Category Archives: scriptfrenzy
April is Madness
April brings its own special kind of spring fever to my neck of the woods. The little kid soccer team I coach starts their season back up. My youngest sister starts playing high school soccer again. The lawn starts needing mowing again, and there’s that whole spring cleaning business, too. And of course there’s the short film I’m preparing to shoot in May. And then, on top of all that, I’m supposed to write a brand new screenplay? Apparently so. I know things are getting out of hand when I start resorting to a to-do list, and I know things are especially bad when, at the top of that to do list, I decide to add a little bit of motivational pep talk.
The sad thing is, the motivational pep talk doesn't even have any pep. It's as tired as I am.
But hey. “We are intrepid. We carry on.” Right?
So, if you, like me, are feeling a little overwhelmed this month, here’s how I’m dealing.
Make it concrete. The to-do list is not a joke, folks. Laying out the tasks you would like to reasonably accomplish is the first step to actually getting stuff done. When everything’s swirling around in your brain, it’s like staring at a bowl of alphabet soup. Nothing makes sense. Ditch the milk, take out the letters, and arrange them into something you can read. Plus there’s something really satisfying about marking off an item. When I get overwhelmed, I like to resort to the old-fashioned paper list, but there are some great online to-do lists out there, too. The one I use most often is gubb.net, but find one that works for you and use it.
Don’t forget time to relax. Put it on your to-do list. If you’re going a million miles a minute every minute of the day, your brain will stop working. Give it time to stop thinking for a bit, even if it’s only for 15-20 minutes. Read a book. Meditate. Watch a TV show. Catch a movie if you can spare the time.
Break the big tasks down. I ran into a tiny issue with my script suddenly developing a case of schizophrenia. I was essentially writing two completely different stories in the same script. The result is that, after having written 40 pages, I realized I pretty much needed to start over. I knew I’d be able to salvage a little from my original 40 pages, but the bulk of everything would be new. So, after a good push this weekend, I’m looking at writing 70 pages in the next 11 days if I want to have a complete first draft by the end of the month. That sounds like a lot. However, when I break it down, it’s really only about 6½ pages a day. That’s much easier to swallow.
Focus. I don’t usually have a problem using IM and twitter when I’m writing. I’ve got the weird Gen-Y thing where a little distraction usually helps me. However, I found this weekend that, with everything else already swirling around in my brain, adding IM and twitter to the mix whilst trying to write was not working. On Friday night, I wrote about one page in the course of two hours. Not good, folks. Finally realized I needed to sign off, and I managed to kick out about 5 pages in 40 minutes. Much better. Lesson? Focus on whatever you’re doing, and, if you’re having trouble doing that, eliminate any could-be distractions.
Be healthy. Don’t forget that you need your body in order to do this whole writing thing. Don’t give up eating well, and, if you’re in the habit of working out, don’t let it fall by the wayside. Additionally, as Tony Horton says, “Drink your water, people.” You can have your caffeine, too, but make sure your not letting your brain dry out.
Now, when we make it through the month alive, if you’re still jonesing for more screenwriting action instead of, I don’t know, a margarita-filled beach vacation, there are a couple of workshops happening the first weekend in May.
Here in Kansas City, the BlueCat folks are holding a full script workshop on May 1. I attended a 10-page workshop last May and came out of it having learned a lot. The chance to mingle with your fellow, local screenwriters is really valuable, so it’s definitely something worth checking out. As I’m writing this, there are just 3 spots left, though there is also an audit option (where you attend and get to take part in the discussions but don’t get your own script workshopped). Check it out here (along with a list of upcoming workshops in other areas).
Secondly, Julie Gray of Just Effing Entertain Me (formerly The Rouge Wave) and The Script Department is conducting a series of classes/workshops. On May 1 & 2, she’s got one in San Francisco. Julie’s blog is a wonderful source of information and motivation. I personally have used The Script Department’s services, and my phone consultation with Julie was extremely helpful. I’m hoping she’ll make it to Kansas City one day, but, for you lucky folks in the San Francisco area, her workshop is definitely something worth checking out. You can find all the pertinent info here.
That’s all for now. Keep on keeping on, as they say. April will be over soon. But not so soon that you should worry about not being able to finish your script. Right.
Recap: 3 May 2009
Hey, look! It’s May! Is it just me, or is this year flying by incredibly fast? Well, the good news is, despite April disappearing, I’ve come out of it with a not-completely-horrible-but-still-very-rough first draft of a new screenplay thanks to ScriptFrenzy.
