Eagle Eye- March 28, 2008 draft script by John Glenn and Travis Wright, J. R. Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, J. J. Abrams, and Hillary Seitz. (Did I get them all? Sheesh.)
Economy Takes its Toll on Hollywood "Every single source of capital has suffered a seismic shock that we haven't seen in our lifetimes," said Nigel Sinclair, co-principal of film producer Spitfire Pictures. "That's going to lead to a broad squeeze throughout the studio system." The industry's woes are reflected in recent financial announcements. NBC Universal is cutting $500 million from its budget in 2009 and likely trimming staff. Viacom's third-quarter earnings dropped 37% as its cable networks saw an ad revenue dip in the U.S., and chairman Sumner Redstone and his holding firm National Amusements are under pressure from nervous creditors amid a global credit crunch and declining stock prices. Disney's recently announced quarterly earnings dropped 13% from last year, citing a sudden and significant decline in TV ad and theme parks trends. "Studios are taking a much harder look at the bottom line," said analyst Larry Gerbrandt of Media Valuation Partners in Beverly Hills. "When they contract, they contract across the board, and that includes production." For movies, the days of easy money are officially over.
Industrywide cutbacks hit holiday bashes Roger Ebert on Screenwriters Getting the Nobel Q: This is a theoretical question. Would you support an accomplished screenwriter being awarded the Nobel Prize for literature? Say, for example, Woody Allen? As film has become the dominant art form of our time, I've thought such an award would be justified. -- Sandy Bates, Ann Arbor, Mich. A: Absolutely. They give the prize to dramatists, after all. The first screenwriting Nobel should have gone to Ingmar Bergman. Allen would agree. I also advocate extending the Pulitzers to film. I proposed this in an op-ed in the New York Times, which was vociferously cheered by those who had absolutely nothing to do with the Pulitzers.
Berardinelli sounds off on MPAA Support the film. Tell your friends about it. Don't let Slumdog Millionaire fall into the category of an obscure art-house feature because its MPAA classification indicates it's not appropriate for anyone under the age of 17. That's bullshit.
Four WGA Staffers Arrested for Protesting American Idol Melissa Rosenberg to write next three Twilight sequels Interview with Twilight author, Stephenie Meyer MTV: Would you ever write a proper screenplay? Meyer: I don't think I could do that unless Hollywood is ready for a 14-hour experience. [Laughs.] I tried once to write a short story, and it was horrible. I don't think in short terms; I have to explore every tiny detail of things. I really admire people who can come in and streamline [a screenplay] and get all the information across, but simply, that's not my talent. I can't imagine doing that, although my ideas are very visual. I'd [need] a partner who knew how to do it.
Yes, girl, you would.
Interview with Twilight screenwriter, Melissa Rosenberg LL: Were there things you wrote that didn't make it in that you're anxious to see on the DVD? MR: You know it's funny, but not really. There were scenes when we started, when the screenplay was 110 to 115 pages, but for budget we cut it down so we'd have fewer production days. There were some scenes along the way that got cut where I was thinking "I can't do without that!" But then I saw the film and I had to be reminded that the scenes weren't there because I didn't really miss them. It's a fairly tight edit.
Joan Didion Writing Screenplay for Film about Katharine Graham HBO Films signed journalist Joan Didion for an untitled film project about the life of Watergate-era Washington Post publisher, Katharine Graham. If the projectgets off the ground, the company hopes to sign Laura Linney (who scored an Emmy for John Adams) to play Graham and Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer) to direct.
Motion Picture Academy Honors Screenwriting Talents The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored six screenwriting prospects at a prestigious dinner in L.A. Thursday night, and the man who wrote one of George Clooney's best-known flicks was the evening's keynote speaker! Frank Scott, the Oscar nominated scribe behind Clooney and J. Lo's 'Out of Sight,' spoke at the dinner honoring the six winners of the 23rd Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy. Movie legend Eva Marie Saint ('North by Northwest,' 'On the Waterfront') served as one of the competition's judges.
