"Miami Vice"

Miami Vice (2006)

Director: Michael Mann

Review by John Dodd

A Quick checklist for Vice fans:

Gina - Present and actually doing something

Trudy - A major character

Switek - In the background and played by a bodybuilder

Zito - In the background until the final shootout

Castillo - Present but not much of a character

Calderone - None of the Calderone family make the movie

Miami Vice debuted on television in September of 1984 when I was eleven years-old. It left a lifelong impression. At that age, I did not know what GQ was and had never heard the term “noir,” but I knew that this show was unlike Hunter and the other cop shows I watched. The plots were darker. Often the happy endings were tinged with bitterness. Then there was the style. The show filmed extensively outdoors, usually at night. Action scenes were cut like a movie, a change from the usual claustrophobic set pieces. The combination of (relatively) downbeat stories and flashy, quick cutting style made Miami Vice the cop show for the MTV generation.

The film Miami Vice is an unusual animal. Resembling the show only in its two leads and in its ending, the film shows that times have changed. The clothes are neutral. The music is rougher. Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) have lost the comedic banter that would lighten the show’s darker moods. The editing no longer punches like snap, crackle, and pop. Instead, like with Collateral, Mann shifts the mood to reflection with shots held a long time for a crime story.

The film jumps into the plot in the first scene. While on a stakeout, Crockett gets a call from an informer on the run. The informer had been loaned out to federal agents working a weapons sting on a group of white supremists. The deal has gone bad. The agents are dead. The informer’s family has been murdered. Crockett and Tubbs agree to take over the investigation, jumping ahead of the supremists to their weapons supplier, a drug/weapon smuggler named Jose Yero (John Ortiz), known for his murderous personality. Yero leads the undercover pair to Jesus Montoya (Luis Tosar), a drug lord, and Montoya’s’s business partner and girl Isabella (Gong Li). Crockett begins playing her but finds himself crossing the line.

The plot bares a few tangent similarities to the season one episode “Smuggler’s Blues.” Like in that episode, most of the show is set outside of Miami (Uruguay standing in for Columbia) and Trudy is kidnaped and attached to a bomb, but the moods are different. The film Miami Vice is more of a downer, which is a compliment. Not one old cast member makes a cameo. The film makes only one injoke to the original series (a cover of “In the Air Tonight”), but that is as light as the film gets. This is a somber affair. Do not expect Elvis the alligator to show up.

As portrayed here, Crockett and Tubbs are characters who Jean-Paul Sartre could embrace. These are men defined by their actions. Crockett’s father was either a musician or a trucker or both. Tubbs is seeing fellow vice cop Trudy (Naomie Harris). Both are furious with the Federal agents that got their snitch killed. The most important person in each’s life is his partner. That is all for characterization. The rest is how the two act. Comfortable making million dollar deals, experts at drug smuggling, and consciousless in killing those who deserve it, Crockett and Tubbs fit in just as well in the criminal world as the police one. Perhaps Mann is returning to his central theme of Heat: the gulf between cop and hood is not that wide. If their lives had gone differently, perhaps Crockett and Tubbs would have been the druglord’s seconds instead of the underhanded Yero.

In either world personal relationships are liabilities, except amongst the one person you can trust, trust to back you in front of your superior Castillo (Barry Shabaka Henley, no Edward James Olmos) and trust you to take out as many enemy combatants as yourself. Crockett and the girl are doomed but Tubbs will still be there.

The film Miami Vice will never capture the pop culture Zeitgeist the series did. The pacing is too slow for action fans. While those that remember the series may be startled by the different vibe. The film is not as good as the best of Miami Vice episodes (The Pilot, “No Exit,” and “Lombard,” to name three from season one), but it is a solid Michael Mann crime film, better than Collateral but not as good as Heat.

InkTip

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Scriptapalooza Quarterfinalists

Congrats to my buddy Frank and his cousin for their script "Eleven" for making the quarterfinalists.


Thank you for entering the 8th Annual Scriptapalooza Screenwriting
Competition. Decisions in the judging process have been made. We received a
total of 3600 scripts. That was narrowed down to 336 Quarterfinalists.
A list of Quarterfinalists can be found on our website
www.scriptapalooza.com

Semifinalists will be announced July 31. If you are not listed as a
Quarterfinalist, your script is not moving forward in the competition.

Once again, thank you for participating in the Scriptapalooza 2006
Screenwriting Competition and we wish you the best of luck with all of your
future writing endeavors.

Below is a list of all Quarterfinalists.