Other highlights:
- I’ve started taking horseback riding lessons.
- I got to attend a screening at the new AMC Mainstreet here in Kansas City the week before it opened (they hosted the KC FilmFest). The six-screen theatre’s super cool, and you should check it out, too.
- I’m starting an intermediate French class next week.
- I’ve signed up to take a class from the Kansas City Art Institute about creating a children’s book starting in June.
- I’ve declared that Sunday night is now Guilty Pleasure Movie Night, in which I need no justification to watch a movie other than I just plain feel like it.
- I’m going solo to the Lord of the Rings Symphony next Friday at the Music Hall because that’s how I roll, yo.
- There’s a Narnia exhibition coming to Union Station here in Kansas City May 22 through August 23, and I want to go. Want to come with me?
Now that we’re up to date on that, let’s look at…
What I Watched
- Brick (3½ stars): This is a noir detective film set in a high school. The tone starts out kind of satirical but quickly turns very, very serious. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a strong and deep performance, which seems to be par for the course for him post-3rd Rock. Also very interesting visual style. All the more impressive is that this is the first feature effort from writer-director Rian Johnson.
- Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!! (3 stars): I checked out Rian Johnson’s short film prior to seeing The Brothers Bloom at the AMC Mainstreet theatre. It’s sort of a comedic, modern take on Poe’s The Tell-tale Heart. You can watch it here.
- The Brothers Bloom (5 stars): First five-star film of the year! This is one of those movies that has everything you want: comedy, romance, drama, suspense, action… It’s all there, and it all works together. Rachel Weisz plays one of the most unique and fascinating female characters I’ve seen in recent memory. Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo play the titular brothers in this “fairytale about conmen,” as Rian Johnson himself put it before the screening. It’s getting wide release at the end of this month; if you have the opportunity to see it, I highly, highly recommend it.
- Match Point (3½ stars): My Woody Allen education continues. This is the movie that people say ushered in a new era for Woody Allen, and, I must say, I wasn’t super crazy impressed. I had some issues with the character development, but overall it was entertaining, and I enjoyed the theme.
- Earth (3 stars): Let’s start with the negative: as far as weaving a narrative goes, Earth didn’t do such a great job. It didn’t focus on the “three families” it proclaimed to in the trailer. They were more like bookends to the movie than the heart of it. And the stories they did show? Pretty much all total downers. If you’re going to cast animals as “villains” in a nature story, sometimes you have to show the underdog getting away. Now, the positives? Gorgeous. Informative. A solid first effort for DisneyNature, and enough to make me look forward to next year’s Oceans.
- [Guilty Pleasure Movie Night] The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (4 stars): I named this one of my favorite movies of 2008 (and anticipated it would be such back in September 2008, and I think I’ve made my adoration for this movie clear.
- Across the Universe (3½ stars): This film is sort of an impressionist portrait of the ’60s. Some odd sequences in the middle, but overall a stunning piece of work that’s worth seeing just for the creative challenge of taking the Beatles body of work and cobbling together a narrative out of it.
- Wolverine (2½ stars): Hm. Well. Hugh Jackman looked good, eh? Important lesson here, folks: set pieces do not make a movie!
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (3½ stars): I was really disappointed in this movie when I saw it in theatres. I grew up watching this version, and so I had some very specific ideas about what I wanted to see. And there were some things they took in a different direction. I still think the movie would have been more effective with a greater visual transformation for the White Witch when winter starts to end. In the animated version, it’s like she’s practically melting herself. But having a deeper understanding of the characters thanks to a little more character development in Prince Caspian, I gained a better appreciation for this movie the second time around.
- Mona Lisa Smile (3½ stars): This is a fairly typical venture into the Inspiring Professor Genre. And, while it’s not the strongest one out there, it’s still a solid and enjoyable movie.
- [Guilty Pleasure Movie Night] Stardust (4 stars): Like Prince Caspian, I wasn’t all that impressed the first time I saw this movie, but, also like Prince Caspian, it’s grown into one of my favorites. It was mismarketed when it came out, so, if you discounted it as a boring fantasy epic (which is how the trailers made it look), give it a shot. It’s more in the vein of The Princess Bride in that it’s a love story wrapped in an fantastical adventure story.
