Understanding Screenwriting #136
The Martian, Bridge of Spies, Crimson Peak, Sicario, Aloha, For Your Further Reading.
By Tom Stempel. Not Marvin. The Martian (2015. Screenplay by Drew Goddard, based on the novel by Andy Weir. 144 minutes.) You should know up front that my wife did not elbow me in the ribs once during this film. My wife is a scientist (molecular biology) and hates it when movies get the […]
Understanding Screenwriting #135
The Intern, James Dean’s Live Television Work, and the beginning of the Fall 2015 Television Season.
By Tom Stempel. Office Porn, Not Kitchen Porn The Intern (2015. Written by Nancy Meyers. 121 minutes.) You generally do not want to start a script with a pile of exposition delivered in voiceover. It shows that the writer does not know how to subtly show and tell exposition. When writers try it, readers tend […]
Understanding Screenwriting #134
Coming Home, The Keeping Room, A Walk in the Woods, Reap the Wild Wind, Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, Masters of Sex.
By Tom Stempel. Zhang Yimou and Gong Li Together Again! With a New Writer. Coming Home (2014. Screenplay by Jingzi Zou, based on the novel by Gellin Yan. 109 minutes) Zhang Yimou and Gong Li (yes, I know that in Chinese the last name should be first, but these are so well known internationally this […]
Understanding Screenwriting #133
Irrational Man, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Grandma, American Ultra, A Foreign Affair, Exodus: Gods and Kings, True Detective.
By Tom Stempel. Too Much Bait, Not Enough Switch Irrational Man (2015. Written by Woody Allen. 95 minutes.) When I saw the first trailers for this, I almost decided not to go. It looked like yet another Woody-Allen-Young-Woman-Enchanted-By-An-Older-Man flick. He’s been doing those for nearly forty years. Then the reviews began to come in and […]
Understanding Screenwriting #132
Ant-Man, Trainwreck, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Ricki and the Flash, Phoenix, Making Patton (book).
By Tom Stempel. One of the Funny Marvel Movies Ant-Man (2015. Screenplay by Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and Adam McKay & Paul Rudd, story by Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish, based on the comic book by Stan Lee & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby. 117 minutes.) I am a little too old to have […]