Sincerely,
Mark Andrushko
President
323.654.5809
www.scriptapalooza.com

QUARTERFINALISTS

2012: Year of the Kukulcan by Rene Andre
7 Tales of Desperation by Mando Alvarado & Michael Ray Escamilla
A Deadly Game by Jake Quint
A Man Named Sue by William David McLeod
A Meadowlark Calling by Thadd Turner
Allie by David O'Hara
Almost Paradise by Jessica Yuen
Almost There Express by Armando Figueroa
Always Greener by Adam B. Hocherman
Ambulance Chaser by Stephen Lang
American Alligator by Barb Doyon
American Dream by Chris McCann & Nessa Gordon
American Hero by Andy Shrader
American Vampire by Gregory Davis
Ameristan by Charles Welty
Among Thieves by Matt Caruso
And She Was by Susan Avallone
Andi vs. Candi by Kevin Perry
Anna & the Art Thief by Rebekah L. Fraser
Avatar, The Quest to Save Earth by Kirstie Palmer
Avenged by Paul Hall
Barter Boys by Jared Seide
Baseball Cards by Daniel McPeek
Because I Said So by Lindsay Andresen
Before Midnight by Jennifer A. Lewey
Beg to Differ by Sabina Sattar
Behind The Veil by Paul Lobo Portuges
Between The Lines by Jeri Smith-Ready
Beyond the Beyond by David E. Wilson
Billable Hours by Tommy Butler
Black Ice by Dean Mitchell
Black Orchid by Steven Berger & Bridget Sullivan
Bliss Vandals by Louis Frederick
Blue Blood by Mark Davidson
Blue Hole by Rex Wilson
Bread and Roses by Mary McKay
Brilliants by Christopher Godfrey
Butler School by Jami Burke
Calculated Risk by RJ Lavallee
Can’t Live With ‘Em by Chris Pentzell
Casey Blue Eyes by D. E. Taylor
Castle by Vivienne Walshe
Caustic by Robert James Spurway
Changers by Matt Slovick
Chastity by Stefan Stenudd
Chill by Christopher Stires
Cinder by Ross MacLeod
City of Sighs by Ken Henderson
Cocoon Crash by Kathleen Latlip
Cold Kiss by Philip DiGiacomo & Wendy Salz
Conceive by Troy Owen
Conditional Love by Lisa Arbuckle
Conduct Unbecoming by Mandel Holland
Coney Island Babies by John Malecki
Cory’s Hero by Alexis & Rudy Croyle
Counting The Days by Richard LeBlanc
Criminal Activity by Jonathan Wood
Dagger in the Heartland by Guy Magar
Dance for Your Daddy by Mike Walden
Dandelions by Ariel Johnson
Danny Longlegs by Keli Rowley
Danvers’ Echo by Pete Peterson
Dark Hollow by Danny Ray
Dark Image by Joe Kozak
Daughter of Heaven by Chris Raymond
Deadweek by Geoffrey Yeh
Dear Jen by Jim Beggarly
Death & Taxes by Nur Nur Cummings
Death Is Relative by Robert Collie
Death Voice by Barbara M. Hammond
Destiny Maker by David Lourie
Diminishing Returns by Constance Kopriva
Dogfighters by James Nathan Post
Done by Frank J. DiStefano
Dot in the Sand by Jay Tormohlen
Double Bind by Tucker Parsons
Double X by Kristin Levine
Down The Aisle by Jase Ricci
Dreamers by Adam Jaquette
Drops of Ink by Shane K. Gooding
e-Sins by Terrilyn Phillips
E.R.A. by Michelle Molhan-Zang
Eating Buccaneers by Bill Keenan
Eleven by Francis Cormier & H. Jarrod Courtemanche
Enclave by Linda Armstrong
Endangered by Mick Kennedy
Equilibrium by Peter Kaitlyn
Every Day’s Goodbye by Santiago Yazigi
Far From Maddy by C.C. Saint-Clair
FBI Juniors by Megan C. Johnson
Felix The Flyer by Christopher Canole
Final Effect by Dean Alan Roller
FireFly by Derek Neville
Fish Out of Water by Shirley Raun
FishEye by Kitty Griffin
Flush by Eric Klein & Ray Works
Fly Me to the Moon by Rebecca Sanders & Gordon Rothwell
Foie Gras and Grits by Sharon Saks Soboil
Foreseer by Michael Lightsey
Four Alone, Four Together by Mikael Hanson
From the Moon to Mercury by David W. Kopp
Gamemasters by Matthew Gray & Phill Daniel
Getting Van Gogh by Lisa Kirazian & Scott White
Giant Blue by John J. Austrian
Girls’ Night Out by Mark Jaffe
Gods and Robots by Stephen Stanley
Going Grey by Mark Witzen
Goshen, Indiana by Gabriel Snyder & Michael Alber
Goy Meets Girl by Peter Vouras
Gray Hats by Mike Townsend
Harm’s Way by Gordon Pengilly
Harold by Caroline Friday
Heavenly Rain by Noble Fares
Hell on Earth by Chris Lair