What I’m Writing
This week’s going to be spent preparing my Screnzy effort for the BlueCat 10-Page Workshop this coming Saturday. Additionally, I’ll probably start doing a bit of work on incorporating the changes I’ve marked for Monsieur Valentine this past week as well as outlining my next spec script ‘Til Death Parts Us. Sort of a transitory week for the writing gig, but those are necessary sometimes.
Recap: 19 April 2009
It’s funny how life seems to hit all at once sometimes. Here’s what I’ve dealt with in the past week:
1) Work insanity (more so than usual), culminating in a 10-hour work day on Friday.
2) The death of my last grandparent, which, in addition to the emotional fall-out, led to:
– An unexpected daylong road trip to Joplin, Mo., where I spent all major holidays and the occasional weekend for the first 21 years of my life.
– Eating way too much food at Casa Montez, the best Mexican restaurant in the history of the world.
– Meeting my great aunt and uncle and hearing soap-operatic stories from my family history that struck me as both tragic and captivating.
– Seeing what happens after everyone leaves the burial site.
– Feeling like the rug had been pulled out from under me after seeing childhood memories distorted by time, “progress,” and a lack of care.
– A lovely day spent on the road with my mom, during which we talked about many subjects, both trivial and serious (and a few in between).
3) Receiving my first Make-A-Wish assignment and subsequently having to miss the first meeting due to sheer exhaustion and the hint of a cold (thus not wanting to pass anything along to the Make-A-Wish family).
4) Tax Day!
5) ScriptFrenzy!
And despite all that, I’m still going to stay up late and do my movie recap because I didn’t do one last week, and three weeks is just too long to go without one. So, off we go!
What I Watched
- Sunshine Cleaning (3½ stars): Even with solid performances from a great cast (Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, etc.), I didn’t think this movie quite lived up to what it could have been. Don’t get me wrong; obviously with a 3½-star rating, I still thought it was pretty good. The movie could have used another half-hour to tie everything up a little more smoothly, but overall, it was a good character study with an amusing premise.
- Hot Fuzz (4 stars): Loved this movie. Great fun. It got a bit whacked out at the end, but I was mightily impressed with Simon Pegg. I’d only ever seen him play the bumbling idiot role, so this was a nice (and totally convincing) change of pace.
- Jane Austen Book Club (3½ stars): A solid (if sometimes cheesy) ensemble romantic comedy. This is the movie that made both my sister and me fall in love with Hugh Dancy. I haven’t read the book, but the film does a nice job weaving in the themes of the Austen novels with the lives of the characters in the book club. Writer/Director Robin Swicord also does a lovely job of keeping the story moving, which must have been a challenge in a film about a group of people getting together to talk about novels. Definitely a chick flick, but one of the better ones out there.
- Monsters vs. Aliens (3 stars): This was a lot better than I thought it would be. My mom dragged us to see it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it featured some interesting characters, funny jokes (and not too many in the category of Toilet Humor). The villain was pretty bland, but, all in all, not a terrible way to spend a couple of hours. Also of note, it was great to hear the voice cast actually acting. In a lot of animated films, actors just use their normal voices, but the cast went to the trouble here to actually create voices for their characters, which was much appreciated.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (4 stars): I’m still not sure how Disney managed to make this such a great movie, but they nailed it. Perfect casting all around, groundbreaking effects, and, most importantly a completely charming story that didn’t take itself too seriously all lift this movie much higher than it had any right in going. So much fun.
- Husbands and Wives (4 stars): My fifth venture into the Woody Allen canon, and I’m becoming more and more of a fan. Filmed quasi-documentary-style, this film tackles the subjects of love vs. passion and how they affect marriage. It hits all the emotional notes you’d hope to find in a movie about such a topic.
- The Phantom of the Opera [2004] (3 stars): I’d love to see this story in the hands of Baz Luhrmann or Tim Burton. I’ve never seen the staged version, but it appeared that the film version was extremely faithful — to a fault. A few of the songs, most notably “Phantom of the Opera,” lost their impact in this version, whether due to strength of vocals or arrangement, I’m not sure. Truly, if it weren’t for the last 30 minutes or so, I probably would have rated it lower. It was at that point that I truly felt for the characters involved. At a runtime of 2 hours and 23 minutes, it really could have benefitted from cutting some of the songs (or at least shortening them). Still, it’s a visually beautiful film and an interesting story if you can get through the bloat.
