Copied this from somewhere on Facebook:
Our father who art in Vancouver, hockey by thy name,
Thy will be done, the gold will be won, on ice, as well as thy stands,
Give us this day, Our hockey sticks, and forgive
us our penatlies as we forgive those who cross check against us,
Lead us not into elimination, but deliver us to Victory,
In the name of the Canadian Hockey Team "AMEN"
Friday, February 26, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
No new posts for this week
Sorry, I'm just not feeling it... after today's loss at the Olympics, I need some time to myself.
*sigh, just one more thing for those Americans to brag about.
GO Canada... whoo... whooo...
*sobbing,
Oh god why?!
*sigh, just one more thing for those Americans to brag about.
GO Canada... whoo... whooo...
*sobbing,
Oh god why?!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Shutter Island
I realize that since Canada has virtually no chance of winning the Gold medal in men's Hockey, I should get back to blogging on scripts and shit.
Damn you Ryan Miller for being so good. C'mon for the sake of good sportsmanship, I have to hand it to the Americans this year, if they beat us, then it is simply because they have the better team, not the better players. But I digress...
Today I'm going to be reviewing an old draft of shutter island. I came across the script because I was curious about it. It doesn't seem like a normal Martin Scorcesse movie and that really got me intrigued. The guy that brought us such classics such as Goodfellas and Casino and Taxi Driver? Count me in.
The story begins in 1954 with Teddy, Leo's character, on his way to Shutter Island where the criminally insane resides. He's put together with a new partner Chuck who has just transferred from Seattle because of his interracial relationship with a Japanese woman.
Teddy and Chuck are brought in to investigate the case of a missing woman who somehow, despite stone walls and a never ending shift of patrolling guards, manages to escape the vicinity.
What can I say about the script? There's quite a few twists and turns in the story but none of them are the big HOLY SHIT moments, that is until the end. The trailer made the film look like Teddy and Chuck were somehow being trapped on the island and there were moments that made you question the character's sanity. But considering that the film is supposed to be a mystery/thriller, it didn't feel too mysterious to me, or thrilling.
The characters in the script are certainly well built. Teddy is still battling over his wife's death after all these years. Chuck's been transferred as Teddy's partner due to racial conflicts in his hometown. There is an intriguing premise that somehow, a patient managed to escape an inescapable cell, but it soon gets sidelined with Teddy finding the person who's responsible for his wife's death. That to me came a little too far out of left field for me to care. It's seems to be a too convenient coincidence that Teddy ends up investigating a case at the very same place that his wife's murderer ended up. Of course, when you step back and look at the script/film as a whole, this kind of thing is easily understandable.
It doesn't really feel like the script spends too much time unraveling the mystery that IS Shutter Island. No conspiracy, no sense of threat towards the main character's life, or at least the threat isn't established until far too late in the script. Once we get the idea that the island itself contains a conspiracy that takes patients and performs unethical tests on them, the story starts to really pick up pace. This is the time where we start to question Teddy's fragile mind. He's been hallucinating about his wife intermittently through the story. Flashes of images from his past bleed into his everyday life, is he simply a US Marshall with a checkered past or is there something else larger at play?
Little sense of mystery and suspense which in the case of a genre film like this, is a little bit of a disappointment. I wanted more of Teddy trying to unravel this mystery behind Shutter Island and not spend too much time on finding his wife's killer. It like kind of a derailment to me that he chooses to continue his journey in this way. But this is an adaptation of the novel and far be it from me to question the structure of something I haven't read, I'm going to assume that the source material is a much stronger piece than the screenplay. That's not to say that the script sucks, no siree. It's just the inevitable fact that many times an adaptation falls flat because something in the story's structure just doesn't lend itself well to the big screen or the author hasn't found the
What I loved about this script though is the description, very visual and a good place to learn for writing visually. This is one of the few scripts that I honestly say you can learn a lot about writing just through reading the descriptions alone. There's not much you can learn from story wise, it's pretty basic in it's structure and execution. But the writer certainly has a lot of skill with writing description. It's almost like a novel the way the language flows from the script. Many writers would elect to simply describe things as they seem them, nothing fancy. If rain is pouring, rain pours. But I loved description that the rain falls like "needles". It's not overly descriptive, packs a visual punch and what's important - YOU SEE IT.
One thing I hated though is again, I found out the ending to the story before I actually read it. I hate it when that happens but the fun part of it is when you start looking back in the script for evidence to support the "twist". Sometimes, I'm inpatient, sometimes I don't care, sometimes some cartoon asshole on tv ruins the biggest surprise to one of film's greatest twists because you weren't old enough to appreciate episode 5. This one was just me being stupid.
3.5/5
Read it for the description at least.
*Update, seems I was being pessimistic We Won GOLD!! Go Crosby!