High Beams Harry by Gary A. Campbell
Holding on to Joshua by Naomi Wender-Milliner
Holding Out by Scarlett Rocourt
Horrorscope by Dak Rasheta
Hostage Crisis by Mark Cohen
Hot Dog by Kenneth Cavander
Hurricane Mona by Marguerite A. Pellegrin
If Not Now by Jeff Menell
In The Light by Dan Fabrizio, Josh Ravitz & Louie Martinez
In Your Dreams by Jeff Seeman
Inca Gold by Sandy Steers
Jekyll & Heidi by Lisa Yoffee
Jet Lag by Kim Townsel
Joy by Cassandra Gibbons
Just Molly and Me by Charles Kray
Keys to the Kingdom by Vincent F. Rocchio
Kingsbury Run by Troy Hunter & Geof Miller
Kissing A Suicide Bomber by David Mango
Knockers by Joe Berglove & Dennis Douda
Lady Dragon by Desiree Cifre
Last Stop by Nena Eskridge
Leapers’ Hill by Jonathan Wood
Lightnin’ In A Jar by Kevin Cutts
Like My Father by Gail Kerns
Like Water for Metamucil by Karen Harrison
Lincoln’s Ghost by Jim DeLong
Little Seed by Martin K. Leicht
Lizzie Fox by Mike Murphy
Lost Direction by James D. Patterson
Love Dance by Parker Babbidge
Love Unexpected by Antoinette Ojeda
Lucky Star by Ted Sod & Edie Demas
Lyrical by Carter Stewart
Made With Love by Debra Hardy
Mama's Wayward Helpers by Teresa Latterman
Marine in Hyacinth Blue by Jack Swanzy
Match This by Anne Wallace
Matter of Honor by Jeff Meredith & Dustin Kitchens
McPherson Square by Joan Aylor Kirby
Meant To Be by George Constantine
Middleberg by Matt Healy
Migration by Broderick Fox
Mind’s Eye by Sharon Scott
Minor Deaths by Paul Hall
Mister Trivia by Robert G. Garmany
Monarch by Kevin Threadgold
Moon Madness by John Mongillo
Morning Sickness by Frank Richard Faller
Murder Between Friends by Sarah Newman
My First Lady by Mary Kaiser
Near Mint Condition by Morgan Ireson & Paul Traviline
Necessary Evil by James Kearney
Neighborhood Watch by Christina Delgado
Never Let You Go by Cheryl S. Smith
No Hablo Ingles, Papa! by Paul T. Abramson
Nora Kahn by Scott Bristol
North of Girard by Joe Faragalli
North of the Border by Alcides Delgado
Now You See Me by Beth Szyperski
On The Bayou by Sean Bridges
Once Upon A Time In A Little Town by Matt Wieclawski
One Armed Bandits by Bruce Dundore
One Last Look to Heaven by Daniel Bilodeaux
One Way or Another by Michael Levin
Only by Walter Ostlie
Operation: UnderLord by Stephen Blackehart
Ouija by Robert Hayhurst
Overdue by Courtney Daniels
Pandora’s Box by S. L. Hutchison
Parking Ticket by George Patrick Hernandez
Passage by Robert Lewis
Pencil Men by Grant Janes & Brian Edgar
Pentecost by Cinthea Stahl
Pico de Gallo by Jack Colmenero & Janet Colmenero
Pink Viagra by Jeffrey R. Field
Plan B by Gina Cresse
Pup by Maggie Lawrence
Puppy Love by Tony Boland
Race City USA by Daniel R. Solomon
Random Acts by Cynthia Benjamin
Raspberry Sunday by Amanda LaFantasie
Red Riding-Hood by David Daniels
Redemption Crusade by Kevin Schmadeka
Remembrance by Jeremy Thurswell
Richard by Noel Maxam & Jim Boulgarides
Richter by Aaron Denius Garcia
Ripple Effect by Mack Baniameri
Rise in Peace by Timothy Jeffrey
Robbie Crane by Jeffrey Miller
Rocket Docket by Brooks Barnes
Rogue Scholars by Eric Reierson & Louie Calvano
Roundhouse by Charlie Jett
Sabino Days by Conrad E. Gomez
Sacred Cow by Martha Moran
Sahara Cassidy and the Extinction Caverns by Kevin Emerson
Sanguinaries Anonymous by Richard Alan Nelson
Saving Halli Weaver by Lynne Logan
Saving Par by Michael Licwinko
Served Cold by Mike Sherer
Shark Valley Slough by Christopher D. Brown
Shoeless by Granville Burgess
Sight Unseen by Evette Vargas
Sins of the Father by Kevin R. Frech
Sleepwalkers by Stephen Smith
Smashed by Eric Austen
Some Love, Some Cash by Richard C. Haber
Song of Myself by Ryan Reed
Soul by Dave Becker
Soul Catcher by Marlene King
Spirits of the Snow by Andrew Grauman Kramp
Stagemom by Maggie Franks
Stairway to Heaven by Lyndon McGill
Star Guards by Wayne Edward Sherwood
Still by Sarah Tatting
