In answer to DR Rodzinski's query last night about Tom Selleck and his recent work, he just had a big hit made-for-TV movie on CBS during February sweeps. I didn't watch it, but it had a two word title and did very well in the ratings.
I not sure David Koepp (a very nice man) has gotten sole screen credit on War of the Worlds yet. I know my friend Josh Friedman had a large hand in it and may have been the initial writer on it.
I just caught up on the weekend posts...You should write a magazine article Jose. "Eating Your Way through NYC, A Guide to NYC's Most Delicious Secrets"
No, make it a book! I'll buy a copy. You could organize bus tour groups it could be a whole enterprise!!!
« Last Edit: Today at 08:29:51am by vixmom »
Hmm... There's a book in me somewhere on some topic. Maybe that is it!
;)
NO FAIR! I was working on a nice "hope the bandages come off soon" post then you go and edit!
der Brucer
The "guest conducter" was a high school music teacher from another school district who has a Chamber Orchestra of about 16 high school kids that she parades around the Island doing various shows etc.
One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. When the angel returned, he told God, "Yes, it is bad on Earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not."
God thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion."
When this second angel returned he went to God and said, "Yes, it's true!
The Earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but... 5% are being good."
God was not pleased. So He decided to E-mail the 5% that were good, because He wanted to encourage them, you know... give them a little something to help them keep going.
I know that Josh wrote several drafts few years back under the heavy direction and input of Spielberg. When I spoke to him about a month ago, it was still undetermined whether he'd get credit or not. I don't know whether the WGA arbitration process has happened or not. But if it has, and Mr. Friedman has been denied credit, it wouldn't be the first time this where one writer works long and hard on a project and
brings it to fruition and then the producers bring in a big star writer whose name they want on the film.
but I bet Jose & DR SWW could come up with some nifty ways of turning a grilled cheese sandwich into a mouthwatering gourmet meal....
what do you say fellas.. I throw down a challenge (remembering I do not like tomato slices) create for me a wonderful grilled cheese sandwich recipe
Does anyone know what the EMail said?
der Brucer
PS Neither do I.
Mario Drops Out of 'Idol'
Timberlake sing-alike and fan favorite cites personal reasons; castoff Nikko Smith gets second chance
Can I play?
1. Slice of Sour Dough bread spread with Mayo
2. Slice of American Cheese.
3. Slices of previously cooked crisp bacon
4. Slice of Swiss Cheese
5. Slice of Sour Dough bread spread with Dijon Mustard
Serve with tangy cole slaw and a nice crisp Kosher Dill.
der Brucer
PS You can substitute potato chips for the slaw.
Speaking of "Lion Tamer," I've got sitting on my to-watch DVD shelf (more like a cabinet), the DVD of THE MAGIC SHOW that I've never watched. I need to put that in at some point this week.
They wouldn't think of telling the electrician how to do his job...or the scenic designer...or the prop guy...or cameraman...but no one has a problem telling the writer how to do his.
The Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has a well-defined process for determining credits on projects produced under its jurisdiction. These productions are generally USA-controlled live-action film and TV projects, produced either by studios or major independent producers. In 1999, the WGA began furnishing credits directly to IMDb. The absence of the WGA indicator on earlier credits should not be construed as a sign of unofficial status, merely a sign of age.
In general, the credits determination process works as follows:
When the film is finished shooting, the producer sends a notice to the guild and the writers proposing the writing credits. If any writer disagrees with those credits, or if the proposed credits require mandatory arbitration (e.g., a producer or director sharing a writing credit), a WGA arbitration committee reads all drafts of the script and various supporting materials and determines the actual/official credits.
If there is no source material (novel, play, article, etc.) and the same writers receive credit for both the story and screenplay, the credit is "written by".
The "story by" credit is used when the basic narrative structure was originally written with intent to be used for a movie (as opposed to a short story) and the actual screenplay had different authors. A shared "story by" credit is the minimum awarded to the author of an original screenplay.
If there was previously existing source material but the writer creates a substantially new and different story from the source, then the "screen story" (or "television story") credit is used.
Finally, the "screenplay by" (or "teleplay by") credit is used to denote the screenplay (teleplay) authorship if the story credit had to be separated as above.
In rare cases, "adaptation by" can be awarded to a writer who shapes the script without qualifying for one of the above credits.
There are other specialized credits used for television programs such as documentaries and audience participation shows.
Within each of these categories, members of a writing team are joined by "&"; teams or writers working on separate drafts are joined by "and".
The IMDb will not accept uncredited writers for titles with WGA-determined credits.