On the Centennial Collection of Sunset Blvd Smallville Scribes Hired to Ruin Live-Action Robotech Movie Warner Brothers has hired new screenwriters for their big screen live-action adaptation of Robotech. Smallville scribes Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have come on board to rewrite Lawrence Kasdan’s previous draft. This is not good news. Gough and Millar were the team behind The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Herbie Fully Loaded, Made Men, Showtime, and the Shanghai Noon franchise (you remember, the Jackie Chan/Owen Wilson western comedy films?). To be fair, they got a story credit on Spider-Man 2... And to think, Warner Bros gave those two guys the job of rewriting a script penned by the the screenwriting legend responsible for both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Empire Strikes Back. It’s mind-boggling.The Hollywood Reporterclaims that Warner Bros made the move in hopes that it will “bring action and geek cred to the table.”
Batman Sues Batman The mayor of the Turkish city of Batman has sued Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros., wanting royalties from the mega-successful The Dark Knight. Green Lantern, Nova Scotia was unavailable for comment.
Sopranos Continues to Sleep With the Fishes David Chase tells The L.A. Times he still has no plans for a movie version of the show, nor any desire to further explain the show's controversial ending.
McQuarrie Adapting Monster of Florence and The Champions Oscar winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie has picked up two more projects to work on next. He will adapt both Douglas Preston's bestsellerThe Monster of Florencewith producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (American Beauty, Milk) as well as The Champions, a British TV series from the late 1960s with Guillermo del Toro producing and writing as well. The Monster of Florencetells of a writer's experience investigating a heinous crime that had occurred years earlier on his property. The Championsfollowed the adventures of a team of secret government agents who are rescued from a Himalayan plane crash by an advanced civilization and given superhuman abilities. Both sound like very interesting ideas and I'm glad to see McQuarrie writing again after winning that Oscar for The Usual Suspects in 1996.
Screenwriting Course Kit transports afterschool programs to Hollywood The Silver Screen fantasies that nearly every 'tween' and young teen harbors will undoubtedly come to life with the newest product from a highly regarded producer of classroom-ready educational materials for afterschool programs and schools. Being a Screenwriter: Generating Ideas for a Screenplay, the latest Course Kit from Community Learning LLC, delivers a full dose of movie magic for students in grades 6 through 8, according to Michael DeBritz, founder and president of the Scotia, New York-based firm. "Students discover through Being a Screenwriter just how much fun writing can be," DeBritz said.
Plus, I do love a cute writer Julie James jokes that after she stops writing for the night, she envisions her characters frozen and waiting for her to return to the story. She says it's almost like they're saying, "Julie, you've got to get back to us. What's going on next?" James likes the idea of "creating this story that kind of starts in your head and then all of a sudden you have these characters who become very much like real people, and it just seems like it's something that you have to get out onto the page."
David O. Russell to tackle The Grackle As a change of pace, Russell didn’t write the screenplay for the movie. The script was written by a pair of first time writers named Mike Arnold and Chris Poole. Normally, I would be concerned about a writer as brilliant as Russell directing someone else’s script, but this screenplay apparently caused a huge bidding war when it was completed two years ago. So, there must be something to make the script stand out from the pack…
Hey Mike Arnold and Chris Poole – You better learn how to fight. In case you’ve forgotten, O. Russell has been in a fistfight with Clooney and was notorious for his tantrums during Huckabees…
Hehehe…
A super battle over Watchmen It's taken more than 20 years and any number of false starts to bring Watchmen this far along: Forsaken film adaptations include versions from directors Terry Gilliam (Brazil), Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) and screenwriter David Hayter (X-Men), with countless script revisions along the way. Joaquin Phoenix was once considered for Crudup's starring part as Dr. Manhattan, the all-powerful but tortured soul at the center of the Watchmen story. Early screenplay costs and abandoned preproduction fees total close to $10 million, and no fewer than four studios have worked on the movie over the decades, including 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount and Universal.
Steve Urkel Becomes a Screenwriter! The Hollywood Reporterposts that White has written a romantic comedy called Did You Get My Text, which Joel Zwick (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) will direct. The film follows a young man who somehow "starts a relationship with a girl on his friend's phone, turning their courtship into a comedy of technological errors." Just how does that happen, anyway? And by comedy of errors, I imagine that means this poor girl finally thinks the young man's friend is into her? Oh dear. Right now, there's no word on cast, but we'll probably hear more about the players soon enough.
Above is a happy vid, a tribute to the gorgeous Jean Seberg who, on November 13, would have turned 70. Below’s from an article.
