Taken By TAKEN

Have you seen TAKEN? It's amazing! There's people smashing through windows, people getting shot square in the head, people being tortured----- all the things I DISLIKE in movies (and in life too, of course). But in this film? AMAZING! Everything that happens is justified.

The film is 89 minutes long. I wish all films were 89 minutes long. The great thing about TAKEN is that enough happens to make it a four hour film, but it isn't, it's just 89 minutes. Everything is short and to the point-- it rips through each scene like a rollercoaster on a mission. In fact, the way the film is packed together is as if it was edited by the character himself, BRYAN (played by LIAM NEESON). Unfortunately, Bryan can't edit films-- but he can kick everybody's ass and will always be ten seconds ahead of you if you plan on shooting him in the head. Bryan is retired; but in his previous work he was; well, I'm not sure-- the film may have explained but to be honest I'm not very good at remembering details. But he worked for the government as a spy, or something similar where you get to do important things and kill people in the national interest. 

Anyhow -- the film absolutely flies! It begins with opening credits and then, I swear, it's immediately fifty minutes into the film. It just flies by! So what makes this film so watchable? There's no bullshit, that's what it is. No over-complication. There's two things you need to know. 1) Bryan is trained in killing and is the best there is, and 2) His daughter has been kidnapped. 

By sheer coincidence, he happens to be on the phone when his daughter gets kidnapped. I know that sounds ridiculous but, when you're watching the film, you'll go with it. Trust me. Bryan is such an expert in these situations that he's able to stay calm and, in the midst of his daughter's kidnapping (while she's in France) he's able to set up an audio recording, instruct his daughter on specific things to do, and he probably updated his Facebook status too.

The film is the most concise film I've ever seen. It's so compact. But not in a boring way. It just doesn't waste any time. After five minutes, we know everything about the main characters -- a lesser writer and director would spend twenty five minutes following the family around trying to explain everything. Not here. Opening scenes = A Father. A Father struggling to be there for his daughter, and struggling to communicate with his ex-wife. The daughter deciding to travel. The Father trying to help his daughter to be a singer. 



That's all we need to know. And then she travels. And get's kidnapped. And the rest of the film is him trying to find his daughter, gain the respect of his ex-wife, and then maybe help her be a singer like she always dreamed. That's all we need to know! That's all Bryan would know, because he's that kind of guy. He runs around a lot and gets down to business and doesn't even stop to pee or eat a sandwich. He does this because he knows his character only has 89 minutes to exist before disappearing into film history. 


A great movie! Please watch it!

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Magic MOMENTS - When Films Really Resonate

I am going to write about a common thread that runs through all of my favorite films, and hopefully it will resonate with many of you. I think it's an important thing to consider as a writer, and director; because delving into this can be very helpful.

My favorite films are often my favorite films; not necessarily because of plot, or characters (specifically) - but the space that develops around them which allows for a moment to be captured. What do I mean by a moment? The thing that makes a moment a moment, is that it isn't definable. If it was; then it wouldn't be a moment. A moment normally comes when the characters seemingly step out of the constraints of a story and purposeful dialogue; and exist truly in a moment that resonates personally with the viewer. 

In 'Almost Famous,' as Stillwater are selling their souls to the big-shot manager, Penny Lane is in the auditorium, alone, post-concert, dancing slowly to the Cat Stevens song 'The Wind.' That is a moment. At least, it was for me.

As most of you will know I've been obsessed with the movie 'Adventureland' recently. It's a film that captures many moments. When James and Lisa P sit on the out of commission ride-carriages, getting high; it really captures something. It captures life! It captures the very essence of what it is to be young-and-figuring-the-world-out, just by having two people sitting and interacting. Likewise, when James and Em sit back and watch fireworks as 'Don't dream it's over' plays over the speaker system-- it is strangely touching, and warm; which evokes something in the viewer.

I think moments only happen when they have been experienced first hand by the writer or director. Not necessarily the exact situation, but that feeling, that emotion. Do you know what I mean? In life, it's possible, on rare occasions; to forget your problems, your financial woes and your messed up relationships and instead you exist purely in a moment that means something. The best screenwriters capture the essence of these 'moments' that they have experienced themselves.

But what am I talking about? Part of me wants to get very specific and stop sounding so wishy washy, and part of me says 'an article about moments can't be too specific' so I feel stuck.
In screenplays, like in life, the character's tend to go to work, then to a restaurant, then to bed, then to work, then to a friends house, then to a bar, etc.

