Three Movies That Made Me Want To Write Screenplays

In some fashion, I've always been a writer since I was a teenager. In college, I took screenwriting classes that opened up the possibility of writing something that could possibly land on a film or television screen one day. Unfortunately nothing did except for a dialogue-less short movie and another short that eventually became the general idea for one of my published short stories.

As with most screenwriters, a movie or multiple movies inspire that idea that you could possibly write too. Whether it's being so inspired by someone's work that it produces your own ideas or being outraged that a movie is so bad that you can do better, everyone has a film that incited them to create their own unique work. Here are my top five....

1. Clerks: Released in 1994, by first time writer/director/actor Kevin Smith, it was shot for just above $27,000 using his own money and maxed out credit cards. To Smith, this was his answer to Richard Linklarter's Slacker. Catching the movie in a theater, Smith was under the belief that he could make a movie on par to the Linklater movie and he went on to enroll in a film school. Dropping out half way through the program because there wasn't enough hands on experience with film production, he took his prorated tuition refund and put it towards making his own movie, along with money he received in government aid after his hometown had a flood.

The movie was shot in black and white and at nighttime at the Quick Stop convenience store, that was his place of employment, to cut down shooting costs. Clerks won awards at Cannes, Sundance, and three Spirit awards while racking up three million dollars in the box office despite the limited amount of theaters showing it.

For me, just as Linklater's Slacker made Kevin Smith think he could do at least just as well, I felt like I could at least shoot something just as good cinematography wise and possibly even writing wise. Topics in the movie ranged from Star Wars, to customer psychology, relationships, and even death. The screenplay was dialogue heavy and between average Joe's getting by in their day to day life. The movie inspired me because it shattered my own belief that movies took millions of dollars to make and that only a few select people could ever make one. True, it's not an easy thing to do this day, but with today's technology, the many new outlets to showcase movies, and the cost of equipment becoming more attainable to buy or rent, it made me think I could one day write and maybe even direct my own movie one day.

2. High Fidelity: Based on Nick Hornby's book of the same name, this movie not only inspired me to want to make a movie, but write a book. Hornby's writing is often in first person and the lead character from High Fidelity, Rob Gordon, often thought a lot like I did about music and even relationships. John Cusack's interpretation of Rob was well done, talking directly to the audience and breaking the fourth wall down to show you what his character was internally thinking in various scenarios. Just like the book, the characters often came up with top five or ten lists of songs or artists in different categories that weren't typically discussed among casual music fans. They also ranked other categories of life such as "Top 5 Girlfriends".

Ironically set in another retail setting, just like one that I was working in at the time, the film was relatable to me. I worked in a music store at the time of the movie was released, I often made lists (and still do) in my head of my top fives and tens, and just like Rob who was going through relationship woes, I wasn't in the most stable of relationships at the time.

When I saw this movie, it opened me to the possibility that I could have a character that revealed his internal thought process to the audience, while still trying to interact with the characters of his world and better his own life. Even at the end of the movie, when everything supposedly gets better, he acknowledges that his life still isn't perfect, but will have to do. It wasn't the happily ever after that many rom-com movies have and made it feel a little more life real life to me.

3. Four Rooms: A movie directed by four different directors, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Alexdre Rockwell, and Allison Anders. Each director oversaw the filming of one of the four rooms based in a fictional hotel on New Year's Eve night. The protagonist was a bellboy working on his first night, played by Tim Roth. Despite the modern look of cinematography to the movie, the writing seemed to reflect styles that were reminiscent of the 1940's or '50's. Tim Roth played Ted similar to how Jerry Lewis used to act out his characters during his prime.

I liked how each room was a story of its own, but also intermingled beyond the bellboy. One such crossover was when Sarah, the little girl in the third room, makes a call to a random room, she reaches Siegfried from the second room. The idea that completely separate stories could be set in a similar universe and intermingle with each other, was new to me. Kevin Smith in his movies would take this to a more macro scale, as all of his characters existed in the same universe for all his movies containing Jay And Silent Bob. Four Rooms was just like that, but all within one movie. It intrigued me that I could have four separate storylines, yet connect them all together.