Fans of old-time flicks recall Seberg as the beautiful yet unpredictable presence in such diverse productions as The Mouse That Roared, Lilith, Paint Your Wagon and Airport. And those devoted to stories of Hollywood tragedies will recall the horrendous FBI smear campaign against Seberg that resulted in her having miscarriage that ultimately wrecked her physical and emotional health (she committed suicide in 1979). Filmmaker Garry McGee’s new biographyJean Seberg – Breathless(published by BearManor Media) presents a complex and often tragic portrait of an extraordinary woman whose great talent, intelligence and sincerity was never truly appreciated in her lifetime. Film Threat discussed the Seberg mystique with McGee...
Rushdie and Mehta bringing it back home for movie Canadian director Deepa Mehta is collaborating with Salman Rushdie on a big-screen adaptation of the author's 1981 historical novel "Midnight's Children."
John Milius’ bold prediction This week in San Bernardino, CA, Oscar nominated screenwriter John Milius made a bold prediction while speaking to students at the local Cal State campus. And that is that his current screenplay in progress, about the life of famed conqueror Genghis Khan, will be the best of his long career.
Mendes: Preacher movie has no script Sam Mendes has revealed that his big screen adaptation of comic book series Preacher has no script. The American Beauty director refutedreportsthat the project is well underway, telling Empire: "Basically, they should have written, 'Mendes in development with Preacher'. "What I'm doing is, I've got to find a script. I've just got to get it written."
Peter Morgan profile He considered bungee jumping and mountain climbing, he said not long ago from his home in London. But he chose something even riskier. He wrote a play about the landmark 1977 television interviews that David Frost conducted with Richard M. Nixon. Relying on the accounts of participants and fictionalizing here and there for effect, he made sure to write it, he said, “in a way that breaks every single rule of screenwriting.”
who weaves magic for everyone in showbiz from hopeful actors and writers to animal trainers and gate guards, who allows the most magnificent films to be born out of the most nightmarish productions, who turns ordinary moments into serendipitous ones, often propelling careers at the same time…
Oh great film goddess, Pelicula, we come to you today with humble hearts in this very dark period of cinema history… We beg for your wisdom to see beyond the shortsighted gurus, the endurance to combat all the formula freaks of the world, and the patience to sit with the most ignorant of producers and studio executives.
We need your wisdom now more than ever, as we walk through the valley of the shadow of Hollywood horseshit.
We ask all these things in your honor, and everyone said:
‘AMEN.’”
Friends, open up the Good Book of Screenwriting and turn with me now to the Gospel of Mystery, chapter 3, verse 16:
“And thus saith MM: ‘CHARACTER COMES FIRST!’”
Did you get that? Let me read it once more:
“And thus saith MM: ‘CHARACTER COMES FIRST!’”
Paul Haggis told the world prior to the release of Quantum of Solace to expect a very minimalistic James Bond. And thus, he provided the very reason we are feeling disappointment today – the delineation of character. What did we just read? “CHARACTER COMES FIRST!”
Consider the words of the critics. What did Ebert say? “James Bond is not an action hero! Leave the action to your Jason Bournes. This is a swampy old world. The deeper we sink in, the more we need James Bond to stand above it.” How aboutA.O. Scott of the New York Times? “That one, called Camille, is played by Olga Kurylenko, whose specialty seems to be appearing in action pictures as the pouty, sexy sidekick of a brooding, vengeful hero. Not only Daniel Craig’s Bond, but also Mark Wahlberg’s Max Payne and Timothy Olyphant’s Hitman. James Bond is a much livelier character than either of those mopey video-game ciphers, but he shares with them the astonishing ability to resist, indeed to ignore, Ms. Kurylenko’s physical charms… [While] there is certainly impressive depth and subtlety in Mr. Craig’s wounded, whispery menace — it also makes him harder to distinguish from every other grieving, seething avenger at the multiplex. Which is to say just about every one.” What are these critics telling us?
CHARACTER COMES FIRST!
Can I get an “amen” out there?
“AMEN!”
What makes us love James Bond movies? Is it the action?
“No!”
Oh, please. Give me a “Hell, no!”
“HELL, NO!”
Is it the girls, perhaps?
“HELL, NO!”
How about the pretty locations?
“HELL, NO!”
The gadgets, right? I know some of you feel gadget-envy…
“HELL, NO!”
All right, what is it? I give up.
“JAMES BOND!”
I’m sorry. I can’t hear you.
