21 Jump Street: Not Another Fucking Remake

Title: 21 Jump Street

Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Writer: Michael Bacall

Featuring: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Brie Larson

Grade: A

Synopsis: Whatever the TV show synopsis was.

Good Movie For: Everyone

I've noticed that the movie industry is plagued with reworked ideas. Hell, one thing that they teach you in screenwriting class is how to take a story that is already out in the universe, and try to make it better. It's the same shit with just different words. Welcome all of the remakes and sequels of sequels that have graced the silver screen for as long as I've known. 

I don't have very high expectations for remakes. It was done once, why do it again instead of trying to come up with a new story and a new idea? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for drawing inspiration from the past stories to come up with something today, but I don't think Hollywood needs to have that as their crutch. There are a lot of new and interesting stories out there that should be made, instead of Fast and Furious 128. So whenever a new remake releases to the public, I don't expect much from it. In this case, I was completely wrong.

21 Jump Street is good. Maybe even too good. It threw me for an unexpected loop. I watched this movie with one of my friends because like me, she appreciates the greek god we call Chatum. I expected him with his shirt off more often, but whatever, I digress. 

This movie is smart. It realizes that it's a played out remake of a favorite television show, and it plays that up. You're not supposed to take this seriously, they get that. They make you understand that. It takes conventions and aspects that you expect from an action comedy and turns it on it's head. The first shot isn't going to kill the bad guy, but hey maybe this will. 21 Jump Street is hilarious, and it should be a must watch for everyone that is interested in writing a remake. "Hey! Watch this! This is how you remake something the right way!"

My favorite part of the film is not in the story or in a character. It actually is a tiny aspect that most people probably will not catch. I think the most hilarious thing about 21 Jump Street is a tattoo across the face of one of the main villians. He has a bunch of tears tattooed down his eye, I murdered some bitches in prison, but at the bottom of his cheek is the tattoo of a bucket, collecting the tears. This little detail sums up just how ridiculously hilarious this movie is. 

Drive: The Movie Only Film Students Loved

Title: Drive

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Writer: Hossein Amini

Featuring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston

Grade: B

Synopsis: A driver who only drives, stops driving.

Good Movie For: Film Students

I'm a hoarder. I hoard movies. When the latest sale on blu-rays and DVD's happens online or at my local store, I can't help but buy the entire stock of marked down movies. Case in point why I have hundreds of movies in my collection that I haven't yet watched. I'm slowly, but surely, making my way through the heap of unwatched stories.

When Drive first came out in theaters, I was extremely excited about it. I love Ryan Gosling and practically everything he is in, so I thought that this was going to be an instant favorite. That is, until all of the reviews started coming in. Not reviews from critics online, but reviews from family and friends. I tend to take reviews from other people with a grain of salt. My mother suggested that I watch The Tourist because it was an amazing story. My friend said that it was the worst movie he had ever seen and didn't comprehend how it even got made in the first place. The consensus for Drive was very similar to this, but skewed in the other direction.

My family and some of my friends absolutely hated this movie. My father and cousin even went as far as asking for a refund from the movie theater. On the other hand, my friends who are also film students absolutely loved it. I wasn't quite sure where the disconnect was. Why were only a select few people in love with the movie, while the rest thought it was a waste of time? This tug of war of whether or not the movie was good or bad left me afraid to watch it in theaters, but of course when it went on sale at Costco I had to have it. 

I get it. Looking at it from the two different standpoints I understand why this had such a weird effect on the people around me. When you go into a movie called Drive you expect some badass driving, which this film does have, but not to the extent that people wanted. They expected Fast and the Furious 17, but got something a little above Cars. "He's a driver, but he never drives." Looking from that standpoint, yea. It was a let down, but looking at it from a story standpoint, it was really good. 

This guy drives. That's all he does. He doesn't stick his neck out for you if shit goes down. He gets you to one place from another. We get it, but when he finally does put everything on the line, shit hits the fan. The stoic driver starts to fuck shit up, all while clad in an amazing golden scorpion jacket. 

Is there a lot of driving in Drive? No. Is it a great story? Absolutely. Although the title and premise is a bit misleading, I still think that this is a film that needs to be watched. Get out of the mindset of car chases and street races and just try to enjoy the movie for what it is. A driver who only drives, stops driving. 

Helpful Hint: Advice from Screenwriters - The Oscars Series

I try and follow as many screenwriting blogs as I can. Although I don't read all of them daily, I try my best to peruse the proverbial web of world wide proportions to extract as much information about screenwriting as I can. From listening to podcasts to watching interviews and movies to reading books. I try to be as big of a sponge as I can and soak up as much information that is available.