And though I have my favorite storyline in this movie (The Wrong Man based in the second room), each story was just as strong as the rest while also subtly displaying the abilities and style of each director involved. Each room was filled with stars and the cast list reads as a who's-who of Hollywood. The cast list included actors and actresses such as Tim Roth, Madonna, Bruce Willis, Quentin Tarantino, Jennifer Beals, Salma Hayek (as an extra), Alicia Witt, Ione Skye, Lili Taylor, Antonio Banderas, Marisa Tomei, and Kathy Griffin.

Review of The First Episode of Gotham (spoilers after second picture)

A day late, but I finally got to see the first episode of the new television series Gotham. Leading up to the debut of the show, I was excited to finally get a Batman based television show. Yes I know "Birds Of Prey" existed for almost a whole season on the former WB Network, but Batman never made an appearance, even if only as Bruce Wayne. In fact the only allusion to Bruce Wayne in a live action series since "Batman" from the '60's was in Smallville in a Lex Luthor flashback to his teenage days when one of his fellow students was named Bruce. Finally as a DC Comics fan, I finally got to see a Bruce Wayne on television--that wasn't doing a Bat-Toosie.

Unfortunately, I came away with both hope and anger from the pilot episode. I'll start with the negatives and wrap it up with the positives. Also I'm using the picture below to divide the intro of this blog from the pros and cons so I don't spoil anything for anyone who has yet to watch the show. So if you have yet to watch the show, do not read past this...

The Cons:
I'm not exactly sure where to start, so I'll go character by character.

Oswald Cobblepot has a significant role in the pilot episode...but as a lackey to Fish Mooney. By this point, he should be an established boss himself. His family was one of the First Families of Gotham along with the Wayne family, the Kanes, the Elliots, and the Crownes. He is from a family of wealth and shouldn't be rubbing feet of local gang bosses and running around like a butler. The writers also heavily emphasized that he is nicknamed the Penguin, which in the show, the character hates. It almost happens so much, some of the characters almost seem to go out of their way to call him that. Cobblepot in the comics wasn't ashamed or angered by his Penguin nickname, but so far in the show he is. Hopefully he will adopt it.

Selina Kyle is introduced in the pilot as mainly an observer. She is an hidden witness to the murder of Bruce's parents which is unlike the comics. If she witnessed the murder, I wouldn't have expected her to try to interfere, but just her presence seems a bit off. Selina also appears to be wearing an early version of a Catwoman costume, but she never took on that persona until she was an adult in the comics. The actress who plays her, Camren Bicondova, is fifteen years old in real life and it appears so far that is the age of her character. In the comics, she is slightly younger than Bruce Wayne, yet appears to be at least three years older that Bruce in this show. Lastly, most of the developments that turn her to becoming Catwoman, happened in her early adult years. Unless Gotham skips some years into the future or the show goes on for at least four or maybe five seasons, I don't see how you can properly develop her character as a prominent character in this show.

Ivy Pepper is a big spike to the heart for me. First off, this is the character that is supposed to be Poison Ivy, but Poison Ivy's name in the comics is Pamela Isley (Lillian Rose originally). She appears to be no older than seven to eight years old, which would make the age about right in comparison to Bruce, but she never becomes a villain until she's at least in college. Pamela grew up in an abusive home and the Mario Pepper character that's her father fits that role, but he is killed in the pilot while the mother lives on. In the comics, he kills Pamela's mother and buries her in the garden. I also don't like that with this character, as I stated it will at least a good ten or eleven years before she starts doing anything "evil" and that's only pheromone pills to fellow college students. She eventually becomes one of the biggest eco-terrorist alive, but not until her adult years. Introducing her character seems to be way too early.

Edward Nigma played a small role in Gotham as a coroner for the Gotham P.D. In the comics, there has never been an origin story that ever mentioned that he worked for the police department as a coroner. In either version of his origin story, he never works for the public sector. He was a carney in one version and a Wayne Enterprises employee in another.

Another stickler, despite how small the detail might be, was that when Gordon meets Bruce Wayne for the first time at the murder scene, he is supportive, but distant. In the comics and even in the Nolan-verse, Gordon puts his jacket on a young Bruce and the kid cries his eyes out. In the show, Bruce already has a blanket on, so I understand not trying to place his jacket on the kid, but there isn't that connection really. It was that simple connection that kept Gordon in Bruce's memory as he got older and built that first layer of trust between the two, even though Gordon is unaware that Bruce is Batman.

