The nature of movies

“Movies are more than a commodity. Movies are to our civilization what dreams and ideals are to individual lives: They express the mystery and help define the nature of who we are and what we are becoming.”

— Frank Pierson
(screenwriter: Cool Hand Luke)

Takeout

I now want to write a Liam Neeson thriller called TAKEOUT.

Bryan: I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. You haven’t placed your order yet. If you are looking for haute cuisine, I can tell you I don’t have it. But what I do have are a very particular set of containers, containers I have acquired over a very long career. Containers that will get food safely to people like you. If you place your order now, that’ll be the end of it until you hear the knock on your door. The delivery boy will look for you, he will find you, and he will expect a reasonable tip.

Steam train or horror movie?

When you walk into a dark room and you hear

Ch…ch…ch…ch…
Ch…ch…ch…ch…

You are either in a horror movie and something terrible is going to happen, or there is an old steam train in the room.

Keep listening. If it’s a steam train, sooner or later you’ll hear WOO WOO!

Oppressive kings, man.

I am now working on the script for SAMSON, where Samson raises a gritty, ragtag army of underdogs with his quirky but lovable sidekick to fight against an oppressive king. It will include a training montage featuring the jawbone of an ass.

Then I will work on the script for DAVID AND GOLIATH, where David raises a gritty, ragtag army of underdogs with his quirky but lovable sidekick to fight against an oppressive king. It will include a training montage featuring a slingshot.

After that, KING ARTHUR, where Arthur raises a gritty, ragtag army of underdogs with his quirky but lovable sidekick to fight against an oppressive king. It will include a training montage featuring a sword pulled from a stone.

Finally, LYCAON, where King Lycaon raises a gritty, ragtag army of underdogs with his quirky but lovable sidekick to fight…

Wait. Lycaon WAS the oppressive king. Never mind.