Storm by Rick Adams
Street With No Lights by Brennen Arkins
Superior by Susan Wescott & Katrina L. Coombs
Swap by Steve Finly
Talent by Stephen Gray
Tan Ha - The 7th Deadly Sin by Edward J. Blair
Tasupi by Laverne Stringer
Ten Minutes With the President by Beverly Jones & Tarpley Jones
The Alaskan Conspiracy by Steve Miller
The Alchemist by William D. Wolff
The Amazing Unbreakable Circle by Peter E. Groynom
The American Family by Adam Moore
The Anatomy of Desire by Helene Macaulay
The Annoyance Man by Dianna Ippolito
The Bad Brother by Anton Hill
The Banner by Ernestina Juarez
The Baron of Whitfield Beach by Robyn Laguzza
The Black Tulip by Gena Ellis
The Captain's Wife by Richard Hammerstrom
The Carolinas by Jacqueline Tadros
The Cure by Steven Hathaway
The Dance by John T. Frederick
The Dogs of Sun Valley by Brad Small
The Doomsday Order by Ken Miyamoto
The Engagement by Rene Andre
The Expendables by Erin Engman
The Fall of Dreams by Ryan LaSalle
The Fix by David Poulshock
The Flame and the Sword by Adam Adrian Crown
The Following by Andrew Connell
The Gargoyle by Eduardo Oliveira
The Gentlemen Makers by Elisa Wolfe
The Ghost of Christmas Past by Michael Hebler
The Ghost of Delaford Grange by Jessica Scalise
The Good Brother by Jim Zachar
The Good Harvest by Daniel Forrest
The Goodman by Steve Simonson
The Great Crime by Gregory R. Alvarez
The Grieving by Roy McDonald
The Groomer by Greg Caplan
The Guest by Ben Ketai
The Guide by Kris White
The Hajj by Kelly Crigger
The Home Front by David Buttaro
The Innocent One by Keith Warburton
The Lamb by Guy Winch
The Last Chardonnay by Linda Armstrong
The Last Flight of the Blackbird by David Cooper
The Last Mile by Sejal B. Ravani
The Lily White Lie by Katherine Koonce
The Line of Departure by Michael J. Cramer
The Lottery by Michael Werwie
The Mark by Alex Pajcin
The Merging by Thomas J. Herring
The Note by Michael D. Morra
The Numbers by James Westerholm
The Patriot Act by Steven C. Oppenheimer
The Petal Game by Jillan Oppenhuizen
The Real Truth by Thomas Moore
The Restorer by Dean J. Augustin
The Road of Marnie Hill by Katherine Koonce
The Scattering of Ernest by Michael Hebler & G.P. Quinlan
The Shot by Laura Corey
The Shotgun Waltz by Ji Un Choi
The Sixth Commandment by Greg & Dane Nielsen
The Skid Row Tales by Lawrence Kane
The Smiths and the Coelacanth by Ceridwen Dovey & Lindiwe Dovey
The Soul of the World by Brian Winfrey
The Sound of the Game by Zack Van Eyck
The Spanish Island by Steve LaMontagne
The Stadium by Zer Gonzales
The Stunning Box by David Bertoni
The Sunshine Blond by Marilyn Mallory
The Sweetest Day Guy by Shohn Turner
The Taste of her Name by Bill Biggar
The Templar Killings by Keith Davidson
The Third Story by Nathan Witkin
The Truth About Tattoos by Joanne Parrow
The Two Sides of Sorrow by J.W. Ruff
The Uncertainty Principle by David Ullendorff
The Uncertainty Principle by Nathan Bransford
The Ups and Downs of Elvis Brown by Mike Walden
The Wizard, the Farmer and the Very Petty Princess by Daniel Fox
The Wolves of Brighton by Tyler C. Jensen
Three Boys’ Woods by Greg Giovinco
Time of the Jaguar by Andrew Arthur
Time Warp by Sean Simmons
Triage by Shane O’Neill
True North by Eric W. Carlson
Ultraviolet Child by James Ossi
Up Against The Brass by David Shifren
Venus Retrograde by Carole Ryavec
Violet by Gregory Davis
Vows by Tom Bilyeu & Ron Jansen
Waking Up Normal by Scott Keen
Washington’s Ax by John M. Strawbridge
When It Snows by Joseph F. Brown
White Room by Hiroshi Nakajima
Wild Oats by Claudia Myers & Gary Kanew
Willful by Nathaniel E. Mason
Winning At All Costs by M. R. Franks
With The Fishes by Christopher Harwood & Craig Gadsby
Wrath by Jason C. Hinton
Xanadu by Peter Lower
Year of the Sheep by Frank Richard Faller
You Don’t Say by Michael Breggar
You May Say I’m A Dreamer by Cinthea Stahl
Zig Zag by Heather Hughes

