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Who’s Watching the Watchers Watching Watchmen?

March 24, 2009 in classics, film, graphic novels by Claire | 2 comments

When books become movies

I finally saw “Watchmen.”  The original plan was for me to run out and see the very first matinee on the very first day it opened–and by “plan,” of course I mean “fantasy.”  I didn’t even come close.  It had been out for a couple of weeks by the time Rob and I actually made it to the cinema. 

I was dying to see “Watchmen” because I read the book this year and was blown away by it.  I wanted to roll around inside that book forever–it was that kind of feeling.  I like reading graphic novels in general, but Watchmen is to its genre what “The Simpsons” is to prime time cartoons: it inverts and subverts convention and defies expectations and yet somehow stays true to its identity.   If you haven’t read Watchmen, I can’t explain it to you–just go read it.  (And, by the way, according to one of my husband’s colleagues, I haven’t actually read Watchmen, because I’ve only read it once.  For legions of fans, you only really get to say you’ve read the book if you’ve gone through it at least half a dozen times.  And it is true that I probably missed tons the first time around–I look forward to rereading it one day.)

So I went off to the movie with a fair amount of anticipation.   Almost three hours later, I walked out with a fair amount of a shrugging sort of  ”well, that was kind of fun.”  Was it faithful to the original?  It was.  Did it transcend the original?  No.  Was it as good as the book?  Not really.  Was the adaptation flawed?  I’m not sure.   Would I have liked it if I hadn’t read the book?  I doubt it. Read the rest of this entry »

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Want to Write Your Own Screenplay?

February 21, 2009 in film by Claire | 2 comments

First buy a book . . .

It’s awards season, the time when people all across our great country are thinking, “I could write a better screenplay than THAT.”  In an incredible show of goodguyship, my husband Rob took a break  from writing episodes of “The Simpsons” to read and review some of the top screenwriting how-to guides for those who want to plunge in.  The rest of this post is all him:

Aspiring novelists who walk the fiction aisles at the bookstore wonder how it must feel to finally have a book published after years of hard work, and then they all have the same thought:  maybe I should just write a screenplay.  Movie scripts are a lot shorter, pay a LOT better than novels, and if you do sell one, you’ll have time and money to write your novel, for which, of course, you’ll write the screenplay.  Or maybe you should just write the screenplay first.

The problem is, how do you go about writing a script?  Might there possibly be a book out there that tells you in insufferable detail how to go about the process?  Actually, there are several hundred of those–leading to the thought that maybe the aspiring writer should skip both the novel and the screenplay and go right to publishing his own writing guide.

Anyway,  Claire and Kim asked me to come up with a list of the best screenwriting how-to books, but after agreeing, I realized that I haven’t bought one of these books in years.

So I headed over to The Writer’s Store in Los Angeles.  I spoke with Anthony, one of their extremely knowledgeable salesmen, and asked him to name their top-selling screenwriting book.  He immediately said, “Save the Cat” and pointed to a big empty space on the shelves where it sits when it’s not sold out.  I bought several others he recommended, found my old favorites, and borrowed Save the Cat from a friend, knowing full well that just because it was the flavor-of-the-month didn’t mean it belonged on my list.  From those choices I compiled my top-five list of screenwriting books: Read the rest of this entry »

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I Predict Slumdog Millionaire will Win the Oscar for Best Adapted Writing

February 19, 2009 in film, Uncategorized by Kim | 1 comment

UPDATE: Slumdog Millionaire wins the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay!

Not that this prediction is risky, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ won the writing award at the Golden Globes, the Writer’s Guild Association Awards and at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards.  It won all of those awards before I read the book, originally called Q&A by Vikas Swarup, or saw the movie.  I  wondered, why the hat trick?  As a I wrote in previous posts, ‘The Reader,‘ ‘Frost/Nixon,‘ and ‘Doubt’ are fine examples of writing in their original format and  the screenplays did a good job of portraying the story.  ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ irritated me because it wasn’t that story, it was a different one.  But I hope it encouraged people to read F. Scott Fitzgerald and Brad Pitt will be pretty to look at on Sunday night.

