Garland has shown time and again a knack for engaging and smart stories as
the writer of films like The Beach, 28 Days Later, and Dredd, and Annihilation is a perfect fit for his sensibilities.
If I were
the writer of a film like this, I would have made it a comedy and the cop would be completely outrageous and over the top.
Not exact matches
Although the
films Alibaba Pictures Group has invested in
like So Young (by actress - turned director Zhao Wei, who is also a major shareholder
of the company) and Tiny Times (by popular
writer Guo Jingming) have recorded remarkable box - office revenues, the company has yet to turn a profit, with a net loss
of HK$ 443.54 million for the first half
of last year.
I find it fascinating when
writers and directors and even producers
of films about real people in the Bible read into what the people were
like and how they fill in the gaps
of the dialog, some I
like, others I disagree with, but it allows me to put flesh and blood on their bones.
If you
liked the give - and - take between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in the 1940
film His Girl Friday, you'd cotton to life around the Lido Beach, N.Y. home
of SI reporter Sandy Keenan and her husband, Mike Winerip, a
writer for The New York Times.
Let's get together a coalition
of those talents — brand strategists, media planners, digital gurus, copy
writers and
film makers — to figure out what this campaign should look
like.
On the one hand, emotional manipulation has always been at the heart
of our cultural artefacts; in fact, we have always lauded the best artists,
writers,
film - makers, composers and the
like for their seamless skills in moving us and enlarging our horizons.
The
film, which hits theaters February 16, is a modern twist on a romantic comedy (boy and girl meet, fall in love, but then break up, and are suddenly reunited, ending up in that awkward stage where they have to debate whether to wave hello while taking out the trash), but it's also a particularly female spin on the coming
of age story, the
likes of which we're only beginning to see onscreen as more women carve out a place for themselves in
writer's rooms and director's chairs.
Agee would continue appearing on screen in
films like Super, and found success for a number
of years as a
writer on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The second ending feels
like the
film had realised it had nothing to say, and so the
writers threw in a bunch
of vaguely existential dialogue to compensate.
A prime example
of how Hollywood reflected the changing political climate: When Lewis Milestone's
film was made, the Soviet Union was an ally but after WWII some
of its makers removed their name, while others
like writer Lilian Hellman were blacklisted.
However, the
film lacks a solid and straight - to - the - point conclusion, and instead gets glued to a vague ending that would make the
writers look
like they ran out
of good - enough ideas.
Much
like the kids in this movie who come
of age, so too does Robert Kirbyson's skill as a
writer - director in his debut
film Snowmen.
Like many first - time
writer - directors, she packs five
films» worth
of drama, crises and revelations into one, and often lapses into sitcom triteness.
Combine that with the fact that the
film comes from
writer / director Jonathan Kasdan, son
of iconic Raiders
of the Lost Ark and Empire Strikes Back screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and this sounds
like the kind
of film that truly takes off after Sundance.
And while that seemed
like a fault, the
writers (Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) and directors (Joe and Anthony Russo)
of the
film logically explained why killing a character off would take away from the «tension».
Writer - director Roland Joffé has built a career on narratives
of white men in foreign territories, with
films like The Killing Fields, The Mission, and City
of Joy being notable (and tiresome) examples
of a distinctly middlebrow breed
of the historical drama that locates subaltern longing through an imperialist lens.
Directed by Chris Sanders (the filmmaker behind «How to Train Your Dragon» and the illustrator who created «Lilo & Stitch «-RRB- and Kirk DeMicco (
writer of «Space Chimps» and the upcoming «Hong Kong Phooey» adaptation), one can only assume that if the
film takes off
like they hope, franchise is in the cards (and when isn't it for the lucrative field
of animation?).
Yet the horrific circumstances
of his chemical castration and the very real realities
of his life as a gay man are sidestepped by the faux thriller set - up
of the
film, a device that conveniently allows a heterosexual
writer like Moore (who's Oscar acceptance speech granted us insight into how his version
of Turing lacks any on - screen interiority as a gay man) to touch upon the subject as a clichéd trope.
His latest movie, Baby Driver, is the
writer / director's love letter to the great car chase
films from the
likes of Walter Hill (The Driver), William Friedkin (The French Connection) and George Miller (Mad Max), all driven by a non-stop soundtrack that features both popular and obscure tracks
of such diverse genres as rock»n' roll, punk, soul and hip hop.