“JAMES BOND!”
Ohhh, so you want to see those films because of CHARACTER…
“AMEN!”
Hehehe…
Let’s say the devil comes knocking on your door (looking suspiciously like Robert McKee) and he says “I have a suggestion – write a minimalistic James Bond...” What are you going to tell him?
“HELL, NO!”
What did you say?
“HELL, NO!”
What did Scott Frank tell William Goldman about characters? “Character is everything… Character is what makes us give a shit. Don’t you think?” Yes, I do! And what's that verse in Mystery 3:16?
“CHARACTER COMES FIRST!”
Let’s talk villains. There is nothing worse than a WEAK ANTAGONIST, am I wrong? What did Hitchcock sayabout villains? “The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.” So when it comes to the art of creating villains, what's the rule again?
“CHARACTER COMES FIRST!”
What did you say?
“CHARACTER COMES FIRST!”
Hehehe…
And now, my friends, it is time to turn your hearts over to the gospel of characters. Choir, I want you to sing “Amazing Characters.” Members of the screenwriting congregation, I want you to come foreward to the alter of characters, confess your sins, and repent…
"Amazing Characters, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretched-screenwriter like me... I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see…”
That’s right… Come on up here…
All you aspiring screenwriters out there, get off your blessed assurances right-fucking-now and come to screenwriting’s precious altar and give your hearts over to characters…
“T'was Characters that taught… my heart to fear. And Characters, my fears relieved. How precious did that Character appear... the hour I first believed…
All you supposed “pros” out there, do you think you’re so special? Get up here and repent right now, dammit!
That means you Paul Haggis! Think you’re above the law of characters because you got a little gold statue for Crash? Don’t ever “minimalize” James Bond or any other character again! You have sinned and fallen short of the glory of screenwriting! Get up here and repent!
Through many dangers, toils and snares... we have already come. T'was Characters that brought us safe thus far... and Characters will lead us home.
Those of you who adapted video games this year, turn your hearts over to characters! Skip Woods, where are you? Get up here for writing Hitman! You failed to learn from Swordfish. Beau Michael Thorne, I know you’re out there. Confess before Pelicula today your sins for all the shitty characters in Max Payne!
Characters have promised good to me... Their word my hope secures. They will my shield and portion be... as long as films endures…
Lawrence Kasdan, you need to find peace over the disaster that was Dreamcatcher and promise you will never fail characters again as you did with your Clash of the Titans script… Akiva Goldsman, why are you looking so smug? You ought to repent for every Batman script you ever wrote… and for putting exposition above characters in The Da Vinci Code. Repent, you bastard writer, repent! David Koepp, get your pompous little ass up here. That’s right! Get on your knees, mother fucker, for the travesty that was Indy IV…
When we've been here one hundred years... bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing Characters’ praise... then when we've first begun.
Woody Allen, where are you? The voice over in Vicky Cristina Barcelona delineated your characters! Get up here and repent! J. Michael Straczynski, you cared more about moral injustice and historical accuracy than you did the character of Christine Collins! Repent! M. Night Shymalan, you are not God! You are a sinner! Pray for forgiveness for Lady in the Water and The Happening! That means you, too, George Lucas, you failed all of your characters in Star Wars with those damn prequels… You failed Indiana Jones, too! Embrace the gospel of characters or find yourself in movie purgatory!
Why am I singling people out? The entire industry needs to beg for forgiveness! That’s right! Not just writers but producers, too! You people approved those scripts! What the hell were you thinking? Get up here! Everyone, and I mean everyone, ON YOUR KNEES NOW! REPENT TODAY! Cry out to Pelicula, “I have sinned and lost sight of my characters! I failed to listen to my characters… I cared more about action than arcs... I imposed my own personal agenda ahead of the goals of my characters… I admit, I failed them… I hereby place my faith and trust in characters… I will never turn back…”
"Amazing Characters, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretched-screenwriter like me.... I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see…”
A new Bond film always generates some hilarious articles, and I thought I’d share a few today that may be of interest:
A History of the Bond Villain For the producers… the challenge has been to cast these villains astutely. They had to have charisma and seem plausibly evil. If they were too restrained, they risked appearing dull. If they were too extravagant in their villainy, they could teeter on the edge of kitsch.
