#ThinkpieceThursday – An Oscar-Winner dreamed in my dining room
Continue readingExtremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Some books just don’t make good movies, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a prime example.
Continue readingThe Descendants
I found the film predictable, lacking in character development, with a script that continually tells us rather than shows us.
Continue readingThe Artist
Writer-director Michael Hazanavicius is one of the rare filmmaker-artists whose pictures are worth a thousand words.
Continue readingHugo
Characters that exist to advance a plot tell us nothing about the human condition.
Continue readingIron Lady
Meryl Streep gives a tremendous performance in IRON LADY– but the film ultimately didn’t work because it has no point of view.
Continue readingDogtooth – Day Two – #40movies40days
Last night I saw Dogtooth, the 2011 Academy Award nominated Best Foreign Language Film from Greece. There’s going to be no rhyme or reason in selecting the films for my 40 movies in 40 days project. I’ve decided to go wherever the spirit leads me.
Continue readingThe King’s Speech
The King’s Speech is a wonderful film with brilliantly drawn Power of Conscience and Power of Idealism characters in constant tension and conflict.
Continue readingMcKee on 2011 Best Screenplay
Here is Robert McKee’s views on Best Screenplay and on stories based on history, fact or actual people’s lives. Like McKee, I believe that a writer’s first duty is to the emotional truth of the story, not factual accuracy. That’s why it’s FICTION.
Continue readingHope-ful survey on the state of indie films
#ThinkpieceThursday – Ted Hope presents a glowing outlook on the state of the independent film business.
Continue readingIt Never Gets Easier
Here is the good news and the bad news about being a writer– “It never gets any easier.” Every writer from an Academy Award winner to a complete beginner face the same challenges, obstacles and terrors
Continue readingTwo Oscar Contenders – Up In The Air and The Hurt Locker
Two of the most talked about characters in Oscar-nominated pictures this year are emotionally damaged men deployed to handle bombs in people’s lives. Their approaches to this assignment are very different.
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