Damn you Ryan Miller for being so good. C'mon for the sake of good sportsmanship, I have to hand it to the Americans this year, if they beat us, then it is simply because they have the better team, not the better players. But I digress...
Today I'm going to be reviewing an old draft of shutter island. I came across the script because I was curious about it. It doesn't seem like a normal Martin Scorcesse movie and that really got me intrigued. The guy that brought us such classics such as Goodfellas and Casino and Taxi Driver? Count me in.
The story begins in 1954 with Teddy, Leo's character, on his way to Shutter Island where the criminally insane resides. He's put together with a new partner Chuck who has just transferred from Seattle because of his interracial relationship with a Japanese woman.
Teddy and Chuck are brought in to investigate the case of a missing woman who somehow, despite stone walls and a never ending shift of patrolling guards, manages to escape the vicinity.
What can I say about the script? There's quite a few twists and turns in the story but none of them are the big HOLY SHIT moments, that is until the end. The trailer made the film look like Teddy and Chuck were somehow being trapped on the island and there were moments that made you question the character's sanity. But considering that the film is supposed to be a mystery/thriller, it didn't feel too mysterious to me, or thrilling.
The characters in the script are certainly well built. Teddy is still battling over his wife's death after all these years. Chuck's been transferred as Teddy's partner due to racial conflicts in his hometown. There is an intriguing premise that somehow, a patient managed to escape an inescapable cell, but it soon gets sidelined with Teddy finding the person who's responsible for his wife's death. That to me came a little too far out of left field for me to care. It's seems to be a too convenient coincidence that Teddy ends up investigating a case at the very same place that his wife's murderer ended up. Of course, when you step back and look at the script/film as a whole, this kind of thing is easily understandable.
It doesn't really feel like the script spends too much time unraveling the mystery that IS Shutter Island. No conspiracy, no sense of threat towards the main character's life, or at least the threat isn't established until far too late in the script. Once we get the idea that the island itself contains a conspiracy that takes patients and performs unethical tests on them, the story starts to really pick up pace. This is the time where we start to question Teddy's fragile mind. He's been hallucinating about his wife intermittently through the story. Flashes of images from his past bleed into his everyday life, is he simply a US Marshall with a checkered past or is there something else larger at play?
Little sense of mystery and suspense which in the case of a genre film like this, is a little bit of a disappointment. I wanted more of Teddy trying to unravel this mystery behind Shutter Island and not spend too much time on finding his wife's killer. It like kind of a derailment to me that he chooses to continue his journey in this way. But this is an adaptation of the novel and far be it from me to question the structure of something I haven't read, I'm going to assume that the source material is a much stronger piece than the screenplay. That's not to say that the script sucks, no siree. It's just the inevitable fact that many times an adaptation falls flat because something in the story's structure just doesn't lend itself well to the big screen or the author hasn't found the
What I loved about this script though is the description, very visual and a good place to learn for writing visually. This is one of the few scripts that I honestly say you can learn a lot about writing just through reading the descriptions alone. There's not much you can learn from story wise, it's pretty basic in it's structure and execution. But the writer certainly has a lot of skill with writing description. It's almost like a novel the way the language flows from the script. Many writers would elect to simply describe things as they seem them, nothing fancy. If rain is pouring, rain pours. But I loved description that the rain falls like "needles". It's not overly descriptive, packs a visual punch and what's important - YOU SEE IT.
One thing I hated though is again, I found out the ending to the story before I actually read it. I hate it when that happens but the fun part of it is when you start looking back in the script for evidence to support the "twist". Sometimes, I'm inpatient, sometimes I don't care, sometimes some cartoon asshole on tv ruins the biggest surprise to one of film's greatest twists because you weren't old enough to appreciate episode 5. This one was just me being stupid.
3.5/5
Read it for the description at least.
*Update, seems I was being pessimistic We Won GOLD!! Go Crosby!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
What It Means to Be Canadian
Here's a bit of a rundown to what Americans should expect out of us Canucks.
Curling is cool (Ha ha, it's a pun, get it? Guys?)
Sometimes, even we think curling is boring.
Tim Hortons is The Doughnut god. Do not even fucking mention Dunkin' Donuts within our earshot. They don't even spell "Donut" right. Also... Timbits!!
Wolverine is Canadian. You fuck with us you fuck with him.
Don't touch our geese. We love our Geese, so much so that they're on our coins and bank notes.
We're really peaceful, but when pushed we do a mean throwdown unleashing the hockey player within.
Football's for pussies, you ever tried fighting while keeping balance on ice? Yeah, didn't think so.
We love Degrassi. Our highest rated and one of the more critically acclaimed t.v. show is a teen drama. Yeah... we know.
Canada is not America's hat. America is Canada's pants. For proof, look at Florida.
We don't miss Celine Dion.