I kept hearing different opinions about the movie, a girlfriend told me it was uplifting, a story of hope, and a review called it a present day fairy tale.  But standing in the bathroom line at the movie theatre (men miss out on bathroom line conversations) a woman said it’s the most depressing movie she had seen all year (I wanted to ask if she had seen ‘Revolutionary Road’ or ‘The Reader’ or even ‘Doubt,’ but I waver on whether or not I can contribute to line conversations).  Then, the conversation between Claire and Catherine in the comments section of a previous post described the movie as painful to watch, Claire couldn’t, Catherine squirmed the whole way through.  The Indians are not happy with the movie.  But, it’s winning awards everywhere and not just for writing, it’s sweeping the non-actor major categories.

After reading the book and seeing the movie, I understand better.  I agree, Read the rest of this entry »

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Frost/Nixon Nominated for Oscar for Writing Adapted Screenplay

January 22, 2009 in book review, film by Kim | 1 comment

Earlier this month, the entire Allen-Niesen family watched “Frost/Nixon.”  It was the first official R rated movie for my kids.  I say ‘official’ because on the way to the theatre they both listed other R rated movies that they’ve watched, apparently when I’m out of town there are movie events occurring.  To put the “Frost/Nixon” story in perspective, and to refresh the memory of those of us who witnessed the events as children ourselves, we spent Saturday night watching “All the President’s Men” and discussing Watergate.  Sunday we saw “Frost/Nixon.”  (I’m guessing the movie is rated R due to the language, but as my high school freshman noted, “I hear more foul language 20 minutes into lunch everyday.”)

I read the play by Peter Morgan, who also wrote the screenplay, before seeing the movie.    I was intrigued by how the opinions about Nixon were personified by the characters.  Jim Reston voiced the deep resentment of the public for the wrongs Nixon committed and his refusal to acknowledge them or apologize for them.  He told Frost during their first meeting, “The American people need a conviction.  Pure and simple.  The integrity of our political system, or democracy as an idea, entirely depends on it.”  Jack Brennan showed the small segment of the population that continued to respect Nixon for all that he accomplished despite his flaws.  When discussing the interview, he tells Nixon “Frost is just not in our intellectual class.  You’ll be able to dictate the terms.  Rebuild your reputation. . . if enough people saw it and revised their opinions–you could move back East.  Way, way earlier than we’d expect.”  Through David Frost and Swifty Lazar, we saw how Nixon was manipulated to make a buck and that Nixon was in on that game from the very beginning. Read the rest of this entry »

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Without a Doubt, it will be Nominated for the Oscar for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay

January 18, 2009 in film by Kim | No comments

As a reminder, Claire and I are going to guess which screenplay will win the Oscar for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay.  I’ve written about “Revolutionary Road,” which is a contender in my opinion, and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which I think belongs in Best Writing Original Screenplay.  For those of you who missed the moment on the Golden Globes, “Slumdog Millionaire” won the writing award, along with every other non-acting award.  The nominees for all of the Oscars will be announced on January 22nd, and I’m positive “Doubt” will be on the list for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay.

John Patrick Shanly wrote both the play and the screenplay for “Doubt.”   In the preface to the play, Mr. Shanley writes what I have so long advocated, that it is through the struggle of doubt that we learn what we truly believe, that we test the mettle of what we’ve accepted as truth.  I wish I could remember the name of the famous theologian who answered the woman to who told him “I’ve been a Christian all of my life and I”ve never doubted” by saying “Then, madam, you are no Christian.”  Mr. Shanley states, “Doubt requires more courage than conviction does, and more energy; because conviction is a resting place and doubt is infinite–it is a passionate exercise.”  Read the rest of this entry »

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