write personal and from the heart. You can't fail when you do that.

Anyway, Hancock is getting terrible reviews and it opens tomorrow. Will Smith is still a huge box office draw. I think people will show up in droves anyway even if the film is sub par. The film clocks in at only one hour and 30 minutes. Now if you know anything about summer blockbusters. Most blockbusters run two hours or over. This film Hancock had to go back and do reshoots. A combination of being 1 and a half hours, which is the length for a comedy or short drama, not an action flick says to me that they had little to actually show the audience. And that's pretty sad. Yes this is the summer.




Yes the summer is for throw away films. But man, how cool is it to watch a good film that sticks with you.

Well I am kinda sick today filmfans, got some kind of bug. Makes me more babblely if you have not noticed.

Until Tomorrow, let's talk film!

James Mangold was responsible for her Oscar. She could not have done it alone.

Ok, let's talk film. Well I am shocked and stunned. I am surprised. And I have to stand corrected on my prediction of the weekend box office. I predicted Wall E would shatter the competition. It did not. Wanted with Angelina Jolie raked in 51 million as compared to Wall E's 62 Million. Crazy. But this is really not about my embarrassment, this is about Hollywood being thrown into a sea storm. I will tell you what is really going on and I will tell you what Hollywood will see.

Here's the rub. Here is the X factor. Here is the crazy thing that is keeping Hollywood execs scratching their heads. Wanted is rated R. Yes R! So what business does it have pulling in 51 mil! The execs are torturing themselves trying to figure out what happened. Why you say? Well, let's go back to May 30th. And if you remember another R rated film made 51 million and that was considered to be record breaking. On the weekend of May 30th, it was so groundbreaking that this particular film made over 50 mil that Hollywood completely shifted its gears from completely focusing on the main demo of 15-35 to changing aim to the female demo of 18-65, or more. Sex and the City was the film that changed the greenlight schedule for some studios.

After Sex and the City made all that money last month, Hollywood thought that the audience out there was just too savvy for the normal big bang action flick. Well as it turns out this last weekend, the main demo showed back up for a run of the mill, stylized action flick. Now this got me confused all day. I too scratched my head as to why this film made so much money, that I and a lot of studio execs could not figure out. Well it comes to this.

I hate to admit it, but Angelina Jolie is a huge movie star. She was the draw for the weekend. I don't see it. I cannot see why she is popular. I don't think she is a good actress, I don't thing she is that pretty. I don't. Sorry. Some people who read this may stop reading forever by learning that I do not like Jolie. I think her face is expressionless and pouty and it does not do it for me. I don't think I have ever seen an honest expression has ever left her face. Sure, I know what you are gonna say. Girl, Interrupted was wonderful, she was wonderful. Let me remind you that James Mangold directed that film and he has a knack for working with actresses. He also directed Walk The Line and helped Reese get her Oscar. So it was not all Jolie's doing for that award.

So what makes her popular? Well, most people out there, the majority of people, think she is amazingly beautiful. I don't see it. I can't see it. Its not going to sink into me. Yet, she was the draw of the weekend. The film get good reviews also. It was hyped up and marketed to the nth degree. And that was it. The main demo showed up. Now I think Hollywood can look at this two ways. They can say "Hey, the main demo is still out there, they still want stylized, action." Even though this entire idea I thought was left in the late 90's.

Or they can say, we have both demos out there. I think Hollywood will ignore all the logic I provided and think that marketing and big name stars are the key to its success. Because that's what it really came down to. We as an audience gave Hollywood back its confidence in what it has been doing for decades, hiring big name stars in a big budget action flick.

You might even say that all that groundbreaking work that SATC did was thwarted by Wanted this weekend. And we as an audience gave it to them. We said to Hollywood this weekend, that it is ok to cheat us. You can just throw a big star out there in a big budget film and we will still come running. Well this is sad my film fans. We had Hollywood on its toes when we demanded better film. Today Hollywood sits back and relaxes again. And we gave it to them. Until Tomorrow, Let's talk film.