When 007 Was Off-Target THE RAPE OF PUSSY GALORE - Look, we know gender politics isn’t Bond’s finest point, but forcing yourself on a woman like this in the hay was surely unacceptable even in the 1964 of Goldfinger?
13 fictional spies made possible by James Bond 7. Sydney Bristow Alias has all sorts of hip modern elements, as one might expect from its impish creator, J.J. Abrams. There's the tortured family drama, the betrayal of trust, the divided loyalties, the suppressed romantic yearnings, and the mysterious Italian prophet/inventor. Yeah, yeah. The real appeal of the show, and its ass-kicking, name-taking heroine, Sydney Bristow, is that she's James Bond for the Lost generation. The parallels are so obvious, they're painful: the mildly disapproving head man, the mildly incomprehensible gadget man, the shadowy enemy organization with impenetrable goals, the international jet-setting, the barely maintained disguises, the elaborate pre-credit action sequences: the whole show simply screams "Bond." Jennifer Garner spent a little more time crying than 007 ever did, but at least Anna Espinosa was easier on the eye than Jaws.
Cheesiest Lines from Bond Films M: “Moneypenny, where’s 007?” Monneypenny: “He’s on a mission sir. In Austria.” M: “Well, tell him to pull out. Immediately.”
Six thrillers with unusually anguished heroes The Naked Spur (1953): Think Jimmy Stewart’s all roses and sunshine? For five Westerns with director Anthony Mann, the definitive nice guy played an asshole, most memorably in this ensemble thriller as a manic bastard consumed to his very core by greed and insecurity.
5 Bond Girls Who Died After Wearing a Bikini The Amnesiac Bond I've been revisiting the Sean Connery Bonds lately, on widescreen projection, where the immaculate detail and lush photography of airports, country roads, mosques, and Ealing Studio interiors come alive. But what I am really noticing is the full greatness of Connery's multi-leveled performances.
Ebert’s 2-star review! OK, I'll say it. Never again. Don't ever let this happen again to James Bond. Quantum of Solace is his 22nd film and he will survive it, but for the 23rd it is necessary to go back to the drawing board and redesign from the ground up. Please understand: James Bond is not an action hero! He is too good for that. He is an attitude. Violence for him is an annoyance. He exists for the foreplay and the cigarette. He rarely encounters a truly evil villain. More often a comic opera buffoon with hired goons in matching jump suits… This Bond, he doesn't bring much to the party. Daniel Craig can play suave and he can be funny and Brits are born doing double entendres. Craig is a fine actor. Here they lock him down. I repeat: James Bond is not an action hero! Leave the action to your Jason Bournes. This is a swampy old world. The deeper we sink in, the more we need James Bond to stand above it.
From James Berardinelli Sadly, there's something a little hollow about the proceedings. There's no real catharsis. In fact, the whole thing doesn't feel like a complete movie, or at least not a complete Bond movie. While there are plenty of nods to previous Bond outings (such as the Goldfinger-inspired human artwork), the missing staples leave unfilled holes. For example, there is no utterance of "Bond. James Bond." There are none of the verbal puns and one-liners we have come to relish. There's no bloody iris at the beginning. Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme" is relegated to subtle cues in David Arnold's largely generic score. At least one of the Bond girls has a typically outrageous name: Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) - but you have to sit through the credits to learn that; in the movie, she's simply called "Fields."
The film's biggest problem is its director. Marc Forster is an experienced art house filmmaker with impressive credits (most recently, The Kite Runner), but he is clueless when it comes to action sequences. His approach seems to be to shake the camera as much as possible and, to further obscure what's going on, to allow no cut to last more than about a half-second. Most of the action scenes, including a car chase, a boat chase, and a couple of fights, are so incoherent that it's necessary to wait until they're over to figure out who's still standing. (The plane chase is a little better, but not much.) We've seen this technique before, but never with Bond. And, to be frank, it's not something I ever want to see again in a 007 movie. Forster seems to have taken the phrase "shaken not stirred" too literally, applying it to every scene with a pulse.
As the film's chief nemesis, Mathieu Amalric is about as weak as one could imagine. Greene is neither frightening nor intimidating. Amalric, an excellent actor, is entirely defeated by the role - although, in fairness to him, he's not aided by the writing. Olga Kurylenko is a perfect Bond girl - sexy, capable, and bound to Bond by ties that have nothing to do with love. She's got a lot of screen presence and meshes well with Craig. Giancarlo Giannini shows up again as Mathis, although his character is treated even more shabbily here than in Casino Royale, as difficult as that may be to believe.