- 17 Again (3½ stars): This movie was really better than it had any right to be. The dialog was average for the most part, and some of the film editing choices bugged me, but the cast, especially Zac Efron, was so darn charming, I just couldn’t help but enjoy myself. Granted, since I harbor an admittedly crable-robbing crush on Mr. Efron, I went in expecting to enjoy myself, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I didn’t have to do so as shamefully as I expected.
- Jules et Jim (4 stars): It’s hard to really describe this story. It’s about the unusually enduring friendship of two men. It’s about the woman around which their lives revolve. It’s about the nature of love. I was taken in by it. Also worth noting, if you’re in the mood for a double feature about crazy but captivating woman, check out this one with Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
- Elizabethtown (4 stars): This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Now, I realize that this is not a perfect movie, and you can complain about Orlando Bloom’s imperfect American accent all you want (which I find totally charming, by the way). But I adore this film. The themes never fail to strike a chord with me, whether it’s dealing with success vs. failure, focusing on yourself vs. taking the time to see the world around you, family discord, or life and death. (As Chuck would say, “Death and life, and death and life… right next door to each other?!”) It’s also got arguably the best use of the song “Freebird” in a movie ever. If you’ve been skeptical about giving this movie a chance, I’d suggest you do. You may not love it as much as I do, but it deserves a lot more respect than it generally gets.
What I Wrote
Still hammering away on my ScriptFrenzy screenplay. Hit 81 pages tonight. As I tweeted, I think this may end up being the longest script I’ve written since my horrible, terrible, no good, very bad first attempt at ever writing a screenplay. (That monstrosity ballooned to 145 pages for no good reason.) I usually run short, between 90 and 100 pages, and I think this one might come close to 120 before I’m done.
I also know that this one’s going to need a LOT of work on second draft. It’s not very cinematic right now, but I still love the story and think it has plenty of potential to be cinematic. And since it’s the first draft, it’s totally fine that it’s not perfect. First drafts are for potential, not perfection. 10 days left to go in this roller coaster month. Assuming I don’t have another week as insane as the last one, I think I just may make it out alive.
Recap: 5 April 2009
I feel I must start off this week’s recap with an impassioned plea/open letter to January. So, here it is.
Dear January,Please go away and let April come back.
Cheers,
izzi
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get on to…
What I Watched
- I’ve Loved You So Long (5 stars): Kristen Scott Thomas stars in this French-language film about two sisters reuniting after the elder is released from prison after 15 years. In my opinion, Kristen Scott Thomas gave the best female performance of 2008 in this film. The film is ultimately a character study; it’s not full of twists and turns and surprises. It’s simply about human beings, but it’s a prime example of how a character study film should be crafted.
- I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (3 stars): I was a bit disappointed in this one, to be honest. I expect some low-brow humor from Adam Sandler comedies, but some of the gags here were just plain stupid at best and extremely offensive at worst. That being said, it does have its fair share of funny moments, and, while it doesn’t always execute well, the movie seemed to have its heart in the right place.
- Rachel Getting Married (2½ stars): I think I know what this movie was trying to be about. But truly odd direction prevented it from ever getting to the core of its message. At times I almost felt as if I was watching an unedited home video of a wedding, which, if you’ve ever seen one, is full of dull, uninteresting and pointless bits of life. For instance, I kept waiting for some sort of subtext in the neverending string of toasts, but it was either far too buried (or I am far too dense, I suppose) or it simply wasn’t there. Same with the reception dance montage. I’m actually planning on reading the script this week to see if something was lost in the translation to screen. All this being said, there is one absolutely fantastic and heartbreaking scene worth seeing. The performances are all great; I just wish the film had been a vehicle for some sort of message more than just performances.
- Adventureland (3½ stars): This was a solid coming-of-age story, sort of Nick & Norah-esque in tone. My only real complaint is that I wish they’d amped up the humor a bit more. It was interesting and good to see a story about people in that weird limbo between college and adulthood. Also worth noting, I loved the last image of the film. It was unexpected and simple and… yeah. It was just really great.
What I Read
I finished reading Gods Behaving Badly
What I Wrote
I’ve come out of the first weekend of ScriptFrenzy relatively unscathed. Tonight’s been the toughest so far; I only managed to write a measly 1½ pages. But that’s OK. I’m ahead of schedule, and I think I know where I’m going next.