I have talked previously about my love for the talented Mr. John August. I download his podcast, Script Notes, with Craig Mazin, and I try and look through his blog everyday, http://johnaugust.com/. Recently, August put up a link to a series of videos that the Oscars had produced a couple years ago where they interview a group of Oscar winning and note-worthy writers to discuss the successes and pitfalls of screenwriting.

The series is short and sweet, consisting of about six video all around 5 minutes in length; a 30 minutes well spent if you ask me. They talk about a wide range of subjects, from the myth of writer's block to advice for up and coming writers. So if you are looking for some advice and knowledge about the world of screenwriting discussed by the top dogs of the field, take a gander at these videos. 

http://www.oscars.org/video/watch/screenwriters_advice.html

Girl In Progress: Having Sex Makes You an Adult

Title: Girl In Progress

Director: Patricia Riggen

Writer: Hiram Martinez

Featuring: Eva Mendes, Patricia Arquette, Cierra Ramirez

Synopsis: The coming of age story of a girl who comes of age. 

Grade: C

Good Movie For: Chicks who love Flicks

I typically will spend some free time sitting down and watching trailer after trailer for upcoming movies. Good or bad, I try to watch them all. The first 15 minutes at the beginning of every movie in the theatres is my favorite time. When the lights dim and the shine from the green ratings card shows up on screen the corners of my lips turn up into a faint smile. I watched the trailer for Girl in Progress, and I honestly was not interested in seeing it. It didn't really attract me. A mother who acts like a teenager and a teenager who acts like a mother. Been there, seen that. Also, I don't particularly like Eva Mendes, so that was another point in the negative column. Would I have watched this movie on my own request? No, but my friend asked me to come along with her, so I obliged. 

Honestly, I was quite surprised at how much I actually liked this movie. I thought that I would hate it, but it was alright. Am I going to buy the DVD once to comes out? No. But it was an hour and a half somewhat well spent. The storyline is a bit predictable and the situations are ones that we've all seen before, but I believe that the saving grace of this movie was Cierra Ramirez. Her spunk and demeanor on screen is really what kept me in. She owns this movie, while others around her seem to falter.

Ramirez is set on becoming an adult. In order to become grown she must have sex. As if that act is what propels everyone into adulthood. There are some truly funny bits in this movie, one of which involves a burnt condom. They should have just invested in some glasses a la left eye (RIP). All in all, the movie wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. If you particularly love come chick flicks you should think about watching this, on an uneventful sunday, for free, if it's on TV.

Dark Shadows: Keep the Vampire in the Closet

Title: Dark Shadows

Director: Tim Burton

Writer: Seth Grahame-Smith, John August

Grade: C-

Synopsis: A 200 year old Vampire must resurrect his family's failing fish cannery in order to beat the psychotic bitch of a witch who put him in this immortal loveless dread.

Good Movie For: Hippies and fish cannery historians.

My father used to watch the Dark Shadows TV show when he was little. He said it was the scariest thing he had ever seen. I had high expectations for this movie. I love Tim Burton. Or should I say, I used to love Tim Burton. Old Tim Burton. Burton circa Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice days. 

I expected a lot more out of this movie, and I was sadly disappointed. I typically go into movies with a set of expectations garnered to each movie. I didn't go into 2012 thinking "Oh Shit! This is going to win an Oscar! Definitely!" I went in expecting a not so great script, but great visuals. The fact that I am madly in love with Tim Burton and believe that he is my long lost twin made me walk into this movie with extremely high expectations. I should have lowered that shit. 

The story was predictable. Honestly, the best parts of the movie were probably seen in the trailer. There were some hilarious jokes, but hilarity doesn't ensure a good story. It was confusing at first to know exactly what the story was going to be about just by the contents of the trailers. So he's a vampire and he comes back to his bloodline who now live in the 70's. 

There were so many different character storylines crossing so many different ways that I believe there wasn't enough development for all of them. He's trying to get back at his ex, but the family business is failing, but his lost love has come back from the dead, but the crazy self adopted doctor is in love with him, but there's ghosts and a drunk butler. The main storyline I think they should have focused on was the family dealing with their failing business, but that got muddled in all of these love affairs. 

The one upside of this movie was that the locations and the costuming was impeccable. It's very Tim Burtonesque, which I love. Besides that, this wasn't something I would want to watch again. Please Mr. Burton, get back to your old amazing ways, or else I might have to replace you as my favorite.

