Hello. It’s been long since I posted.

I’ve been involved recently in an awesome screenwriting community at the Screenwriting Goldmine Forums that I wanted to share. It is totally devoted to the art/craft and business of screenwriting. There are some very knowledgeable people active in the community.

In particular, I wanted to mention this post made by a guru member Scrivener. It talks about the types of coverage and analysis you can get from the different outfits which offer such services, and gives a few nods to some of the trusted ones.

Here is an excerpt:

“A professional story analyst (“reader”) will read your feature-length script 80-120 pages (no books for this special) and will analyze it in a coverage report of 3 pages single-spaced. Comments section will be two pages min. No synopsis is included.

This report will contain the following:
Logline (1-3 sentences) summary of your story.
Comments (includes strengths and weaknesses regarding, structure, dialogue and character. A few suggestions on how to improve script).
Grid Rating of: Premise, Storyline, Structure, Characterization and Dialogue
Overall Rating of script: Pass, Consider or Recommend (with your permission, we will alert the industry about your material should it get a consider or recommend). We are not agents or producers and will not take a percentage of any deal. We make the introduction and step aside. No follow-up calls to the industry regarding your script will be made.
Turnaround time is 2-3 weeks. We will notify you by e-mail when material and payment are received.

Scripts over 120 pages will be charged an additional $1 per page over the 120 page count.
Their coverage is of a very high standard.”

If you are interested in screenwriting, this is the place you should go to seek advice.

Once you become a contributing member (more than 20 posts) you may gain access to the password protected section which lets you share your scripts and loglines with the other members for critique.

This may have been announced some time ago, but this is certainly news to me. Troy Duffy is bringing us the sequel to the 1999 film Boondock Saints a solid ten years after the fact. Now while the original movie was alright, I never found it to be the classic action movie that it was hailed to be. I felt it was decent, and mildly entertaining.

What is really noteworthy for me, is the fact that Hollywood is, once again, relying on past successes to continue a franchise. Can’t Mr. Duffy write a new story that can compete in today’s feature film market? I’m sure he can, but the problem is with the big Hollywood studios: they don’t want anything new. At least that is how it seems to me, a Hollywood outsider.

I just wish the glory days of the early nineties’ spec script gold-rush would come back. The days where writing a good creative story was enough to get a sale in the ‘wood. Now it seems the only way to break in to the industry is write the tenth remake of the same old comic book story. Hulk, anybody?

Here’s a trailer:

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Written by James Cameron & William Wisher Jr.

I have to admit, I will be a little biased with this one. When I was a kid, this movie blew me away, and today it still does. I get chills when I watch it. This might be my all-time favourite movie. Not to say it is the best, just my favourite.

This is one example of a sequel film that far surpasses the original in terms of quality and enjoyment. The story behind the film is very intriguing and scary. Basically, Terminators have been sent back from the future: One to kill John Connor, future leader of the human rebellion against the machines and the second to protect John.

You see in the future, the world will be taken over by robots and machines. ‘Skynet,’ a military computer defense system, will take over control of all Nuclear Weapons in the US and launch them simultaneously starting World War III. John Connor, played by a young Edward Furlong, is destined to be the leader of the human resistance to these machines.

Basically this movie is all action. But don’t be fooled, it is not just an ordinary action flick. It has a backstory that really drives the Characters in an honest way. Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, is amazing in this film. From breaking out of a mental hospital to motorcycle chases through L.A.’s aqueducts, this movie delivers on all levels. Please, for the sake of humanity, rent this movie. It may save your life when the machines actually do take over the world (although some would argue that has already happened :P)

Overall Score: 8.5/10

Blue Velvet (1986)

Written by David Lynch

“After finding a severed human ear in a field, a young man soon discovers a sinister underworld lying just beneath his idyllic suburban home town.”

A shocking and mysterious journey into the underbelly of middle america, Blue Velvet is a truly unique film. Kyle MacLachlan stars as the young man drawn into the dark world of  Frank Booth, played by Dennis Hopper in what is in my opinion the most frightening character ever portrayed on screen.

This film garnered critical acclaim and commercial success when it came out, but seems to be somewhat of a forgotten gem.

David Lynch wrote and directed this classic, which earned him his second Academy Award nomination for “Best Director.”

Overall Score: 8.5/10

Marathon Man (1976)

Screenplay by William Goldman

based on the novel by William Goldman

“A graduate history student is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal, and a rogue government agent.“

This film comes in near the top of my list for Thrillers. Featuring great performances by screen legends Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier, taught direction by John Schlesinger, and a wonderful screenplay by master writer William Goldman.

Unique characters in a compelling story, enough action and suspense to satisfy any viewer, and a now infamous scene involving Hoffman, Olivier, and a dental drill.

Overall Score: 8/10

“Is It Safe?”