The reason why we're so nice: Once a week we get into the hockey rink and unleash a berserker fury of rage. You should try it sometime. So many conflicts could've ended if people just settled business within the rink.
Which brings us to this point. We may be pushovers, but when it comes down to Hockey, we mean business.
Wayne Gretzky. Do I even have to say anything about The Great one?
Don't disrespect the natives.
Most of all...
Welcome to Canada, we hope you like it here.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Olympics Ceremony
Did anyone catch the opening ceremony to the Olympics? Can I say "Fuck Yeah!"? That was one hell of a show.
First of all Bryan FUCKING Adams. Ok sure, he's basically a lock for anything and everything Canadian. But I'm so glad they didn't take the more obvious route of having Celine Dion perform. The major problem I had with it was the lip syncing though I understand that with such a large stadium and how everything is planned down to the tick, it's understandable. K.D. Lang was the best of the performers.
Now what really impressed me was how the creative director managed to choreograph such an amazing show using the stadium floor as a canvas. I was such an original idea that they opted to follow an intimate narrative about the different cultural backgrounds of Canada. The myriad of images that they chose to portray was simply beautiful and awe inspiring. The bird's eye view of whales swimming beneath the ocean was a sight to behold, I don't think I was ever impressed that much by an opening ceremony (Not really a fair statement for me to make though, this and the Salt Lake City winter ceremonies are the only ones I've paid attention to).
I was completely in awe during the entire ceremony, from the light projections that make a fully living stadium to the attention given to all those different cultural backgrounds that you find in Canada, from the First Nations people to the Scottish and Irish descendants that few knew about. It truly was a united experience and it made me proud to be Canadian.
Unity through diversity! One lesson that a few Americans have yet to learn.
Also... Gretsky!! The 99 made a special appearance as one of the torch bearers. God, could the ceremony get any better?
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The Road
September 11, 2007 draft:
My LOOONG awaited review of The Road. Yeah I've been putting it off for quite a while, sorry it's just the procrastinator in me. The Road isn't exactly an easy pill to swallow. Yes, it is a very faithful adaptation to the Cormac McCarthy novel. Yes, scenes and dialogue are lifted almost verbatim from the book. So is there anything wrong with the script?
Well, I can tell you one thing, the script reads very much like the novel, very much so in that scene for scene are basically lifted from the source.
I guess one of the problems with the road is that it is structurally unsound for cinema. This is a story about a man's simple quest to find safe haven for his near the pacific coast. Now in a novel, we have the ability to mess with structure, a story can be told linearly, or nonlinearly. A story could be told from multiple perspectives and can be told either in first or third person form, and on the rare occasion, second person. You can't capture that same type of feeling in movies necessarily and that usually translates to a difference in the medium. Film is a strictly visual medium. Novels are have the ability to be anything.
This is probably one of the more difficult scripts to review simply because it is the rare novel that gets turned into a film in which I have read. I loved reading The Road, but it wasn't an easy story to get through, nor was it a tough read per se. The novel was strangely compelling but I couldn't understand why I kept plowing through the novel. This is a damned if you do damned if you don't movie. What made the novel such a success to me doesn't translate well onto the screen even if it's exactly almost like the novel.
Here's the thing, if you were to say that a novel's adaptation depended on how faithful it is to the source material, then by all means, The Road is beat for beat perfect. There's not one moment in the novel that wasn't present in the script, even the little moments between father and son.
So are there problems in the script? I suppose so. I guess the main weakness in the script is that is simply due to the fact it is a script. A lot of the "charm" of the novel for me was how simple the story was, yet I don't think that sort of simplicity in storytelling would translate very well to film. It is a story about a journey, a story about hope. Of course, one reason for this is possibly because I've read it almost back to back. The script does capture the tone and feel of the novel very well, but I think that there's something lost in translation here. I can't pinpoint it for whatever reason, perhaps I will one day.
My problem with this adaptation is that it doesn't feel very dangerous. All the shocking scenes are included but it doesn't feel like the man and his child are in too much danger. Where's the constant threat of meeting the other people? The paranoia the character must have felt as he goes on a long and dangerous journey to bring his boy to safety? Moments like that are easily conveyed in the novel through the prose and exposition but in a script it's a lot more difficult as the writer would have to externalize it. The novel allowed the space and time for the dread of the post apocalyptic life to settle in. There's little of that in the script because we're constantly on the journey to reach the coast.
One of my major gripes I had with the novel was how they treated the dreams that the man had. Now this could be considered a bit of a bitch fit but I hated how that instead of having the man dream of his past, it was treated as just a flashback. One of the motifs in the script as well as in the novel was that once you start having good dreams that meant that death was near your door. The man kept having these dreams of the days with his wife just before and during the apocalypse. Every dream he had was a constant reminder of what he sacrificed to keep his child alive and it was something that gnawed away at the character in the novel. It was the perfect opportunity to use this setup and it was completely disregarded. It doesn't really impact the story in a broad sense but it's one of those little details that help brings the entire package together.