Screenwriting Expo

The Screenwriting Expo The largest event in the world for screenwriters, Screenwriting Expo 5 features hundreds of seminars on every aspect of writing imaginable as well as numerous A-list guests of honor.

Creative Screenwriting was named "the best magazine about screenwriting" by the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. Sign up for CS Weekly for free.

Movie Scripts Online A huge online database of film and TV scripts that features links to additional articles and interviews for every script included.

Crafty TV

Crafty TV Writing: Thinking Inside the Box by Alex Epstein

Everyone watches television, and everyone has an opinion on what makes a good TV show. But, as Alex Epstein shows in this invaluable guide, writing for television is a highly specific craft that requires knowledge, skill, and more than a few insider's tricks.

Epstein, a veteran TV writer and show creator himself, provides essential knowledge about the entire process of television writing, both for beginners and for professionals who want to go to the next level. Crafty TV Writing shows how to understand the hidden structure of a TV series so you can write it.

It explains the best ways to generate a hook, write an episode, create characters the audience will never tire of, construct entertaining dialogue, and use humor. It explains how to steer your way through the tough but rewarding television industry: from writing your first "spec" script, to getting hired to create a show, to surviving—even thriving—if you get fired. And it illuminates how television writers think about the shows they're writing, whether they're writing comedy, drama, or "reality".

Fresh, funny, and informed, Crafty TV Writing is the essential guide to writing for and navigating in the world of TV.

Going Green

Going green for the summer. Actually, screwed up part of the blog and had to do a do over.

Mark

Scriptapalooza Inc.

Scriptapalooza Inc.


Special Offer for Scriptapalooza Members

Dear Friends:

As a friend of Scriptapalooza, you've gotten to know
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Now it's time to learn the techniques and methods of
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For a limited time, we're offering friends of
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Myspace Screenwriting Blog (Where I've been Lately)

Mark's Myspace Screenwriting Blog

Hard to be all places at once.

Mark

Shriekfest

Shriekfest call for entries!

The 6th annual Shriekfest, the Los Angeles International
Horror/Thriller/SciFi/Fantasy Film Festival and Screenplay competition
is currently accepting submissions for it's 2006 festival to be held in
September of 2006!

The festival is dedicated to screening and recognizing the works of
filmmakers and screenwriters in the often forgotten genres. Superior
screening facilities, parties, and panels make this a wonderful
networking experience for all. Awards will be given in most categories
and prizes include cash, product awards, trophies, etc. Please see our
website for more information and an entry form www.shriekfest.com Also,
check out our news page and see how Shriekfest has helped many
filmmakers and screenwriters in the past.

$1000 cash prize to the best overall screenplay!

Denise Gossett
Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition
Festival Founder/Director
www.shriekfest.com

CS Web.ws

CS Web.ws

A Screenwriting Network Presented by Creative Screenwriting Magazine.