Moments are normally created outside of these societal norms (but only very slightly). They happen at work after everyone is gone, when only two people are left in the building. Or they happen on the way home from a restaurant, when a group of friends bond over a broken-down-car experience. I would guess your most memorable moments in life are similar. I think that's an important point.

As we get older, life gets more rigid. Jobs, relationships and responsibilities provide structures that make it difficult to have unexpected experiences. When we see someone similar to us on screen sitting around a fireplace at 3am with new friends, or we see two people spontaneously having a poem written for them on the streets of Vienna, we realise - This is us, this is ME. This is a part of my life, or my identity, or my hopes - that I can't quite reach at the moment. It's a feeling you've been longing for, or a part of yourself you've been repressing or ignoring.

The header of my blog says, "I like it when I look up at the big screen and see a part of me staring back at me" and I think that's what I'm really talking about. Great movies have the capacity to show us more rounded, complete versions of ourselves. You might relate and identify with Jerry Maguire working really hard and you might relate to his struggle; but the part that resonates might be when he's swinging Ray back and forth with Dorothy, or when Marcy is telling Rod Tidwell "you're the shit!"

These are unexpected, truthful moments. They're what life is about. They are the things that people forget about after a movie, but paradoxically, somehow never forget at all. 

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Screenwriting Comp Update Soon

Reading the scripts has taken a little bit longer than I anticipated. It's also more difficult than I thought reading script-after-script with the same characters and locations; so I need to spread the reading out over many days! More updates soon!

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Have We Lost Music? Have I?

I made a decision about an hour ago, that even though I'm really tired, I wanted to listen to a song before I slept. I'm not really sure what brought this on, but I felt the need for it.

I got into bed and I flicked through my iPhone for a song. I chose 'Mona Lisa's And Mad Hatters' by Elton John. I listened. Really listened. How often do I do this? Not often enough. It's something I always did, all through my life -- I'd be eight years old, with the headphones in the living room listening to my parent's Rod Stewart records, or I'd be fourteen and spend four hours a night rolling the dial back and forth and hitting record the moment I heard great music. Even in the Napster days, I'd spend near enough all of my time discovering and falling in love with music.

But somewhere that stopped happening. I sometimes think I'm really listening, but I'm not; I'm just using a song to make a train ride less boring, or listening to an old favorite to jolt me into a better mood.

What hit me just now, listening to the Elton John song, is that I was really appreciating how great it sounded and how much it was resonating with me. I was even appreciating the sound of it coming out of my iPhone-- it somehow sounded like old radio.

I still see my love for music as a big part of my identity, and so do people who know me. But I think I've been more inclined to lose it, in recent years. It almost feels like wasting time to truly get lost in the flow of music you love. There's a voice that says you should spend time doing work, or writing, or planning something, and it says it's okay to listen to music but only as a companion to what I'm really supposed to be doing. But when did I forget that listening to music IS what I'm supposed to be doing? Springsteen said "we learned more from a three minute record, baby, than we ever learned in school." It's not just school. You learn more from a three minute record than you do from most things.

A YouTube playlist for when I'm researching, or an iPod playlist for when I'm jogging-- these are great things but they're not, really, what it's all about. Can anyone relate to this? I'm so tired and am writing in such a zombie state that i feel like I may actually be dreaming. But I wanted to write about this feeling. It's not just a feeling, it's a part of me, and it's saying "stop writing, and listen to another song."

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The Moment When COACH CARTER Reveals His Motivation

Well, let me tell you what I see. I see a system that's designed for you to fail. Now I know you all like stats so let me give you some. Richmond High only graduates fifty percent of its students. And of those that do graduate only six percent go to college; which tells me when I walk down these halls and I look in your classrooms, maybe only one student is going to go to college. Well damn, Coach Carter, If I ain't going to college, where am I going to go? Well that's a great question. And the answer for young, African American men in here is this: probably, to prison. In this county, thirty three percent of black males between eighteen and twenty four, get arrested. So look at the guy on your left, now look at the guy on your right. One of you is going to get arrested.

Growing up here in Richmond you're eighty percent more likely to go to prison, than college. Those are the numbers. Those are some stats for your ass. Now I want you to go home and look at your lives tonight, look at your parents lives, and ask yourself; do I want better? If the answer is yes, I'll see you here tomorrow. And I promise you, I will do everything within my power to get you to college, and to a better life.

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