Saturday, February 23, 2008

TICK TOCK

I sent two scripts out this week to a talent manager in Los Angeles. I'm seeking a new rep. It's always great to update your best work and get it in the mail (electronically . You never know what agencies are looking for when it comes to genre, but a well-written script usually gets their attention. The two I sent are diverse in tone and style, so we'll see how it goes.

Read "There Will be Blood" which is a compelling screenplay. It's written very tightly from a director's mentality as well as writer's.

Oscars this weekend! I'm not so interested in it this year -- between the strike and some of the movies not being great -- but I did like "Juno". Not sure if it's Oscar worthy as far as best picture, but the script should win. It's inventive and cleverly written by Diablo Cody. I wasn't thrilled with "No Country for Old Men" -- I was until the third act when I think the story lost steam. How could we NOT see Josh Brolin's character killed on screen?? How could that happen off screen when we were so invested in that character for the entire film? It disappointed. And what was with the Tommy Lee Jones character? I didn't find that sheriff added anything to the film overall except a few good lines.

Now "There Will Be Blood" was amazing in every way -- until the very end when Daniel (Daniel Day-Lewis) went hammy in the last scene. The audience I was with started to laugh and it lost it's big dramatic payoff.

But the Oscars are my Super Bowl -- so I'll be tuned in and rooting for the writers!

2 comments:

Morgan said...

Janet,

I wasn't sure how else to get in touch with you other than to leave a comment on your most recent post. I'm a journalism student at Columbia grad. school writing a features piece (hopefully for publication) on NYC screenwriters and the difficulties they face writing from NY as opposed to LA. I've read through your blog and think you would be an excellent subject for the piece. I would love to tell you more about the project over email or telephone. If you are at all interested (or know of anyone who might be) in being profiled for this piece, please contact me at mb1373@columbia.edu

Thank you!

Anonymous said...

No Country for Old Men is a great book that became a great film, you don't see the character get killed in the book thus you do not see Josh Brolin get killed in the film.
Read the book, its a great book for learning the craft of screenwriting...and the title No Country For Old Men is a very important element of the story..its a story about the violence that is slowly seeping into Texas
There will be Blood is a film by a director who will never make a convential film or would know how...PT Anderson is a genius