tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post3116420971880614741..comments2023-11-05T07:45:02.082-05:00Comments on Mystery Man on Film: Writers are FilmmakersMystery Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-89310304163140128672007-03-01T20:57:00.000-05:002007-03-01T20:57:00.000-05:00But Matthew, you've got a great opening scene for ...But Matthew, you've got a great opening scene for a movie now.<BR/><BR/>MM, I loved this roundtable and cited it for different reasons in a current post I think you may find intriguing...mernitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09185401856113179709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-23805851084150966122007-02-26T16:53:00.000-05:002007-02-26T16:53:00.000-05:00Dude, that's not right.Dude, that's not right.Mimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11590214841424958129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-11992760133601977332007-02-26T10:28:00.000-05:002007-02-26T10:28:00.000-05:00Oh my! Hope things are okay.Oh my! Hope things are okay.Mystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-31018925876588790222007-02-26T10:03:00.000-05:002007-02-26T10:03:00.000-05:00Today my wife poured water into my computer, and s...Today my wife poured water into my computer, and smashed my monitor.<BR/><BR/>I don't think it's that complicated.<BR/><BR/>People react to whatever's in front of them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-63230034039723562122007-02-26T09:38:00.000-05:002007-02-26T09:38:00.000-05:00I couldn't agree more. In the real world, everyone...I couldn't agree more. In the real world, everyone's got a boss.<BR/><BR/>I just read a review in the New York Times of David Mamet's new book, "Bambi vs. Godzilla" in which Mamet cries out against the state of Hollywood today (found <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/books/review/Kirn.t.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>.)<BR/><BR/>"'The very vacuousness of these films is reassuring,' he writes, comparing them to the expensive weapons systems whose presence makes us feel secure in other ways. These filmed extravaganzas send the message that 'you are a member of a country, a part of a system capable of wasting $200 million on an hour and a half of garbage. You must be somebody.' Whatever the merits of Mamet’s assertion, his decision to write it down and publish it suggests another mechanism at work — the same one behind such exposés and satires as Budd Schulberg’s 'What Makes Sammy Run?', William Goldman’s 'Adventures in the Screen Trade' and countless similar books. A writer heads off to Hollywood, gets rich and then, with his career secure, avenges himself on his employers by charging them with abandoning art and truth (except, perhaps, in their decision to hire him, which we’re left to infer was their last enlightened act before they gave themselves over to full decline). The strength of the form is that such charges are almost always warranted, but its weakness derives from the complainant’s pretense that he’s leveling them out of shock and disappointment. Did he really not know what he was getting into?"<BR/><BR/>Exactly.<BR/><BR/>-MMMystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-66217716147562164222007-02-26T09:19:00.000-05:002007-02-26T09:19:00.000-05:00There's still always a hierarchy. Someone will, an...There's still always a hierarchy. <BR/><BR/>Someone will, and SHOULD, have the final determination.<BR/><BR/>And that's okay. <BR/><BR/>If you're a screenwriter, the goal is you realize you're delivering to others... while still retaining originality.<BR/><BR/>If you're a novelist, you're a God within a really small pantheon (which may not remember how to pronounce your name correctly without prompting.)<BR/><BR/>Take your poison.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-86205601319048999342007-02-25T18:25:00.000-05:002007-02-25T18:25:00.000-05:00I can't wait for the day they interview me before ...I can't wait for the day they interview me before the Acedemy Awards. :)<BR/><BR/>Articles like this one always make me think of the opening scene in "The Majestic". It's classic and I once had a meeting alost exactly like that.Carl Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07145297032733680067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-42387336845082845922007-02-25T17:17:00.000-05:002007-02-25T17:17:00.000-05:00"I think that the craft of dealing with the compro..."I think that the craft of dealing with the compromise should be in theory a joined effort between the director and the writer, always."<BR/><BR/>This is so great. This is what I'm discovering as I work with my director. It's not going to be HIS story or MY story. It's going to be OUR story.Mimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11590214841424958129noreply@blogger.com