On the plus side of things, it is very faithful to the novel. I won't go into the the story as much because I've read it and I suppose people who are fans of the novel would enjoy the experience of watching the novel on the big screen. Now with all my negativity, that doesn't mean that the script wasn't well written. The action lines and descriptions were very clear and concise. The relationship between father and son is the same in the novel as it is in the script. Truly a story about the power of love and hope.
I guess if you check down all the boxes and compare and contrast, yeah it's good. I just wish I liked it as much as the novel. But alas, I think the main weakness of the script is simply because it has to compete with the novel.
3/5
Re-establishing Myself
You now what I realize? I'm a VERY laid back person. Someone's going to need to kick my ass into shape one day.
I started my script and twenty-five pages in, I realize that I truly do need to outline. There's no other way around it, as a writer you really do need to know how the story will end and what the journey that you want to explore is. Why an outline is important isn't to know exactly what actions to take, but the reason behind why the action taken is important. It goes under the entire idea of theme and the emotional journey rather than the physical external one. So again, back to the drawing board (big surprise...).
So I'm going back towards what I want to do in this blog: script reviews for myself, once in a while a movie review. I'm going to do one a week at least and I'll just have to force myself to find time to balance between dicking around on the internet and doing more serious things like writing my script or reading and reviewing others. No ifs, ands, or buts. I got way too much time on my hands to not not do anything with my blog.
I'll start typing up more reviews soon, and hopefully, I'll get to read more scripts in the process. So look out for my LOOONG overdue review of The Road.
I started my script and twenty-five pages in, I realize that I truly do need to outline. There's no other way around it, as a writer you really do need to know how the story will end and what the journey that you want to explore is. Why an outline is important isn't to know exactly what actions to take, but the reason behind why the action taken is important. It goes under the entire idea of theme and the emotional journey rather than the physical external one. So again, back to the drawing board (big surprise...).
So I'm going back towards what I want to do in this blog: script reviews for myself, once in a while a movie review. I'm going to do one a week at least and I'll just have to force myself to find time to balance between dicking around on the internet and doing more serious things like writing my script or reading and reviewing others. No ifs, ands, or buts. I got way too much time on my hands to not not do anything with my blog.
I'll start typing up more reviews soon, and hopefully, I'll get to read more scripts in the process. So look out for my LOOONG overdue review of The Road.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
New Layout
Some Professionalism up in this bitch son! Check this shit out!
See that shit up in the top right corner? That's right, pages of a motherfuckin' book! It's just like this N*gga, pages of a book to signify this pimp is a writer. Even the blog body looks like a piece of college ruled paper. Don't fuck with this shit homey, cause I'll drive by pen you to death.
See the professionalism inherent in this blog? Credit to the motherfucker who designed it. You get to read shit, and not be confused about the writing. Colours pop out of the fucking page to grab your attention bitch! Not like those other blogging fucktards still stuck in the stone era of blog design. Simple black template? Fuck you!
Look at how sleek and sexy this bitch is, yeah. Hell if this blog was a woman, I'd make sweet love to it every fucking day of every fucking second. Then I'd bring it flowers cause that's how sweet it looks.
Oh look at that, right under that book. Shit man, it's a twitter button! Shit son, the designer knows his shit. Talk about keeping up with the motherfucking times! It's just right there and I don't even need to use it, This n*gga don't even tweet.
End Hyperbole.
So yeah, I like my new layout.
See that shit up in the top right corner? That's right, pages of a motherfuckin' book! It's just like this N*gga, pages of a book to signify this pimp is a writer. Even the blog body looks like a piece of college ruled paper. Don't fuck with this shit homey, cause I'll drive by pen you to death.
See the professionalism inherent in this blog? Credit to the motherfucker who designed it. You get to read shit, and not be confused about the writing. Colours pop out of the fucking page to grab your attention bitch! Not like those other blogging fucktards still stuck in the stone era of blog design. Simple black template? Fuck you!
Look at how sleek and sexy this bitch is, yeah. Hell if this blog was a woman, I'd make sweet love to it every fucking day of every fucking second. Then I'd bring it flowers cause that's how sweet it looks.
Oh look at that, right under that book. Shit man, it's a twitter button! Shit son, the designer knows his shit. Talk about keeping up with the motherfucking times! It's just right there and I don't even need to use it, This n*gga don't even tweet.
End Hyperbole.
So yeah, I like my new layout.
Four Lions: How not to buy a dozen bottles of bomb-making bleach
This is a new comedy from British satirist Chris Morris. I can't stop watching this, British humour is quite possibly the best form of comedy there is.
Can't wait for this film. "Can I have twelve bottles of bleach please?"
Can't wait for this film. "Can I have twelve bottles of bleach please?"
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