CS Web.ws is your portal to the screenwriting world. Included in the sites below are more than 1,000,000 words of advice to help you make the transition from aspiring to professional screenwriter.

Great new screenwriting resource.

Mark's Myspace Page

Yes, I did it. I created a myspace page at Mark's Myspace Screenwriting Page. If you're a screenwriter, filmmaker, or even just like movies check it out and link up with me. I think it's a fairly new way to make contacts and see what other artistic people are doing out there.

Entered Three Screenwriting Contests

I entered Script Pimp's Screenwriting Contest, Writers on the Storm, and Scriptapoolza. Good way to get a barometer where you're at and where you need to be, plus good exposure. The bonus is it feels like you're doing something which might be the most important part of all.

Last Chance

8th Annual Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition

http://www.scriptapalooza.com

We are accepting screenplays!

FINAL DEADLINE IS APRIL 14

Supported by the Writers Guild of America, west Registry

First prize is $10,000 and screenwriting software for the top 30 winners from Write Brothers.

Over 70 production companies are reading all the entered scripts!

All thirteen winners will be considered by Scriptapalooza's outstanding participants;
A Band Apart, Samuel Goldwyn Films, HBO, Material, Disney and many more.
-----------------------------
SCRIPTAPALOOZA NEWS

4 scripts have been optioned in the 2005 Competition.

'The Curse of Old Bob' by Enterprise Entertainment.
'Black Mountain' by CatchLight Films
'Remains' by CatchLight Films
'Son of a Gun' by Garlin Pictures

http://www.scriptapalooza.com
323.654.5809 office

Upcoming Screenwriting Contests

Writers on the Storm - Screenwriting Contest All submissions must be postmarked by April 15, 2006. And its accompanying blog Coverage, Ink where you can ask questions about screenwriting and the contest.

Sponsored by Coverage Ink - a leading industry coverage service. Affiliated with Creative Screenwriting magazine. EACH entry receives a FREE, brief, mini-analysis. Writers On The Storm was founded with the goal of helping talented writers get their script in front of as many decision makers in the industry as possible. Over 75 production companies, agents, and managers will be reading the winning script and the loglines of the top ten finalists. (A complete list is available on the Writers on the Storm website.)

2006 Script P.I.M.P. Screenwriting Contest Deadline May 1st, 2006.

The Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting The Grandaddy of them all, deadline May 1st, 2006.

2006 Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Contest Final Deadline April 14, 2006.

AAA Screenplay Contest sponsored by Creative Screenwriting deadline June 1, 2006.

Everyone who submits a screenplay to the June 2006 contest wins

10 free copies of your screenplay from ScriptCopier.com ($50+ value).

Discounts from Script Shark, Filmtracker, and Coverage Ink.

You've written the script, now let us help you get it through the door.

Welcome to Creative Screenwriting's bi-annual screenplay competition. The AAA Contest is looking for the best and most talented writers from around the world. If you have written a great screenplay, please allow us to bring your work to the attention of the industry.

Our Grand Prize winner will receive $5,000 and agency/production company consideration, and our two runners-up will receive $1,000 apiece plus agency/production company consideration. We'll also send loglines and synopses for the top ten scripts to more than 350 agents, managers, and development executives who have requested them. Submit your best work in any genre.


Screenwriting contests are a great way to get your foot in the door and more importantly give you a barometer for where your work ranks among your peers.

"Rewriting Secrets for Screenwriters"

Rewriting Secrets for Screenwriters: Seven Strategies to Improve and Sell Your Work by Tom Lazarus


How to handle the working screenwriters toughest assignment: reworking, rewriting, and revising, from the author of Secrets of Film Writing.

Every screenwriter needs to rewrite-more than once, probably many times-to make the story work and then to make a sale. And then again later on, to please producers, studios or stars. Tom Lazarus -author of Stigmata, among other scripts- is a working screenwriter and instructor at UCLA extension. In this book, he's distilled his own experience and that of other screenwriters into a system. Rewriting Secrets for Screenwriters will teach writers how to:

-Prioritize big scenes.
-Track Transitions.
-Plot Corrections.
-Add new information.
-Pass through for dialogue.
-Do an "on the nose" rewrite.

Hugely valuable for first-time screenwriters and veterans of Hollywood pitch wars alike, Rewriting Secrets for Screenwriters is laced with humor and attitude as well as information. Its anatomy of a screenplay rewrite breaks down the books lessons into their practical application-a must for anyone looking for a break in the film business.

Picked this book up at my local bookstore.