Other negatives that bugged me included the small nod to the Joker, the harlequin dancers, and the Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen team up. It seemed that the writers were trying to prove their knowledge of DC Comics and stuff everyone they could into the first episode. The comedian who entertained Fish Mooney was clearly the nod to Joker's origin as a failed comedian. The harlequin dancers on the stage when Gordon first met Mooney is a small nod to Harley Quinn. They wore the red and black alternating colors in their lingerie. Finally the duo of Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen. While Allen and Montoya were partners at one point in the comics, it was because Commissioner Gordon is the one that assigned them together. Gordon in the show is younger and lower ranked than her unlike the comics. It also seems to early to introduce Crispus Allen to the show as well.

The Positives:
Donal Logue plays a good Harvey Bullock. He is content on living with organized crime, instead of trying to take it down like Gordon wants. Bollock comes off as a borderline villain himself, but being the first episode, it gives him plenty of time to develop as a character and redeem himself bit by bit.

A Batman show that has Montoya! Now, I know I just complained a couple of paragraphs ago about her role, but the fact that the writers included her in the show is great. In the comics, she is a cop that eventually washes out from an alcohol addition and almost fades away until The Question takes her under his wings and mentors her to take his place. She played the role of The Question extremely well in the comics and I hope that there is some nod to her possible future as the show goes on. I just wished that they didn't make her character older and higher ranked than Gordon. She also has some sort of hidden past with the future Mrs. Gordon, which if played right, can be awesome or fail horribly. I'm still on the fence about that, but I am hopeful.

David Mazouz is the kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He is given the task of playing the pre-teen Bruce Wayne. From a casting standpoint, he appears to be a good pick. Visually he looks like he could be a young Bruce Wayne and he appears to have the gravitas to pull off the brooding personality.

Crispus Allen makes an appearance! While it's too early in my opinion, for him to be part of the Batman world, I think it's great that the future Spectre is on the show. Knowing his future role in the comics, I am going to keep my eye out for a Gotham cop named Jim Corrigan, who is Allen's murderer. Should be interesting since both Allen and Corrigan play host to The Spectre. While the show so far has played like a real life drama, I wonder if they'll add the supernatural element then when or if Allen is killed.

Ben McKenzie of The OC fame takes on the lead role of James Gordon. So far after one episode, all is well. He seems to have that unwavering quality about him that he fights for good, no matter what. He breaks up the beating of the Fish Mooney lackey, saves Cobblepot's life by faking his murder, and promises Bruce that he will find Thomas and Martha's killer. I hope that they don't necessarily play this up too much verbally, but instead continue to show that he's THE good guy by his actions. The only thing he needs is the mustache, but there's time to grow that as the show progresses.

Lastly, I sort of like the role of Fish Mooney played by Jada Pinkett Smith, but I'm torn at the same time. While I do admit to liking a show more when it follows comic book cannon as closely as possible, sometimes there does need to be a little variance to give the show it's own personality. Fish Mooney doesn't exist in cannon, but I wonder if her character is derived from a pre-existing midlevel boss such as Great White. While not disfigured like Warren White was, she shares the aquatic theme and is placed about the same level of "boss hood" as Great White was in the comics. Warren White went mad and adopted his Great White role and maybe that's something similar to what the writers have planned for Fish Mooney. I also can foresee a bad pun coming up soon when Cobblepot eventually overthrows her (he already has shown interest in doing show) from his position..."Penguins eat fish".

Last Thoughts:
I like the prospects of the show so far. The potential is there to be great, but also to be bad. I'm hopeful that the writers keep it a little closer to cannon and don't take too many liberties with the Batman universe. They already have with Fish Mooney, but there was room there to create a midlevel crime boss that early into Bruce's life. It's not as if the biggest comic book readers can identify all the midlevel bosses of Gotham before Batman came around. Gotham producers seem to have casted Bruce Wayne, James Gordon, and Fish Mooney well. I just hope that future roles keep up the decent casting they've done so far. I hope to see future appearances by other Gotham staples such as Thomas Elliot (Bruce's old best friend and future Hush), the Flying Graysons, and maybe some hints or mention of The Court Of Owls. If done right, I can see this show lasting as long as Smallville did and hopefully it ends with some sort of glimpse of a young Batman.