10,000 Hours: Why writing a shitty scene everyday is better than writing an OK scene every week.

During one very poignant lecture in screenwriting class, the teacher decided to break down how to become a successful writer. It takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a task. Whether it's cooking, the cello, or even writing, putting in that many hours and that much dedication helps to further your knowledge of any task you wish to master.

After hearing this number, I began to calculate exactly how long would it take for me to achieve the Master Ninja status. If I decided to take speed everyday, gave up sleeping, eating, pissing, and shitting, and dedicated every single second of the 24 hours in a day, it would take a little over a year to clock in 10,000 hours. I love sleeping, and my low tolerance for recreational drugs would kill me instead of keep me awake (Advil is strong enough to make me see unicorns), so the whole, up 24 hours thing wouldn't work. If I dedicated 8 hours a day to the 10,000 hours, it would take about 3 and a half years to reach 10,000. My full time job is to be a student, which I might be failing at, but none the less, I don't have 8 hours in a day to allot to writing. After I graduate I plan on the whole writing working day, but as of now, I have to settle for 1 hour a day. Which by my calculations means I will be hitting the 10,000 mark in about 27 years. 

Yes, hours each day may fluctuate, 3 hours here, 1 hour there, 13 hours that one day, but the bottom line in order to achieve this Master status, you need to write EVERY SINGLE DAY. A bit of advice that I struggle with at times, but have gotten the hang of recently. Making sure to write every single day will ultimately help you down the road. You'll be able to write faster, better, and longer. Even if it's a shitty scene every single day, some where down the line you'll be able to grab that one piece of genius from the 100 pieces of shit.

In order to keep on track I've decided to employ a progress chart made popular by the legend, the master, the guru of the world, Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld has talked about his "Don't Break the Chain" method. You print out an entire year calendar on a single sheet of paper, or just list 1 to 365. The idea is that each day you accomplish say, writing for an hour, you get to make a cross on the date. By a week or two, you have the makings of a chain. You're compelled not to break this sweet little chain of encouragement so you continue writing for an hour each day. This method doesn't just pertain to writing, but it could be anything in your life that you wish to be active about each and everyday.

The more you write, the better you'll get. Or at least that's what they say. Don't break the chain man. Don't you break that chain. 

Film School vs. Experience

With every blog or podcast or interview that deals with the film industry there are a couple key questions that always seem to arise when people think about making this into a career. From the structure, "How do I write a script?" to networking "How do I get an agent?" to everyone's carnal desire "How do I make it and become dirty rich?". The same questions always rise to the top of these conversations. Another question/debate that seems to follow this pattern is the standings on Film School versus nitty gritty experience. 

People have different answers in regards to this question. I am in film school. I plan on getting a film degree. Am I an advocate for film school? Sure. If that's the path that best suits you. My whole belief on this topic is that some people are meant for film school, and others aren't. I've been privileged to have some experience in both worlds and I've drawn positives and negatives from both. 

I'm not the most motivated person in the entire world, hence why I have ruts in my postings, so having a strict deadline to learn things and to create things helps me get further. That being said, I have learned so much more being on a film set than I have being in a lecture hall. Nothing beats hands on experience. No article or chapter in a textbook beats having to set up this light or move this piece of equipment.

Purely speaking jobs on set wise, real world experience is much better than taking an introduction to production class. If you want to learn more about the business and filmic aspects of things, than school really is the best bet. I've learned devices and different view points on films and styles from lectures and books than I could not have possibly learned working. Having to analyze and dissect a film truly helps when coming up with your own content. I have found that I am able to tap into different perceptions of the world and of people in my own scripts and films because of studying styles from the past.

A major positive about experience is that you are able to actually work, and if you are actually decent as a production assistant than people will ask you to help them again and again on various different projects. Networking is key in this industry, and film school provides something that set work doesn't have, a built in network. Film school allows students to branch out to each other, an aspect that is much harder to do in the real industry. It also provides the chance for students to work in different fields and positions in a set. You could dabble in directing, or cinematography, or screenwriting in school. In the industry you would typically just start off as a production assistant. 

Ultimately there are many pros and cons for each side of this debate. I've decided to be in film school mainly due to the idea that if I'm not lucky enough to break into the industry, I could fall back and teach, something that almost always requires a degree. The film industry is a funny environment. While other careers strive on scholastic competency, film is more about dedication and knowledge of the craft rather than what grade you got on your senior thesis. Film school is not for everybody, but that is a decision that I think ultimately comes down to the person in question. You decide if school is the right choice for you. If not, strap on that leatherman and find the nearest set to work on.