Derek Elley at Variety Though references to Bond's late love, Vesper Lynd, pepper the script, and his desire for revenge provides an explanation for the plot whizzing around the world every few reels, the script by "Royale" writers Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (with Haggis taking a more senior role this time) never tackles Bond's grief head-on or gives him any meaningful dialogue as he aims for closure.
Duncan Shepherd at San Diego Valley Reader The totality perhaps meets the fundamental requirements of action and pace, hurtling forward with only the briefest of pauses and coming in at a tidy hour and three-quarters, the shortest Bond film, if I’m not mistaken, in the entire series. As a likely result of that, it can seldom make time for the preparation that would give the action scenes sense and import. They are little more than turbulence. And the underlying split personality still remains: Why bother to infuse the Bond character with a greater air of reality if he’s going to continue to be allowed the acrobatics of a Jackie Chan? Surely our rougher and tougher superspy wouldn’t want us snorting in derision, or even chortling in delight, when he’s busy exacting payment for the snuffed-out life of his beloved. James Bond appears to be turning little by little into Jason Bourne. It’s not a step up.
Quantum Creep How fascinating is it that 2008’s two most inconsolable, borderline psychotic movie heroes are Batman and James Bond...? But what lingers after Quantum of Solace, besides the urge to whack the director over the head with a rolled-up newspaper, is the sheer pitilessness of its outlook. As in The Dark Knight, there’s a deeply dismaying sense of a world without rules and nobody looking out for us save for that damaged, sadistic maniac who’s ostensibly the hero… Our childhood idols grew up and got mean.
-------------------------------
Plus, a scene.
What were your thoughts about the screenwriting in Quantum?
Okay, I was tagged by theAnonymous Production Assistantto list Top 10 Halloween film selections. I’m afraid my list would be terribly clichéd, filled with such obvious greats as Aliens, Alien, Terminator II, Silence of the Lambs, The Exorcist, Psycho, Vertigo, Jaws, Poltergeist, The Fly, Misery, Se7en, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Halloween. I’d also offer a few classics, like the silent, German expressionistic landmark, Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari (in other words The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), Nosferatu, M, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, King Kong, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Freaks, Island of Lost Souls, The Invisible Man, Cat People, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, Rosemary’s Baby, and a few others like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Carrie, and Ghostbusters.
That’s, like, a couple more than 10.
I will confess that I get sucked into films with seemingly impenetrable mysteries. I’ve already written extensively about Eyes Wide Shut. Here are two more with some interesting analysis…
-----------------------------
Mulholland Drive
I readEbert’s 4-star reviewbefore seeing this film and he gave the first tantalizing clue: “There have been countless dream sequences in the movies, almost all of them conceived with Freudian literalism to show the characters having nightmares about the plot. Mulholland Drive is all dream. There is nothing that is intended to be a waking moment. Like real dreams, it does not explain, does not complete its sequences, lingers over what it finds fascinating, dismisses unpromising plotlines. If you want an explanation for the last half hour of the film, think of it as the dreamer rising slowly to consciousness, as threads from the dream fight for space with recent memories from real life, and with fragments of other dreams--old ones and those still in development.”
There is also an article at Salon called Everything you were afraid to ask about Mulholland Drive. I have nothing new to add to the analysis that isn’t already exhaustively explored in this fabulous piece put together by Bill Wyman, Max Garrone and Andy Klein. Here’s a taste:
What the fuck is going on in this movie?
Well, it seems that Diane had her girlfriend murdered. Then, in a masturbatory fantasy cum fever dream in the moments before she commits suicide, she reimagines her ruined career and failed relationship with the woman she loves.
The dream begins with Camilla/Rita miraculously escaping the hit Diane had taken out on her. From there, Diane, a product of Hollywood, imagines the story in cinematic fashion: She sees herself as the naive wannabe starlet Betty, who succeeds on sheer talent and solves whatever problems are thrown her way. She even gets the girl!
Thematically, Lynch seems to be working out a number of things: the enticing but empty imagery of the movie screen; the accompanying imagery that is used as stardust to cover up the unpleasantries of the movie-making process; the imagery that the ambitious use to reimagine and remake themselves; and the imagery and imagination actors put to work to create their characters.