9/11...13 Years Later

Normally for those of you who have followed my blogs in the past, you know I don't make things too personal. While my blogs might reflect my personal views or humor, I refrain from using words like "I" when I write.

Thirteen years ago, I woke up to my stereo that doubled as an alarm at 6AM Pacific Coast time. While popping in my contacts, I listened to Doc and Ralph Garman reporting about a plane that had crashed into the World Trade Center. On this particular day, Kevin And Bean, the normal anchors to KROQ's morning show were on vacation which usually meant they would be playing clips from past shows. It was odd to me that Ralph and Doc had jumped on live and reporting news. I turned on my television to see if the news had video of the accident. Sure enough, within fifteen seconds of my turning on the television at watching smoke billow from the Trade Center, I saw a plane crash into the tower. At first I wasn't sure if what I saw was a replay of the crash, but quickly knew something was wrong when the morning news reporters had freaked out over what had just happened. It was sort of unreal to watch the second plane hit on live television. Almost like a movie scene. I knew all hell was breaking loose, but being a Senior in college, I wasn't sure if the events that were happening were going to cause classes that day to be cancelled.

Driving to Cal State Fullerton, I listened to Ralph and Doc report about the latest rumors that were trickling down to them. They informed the listeners that jets were scrambled all over the country looking to bring down rogue airliners that the air FAA had lost contact with. Flights had been banned from taking off until further notice. When I arrived at my school, I could see school was still in session, as the parking lot was as full as usual. I took some extra time to listen to the radio before going to my class to continue to listen to the latest reports. Ralph and Doc informed listeners that the first Trade Center tower had collapsed and for a moment, both radio DJ's were silent. Reports flooded in that the Pentagon was hit as well as President Bush was already calling the incidents "a terrorist attack". The White House staffers had been evacuated as there was speculation that planes in the air still could have been hijacked as well.

Just before 7:30AM, I walked into my Mass Communications class that was held in a theater style classroom. I took a seat and watched as the news was being projected onto the screen. By this point, there were rumors that a plane had crashed somewhere in Pennsylvania, but hadn't been confirmed. Two minutes before class was scheduled to start, the students in my class collectively gasped as the first Trade Center building collapsed on live TV. Several students broke out into tears. I sat more in a state of shock. By this point, I had known that I was witnessing the events of my generation's Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately for the students of my class, my professor had no heart. Class had started almost ten minutes late and she rushed down to the stage in front of the class, demanding the T.A. turn off the television news. Her exact words were, "Turn this off now. This isn't as important as what I will be teaching today." To this day, I can't remember a specific thing I learned in her class, but I remember every moment of this particular day. She went on to teach class as if nothing big was happening.

Afterwards, I rushed over to my next class, Media Ethics. Unfortunately this classroom had no television or even a radio, so students shared information they heard outside of the classroom. Within minutes of the class starting, a student that worked for the offices of Cal State Fullerton, ran down the hallways of the College Park building yelling for everyone to evacuate. My professor talked to him briefly before turning around to tell us that it was believed that Cal State Fullerton was a possible target for terrorism. While I believed that it was possible for terrorist to target significant targets in the west, I highly doubted that after targeting the Trade Center, the Pentagon, and possibly the White House, that Cal State Fullerton was also on the terrorists' list of targets. Nevertheless, class was over for the day and the campus evacuated. Traffic was intense as a campus filled with nearly thirty-thousand students and faculty were trying to leave at the same time.

Finally getting home, I spent the rest of the day watching CNN report about what was happening. All flights were permanently grounded, Manhattan was evacuated which led to a mass amount of people leaving the city on foot, and by the middle of the day, Seven World Trade Center had collapsed as well. My dad came home from work shortly afterwards, unaware of the degree of the events that had taken place. He had heard rumors that something had taken place, but on a construction site, they weren't privy to hearing any of the exact details. I filled him in on what had happened and spent the rest of the just watching TV which I rarely did back then. I worked on the Cal State Fullerton campus myself and knew that with the evacuation, I wouldn't be going to work that day. I also knew that America itself was never going to be the same.