Like Edmund Halley, who died just a couple
of years before seeing his prediction come true about the date when the comet bearing his name would return, the sad note about the
film is that Rad (listed as director, producer,
writer, editor, composer, production designer and set decorator) died in 2007 before he saw it gain new life.
The
Writers Guild
of America's nominations for 2014
films have given us a largely predictable set
of choices, based on the previously reported ineligibility
of major contenders
like Selma, The Theory
of Everything and Mr. Turner.
While I do
like to give most
of the credit to Green for writing something this amazing, it does need to be said that these
writers worked hard to adapt the story and not leave out anything that took away from fans
of the book being able to enjoy the
film.
He hasn't exactly shaken up his approach since 1988's «Damnation» (that said, this
writer — probably
like most — isn't familiar with his crop
of»90s short
films), and if despairing (yet deeply moving) minimalist
films composed
of stark black - and - white single takes doesn't tickle your fancy, this
film won't change your mind.
Pirates
of the Caribbean is the first
film ever released under the Walt Disney Pictures brand to receive higher than a PG rating (the
film is rated PG - 13), and the team assembled to make the
film is a virtual Who's who
of hot properties: Director Gore Verbinski had a huge hit last year with the spook fest The Ring,
Writers Terry Rossio & Ted Elliott were the writing team behind Shrek, Actor Johnny Depp is so extremely selective in his roles no one would ever imagine he'd do a Disney
film, Orlando Bloom is fresh off the Lord
of The Rings Trilogy, Geoffrey Rush has at least one Academy Award under his belt, and Keira Knightley has become a hot property after her performance in the run away indie hit Bend It
Like Beckham.
In the Fade (Fatih Akin, director &
writer) I've
liked Fatih Akin's
films ever since seeing Head - On in 2004 and The Edge
of Heaven in 2007.
Fans
of writer - director David O. Russell
like to compare his
films to those
of Preston Sturges, who in the 1940s produced the most singular run
of movies in the history
of American comedy, including The Lady Eve, The Miracle
of Morgan's Creek, and Hail the Conquering Hero.
Like Jolie, the writers also do a good job of compartmentalizing each piece of the story so that it feels like a fresh chapter with renewed interest, while also keeping the focus on the emotional / spiritual arc of Louis as a consistent throughline, so that the movie's climax (which is much more metaphoric and spiritual than literal) has significant impact and satisfies in an iconic and moving way that is hard for any film to pull
Like Jolie, the
writers also do a good job
of compartmentalizing each piece
of the story so that it feels
like a fresh chapter with renewed interest, while also keeping the focus on the emotional / spiritual arc of Louis as a consistent throughline, so that the movie's climax (which is much more metaphoric and spiritual than literal) has significant impact and satisfies in an iconic and moving way that is hard for any film to pull
like a fresh chapter with renewed interest, while also keeping the focus on the emotional / spiritual arc
of Louis as a consistent throughline, so that the movie's climax (which is much more metaphoric and spiritual than literal) has significant impact and satisfies in an iconic and moving way that is hard for any
film to pull off.
The evolution
of the movie «The Post» (2017)-- a story about The Washington Post's 1970s battles with government over its publication
of classified information relating to the Vietnam War and Pentagon Papers — reportedly goes something
like this: It was a screenplay authored by Jewish
writers Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, who presented it to Jewish
film producer Amy Pascal, who decided it would «be a great story to tell.»
From
films like Something's Got ta Give and The Holiday, the
writer / director has made herself known for her particular style
of well - lit, amiable comedies starring A-listers looking to have a pleasant break from the harder fare that they usually take on.
Writer / director da Silveira parts ways with the slasher
film motif (and all its promise) to handle things
like character development and plot,
of which there is very little.
After securing the 2013 Sundance Film Festival's Screenwriting award, a slot on the National Board
of Review's top ten list
of indie
films, and the vocal support
of critical heavy hitters
like A.O. Scott, Lake Bell's pitch - perfectly precise comedy In A World... announced itself as one
of the more confident debut features in recent memory, let alone from an actor - turned - director /
writer.