The vast majority of Donnie Darko takes place in a parallel universe. From the moment the clock in the Darko house strikes midnight, 10 minutes into the film, right up to Donnie's hysterical laughter in bed, the setting of the film is Tangent Middlesex, a parallel dimension, spontaneously created, which exists only during the 28 days that cover the majority of the film's action. The through-line of the film is Donnie Darko's quest to erase the Tangent Universe before it destroys the world.
To understand what actually occurs in Donnie Darko, it helps to have read "The Philosophy of Time Travel," by Roberta Sparrow. This is difficult in that the book is an imaginary one, written by a fictional character. Luckily, much of the book's text is included on the film's Web site and DVD and is now incorporated into the director's cut.
"The Philosophy of Time Travel" explains that time, while usually stable, will occasionally become corrupted for reasons unknown to all. When this happens, a Tangent Universe is created -- an alternate reality parallel to the primary universe in which we all live. "If a Tangent Universe occurs," Sparrow writes, "it will be highly unstable, sustaining itself for no longer than several weeks. Eventually it will collapse upon itself, forming a black hole within the Primary Universe capable of destroying all existence." During that collapse, a time-space vortex will form that leads back to the birth of the Tangent Universe.
You can actually read the pages from “The Philosophy of Time Travel”at the Cellar Door, which also offers Donnie's poem, the “Dear Roberta Sparrow”letter, and other Darko goodies.
The first dialog scene in the movie begins with an attempt to provoke political sparks at the family dinner table (first line: "I'm voting for Dukakis," stated as a challenge to her parents by Donnie's older sister). And from there it switches into an exchange of obscene insults between Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his sister Elizabeth (played by the lead actor's real-life sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal). (Aside: on the original DVD commentary, director Richard Kelly remarks how special it was to have Jake's real-life sister in the role. Why? He doesn't say. But it does add a little extra-forbidden sexual tension to the film.) Elizabeth, enraged at a crude childbirth reference Donnie has made in front of their younger sister, calls him a dick and tells him to "Go suck a f---k!" Donnie sarcastically replies, "Please tell me, Elizabeth, how exactly does one suck a f---k?" She sees his bet and raises: "You want me to tell you?" Donnie cups his hands to his ears and silently mouths, "I'm all ears!"
The primary motifs of the movie are laid out in this first scene, and the sexual back-and-forth between brother and sister is freighted with a peculiar tension that goes deeper than just typical family tiffs and teenage foul language. We soon learn that Elizabeth has stayed home from college for a year to be with her boyfriend Frank. (We don't know it at first, but we see Frank's red sports car zooming past Donnie in the opening sequence.) Later that night, Donnie has a vision of a rather tall, erect rabbit named Frank -- or, rather, a person in a fuzzy bunny suit with a grotesquely contorted metallic mask over his head.
So, the question arises: Why a bunny? (and you thought maybe the question was "Why a duck?") Throughout the movie, sweet little bunnies and other stuffed animals are associated with childhood, and specifically with Elizabeth when she (and Donnie) were little. In one scene we see Donnie lying on the couch (where he sleeps after his bedroom has been squashed) in front of a framed photograph of a little girl -- Elizabeth -- and a bunny. In the last scene between Donnie and his sister, he comes into the house to find her sleeping in a chair, and a stuffed bunny just to the right of the frame.
There are other bunnies and stuffed animals (and Smurfs and cartoon rabbits from "Watership Down" in the deleted scenes and "Director's Cut") throughout the movie. But the big one is, of course, Frank. Donnie knows his sister isn't just sleeping with her cuddly stuffed bunny anymore -- she's sleeping with a full-sized and (relatively) hairy man. That Frank has the body of a stuffed animal and the head of a vicious metallic animal seems to be an indication of Donnie's mixed-up feelings toward him (fear, arousal, rage, respect, envy), as the male who's bedding his sister. The only time bunnyman Frank appears in front of another waking person is when Donnie is under hypnosis with his therapist (in which he reverts to a childlike way of speaking, much as he does when sleepwalking), and Donnie is clutching a stuffed animal -- a doggie with big floppy ears this time -- like a child.
