Diana Lee Inosanto’s “The Sensei” DVD Release Party
Posted on | March 4, 2010 | No Comments
Last Sunday, I was invited to attend Diana Lee Inosanto’s DVD release party of her directorial debut, The Sensei.
For most martial artists, you’ll recognize the name. She is the daughter of martial arts legend Dan Inosanto and the “honorary niece” of one of the world’s biggest icons, Bruce Lee. But what you might not realize is that she’s also an actress, stuntwoman, and producer.
Now, she can add writer/director to her long list of accomplishments.
The Sensei is about a female martial arts instructor who secretly takes on a gay student in 1980s Colorado during the height of the AIDS scare. Though not flawless, the movie is a courageous and powerful piece — particularly considering it’s a low-budget independent and is Diana’s first ever directing gig.
More details about the project later. For now, I highly recommend you check it out on DVD when it’s released on March 9.
Tags: Asian-American > Bruce Lee > Dan Inosanto > Diana Lee Inosanto > directing > director > gay > screenwriter > Screenwriting > The Sensei
Adding The Hurt Locker: A Review
Posted on | February 22, 2010 | No Comments
In my typical revisionistic fashion, I’ve rewritten my list of “Best Produced Screenplays of 2009” after finally watching The Hurt Locker.
My Top 8 now becomes a Top 9. I didn’t bump anybody off the list because they’re all stellar work. But at the same time, I didn’t put Kathryn Bigelow’s intense drama (about a U.S. Army bomb squad unit) in the Top 5.
Why? It just didn’t blow me away (pun totally intended). Don’t get me wrong: I thought it was quite powerful. And critics lavished it with all sorts of honors (i.e. Writers Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay), but I felt the screenplay didn’t provide much an arc for the main character, Staff Sgt. William James, played by Jeremy Renner. He starts off as a cocky cowboy-in-fatigues figure and — save for a subplot about him befriending a locale Iraqi boy — he pretty much ends the movie in exactly the same fashion.
Almost no change. Nothing learned. Zero character development.
In my book, that’s not Top 5 screenwriting material. But still, the script by Mark Boal offers plenty of good things: a strong supporting cast, an exotic setting, a timely subject, and an intrinsically butt-clenching premise (a gung-ho bomb specialist takes over an Explosive Ordinance Disposal squad and clashes with his by-the-book subordinates in the midst of roadside bombs, insurgent snipers, and unrelentingly harsh Iraqi environment.
Some of the praise should go to Bigelow, who does an amazing job of capitalizing on the hair-raising tension and mind-numbing lulls (much like real-life military life) with her mix of documentary style camerawork and slow-mo visuals.
But then again, that’s why both Bigelow and Boal received Oscar nominations in their respective categories, eh?
Tags: Academy Award > Kathryn Bigelow > Mark Boal > Oscars > The Hurt Locker
Best Produced Screenplays of 2009 — Redux
Posted on | February 22, 2010 | 1 Comment
OK, so yet again I’ve rewritten my Best-Of list. This time, it’s because I finally saw The Hurt Locker. Here’s how it ranks up against my other favorites of last year:
1. Up
Written by Bob Peterson & Pete Docter
The first three on my list are all running neck and neck and neck for the top spot, but ultimately, I had to give it to Up, this funny, emotional, unpredictable, and technically brilliant animated film from (where else?) Pixar Studios. It has everything a near-perfect screenplay should have: real (and really flawed) characters, realistic (yet witty) dialogue, strong (and strongly motivated) villains, and a believable character arc (there’s two actually, one for each of the main characters). Who knew a cartoon about a senior citizen and a chubby kid in a balloon-powered floating house would be so riveting?2. District 9
Written by Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell
“Wow.” That was my first impression after seeing this movie. Smart on so many levels and wholly different from anything Hollywood could ever hope to produce, District 9 is a ticking time-bomb of a story: it starts off like a real-life documentary about alien refugees, sprints off like an action movie on fire, and ends with one cataclysmic sci-fi bang that leaves you blown away.3. Avatar
Written by James Cameron
James Cameron’s screenplay for this year’s most anticipated film and history’s most expensive movie ever is by no means subtle. But it does exactly what a good script should do: act as the solid blueprint for an amazingly sound yet beautiful cinematic monolith to be built upon. From paying off small first-act setups to putting a 22nd-Century twist on cliched elements, the Avatar story is breathtaking, intense, and otherworldly — it reminds us of the very reasons we go to the cinema in the first place.4. Star Trek
Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman
Director J.J. Abrams is a pop-culture God. Just look at his recent credits. And his re-imagining of the original Star Trek series was a pretty damn good balance between appeasing the Trekkers and Trekkies (depending on your level of geekdom) and telling a suspenseful, witty, and action-packed sci-fi opera for the newbies. But it’s really the screenwriting duo of Orci & Kurtzman who should share in the glory. Though their screenplay has a few flaws ([spoiler until the end of the parenthesis] why the Hell does Kirk go from ensign to captain of the Enterprise in less than a day???), its solid structure is what allowed Abrams to pull off the sacrilegious move of remaking a classic.5. Inglourious Basterds
Written by Quentin Tarantino
This historical fantasy made a big splash because it was Quentin Tarantino’s return to form, his entree back into pop-culture consciousness after the dismal performance of his half of Grindhouse, Death Proof. Unique anti-heroes (a band of covert U.S. Army Jews infiltrating Nazi-occupied France), long-winded monologues, and the most delicious villain we’ve seen in a long time. Sure some of his scenes needed to be trimmed (the pub scene was way too long!) and the alternate-history ending didn’t sit well with me, but overall, Inglourious Basterds was one of the most unique screenplays of the year and one of the most enjoyable movies.6. Taken
Written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen
A stellar example of how a script with a simple premise -– Liam Neeson plays an ex-CIA agent who must find his daughter’s kidnappers in France -— can result in a tight, suspenseful thriller so long as the execution is done right.7. The Hangover
Written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
There was no single funnier movie in 2009 than The Hangover. Lucas and Moore take the tired “bachelor party in Vegas” subgenre, put a subtle Memento-like slant on it, and deliver one of the most jaw-droppingly, surprisingly hilarious films of the year.8. The Hurt Locker
Written by Mark Boal
This is an intense war thriller about a gung-ho bomb specialist who takes over a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal squad and clashes with his by-the-book subordinates in the midst of roadside bombs, insurgent snipers, and internal demons. Not perfect and lacks a strong character arc, but otherwise pretty invigorating. Makes me glad I never joined the military — and grateful to those who have.8. 9. The Blind Side
Written by John Lee Hancock
I usually don’t fall for the based-on-a-true-story, tear-jerking, feel-good dramas, but this Sandra Bullock-starring football movie took me by surprise. Why? Because the screenplay had well-rounded characters and a simple but effective plotline — all causing you to empathize with the main character. An effective family-friendly drama if ever there were one this year.Honorable Mentions:
ttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409459/
Tags: Academy Award > Best Produced Screenplays > Kathryn Bigelow > Mark Boal > Oscar > Scripts > The Hurt Locker
The Art of Writing a Script Synopsis
Posted on | February 18, 2010 | No Comments
Fellow screenwriter/blogger Ashley Scott Meyers has a pretty good post about how to write a synopsis on his SellingYourScreenplay.com site.
He’s got some common-sense advice mixed in with some real-world experience. Here’s a taste:
“…you simply want to intrigue them enough so that they can’t wait to read the entire screenplay. If you have a twist ending you can tell them about the twist without giving it away. Make them want to read the full script.”
Meyers actually wrote a book called, coincidentally enough, Selling Your Screenplay. I haven’t read it, but it seems solid.
Tags: Ashley Scott Meyers > Selling Your Screenplay > synopsis > writing synopsis
Cartoon Zombies! — Finally!
Posted on | February 5, 2010 | No Comments
Check out this cool little ditty: a trailer for an CG-animation zombie movie.
It’s called A.D. and is directed by Ben Hibon, written by Haylar Garcia, and produced by Bernie Goldmann (300), Tarik Heitmann (The Sensei), and Renee Tab. Looks pretty cool. I like the idea of taking the zombie genre into the digital realm — worlds of possibilities, I say, not just for animators, but for writers, too.
Tags: A.D. > animated zombies > animation > Ben Hibon > CGI > Haylar Garcia > horror > Tarik Heitmann > zombies