http://www.theparallaxreview.com/ en Copyright 2011 Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Public Enemies’ creative failure such a travesty is that the Midwest gangsters of the 1930s have been on Mann’s mind for at least twenty years. On January 16, 1990, he submitted a revised draft of a screenplay called Public Enemy. This script draws from history, combining real historical figures with a fictitious composite for a protagonist. Among other things, this allows Mann to play even looser with historical reality, since he doesn’t have to commit to any by-the-numbers recreations of famous moments anyone with a passing interest in crime history already knows.]]> http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/public_enemies.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/public_enemies.html Script to Screen Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0600 Cirque du Freak books, you’re probably not alone. When I got the script, it simply had a title and Brian Helgeland’s name. I didn’t know it was an adaptation and a potential franchise-starter until long after I read it. I only knew that the script was the longest first act I’d ever read — all setup, no payoff.]]> http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/cirque_du_freak_the_vampires_assistant.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/cirque_du_freak_the_vampires_assistant.html Columns Script to Screen Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0600 Law Abiding Citizen. (The script for the upcoming Kane & Lynch movie, ironically also to be directed by F. Gary Gray and costarring Jamie Foxx, is a close second.) I’ve read worse scripts — scripts that don’t even work on a conceptual level — but here’s a script with noble intentions, a solid premise, and some of the dumbest writing ever featured in a major motion picture (this includes the Star Wars prequels). It’s the sort of script where a scene starts with Benson Clyde (changed to Clyde Shelton in the film, played by Gerard Butler) saying, “You don’t have any evidence, so you have to let me go,” and ends with him saying, “Even though you still don’t have any evidence, I’ll confess.” Stupider than that: None of the high-powered prosecutors listening to him consider that logic-impaired 180-degree turn suspicious.]]> http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/law_abiding_citizen.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/law_abiding_citizen.html Columns Script to Screen Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0600 Dreamcatcher). The script has a lot of characters and subplots to balance, but Cross does an expert job of keeping all the plates in the air while driving the narrative to a satisfying conclusion.]]> http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/whip_it.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/whip_it.html Columns Script to Screen Mon, 22 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0600 is true that good scripts are turned into bad films with much more frequency than the opposite. Stone ranks high among the worst scripts I’ve ever read (and I’ve read I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell and the direct-to-DVD sequel to 30 Days of Night), but it piqued my curiosity. The draft I read has Edward Norton’s name on it, and he’s usually something of a quality magnet. Even when he’s in a bad film, it’s usually an ambitious misfire rather than an out-and-out bomb. So why would he not only attach himself to a script this bad but actively take part in rewriting it?]]> http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/stone_sts.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/stone_sts.html Columns Script to Screen Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0600 The Box annoyed me when I read it last year. Those of you who have seen the movie — and hopefully that’s all of you, since this article will be loaded with spoilers — will know exactly what I’m talking about: No Exit, Jean-Paul Sartre’s existential play that’s either about a ménage à trois gone horribly awry, or purgatory. In the finished film, Norma (Cameron Diaz) is shown teaching this to a class and having some sort of indistinct involvement in a school production of a play. It’s shifted much more to the background in the film than in the screenplay, which introduces it in the most random possible way and then turns it into the lynchpin of the entire story.]]> http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/the_box_sts.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/the_box_sts.html Columns Script to Screen Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/sorority_row.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/sorority_row.html Columns Script to Screen Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0600 liked the movie. It’s a testament to the script itself, the cast, and director Steve Pink that the movie works despite the occasional super-cheap gag. In many ways, I think I actually prefer it to the script.]]> http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/hot_tub_time_machine.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/hot_tub_time_machine.html Columns Script to Screen Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0600 The script takes its time establishing the world and the characters before descending into an orgy of well-written, deeply satisfying violence. While on the run from Carnegie, Eli and Solara develop a sweet, father-daughter relationship. The writers wisely keep this far, far away from anything romantic, a refreshing change of pace. http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/the_book_of_eli.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/the_book_of_eli.html Columns Script to Screen Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0600 A Single Man in 2008, I hated it. I generally react to scripts I dislike with a mixture of disappointment and indifference. It’s very rare that something’s so bland and devoid of apparent meaning that I actively hate it. A Single Man managed to accomplish that difficult feat.]]> http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/a_single_man.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/a_single_man.html Columns Script to Screen Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:00:05 -0600 Killers can be traced to the title change: from the fairly specific (or, at least, enigmatically intriguing) Five Killers to the generic, not-at-all-compelling Killers. On the page, Five Killers spins an entertaining, occasionally thrilling tale that blends Mission: Impossible-esque espionage with good-natured romantic comedy. On the screen, it seems the filmmakers decided to scale way back on the espionage in favor of the romantic comedy angle. The result is uneven, to put it mildly.]]> http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/killers.html http://www.theparallaxreview.com/columns/script_to_screen/killers.html Columns Script to Screen Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:00:02 -0600