50 Screenplays: #2, Knives Out

50 Screenplays: #2, Knives Out

Spoilers? Kinda sorta. Please go watch the movie. This humorous twist on a whodunit makes me hungry for the prospect of a franchise. The movie, written and directed by Rian Johnson, centers around the death of eccentric mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). His surviving family members, all entitled, betray one another to varying degrees […]

50 Screenplays: #1, Lady Bird

50 Screenplays: #1, Lady Bird

Becoming a better storyteller by studying 100 movies, 50 screenplays, and 25 books in 2020. The next time I embark on a major project like this, I won’t start a key segment of it with the most complicated example of the form. Lady Bird‘s script is so complex and dense with wonderful examples of what to […]

100 Movies: #7, Tampopo

100 Movies: #7, Tampopo

Becoming a better storyteller by studying 100 movies, 50 screenplays, and 25 books in 2020. Imagine, if you will, that the Monty Python troupe were Japanese and set out to make a western about an epic quest for the perfect bowl of ramen. That’s Tampopo. Release: 1985 Starring: Ken Watanabe, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kôji Yakusho Director: Jûzô […]