The Film School Lecture: You should write Fast and the Furious 12.

Today a class of potential screenwriters and I learned the harsh reality of getting new stories and scripts produced in the industry today. 55 spec scripts were sold in 2010.

55.

The number of days it took Kim Kardashian to realize she shouldn't have gotten married.

55.

As this number jumped onto the power point screen I heard mine, and many others', heart begin to break. Why were we here anyways? What the fuck are we thinking?

I sat there in shock. A mini life crisis had begun. Was I choosing the right career path? I should have just become a nurse like every single one of my friends. But as my full fledged panic attack was about to reach it's apex, I breathed.

Nothing feels better than watching the small blinking line zoom across the bright white computer screen as the words and thoughts from your head give it meaning.

I've chosen to go to film school.

Ok.

Maybe I didn't choose to go to Film School. I wanted to go to film school. My parents probably would have disowned me already if i didn't finish school. So yea. I choose to go to film school.

A part of me aches, because instead of listening to a droning lecture for 5 hours everyday, I could be spending that time learning and growing on a film set. But I'd rather be watching Citizen Kane for the 27th time than working as a PA next to an extremely underqualified director.

All bitterness and angst aside. You do learn a lot in film school.

Here's to hoping that sometime in the future, my name will appear on a script that gets sold.

Prom Wars: The Tame Battle

Title: Prom Wars

Director: Phil Price

Writer: Miles Hainsworth

Starring: Ricky Ullman, Alia Shawkat, Rachelle Lafevre

Grade: C

Synopsis: The jocks of Lancaster Academy and the nerds of Selby fight for the right to party with the beautiful girls of ACS at prom.

Good Movie For: Ricky Ullman or Alia Shawkat Lubbbbers.

I've loved Ricky Ullman since he traveled back in time on Phil of the Future. I've also loved Alia Shawkat ever since she showed up as the lone Jewish girl in the sea of Christianity in State of Grace.

Now that I've fully professed my love you understand why I choose to watch this. I should really stop choosing my film viewings based on my love for the actors. I should start looking at actual reviews, but ehh. Whatev. This movie was ... alright. I'm happy to see that Ricky and Alia have done other projects after their childhood television shows. This wasn't a bad watch. Would I watch it again? Probably not. I do however give it props for being a bit raunchy for a high school based movie. High fives for you.

My Girlfriend's Boyfriend: My Girlfriend's Confused.

Title: My Girlfriend's Boyfriend

Director: Daryn Tufts

Writers: Daryn Tufts, Benji Smith

Starring: Alyssa Milano, Christopher Gorham, Michael Landes

Grade: D

Synopsis: Boy falls in love with girl. Girl falls in love with boy. Girl falls in love with other boy.

Good Movie For: Die hard Christopher Gorham or Alyssa Milano Fans

My main reason for painfully watching this movie was because I fit into one of those "Good Movie For" categories. I LOVE Christopher Gorham. My crush started when he played the lovable best friend Harrison in the TV series Popular. ever since then I've always had a soft spot for Mr. Gorham. I loved him in The Other Side of Heaven. So when I read his constant tweets about his new straight to digital download movie, I jumped on the chance to watch it. It's a kind of cute love story. There were many factors that I liked about it. I applauded the idea that the love story was not a young love at first sight that grows into the most romantic courtship of all man kind type of love, but that it was actually very real. A down and out writer meets a divorcee in a cafe. I also liked the younger brother's funny quips about his gum stardom. But other than that this movie fell short for me. I started to get annoyed of Alyssa Milano's character. Maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the acting, all I know is I wanted to punch her in the face at the 20 minute mark. Also it was confusing whose story it actually was. I assumed that it was Ethan, Gorham's character, but Jesse, Milano, was getting the majority of the face time. I guess that the twist ending was supposed to make up for all the hate that you built up during the movie, but for me it didn't. This wasn't really a good watch. All I can really say for it is that good thing it's short, and I happy to see Mr. Gorham working still.

Teen Wolf Too: I Love Me Some Bateman

Title: Teen Wolf Too

Director: Christopher Leitch

Writers: Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman, Tim Kring

Starring: Jason Bateman

Grade: C

Synopsis: Todd Howard, cousin of Scott Howard, starts a new chapter in his life, college. Unknown to him, he was selected to attend the elite college due to his connections with his teen werewolf cousin. Todd discovers his ability to transform, and soon becomes the star of the boxing team. But ultimately, Todd must decide whether honesty or popularity is most important to him.

