Here’s a film I’ve been dreading ever since the first trailers and TV spots started rolling. They made this film look like it was going to be something of an agonizing experiencing what with having to watch Steve Carell act like an idiot for an entire movie, and since he’s usually not particularly funny anyway, it could have been just that. This made it all the more surprising that the film was actually amusing and provided a lot of good, . . .
Jeff Beck Reviews: SaltThis is one of those movies that it seems like we’ve been hearing about for a long time now. “Salt” was originally scripted for a male lead with Tom Cruise taking the role. However, Cruise felt it was too close to his “Mission: Impossible” films (he’s already done the rogue on the run) and decided to back out, leaving the role open for someone else. In steps Angelina Jolie, causing the script to be revised for a female lead.
Jolie plays . . .
Dinner for SchmucksDownload Script
February 27, 2007 Revised Draft by Andy Borowitz.
Revisions by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio and Jon Vitti. Current revisions by David Guion & Michael Handelman. Based on the original French film “Le Diner de Cons” by Francis Veber.
Synopsis: A rising executive “succeeds” in finding the perfect guest for his boss’s monthly event, which offers certain advantages to the exec who shows up with the biggest buffoon.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 118 – Size: 2.1 Mb – IMDb
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April 1, 2008 Final Draft by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.
Based on the book by Steve McVicker.
Synopsis: A conman whose love for a cellmate leads him to make several prison escapes.
Source: Digital – Pages: 118 – Size: 188 kb – IMDb
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November 4, 2007 Draft by Laurie Craig.
Based on the series of books by Beverly Cleary.
Current Revisions by Elizabeth Allen & Nick Pustay.
Synopsis: Follows the misadventures of young grade schooler Ramona Quimby from Beverly Cleary’s popular children’s book series.
Source: Digital – Pages: 117 – Size: 288 kb – IMDb
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(aka Edwin A. Salt)
March 2, 2007 Draft by Kurt Wimmer.
Synopsis: As a CIA officer, Edwin Salt swore an oath to duty, honor and country. His loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses him of being a Russian spy.
Notes: Original version before the Salt character was tailored for Angelina Jolie.
Source: Digital – Pages: 118 – Size: 271 kb – IMDb
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January 16, 2009 Draft by Kurt Wimmer.
Current revisions by Brian Helgeland.
Synopsis: As a CIA officer, Evelyn Salt swore an oath to duty, honor and country. Her loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Salt goes on the run, using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative to elude capture.
Source: Digital – Pages: 109 – Size: 185 kb – IMDb
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September 30, 2008 Revised Draft by Jordan Melamed.
Based upon the novel by Nick McDonnell.
Synopsis: A young drug dealer watches as his high-rolling life is dismantled in the wake of his cousin’s murder, which sees his best friend arrested for the crime.
Source: Digital – Pages: 98 – Size: 276 kb – IMDb
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” reunites director Jon Turteltaub with actor Nicolas Cage, who had both previously worked on the underrated “National Treasure” films. While those films had been fun and full of adventure, it felt like those were the elements that were missing from their latest effort. This film isn’t completely lacking in those areas, but sadly, they seem to have taken a backseat to the special effects.
The story begins with a prologue explaining that long ago the sorcerer Merlin . . .
Jeff Beck Reviews: InceptionIn my humble opinion, Christopher Nolan is the single greatest filmmaker working today. Yes, even better than Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. No one can tell a story quite like Nolan can. In “Memento,” he took us through the film completely backwards in order to identify with its main character who had no short-term memory. In “The Prestige,” he slowly unveiled a story of two rival magicians where things were not quite what they seemed. This time around, he takes . . .
Jeff Beck Reviews: PredatorsBack in 1987, a small film called “Predator” rolled into theaters. It wasn’t the kind of film that you would expect to become a staple of the sci-fi/action genre, but it surprisingly became famous and even spawned a few sequels. It’s fair to say that the sequels, which include some team-ups with the creatures from the “Alien” franchise, were not well-received, so it was opted to take the franchise back to its roots.
This reboot of the series begins with Royce . . .
Jeff Beck Reviews: Despicable MeIn a summer that’s been dominated by Pixar’s “Toy Story 3″ comes a smaller animated film entitled “Despicable Me” that was barely even on my radar before I attended the screening. I expected another short, simple kids’ film with a few jokes and maybe a few loud noises to keep the children interested, but to my surprise, it ended up being much more than that.
It tells the story of a supervillain named Gru (Voice of Steve Carell), who has accomplished . . .
