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So, I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night and I enjoyed it. No one has action scenes as fun as an Indiana Jones movie, and they captured that magic again in Crystal Skull.

I thought the cast was great. I’m a big fan of Shia Labeuf and he didn’t disappoint. Harrison Ford was spot on for the most part. He was different, but it fit. I felt like he was channeling Sean Connery a little bit, which didn’t feel like Indiana, but it made sense.

A lot of people complained about the alien angle, but to me it fit. The archeology behind the Mayan culture and Crystal Skulls is (in some theories) entwined with aliens. Every other Indiana Jones movie dealt with the supernatural… I don’t see why aliens are any different from the Biblical supernatural world surrounding the Arc and the Grail, or the Hindu supernatural world surrounding the Sankara stones. It might have something to do with the fact that I just watched a documentary about the Crystal Skulls so I understood the link they had to aliens and to archeology.

I liked the ending, was torn on the beginning, and was appalled by the Shia as Tarzan bit, but I enjoyed the movie as a whole… with reservation.

I felt there were some major flaws that could have made it great and it wouldn’t have taken much work to fix it in the script stage:

1. Higher Stakes
So, Irina Spalko wants to return the Skull from where it came in order to gain some sort of power where she wants to control every mind in the world? Very communist, it works. But Indy didn’t seem to care about this. In fact, after his experience with the skull, he wanted to return it (for no apparent personal reason), just as Irina did! So, where’s the conflict? The good guys and the bad guys want the same thing? It didn’t even have a “we’ve got to get there first” vibe that could have worked. I never got a sense that there was anything to lose by their returning it. They could have fixed this easily with my next point:

2. Make it Personal
The whole movie hinged on two characters we didn’t care about. Ox & Mac. We have this whole history of characters to pull from and they make up two disposable new ones. The whole journey takes place because of Ox being kidnapped and leaving clues. Why not make this someone we already know and care about? Apparently Sean Connery didn’t want to be involved, so Henry Jones Sr. out. Denholm Elliott died in 92, so Marcus Brody is out. What about Sallah? Or the more obvious suggestion: Abner Ravenwood! It was rumored that John Hurt was going to play the character of Abner - Marion’s Father and Indy’s Mentor who was thought to be dead in Raiders. This turned out not to be true, but it would have made the movie so much better if it was. It gave a reason for Marion to be there. It gave a PERSONAL stake for Indy being there. To go on this entire journey. You could make it a journey to save Abner’s life or maybe his soul. Something that would MATTER to Indy.

Secondly, Mac seemed to be the character that was morally questionable. We had the moment at the end of the movie where Indy tries to stop and save him, but he’d rather have the jewels. We’ve seen this kind of scene before, but who cared about Mac? We’ve got somewhat of a back story for Indy and him, but as an audience we weren’t connected. Why not make Mutt the one that’s obsessed with personal gain? It’s a lesson that Indy teaches him just as Indy learned the lesson in Temple of Doom.

3. More Conflict
Indiana and Marion see each other, have one squable and then they are perfect and happy together. Where’s the tension? Same thing with Mutt. From the very first moment, they are best buds, even when he finds out it’s his son, no tension whatsoever… everyone’s a happy family for the rest of the movie. The things that made the first movies so great was the tension between Indy and his leading ladies… the tension between Indy and his sidekicks. Where was it here? They had so much great opportunity to explore that here and went for happy family adventure instead.

Liked it? Hated it? Other ways to fix it? Comment below.

With the release of Iron Man, the summer movie season is in full swing. Summer is my favorite time of the year for movies. It’s also the time where the most movies disappoint.

I can’t tell you how many years I’ve said “this will be the best summer ever for movies.” And then been let down… pretty much every summer for the past 10 years.

Yet here I am again… This will be the best summer ever for movies.

I love “event” movies. I love big tentpole action adventure popcorn movies. Ever since Spielberg & Lucas ushered in the “blockbuster” in the late 70’s, the world of cinema has changed. Star Wars, E.T., Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones… these are the movies I loved as a kid. There’s magic in these films.

But somewhere along the way the blockbuster lost it’s luster. Movies began being put together by executives, and not filmmakers. So, year after year, you have these films that sound great on paper (Hugh Jackman fights Dracula, Wolf-man & Frankensteins monster), but lack that magic.

However, I feel like this time around I have more than just hype and excitement to back up my “best summer ever” theory. There is a pedigree of filmmakers behind this summer’s crop of films. We’re seeing a return to the auteur-driven blockbusters of the early 80’s.

1) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Director Steven Spielberg, Producer George Lucas, & Screenwriter David Koepp. All legends in their fields. They have brought us some of the highest quality blockbusters of all time. No one creates magic like these three men do. Can they do it again here? Well, there’s a lot to live up to. Indiana Jones is one of the most successful franchises in movie history.

Am I expecting this to be better than the original trilogy? No. I’m expecting it to be different. Am I expecting this to be a good movie? Absolutely. If you can leave your expectations at the door, you will enjoy this movie. You don’t get three powerhouse filmmakers like that together and make a bad film. When Spielberg & Lucas make a film, for good or bad, it’s going to be the film they want to make. And while they’ve made some questionable movies over the years… this is their sweet spot.