Photo credit to NASA

Super Bowl Pay To Play

With the new season only starting less than a week ago, the NFL has already taken some major bumps this season. Beyond the most recent developments in the Ray Rice incident, the NFL recently announced that it wants musicians/artists to pay to play during the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Citing free publicity and bumps in ticket sales for up and coming tours, the NFL claims that the music artist is the biggest winner.

First off, the point of the music artist to perform at the halftime show is to retain the viewers while the gameplay is on pause. Without the halftime show, just as with many regular season games, fans use this time to grab food, talk, hang out with friends, and various other things which take them away from the television, effectively minimizing the impact the companies who advertise during halftime have. Without the music artist, it's hard for the NFL to justify $4 million for 30 second spots during the downtime from the game. The NFL would like to argue that the performance itself is a form of advertisement, but more fairly, it can be said that the advertisers are drawn in because of the music performance.

Many of the artists that perform at these shows can draw in as high a million dollars plus for one of their own concert performances, but perform three to four songs for free during the halftime show. Performing for free, while the NFL reaps the benefits. Because of the music performance, the female demographic is more likely to watch the game, especially at halftime. The same can also be said for non-NFL fans who are fans of the music artist performing, but not necessarily football in general. These are viewers that the sponsors hit, that normally would be lost if the halftime show consisted only of the standard commentators talking about the highlights of the game to that point.

Years ago, before the NFL stepped up it's halftime show productions, the Fox Network stole away many of the possible halftime viewers by airing an In Living Color special that aired exclusively during halftime. By counterprogramming against the Super Bowl, Fox effectively minimized the impact by the advertisers who (over)paid for 30 second spots on CBS during the halftime show.

During 60's, 70's, and 80's, the NFL primarily used marching bands and generic music to entertain those watching the halftime show. This was a dead zone for advertisers, wishing to wait until the second half to resume their advertising. It was not possible for the NFL to justify charging $4 million (or the equivalent to those particular years). Once the NFL started to invite music artists to perform free of charge during the halftime, they were able to charge a premium for advertising.

Various unions including the NFL Players Association and American Federation of Musicians have also come out publicly against the NFL's proposed idea. Twenty-two unions in all have sided against the NFL citing that no one should ever have to pay to work. For a musician, even if they love what they do, performing is their job.

The trade off for performing for free is the potential bump of people who might pay for the musician's music or attend one of their concerts. It's a fair trade considering how much money the NFL makes from advertisers when the game isn't even being played. It's better for both sides, especially the NFL which will never want to go back to marching bands performing at halftime while losing millions of dollars to the lack of halftime advertising.

Photo credit by IndianBio uploaded to Wikipedia.

10 Things I Learned From Zoolander

1. Nothing in the world is as fun as going to the gas station: If you're spending $4 a gallon on gas, you might as well blast some 80's music and dance. Still cheaper than going to Disneyland.

2. Facial poses by models are often named after condoms: Blue Steel? Magnum? Sounds like the names of condoms to me. What's next? Vivid? Trojan? 

3. Hand models are the smart ones: Hand models have the brains because they aren't trained to please like regular models are. Does this rule apply to foot models too?

4. Guitar Synth players are evil: Why wouldn't they be evil? Just like saxophone players, after the 80's, there wasn't much work out there for them. They'd still be employed if it wasn't for heavy metal and the rise of the grunge scene. Do you think Kurt Cobain needed a guitar synth player? No.

5. If you're a famous model, 1200 messages on your answering machine is only a bit above average: Being famous, everyone wants a piece of you. 1100 messages in a week isn't uncommon. 1200. Something is up.

6. With a small amount of make up, you can look like anyone: When breaking into Ballstein's office, Derek and Hansel use make up to look completely different. Apparently make up can change bone structure. So why is there a need for botox then?

7. A simple look can stop a throwing star in it's path: If this is true, then can a dance move stop a bullet? A hand clap stop a moving car? Yoko Ono singing stop a nuclear missile? Actually I think Yoko's singing promotes being hit by a nuclear missile.

8. Ambiturning is a real talent: Looking for things to put on your resume? Tell your potential employer that you are an ambiturner. You can turn left when need to. 

9. Listen to Billy Zane: Listen to Billy Zane. He's a good guy. He's looking out for you. Unless your name is Jack and you're on the Titanic.

10. David Bowie is the best person to judge anything: You have a pose off? David Bowie will be your judge. He has nothing better to do.