Gloria (1980)Download Script
September 24, 1979 Revised Draft by John Cassavetes.
Synopsis: Jack Dawn and his family are eliminated by the mob, however, his six-year-old Puerto Rican son, Phil, escapes with Gloria, a neighbor who was a former girlfriend of one of the gangsters. Gloria and Phil are chased throughout New York City because Phil has a black book containing the accounts of the mob.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 142 – Size: 4.3 MB – IMDb
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Undated, unspecified draft by Elaine May.
Synopsis: When Nicky calls Mikey yet again to bail him out of trouble — this time a contract on his life for money that he stole from his mob boss — Mikey, as always, shows up to help.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 128 – Size: 3.3 MB – IMDb
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April 1, 1971 Revised Draft by John Cassavetes.
Synopsis: A museum curator falls in love with a crazy parking attendant.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 143 – Size: 4.4 MB – IMDb
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May 16, 1996 Shooting Draft by John Cassavetes.
Synopsis: A romantic fable about Eddie and Maureen–young, married and passionately crazy about each other. Drunk, unstable and about to have a baby, they live in a world of barflys and low-lifes, living it up on no money and their manic, co-dependent need for each other.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 108 – Size: 2.5 MB – IMDb
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June 1978 Second Draft by Oliver Stone.
From the book by Ron Kovic.
Synopsis: The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 150 – Size: 3.1 MB – IMDb
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August 1988 Revised Draft by Oliver Stone and Ron Kovic.
Based on the book by Ron Kovic.
Synopsis: The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Notes: Missing page 4.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 140 – Size: 7.8 MB – IMDb
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September 30, 2007 Draft by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore.
Synopsis: A Las Vegas-set comedy centered around three groomsmen who lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, then must retrace their steps in order to find him.
Source: Digital – Pages: 110 – Size: 219 kb – IMDb
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August 17, 2008 Revised Draft by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore.
Revisions by Todd Phillips & Jeremy Garelick.
Synopsis: A Las Vegas-set comedy centered around three groomsmen who lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, then must retrace their steps in order to find him.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 118 – Size: 1.7 MB – IMDb
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March 2009 Draft by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg.
Synopsis: Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their birth father into their family life.
Source: Digital – Pages: 122 – Size: 196 kb – IMDb
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August 2, 1996 First Draft by Robert Rodriguez.
Synopsis: A group of elite warriors are hunted by members of a merciless alien race known as Predators.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 116 – Size: 3.2 MB – IMDb
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July 12, 2009 First Draft by Robert Rodriguez.
Current Revisions by Mike Finch and Alex Litvak.
Synopsis: A group of elite warriors are hunted by members of a merciless alien race known as Predators.
Source: Digital – Pages: 94 – Size: 122 kb – IMDb
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July 18, 2008 Revised Draft by Matt Lopez.
Based on a screenplay by Larry Konner and Mark Rosenthal.
Synopsis: A sorcerer leaves his workshop in the hands of his apprentice, who gets into trouble when the broomstick he’s tasked to do his chores for him somehow develops a mind of its own.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 108 – Size: 4.0 MB – IMDb
M. Night Shyamalan has been having quite a troubled career. He started off so well with the innovative and creepy “The Sixth Sense” and would go on to make a couple of decent films with “Signs” and “The Village,” but took a sharp dive with his recent projects, “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening,” both of which turned out to be disastrously bad. Sadly, we must now add his latest film, “The Last Airbender,” to that list.
It is set . . .
Independence Day (1996)Download Script
May 11, 1995 Second Draft by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich.
Synopsis: The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy. Fighting superior technology, Man’s best weapon is the will to survive.
Source: Scanned – Pages: 139 – Size: 4.0 MB – IMDb
The first thing I had to do before watching the latest installment in the “Twilight” series was to go back and reread my review of the previous entry, “New Moon,” because I hardly remembered a thing that had happened in that film. It turns out the main reason I hadn’t remembered much was simply because barely anything had happened in the previous film, just one of many problems that weren’t fixed between that film and “Eclipse.” It was easy to . . .
Nashville Screenwriters Conference: War StoriesPictured left to right: Scott Frank, Richard LaGravanese, Phil Robinson, Lawrence Kasdan, and Ted Griffin.
Hey all, J.C. here. This is the first in a series of articles covering the 2010 Nashville Screenwriters Conference.
I was lucky enough to cover the event and throughout the event I noticed a few things. One major observation is that a lot of the aspiring screenwriters had the exact same . . .