V for Vendetta

Crazy John's review of "V for Vendetta"

V FOR VENDETTA (2006)

director: James McTeigue

Once in awhile, a film comes along that stumps its viewer. V for Vendetta did that to me. There is much to applaud in this film and yet often one is rolling his eyes in disbelief. At the end of the day, we have an ambitious film which I praise despite some poor decisions made along the way.

Based on a ten issue comic book series from the mid-80s by British writer Alan Moore and artist David Lloyd, the comic is first and foremost political. Written during the conservative Margaret Thatcher administration, the comic speculates on a future England where rights have been trampled and power abused. Into this world comes V.(played by Hugo Weaving in the movie), a superhero via Abbie Hoffman, wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and a gift for blowing up symbols of London. He is aided by Evey (Natalie Portman in the film), a young woman whose parents were political radicals murdered by the State. Is V. a terrorist or a revolutionary and is there a difference? Do the ends justify the means? For V.’s creators the answer to this last question is yes. With more dialogue than action, V for Vendetta was not a comic I expected to be adapted into a giant Hollywood motion picture. Yet, via producer Joel Silver (Die Hard) and the writers the Wachowski Brothers (duh, The Matrix), the world now has a movie that is equal parts Batman and George Orwell.

I am surprised that the politics are still present even if it is in a far more simplistic (i.e.- easy) form. There are no shades of grey in the film. The villains are fanatics, rapists, child murderers, and fascists in black boots and uniforms straight out of a post WWII pulp novel. John Hurt who played Winston Smith in the 1980s version of 1984, is here cast as Big Brother and he screams every line of dialogue.

First time director James McTeigue oversells many moments. To show how bad the food is in prison, McTeigue has a rat refusing to eat from the plate! V.’s underground lair is complete with a piano, a TV, a jukebox with 300 songs, impressive artwork, and hundreds of books. Considering this is suppose to be a secret hideout in the abandon subways of London, one wonders how he was able to sneak in a piano or a jukebox. Not since the sixties pop classic Danger: Diabolik has a most wanted criminal had such a spread! The climax of the film involves thousands of Guy Fawkes masks being delivered all over London. This produces some amazing visuals, but it also raises questions of practicality (where were they made? How did V. get them to the post office?).

All of this sounds like complaints, and in most any other film, they would be, but V for Vendetta has unique charms. It boasts a strong visual style with striking set design. It has Hugo Weaving never once showing his face and ideally cast as V. It has Natalie Portman making up for sleepwalking through the Star Wars films. It has Stephen Rea as the detective trying to catch V. while wrestling with his own conscious. It has exciting sequences and even thought. It even has the cleverest Kiss Me Deadly reference since Pulp Fiction. However, the film does walk a line as its Matrix inspired trailer suggests. The film changes the comic to make it more like an action film. There is a climatic showdown with the worst of the villains and in slow motion no less. Despite the ending, action fans may be disappointed by the long middle section where hero and villain fight with words instead of bullets and throwing knives. Science fiction fans may be intrigued by the future presented, a world where the public have traded their freedom for security (any similarity to actual events is NOT purely coincidental!). These two sides of V for Vendetta do not always mix, but I was intrigued. For that reason, I recommend it faults and all.

8th Annual Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival

April 26 - April 30, 2006 Champaign, IL Ebert Fest website and This Year's Festival Lineup.

A Few notables "Ripley's Game" with John Malkovich in attendance and "Bad Santa" with director Terry Zwigoff. Should be another great year.

Breakfast With Sharks

"Breakfast with Sharks" is not a book about the craft of screenwriting. This is a book about the business of managing your screenwriting career, from advice on choosing an agent to tips on juggling three deal-making breakfasts a day. Prescriptive and useful, Breakfast with Sharks is a real guide to navigating the murky waters of the Hollywood system. And check out my past featured books at
Mark's Screenwriting Bookstore.

First Round Finalist

Well, I made the first round finalist in Scr(i)pt Magazine's Open Door Contest with "Peter Seven". Didn't make the top ten, but still not bad for a first time effort. Congrats to the top ten.

Crazy John's best of 2005

send comment and questions to John Dodd at jrd_73@yahoo.com

Various critics have called 2005 a good year for movies. For me, it was a year of needless remakes, double dipping DVD releases, and overrated art films. Mark asked if I would do a 10 best list for 2005, even if it is already February. There were not many contenders for these ten spots.