The criss - crossed
film narrative is in a state
of overuse, but
writer - director James DeMonaco's droll, modestly stylish crime gewgaw «Staten Island» wrings a few suspenseful and comic pleasures out
of a time - bending format that has served the
likes of Quentin Tarantino («Pulp Fiction») and Sidney Lumet («Before the Devil Knows You're Dead») among scores
of others.
Ayer clearly has no control as a
writer or director, the cast feel
like they are worlds apart from one another in every way, and the studio clearly cut the
film to hell trying to salvage whatever they could out
of the mess that he gave them.
It's
like an anniversary clips show for a long - in - the - tooth sitcom,
filmed with the same sort
of production values as a backyard porno and scripted (by an uncredited
writer) with almost exactly the same kind
of ear.
With Krieps on board, it also somehow feels
like the Hitchcock movie Audrey Hepburn didn't get to make but clearly channeled through the unique mind
of Anderson, a
film - savvy
writer - director responsible for such fever dreams as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Inherent Vice, and
of course There Will Be Blood, his previous adventure with Day - Lewis that also felt
like a movie stitched together out
of something not easily explained on first viewing.
David Mamet ---- «House
of Games «If it feels
like some
of the
writers on this list kind
of lucked into direction having written a
film (or several) that became a mainstream success thereafter, there are a few others whose writerly voice was already so established that the idea
of having them direct a straightforward genre
film is kind
of inconceivable (see also: Charlie Kaufman).
Tomorrowland (May 22, 2015) The trailer did not bowl me over
like the text descriptions
of this
film, but I do trust
writer - director Brad Bird (The Incredibles), star George Clooney and, to a lesser degree, co-
writer Damon Lindelof («Lost», World War Z).
So much
of the
film was
like this — half - thought - out ideas that might have worked with better
writers and actors but upon completion didn't work at all.
It sounds
like, despite questions about how exactly Colin Firth fits into the equation and the setting
of at least part
of the
film in the United States, there's going to be quite a bit
of continuity: same director, same
writer and, according to Goldman, a similar mindset as the first
film.
Split is funnier, campier, and more freewheeling than anything its
writer - director has done — slightly overlong, but reminiscent
of Brian De Palma
films like The Fury and Femme Fatale in its refusal to be boring.
To celebrate the release
of «Dark Feed», from the
Writers of «John Carpenter's The Ward», Media Mikes would
like to giveaway TWO copies
of the
film on DVD.
Like that
film,
writer - director Gary Ross's adaptation
of Laura Hillenbrand's excellent non-fiction washes out as something creepily nostalgic, weightless, and unintentionally disturbing.
By focussing on the emotional bleakness in this story,
writer - director Williams manages to find some interesting moments in a
film that otherwise seems contrived to reach fans
of heartwarming fare
like The Best Exotic Marigold...
So pairing the
writer - director with equally audacious source material seems
like a win - win combination, as Garland takes a budget nearly quadruple that
of his last
film to adapt Jeff VanderMeer's head - trip novel
of the same name, the first in his Southern Reach trilogy.
The sun - kissed and sophisticated Eileen Wade (Nina van Pallandt) wants Marlowe to find her missing hubby Roger Wade, a boozy
writer, (played by the wonderful Sterling Hayden, a veteran
of film noirs
like «Asphalt Jungle» and «The Killing»).
The grumpy room - mate character and the stern father figure are constants
of this genre, but whereas other
films would have shoved them into the ending somewhere, the
writers simply let them gracefully bow out when it feels
like their time.
Surprisingly, the
film isn't directed by gross - out champs
like the Farrelly Brothers or Todd Phillips, but instead marks the directorial debut
of Kay Cannon, the
writer of the Pitch Perfect trilogy and a
writer / producer
of NBC's 30 Rock.
Paramount Pictures has assembled a
writer's room including Michael Chabon, Akiva Goldsman, Christina Hodson, Nicole Perlman, Jeff Pinkner, Lindsey Beer, and Joe Robert Cole to adapt a
film franchise based on the popular YA series
of encyclopedias exploring concepts
like «Alienology,» «Oceanology,» «Monsterology,» «Dungeonology» and «Spyology.»
Inspired by
films of the 1970s
like California Split, The Gambler andScarecrow, Mississippi Grind is a character study in the form
of a road trip, expertly guided by
writer - directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, who brought us such notable indie
films as Half - Nelson and Sugar.