Good Movie For: People who love the feel good lesson learned story line. Fans of werewolves, the 80's and the Bateman.

So the main reason why I wanted to watch this movie was because of the amazingly complex and oscar winning screenplay... Nah, I was in it for the Bateman. Ever since I saw Jason Bateman play the father struggling with his inner teenager in Juno, I was hooked, hooked on the Batester. Apparently during the time of it's release, Teen Wolf Too was a film the was not quite up to hollywood standards. Since then however, it seems that this film has found some sort of cult following. And by god, call me Charles Manson and sign me up. With all the corny predictability and usual story line, I all in all kind of enjoyed this movie. Quite possibly because I love Jason Bateman, and his comedic chops and quick wit is still clearly present even at such a young age. Now onto another installment of the Master, the Master Batester.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not...

Title: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Director: Laetitia Colombini

Writers: Laetitia Colombini, Caroline Thivel

Starring: Audrey Tautou, Samuel Le Bihan

Grade: C+

Synopsis: A young woman falls madly in love with a cardiologist. At first it seems like a seemingly healthy relationship, apart for the her being his mistress, and him cheating on his wife, but a healthy relationship none the less. Until you hit the wall, a realize that what you've been told has been a lie since you first saw the girl in the flower shop.

Good Movie For: Audrey Tautou Lovers and people who like love stories with a twist.

I am absolutely and completely in love with France and french films. One of my favorite french actresses has definitely got to be miss Audrey Tautou. I have been quite smitten with her ever since I watched the quirky comedy love that is Amelie. So when ever I get the chance, I try to watch her films. Before I saw the poster on NetFlix, I hadn't really heard of this movie, but I thought hey, if Audrey Tautou is in it, I will probably like it. It's a cute story at first, but in my opinion it started off kind of slow. Just a typical cheater husband story, until you hit the twist, and it's a good twist. The movie all around is alright, not one of my favorites, but it is definitely memorable. A good watch for a lazy afternoon.

Battle Royale: Would You Kill to Survive?

Title: Battle Royale

Director: Kenji Fukasaku

Screenwriter: Kenta Fukasaku

Grade: A

Synopsis: In a war torn Japan, the youth have revolted against the authority. In order to send the kids a message, the adults agree to select and send a high school class to participate in Battle Royale. Battle Royale is a 3 day no holds bar competition for your life. In order to win, you have to be the last one standing. If you don't kill, you die.

Good Movie For: Everyone ... well maybe not babies, and children, and squeamish people.

For the longest time, I've wanted to watch Battle Royale, so when I saw that it was available on NetFlix, I immediately bumped it up to the number one rental spot. I was expecting a really good movie, on account of it's semi cult following, and I must admit, I was definitely not disappointed. When you hear a story about a school murdering each other to survive, your going to expect some gore, but I don't think that I expected that much gore, but that's what I like about most foreign films. There not afraid to punch you in the face with a cascading fountain of blood. Sometimes I feel like American movies seem to water down the intellect and gore, as if dumbing it down for their audiences. My one drawback though was the lead female character, Noriko. She's left standing with two boys, and it seems like she has done nothing really to justify her survival. She's always saved by the boys, and I just sort of felt that she should have maybe been a more of a heroine rather than the damsel in distress. Besides that, I completely loved this movie, and it has definitely easy became one of my favorites.

Ballet Shoes: A 1 .. 2 .. 3.. and Plea

Title: Ballet Shoes

Director: Sandra Goldbacher

Starring: umm ... Emma Watson

Grade: C

Synopsis: A young girl is adopted by her palentologist uncle Gum. Gum goes off on different adventures and in turn adopts three more little girls. The miss mashed family struggles to pay for their housing, and must struggle to find ends meat. The three girls are enlisted into a dance academy.

Good Movie For: People who love Emma Watson or love a slightly sobby poor becomes rich story.

I vividly remember being enrolled into a ballet school when I was about four years old. Not because I was dying to become a ballerina, nor because I had a passion for the ballet. It was because my crazy aunt bought me a tutu one year for Christmas. That was that. Tutu -> Ballet. I really and truly wanted to learn tap dancing, but at the time, a four year olds vote was always lost in the hustle. Looking back, I sort of wish I had stuck with ballet. Yea I was the tallest one in the group, and yea, I basically have the graceful equivalency to a cat with 1 leg, but now I have learned to appreciate the dance. Ballet Shoes was an all around good movie. Not an oscar contender by any means, but it was OK. I was sort of thrown off by the beginning though, but besides that it was pretty good.