For Donnie, the idea of attributing sexual characteristics to childish things -- say, asexual kiddie cartoon characters (like a slutty Smurfette, about whom his friends enjoy spinning pornographic fantasies) is particularly infuriating. And yet, he concludes his let's-set-the-record-straight outburst about the Smurfs on a melancholy note: "They don't even have any reproductive organs underneath those little white pants. That's what's so illogical about, y' know, being a Smurf. What's the point of living if you don't have a dick?" The innocent sexuality (or asexuality) of his childhood is giving way to a more complicated post-pubescent incarnation, fraught with moral questions for Donnie.
Frank is a manifestation of that ambivalent aspect of Donnie's own erupting id, his stifled/frustrated hormonal urges, his feelings of being trapped in his own body and his own brain between childhood and the full-blown sexuality he so desires but knows he can't act on (with Elizabeth, anyway). How appropriate that he's attending Middlesex High School; when it comes to sex, he's stuck in the middle. When Donnie taunts Elizabeth about how to "suck a f---k" while miming that he's "all ears" -- well, whether he knows it or not, he's conjuring up a prescient image of Frankenbunny, whom he no doubt imagines engaging in all kinds of polymorphously perverse activities with his sister.
I hate to follow-up so quickly with my previous post, but I finally saw Rachel Getting Married and wanted to get all of my random thoughts down while this film’s still fresh on my mind.
Rachel is such a contrast to Changeling. Where Straczynski seemed to be more interested in historical accuracy, Jenny Lumet has the heart of a dramatist. Her characters come first. While Straczynski’s characters seemed cold and aloof at times, Lumet’s characters just burst to life and they’re so true and vivid (and full of needs and deception).
In fact, here’s a scene from the very beginning when Kym is picked up from rehab by her father and step-mother.
It’s interesting to note that Jenny Lumet wrote an unsympathetic protagonist in Kym (Anne Hathaway). There’s no other way to describe her. She’s a tornado of emotions and drama, and she’s not exactly likeable. But this kind of character is certainly recognizable to us. We know people like her, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’d want to move in with her. This is not sympathy with a goal but rather a character with depth going through a tough transition in her life. Is there anything wrong with that? I don’t think so. In fact, this reminds me of Away From Her, another film I loved and wrote about.
But Rachel works, because Kym, with all of her faults, is surrounded by a range of sympathetic characters trying to cope with this difficult situation and we can relate to that. (This kind of story design is not new. I’m reminded of Mozart and his Diabolical Don G.) Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have all this drama surrounding a wedding, an occasion which evokes in and of itself the happiest feelings of love. But I’ve always believed that we are more satisfied bydepthin protags than flat sympathy with a goal. Consider the opening fifteen minutes of Rachel and all the ways Lumet aims to show depth in Kym. We are given so many sides to her character – anticipation, anxiety, strength, weakness, rebellion, obedience, fear, courage, love, hate, tension, relief, and probably a dozen other emotions I failed to mention. That’s great stuff. That keeps you watching (and entertained).
Of course, Kym can be quite grating at times. She is self-centered. She is a drama queen. She may even be bi-polar. But Lumet’s point seems to be more about making us understand the sources of pain, which has a great social value. It’s so easy to hate people who are mean-spirited and selfish and think of them in inhuman terms like “freak” and reject them. But with Lumet, she helps us to understand and there’s value in that. There are no easy resolutions to these kinds of problems and once the wedding is over, the film thankfully, didn’t dip into so many clichés. There’s no closure. You know that Kym’s trials and tribulations will not end with her sister's wedding, and that’s true to life. Isn’t drama supposed to be about holding a mirror up to life?
I also want to mention that I admired the way Lumet kept the conflicts interesting. When two characters are going at it and the argument almost feels like it’s going on too long, Lumet reveals something new to keep the plot progressing forward. Nothing’s ever quite what it seems. That’s a good dramatist. I loved that about Jenny’s writing and would love to see more of her work.
Any criticisms? Yeah, a few. I don’t think the scenes between Kym and her mom really worked. That was the only time the conflicts felt forced and a bit contrived. The ending to the dishwasher showdown seemed forced to me. The ending (and who Kym leaves with) came out of nowhere to me and I’m not sure was the best choice. I’m also not quite sure how the multi-cultural wedding supported the theme or Kym’s story. If anything, there were too many scenes of celebration and partying to the detriment of story. While these are minor complaints and I love the film, I’m not sure it’s worthy of an Oscar.
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