* A Three Part news story on Mexico's Narco Cinema - films *about* drug dealers:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Thanks to my friend Jeff O'Brien for finding this! Jeff is an expert in writing for global cinema - and has written at least one film made in Mexico that I've seen.
* Is 3D The New Movie Star?
* Variety Slang Dictionary.
* Movies Playing In Los Angeles...
* AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE
* NEW BEVERLY CINEMA
* SILENT MOVIES ON FAIRFAX
* Nuart Theater
The American Cinematheque is showing Noir stuff, by the way!
- Bill
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Drama Dissipation - and superhero movies that have no dramatic tension.
Dinner: City Wok - Tomato Beef
Pages: Finished an article that was due days ago!
Oh, and I invade England again...
Movies For Men Channel:
4/10 - 13:30 - Crash Dive - The crew of a nuclear submarine rescues supposed victims of a boat disaster, but the victims turn out to be terrorists intent on capturing nuclear weapons aboard the sub.
4/12 - 18:10 - Steel Sharks - When a United States submarine is seized by terrorists, a rescue attempt by Elite Navy Seals goes awry. The submarine crew wages a silent war beneath the waves in this tense undersea thriller.
I'm sorry again!
4 comments:
re: yesterday's discussion
Bacall/Dark Passage/'Chess Move'
If the policeman falls for cheap subterfuge, then he is a lousy opponent and Bacall is only a great brace of gams on the screen.
If the policeman is a good opponent, a worthy opponent, then he must focus on the tarp and not be easily misled/defeated. Bacall becomes more than her legs - she thinks on her feet (while sitting, a neat trick).
In your screenplays, while you're putting in that all-important 'conflict' (per Bill's dicta - all hail Bill! NOW!) -- if the barrier, the opponent is an easy win, then your antagonist (Bacall) wins no respect, gains no stature.
Build up the 'bad guys', the problems, the barriers for your heroes and they are BIGGER heroes for their efforts and not just cheesecake.
I guess my argument is that just showing legs was never a part of Bacall's characters. Her beauty was obvious, so the screenwriting task was to bring her smarts to the screen.
There are solutions to the policeman problem, but most lose the opportunity for Bacall to show us out-thinking the policeman rather than getting him to think below the waist.
Thanks, as always, for putting up with me.
Since we are already off subject... In that DARK PASSAGE scene, when Bacall pulls up to the roadblock and rolls down her window, the line is something like: "Have I done something wrong, officer?" Now, there are probably a dozen ways to deliver that line, but Bacall makes it sexy... as if inviting the cop to spank her.
We have no control over how an actor delivers a line, and my experience is that if you tell them (sexy) they do the opposite... but if you can come up with a line that can have two potential meanings or be delivered in an interesting way - do it! A good actor will find that great line reading.
On the script tip:
Totally agree. As much as I loved seeing a movie rendition of John Romita's artwork -- Spidey leaving behind his costume, the emotional impact was severely missing. In the comic it is HUGE. And spoken in a single panel. (Albeit a splash panel). In the movie it was gone. I never really cared for any of the characters.
I do, however, disagree with the unmasking. At a first glance, I'd think it would never work to unmask Spidey. But I like what Spiderman 2 did with it. "He's just a kid." After saving the people on the train, they in turn "save" him by keeping his secret. I actually liked that touch. And it seemed like a small enough number of people now indebted to Spidey for it not to be a big deal.
Never really thought about it before -- but THE DARK KNIGHT does the exact same thing. A worker for Bruce Wayne extorts Lucius Fox for money because he knows the identity of Batman, which results in a rather funny scene. The payoff later comes when Bruce Wayne saves the extortionists life.
Here's where you put in the point that THE DARK KNIGHT exploits that tension before releaving it. To which you are right.
But Spiderman is a different kind of movie and a different kind of hero. The city of New York and the citizens are just as much a part of Spiderman as he is. Much like the deux ex machina moment at the end of Spidey 1 when they save him from becoming shishkabob -- I felt the train scene more played to this, rather than a scene trying to build tension for a later payoff.
But then again, they could have used that tension to ... Yeah, you're right :p
They should have used it. Forced Peter Parker to make a decision between being a superhero or not. Like he'd be exposed if he kept it up. And create some clever way like THE DARK KNIGHT had so his identity ultimately isn't revealed.
I guess my point is that, that scene in particular works on an additional level that it isn't in THE DARK KNIGHT. They just didn't exploit it for full effect.
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