I’ve been battling this story a bit because my main character seems to want to take a lot of fictionalized pages from my own life. I’ve never wanted to be the sort of writer who writes herself. But, then again, I need to let my story go down a natural path, even if that means there are some parallels with my own life, I guess. And truly, any story is going to have pieces of me in it. I know the stories I’ve written that I love best certainly have. They’ve just seemed a little more well-veiled.
It all goes back to writing without inhibitions, I guess. Mystery Man on Film had a piece of art in his latest blog post that I think I’m going to print and frame. It says, “Kill your timid notion.” Which I take to mean, stop being afraid of where your story wants to go, of hurting your characters (or yourself), of digging too deep. Kill your timidity. Serve your story, and do it justice. So that’s what I’m going to try to do this week. Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? 
And so it begins: ScriptFrenzy 2009
So, remember how I said in my last post I was going to write a stage musical for ScriptFrenzy? I lied. Not intentionally, mind you. In fact, until about 5:45 a.m. Tuesday, March 31, I had every intention of writing my stage musical. But, as it turns out, whatever force that drives me to write had other plans.
I woke up feeling really distressed about what I was planning to write for Screnzy. It was a fun idea, but I just wasn’t feeling it, you know? I’d been having a mini-existential crisis for a few days, as I do from time to time, so I chalked it up to that. And I felt better. For about 20 minutes. So, on the drive to work, I said to no one in particular, “All right, if you want me to write something else, you’d better give me an idea and quick.”
That morning I spent some time link-jumping, digging through my idea box, and soul-searching. I’d been thinking for a while that I really wanted to write something about women. And I wanted to do a story about women that wasn’t really a story about men (e.g., wedding-themed movies, 
most romantic comedies, etc.). Not that there’s anything wrong with those sorts of stories. I enjoy them a lot of the time. But I wanted to write a story about women and their relationships with one another.
Whilst searching Billy Mernit’s fabulous blog for inspiration, I stumbled across a post of his about memento mori votives. Memento mori translates roughly to “Remember you will die.” I was checking out the wiki on it, which then led me to some other Latin phrases.
- Et in Arcadia ego :: “Even in Arcadia I exist.” (As spoken by, say, Death personified.)
- Timor mortis conturbat me :: “Fear of death disturbs me.”
And I was intrigued by these phrases. So then I started going through my Idea Box. I’d made a note about an old PostSecret card from someone having an existential crisis and a note about doppelgängers and vardøgrs.
And then I thought, “BAM! Comedy!” What? Isn’t that how your brain works?
So I jotted down notes in between work tasks the rest of the day, and then I wrote up half a beat sheet that night whilst watching American Idol. And the rest is history. I wrote my first 5 pages tonight, and so far, so good. We’ll see how the rest of the month goes, but I’m cautiously optimistic so far, despite the disturbing lack of preparation.
Recap: 29 March 2009
I’m not quite sure where last week went. Did I really only manage to watch three movies? Weird.
What I Watched
- I Love You, Man (3½ stars): While not as sharp as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, this movie about a guy with no guy friends showcases the sort of humor with heart that’s become the calling card for the emerging “bromance” genre. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s the most I’ve laughed in a theatre in a long time. It’s also pretty low on raunch for this sort of movie, if that sort of thing bothers you.
- Easy Virtue (4 stars): This film came out in the UK in November 2008, and I was highly
anticipating it for a few months prior to that. Sadly, it’s currently scheduled only for limited release to the States, and not until May 22. So, (through perhaps legally gray means) I procured myself a sneak preview of this quirky gem of a film. It speaks to the quality of the movie that I’m already committing myself to seeing it at least once in theatres (if it gets wide release), buying it on DVD, and purchasing the soundtrack. On the surface, it’s a lighthearted, comic romp through prim British film. But it’s really the dark undercurrent themes that make the movie. It’s a bit uneven: I’d say the first two-thirds of the film is perfectly delightful, but it’s the last third that really grabs you. Or at least me. So, all that being said, if you get the chance to see this film, I encourage you take the opportunity. It’s well worth your time. - The White Sheik (3½ stars): I began my Fellini education with one of his earlier films. The term Fellini-esque is more in reference to his later films, like 8½ (which I was told by many fine folks on twitter is a must-see movie but not the place to begin). I thought this film had some really funny parts and also some truly heart-wrenching scenes. The only thing that kept it from getting 4 stars was that I didn’t think the ending was quite as solid as it could have been.