1 - GRIZZLY MAN (Werner Herzog)

The most fascinating film of the year was this documentary, which was robbed of an Oscar nomination. Timothy Treadwell lived with grizzly bears for thirteen years and then was killed by one. Was he a naive naturalist, an eccentric egotist, or just plain nuts? This is really a portrait of two unique individuals: Treadwell and director Herzog. "I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony but chaos, hostility, and murder."

2 - 2046 (Wong Kar-Wai)

His fans thought this was one of Wong’s best. Non-fans were disappointed. The visuals are gorgeous as always. The character of the Lothario who can only find love in a dream is haunting in a way Wong’s last few films were not. The film played most everywhere else in the world in 2004. I saw it in 2004 via an import DVD (and called it one of the best of 2004). Nonetheless, I am placing this on my 10 best list for 2005; if I have to, I’ll put it on the 2006 list as well.

3 - WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

(Steve Box and Nick Park)

"Beware the Moon!"

4 - SIN CITY (Robert Rodriguez

w/ Frank Miller and

Quentin Tarantino)

After 2046, the most visually striking film of the year and one of the most faithful adaptations of a comicbook(s) to date.

5 - SERENITY (Joss Whedon)

Since I had never seen any of the Firefly TV series, expectations were low. I came away with the most entertaining, best realized, piece of space opera in a long time. Serenity kicks the galactic ass of Star Wars Episode Three.

6 - TRILOGY - THE WEEPING MEADOW (Theo Angelopoulos)

Hated by almost everyone else and clearly not up to the controversial auter’s best, this was my favorite true art (with a capital A) film of the year. I will never forget the sight of the herd of sheep hanging from a tree. The tracking shot through a distressed wedding party, making for a living canvas, is another keeper.

7 - THE DEVIL’S REJECTS (Rob Zombie)

The best nihilistic, completely unredeemable, Southern fried horror film since the 1970s ended and Sid Haig deserves an Oscar. "Why don’t you like clowns? Don’t we make you laugh?"

8 - MILLIONS (Danny Boyle)

Who would have thought that Danny Boyle’s best film would have neither zombies nor heroin addicts in it? Instead, the focus is on two British kids who lost a mother and ended up with millions in pounds just weeks before the country’s conversion to the euro. Cheers to Boyle for consistently wrestling with ideas and keeping a dark edge throughout, no matter how whimsical the film becomes.

9 - BROKEN FLOWERS (Jim Jarmusch)

For Bill Murray. . . and the best Vladimir Nabokov reference in some time.

10 - NO DIRECTION HOME - BOB DYLAN (Martin Scorsese)

One of my favorite living directors and one of my favorite musicians meet for an always interesting documentary. Better than either The Last Waltz or Don’t Look Back.

Three art movies, two documentaries, two family oriented movies, a comic book adaptation, an escapist sci-fi fantasy, and a grueling horror film, I will give 2005 credit for its variety of good films. They almost forgive the rest. Here is another list, not the worst films of the year but the most overrated, films that produced indifference (which some might argue is worse than being actively bad).

Crash - Alright, this is a good film.

I liked it. . . but the well-meaning quality was dished up so heavily that I almost choked. John Sayles did it better ten years ago in City of Hope.

Land of the Dead -

It wasn’t bad, but all of us horror fans waited twenty years for that?

Good Night and Good Luck -

David Strathairn captured Murrow and as a history lesson, the film makes its point. So what was with the bizarre decision to have a lengthy secondary plot with the two least interesting characters (Robert Downey Jr. and Patricia Clarkson)?

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride -

A far cry from A Nightmare Before Christmas.

Star Wars - Episode 3 -

It was better than the last two films, but is that saying much?

Jarhead -

It may not have always been set during the first Gulf War, but I have watched this story many times before.

Me, You, and Everyone We Know -

Annoyingly quirky characters meet and fall in love.

The Constant Gardener - A dull love story and a heavy handed political tract masquerading as a thriller.

The New World -

Lots of pretty pictures and absolutely no drama, the whole Eden of unspoiled nature theme seemed kind-of silly. Sort of like Dances with Wolves all over again (that’s not a good thing).

A History of Violence -

The film I was most excited about turned out to be the one of the most tiresome. The futility of violence was shown much more powerfully back in 2003's Mystic River (a film which just missed my 10 best list that year but which would have been #3 had
it been released in ‘05). As dark thrillers go, the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke was far grittier.

Taken as a whole, these overpraised films, combined with the annoying audiences I saw many of them with (a problem getting worse each year), made me just want to stay home. Here is to 2006 being better!