Writing credits (WGA)
Andrew Niccol (story) and
Sacha Gervasi (story)
Sacha Gervasi (screenplay) and
Jeff Nathanson (screenplay)
And directors were hred hands just like wrters.
Furniture Flap
Norway's prime minister says Swedish furniture giant IKEA (search) is guilty of sex discrimination because its instruction manuals only depict men. IKEA never shows women assembling furniture and the prime minister says, "There's no justification for it." But an IKEA spokesman says that it has a strong presence in Muslim countries and that using women in instruction manuals could offend Islamic customers.
And,no, in the golden era of flm. There was no willy-nilly changing of script. They may have still used writers at times like tissue paper, but once that script was set, it was set. And directors were hred hands just like wrters. None of this auteur pretension.
And,no, in the golden era of flm. There was no willy-nilly changing of script. They may have still used writers at times like tissue paper, but once that script was set, it was set. And directors were hred hands just like wrters. None of this auteur pretension.
If a director and an actor have the change the key of the writing, I think they must have missed the writer's original point.
And if they have to change the key, why was the actor cast? I would think you would want an actor to serve the script rather than the other way around. Although I know that's not the way it works.
Speaking of "Lion Tamer," I've got sitting on my to-watch DVD shelf (more like a cabinet), the DVD of THE MAGIC SHOW that I've never watched. I need to put that in at some point this week.Trust me, you can wait a little longer. It's shoddy, and some of the numbers have been replaced with lesser material. Doug Henning was better represented by his television specials.
Okay....but shouldn't the same thing be said about singers, then?
If a singer cannot do justice to a song without changing the key or arrangement, should the singer simply NOT sing the song?
Yesterday I was out with DH, my folks and the Vixter at her All County Music Festival...I suggest sending your rant to the local newspaper.
...I am sorry it seems everything I post lately seems to be a rant and a complaint... I'll try to find some more cheerful stuff to post later today.
Wall Man is done.This sounds like a song. Something along the lines of "Blow High, Blow Low."
Changing a line here and there on the set is not "re-writing".
I too am amazed at how everyone and his brother will tell the writer how to write. They wouldn't think of telling the electrician how to do his job...or the scenic designer...or the prop guy...or cameraman...but no one has a problem telling the writer how to do his.HUH??? The electrician might be fairly safe, but the scenic designer certainly has to draw up plans and sketches which have to be approved before the sets are built (tacitly, someone is telling him how to do his job). Same is true of the prop guy, especially when the props are being designed for the show. Cameraman? What do you thing reshoots are for? (Not to mention screening the dailies.)
DR RLP - I can't speak to music. I don't write music. Are songs written to be sung in just specific keys and not others? And I have heard a few songs done by singers that I wished had never been recorded. I am NOT a fan of singers who go off on their own making "oohs" and "dahs" and "whee-ahs" in songs - which I guess includes many of the "Divine" jazz singers who regularly disregard and disrepect composers....bleh!
It has been my (limited) experience that an actor or director wants changes that fit his own particular agenda or ego rather than the good of the piece.
And,no, in the golden era of film. There was no willy-nilly changing of script. They may have still used writers at times like tissue paper, but once that script was set, it was set. And directors were hred hands just like wrters. None of this auteur pretension.Bull.
DR Stuart:
Way out (for me anyway) in Bay Ridge near the end of the R line (69th Avenue I believe) and then a 15 minute walk to the abode.
Would you say this to Hitchcock?Generally, Hitch was the one doing the hiring of the writer. And he was in the room with the writer when much of the work was being done.
der Brucer
I'm soooo glad the Floor Men aren't coming this week.
I'm going to my mail place to see if there are any packages for me, and to ship out a couple of things.
I mailed you a package about an hour ago, I don't suppose it will be ther yet though :D
DR vixmom - did you ask they writer why he chose Amythyst to begin with?
Vixmom, you just make my day sometimes! LOL!
Woody, the point is no one tells him how to draw or design or do his job. They may critique his work, but with a writer they start telling you specifically how to write the scene. They change your dialogue to their own misguided notions of what sounds better, the change plot structure, they pull delicately-wrought strands that can unravel whole sections. They don't don't get that specific with scenic designers or costumers or cameramen, because they know they cannot do that work...They can't DO the writer's work either, but the difference is THEY ALL THINK THEY CAN WRITE, so with the author they impose themselves more into his job and his work.Clearly you are speaking of what happens now in filmmaking.