What I Wrote
Just tonight I finished up the first draft of the rewrite of M. Valentine. Feels good to have that out of the way. I’m planning on taking the first 10 pages to the Kansas City BlueCat workshop that’s coming up in May, so I’ll be revisiting it after ScriptFrenzy.
Have I mentioned I’m attempting a stage musical for ScriptFrenzy? No? Well, I am. Since I churn out most of my first drafts in a month anyway, I wanted to take on something that’s truly a challenge for me. And this will definitely fit the bill. I’ve got two more days to get myself a good foundation of planning, and then we’re off to the races. April should be an interesting month!
Recap: 22 March 2009
Been a while, so let’s get to it, shall we?
What I Watched
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (3 stars): I got about halfway through this movie and realized I didn’t really have any clue what was going on. To clarify, I understood what was happening, but I guess I missed the meaning of it somewhere along the way. The last third of the film seemed to get to the core of the message, and that’s when I got interested. So, with a 2-star first half and a 4-star second half, it’s seeing Hugo Weaving in drag that bumps this up to 3 stars instead of 2½ for me.
- Watchmen (4 stars): Having recently read the graphic novel and having enjoyed it immensely, I was pretty excited for this movie. Happily, it lived up to my expectations. It’s not a perfect movie, of course, but it’s faithful to the tone of the graphic novel in most places, and it’s as visually stimulating as I’d hoped it would be. (And no, that was not a reference to the post-rescue scene in Archimedes.) Whether you’ve read the graphic novel or not, the film is certainly worth seeing for the epic storytelling and different take on the superhero genre. Truly, though, if you’ve been against reading the graphic novel because you “don’t read comics,” then do yourself a favor and get over that prejudice. There’s more depth to Watchmen than half the “traditional” novels out there.
- Peter’s Friends (3½ stars): This is a charming little picture about nothing more than a group of friends and how the ways they relate to one another both change and remain the same through the years. It’s got all the sorts of moments you’d hope for in a film like this: funny ones, poignant ones, heartbreaking ones, and sweet ones, too.
- Annie Hall (3½ stars): Continuing my Woody Allen education, I was pleasantly surprised that this movie lived up to most of the hype, unlike Manhattan. Neurotic Woody at his best employing film devices that have been used numerous times (and usually less effectively) since. Highly quotable, highly memorable, and worth your time.
- Waking Ned Devine (4 stars): It’s extremely rare that a movie makes me cry out of sweetness instead of tragedy. This is one such gem. It plays as sort of an elderly, Irish buddy comedy. Laugh-out-loud funny in a lot of parts, and it leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. Time well spent.
- Let the Right One In (3½ stars): No offense to Twilight, but this is a REAL vampire movie. That being said, it’s not exactly traditional either. It’s part love story, part coming of age tale, with a side of horror thrown in for good measure. Make sure you choose the subtitles because the DVD defaults to the absolutely horrendous English dubbing. Also worth noting, Lina Leandersson, the girl who plays Eli, is one of the most captivating young actresses I’ve seen in a long time.
- Duplicity (3 stars): I’m still not sure why people seem to think Julia Roberts needs some sort of comeback, but I suppose this is as good a way to do it as any. I feel a bit blasé about nonlinear storytelling these days, but it works well enough in Tony Gilroy’s follow-up to Michael Clayton. It’s a fun, heist sort of movie, and it’s fun to see Roberts and Clive Owen paired up on screen again (their first outing being the interesting if lacking-in-point Closer). That being said, part of the fun of a heist movie is being able to potentially guess where the crosses, double-crosses and triple-crosses are happening. Duplicity doesn’t always do the best job of that, but it’s still the smartest romantic comedy so far this year.
- Happy-Go-Lucky (2½ stars): Despite Sally Hawkins’ great performance, this movie left me feeling a little cold. It plays like a bit like Amélie without the whimsy or hopeful undercurrent. The theme instead seems to be, “Life is what it is, and a lot of the time it’s kind of crappy, but you might as well make the best of it because it’s what we’ve got.”
In Other News
ScriptFrenzy is only eight days away! If you’re at all interested in writing a script (TV, film, stage, comic book, whatever your heart desires), then get over the Web site and sign up! If you’re in the Kansas City area, stop by the regional lounge and say hello. I’m the Municipal Liaison for Missouri, and I’ll be holding write-ins on both the Kansas and Missouri sides of the state line. So, even if you’re not officially participating, you’re welcome to join in the write-ins anyway. You can view the Screnzy KC calendar here.