And you cannot survive in Hollywood without a thick skin. That doesn't mean you shouldn't take it personally when it's your work they're screwing up and that you shouldn't bellow about it when it happens. The reason the writers in Hollywood are on the low end of the totem pole and continually get trounced on is because they are a bunch of cowardly wusses who whine among themselves but refuse to stand up and call bullshit bullshit when it's bullshit!
Even in jazz riffs (and I'm not a huge jazz fan), the essence of the melody line can usually still be found underneath all the embroidery. But BK or elmore could probably speak more knowledgeably of this than I.
Didn't Mr Hitchcock have Mrs Hitchcock go over the scripts he was doing?Yes. Alma Reville (Mrs. H) also wrote much of his earlier work.
I have several issues going on today, all of them making me madder than hell.
One is the Mario Vasquez issue and his withdrawal from "American Idol." I'm mad because I've read of speculations about why he left, and those speculations have shed some lights on comments made to Mario by Simon Cowell after a performance, as well as aspersions being cast on another current contender:
This week, after Mario crooned his way through a Bee Gees ballad, the calculating Simon cracked that “there’s something very charming about you,” which could be interpreted as code for girlish or gay.
...an amethyst brooch only I could not pronounce the darn word no matter how I tried...
elmore, thanks for the insightful comments on how this all works in the music world.
Of course the one thing that plays and musical compositions always have over films is that they can be done and re-done and exist in many versions at the same time. So you can see as many good productions of Hamlet as bad and you can hear as many good renditions of Night and Day as bad ones.
Unfortunately, that doesn't happen in the world of film. If a film script gets ruined, it's ruined for all time. Even if the film eventually gets re-made, they rarely go back to the original script.
Hey Jane!
It was 101 all the way for me.
I also find this comment from your linked article interesting:1. "calculating Simon" has been an unabashed fan of Mario and would not say something to diminish his chances. Fairer comment would have been "...an admiring Simon observed..."
2. For a British Adult to use "charming" as an appellation applied to a fellow male is not "code", it is straight (pardon the expression) forward complimentary.
And as we both know ("gaydar" time) there is no news here!
Also, DR Ron, I read the link you provided and would be surprised if that was the reason why Marion had to withdraw. My first thought is perhaps he could be in some legal trouble. As well there were rumors (as DR MattH implied) that he was signing a recording contract with another label.
But what really irritates me is the cartridges for the colour printer. This is a printer that hardly ever gets used. The other day I was printing on the black cartridge some stuff from a comic for research when the whole thing just faded out. They tell me these cartridges once they're opened, the ink in them dries out after 8-9 months whether they are used or not. How thrilling!
Interesting article DR RON. Other speculation has been that Mario didn't want to be tied down to an AI recording contract and thought with his publicity, he might do better now on his own. Who knows?
Luggage ... can we ever have enough?
DR RON - oh, I thought we were speculating! LOL
I know that Ginny won't be arriving until after the reading starts...
I don't recall if I mentioned this or not, but season one of DRAGNET (the 1960s run) is coming to DVD in a two-dvd set...I am quite happy about this!
Thanks to Jane and Jose for vibes to make my back feel better. It does, even thought the muscle relaxant gave me nightmares :o
Has anyone seen any of the new MGM musicals being released tomorrow?
Bells Are Ringing, Brigadoon, Easter Parade, Bandwagon all being released by Warner Bros along with Finian's Rainbow which was produced by WB.
Ben Alexander wasn't in the 1960s version of DRAGNET, was he? I thought Harry Morgan was Friday's man Friday.
I received today a great thing. A DVD purchase off of ebay of an unavailable film I have been trying to see again for ages, Lola Albright and Scott Marlowe in A COLD WIND IN AUGUST. A real indie masterpiece from 1960. Very sexual, with a really great, jaded performance by Albright, and Marlowe tapping into James Dean or early Brando territory as the 17-year-old innocent casually seduced by stripper Albright.
I was really craving the film after having found the Burton Wohl paperback on which it was based. Really a pulp novel that transcends its origins. The film loses a lot of the (unfilmable, really) motivation within Albright's character, but it is a wonderfully complementary version of the book.
I recommend either film or novel to anyone lucky enough to find them.
Hmmm...I have never heard of this film, but anything with Scott Marlowe is bound to be entertaining! I think Scott Marlowe was one fine actor...and he should have gone a lot farther then he did. Although he was a busy actor, I don't think he was ever very well known.
A couple of my interviewees knew and worked with Scott Marlowe and had very nice things to say about him. I was quite surprised to learn that he was gay, however. I don't know why it surprised me, but it just did.