2) The Happening
M. Night Shyamalan is my favorite filmmaker. His movies speak to me in a way no other filmmaker’s movies do. M. Night Shyamalan is another filmmaker who knows exactly what he’s doing. When he makes a movie, it’s going to be the movie he wants to make. Lot’s of people think he dropped off with the Village and went out of his mind with Lady in the Water. I disagree.

While the Lady in the Water is my least favorite of his films, he knew exactly what he was doing with it - pushing the boundaries of what a film can and should be. He knew going into it that people wouldn’t get it… although I know he hoped they would.

Even if you didn’t like Lady in the Water, you should give the Happening a chance. One thing the failure of Lady in the Water did was put Shyamalan’s ego in check. The Happening will be the movie Shyamalan set out to make, but it will also be a movie for the masses.

3) Wall•E
Does anyone have a better track record than Pixar? Nearly everything they’ve done has been a masterpiece. I felt like Cars was a sidestep, but Ratatouille made up for it. And after seeing the trailer for Wall•E, I have no doubt that this will be a great film. It might even unseat the Incredibles as my favorite Pixar film of all time… but I imagine it will come in a close second.

Pixar is the definition of auteur-driven filmmaking. If a creator at Pixar has a vision, they will see that vision through to the end, sending it along the way through a process that ensures that vision will be realized perfectly.

Wall•E is the vision of Andrew Stanton, who also brought us A Bug’s Life & Finding Nemo. These two movies were not my favorite, but I think it was more the subject matter than the stories. Wall•E however has a delicious sci-fi world, which we haven’t seen explored in a Pixar movie before, and I can’t wait to see what they do with it.

4) The Dark Knight
I’ll be honest… I’m not the biggest Batman Begins fan. I thought it was really well done, but I don’t think it broke any new ground. I guess I just felt that this is what they should’ve been doing with Batman all along.

Chris Nolan, is a great filmmaker and Batman is a great character. WB seems to have really let Nolan run with the character and do what he wants. Even more so this time around. Success buys power. If the first film was establishing the tone and the character, then this movie should get to just run free and play. And that’s why I’m looking forward to this film so much. This is how you make great films - find filmmakers that know what they are doing, and let them do what they do best.

Great marketing, great cast, great filmmakers… it just looks like a lot of quality fun.

5) Pineapple Express

There was a big fight for this number 5 spot… Hancock, Prince Caspian, Get Smart, Hellboy II, Tropic Thunder… all of which I’m very much looking forward to. All with a great pedigree of filmmakers behind them.

However, Pineapple Express wins out for three reasons:

A) All the Real Girls is one of my favorite movies.

David Gordon Green is the director of Pineapple Express. He also directed All the Real Girls, one of the most honest looks at love and small town life I’ve ever seen. It’s also very funny, but it’s not a comedy. David Gordon Green makes the type of films that engulf you. Every time I watch All the Real Girls, I just feel like I went through the ups and downs of a year-long relationship in the span of two hours. He’s a young filmmaker, but already a master of tone and pacing.

B) Freaks & Geeks is one of my favorite TV shows.

Pineapple Express is starring Seth Rogen & James Franco, written by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg and produced by Judd Apatow. Everyone knows who Judd Apatow & Seth Rogen are now. They are the faces of modern comedy. And while I think their movies are hit & miss, they’ve do make very original & honest comedies, including the amazing TV show, Freaks & Geeks (produced by Apatow, and starring Rogen & Franco). When I heard that they were making a “pot” action-comedy, I shrugged. Not my thing… then David Gordon Green got attached and my ears perked up… then they released the trailer and well…

C) Best trailer of the year.

I LOVE this trailer. It blends comedy, drama, & action into something as cool as it is emotional. It had me laughing out loud and really wanting to know what was going to happen to the characters. We got a look at Franco, Rogen & the supporting cast (including Darryl from the Office & the very funny Danny McBride from Hotrod, Heartbreak Kid, Drillbit Tailor, & All the Real Girls). We got a hint at the tone with the brilliant music choice of M.I.A.’s Paper Planes. Just a perfect, fun little trailer.

Okay, maybe you’re like me. I’ve seen Iron Man and I want more. Iron Man’s based on a comic book, so there’s bound to be tons of stories I can pick up. I’ve never read any Iron Man comics before, but if it’s anything like the movie, I think I’d like it.

First stop: Marvel.com

Marvel.com seems to have prepared for this scenario, as there are no less than 16 ads for Iron Man related products on their front page.

Let’s start with the first thing that caught my eye: Iron Man Eras , an article detailing the goings-on of Tony Stark just over the past 10 years (not counting the 40 before it). And to be honest, it’s overwhelming. All this talk of Skrulls and Registration Acts and Illuminati… why can’t I just find a story that’s just like the movie?

The answer: You can’t.

A great help is a bio of Iron Man & a list of “Required Reading: 10 Iron Man Collections” is a fantastic reference for newcomers. If you are ready to jump into the world of Tony Stark as he currently stands in comics (which is a very different place than he was in the movie) Marvel has the resources to prepare you.

After you make it through those 10 collections, you might be ready to take on the new series “Invincible Iron Man” (from writer, Matt Fraction), releasing this week with a first issue, or even the ongoing “Iron Man” series (currently at #18). Or you could check out a few new limited series coming soon: “Iron Man: Legacy of Doom” where apparently Iron Man fights Dr. Doom (?) or “Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas”, written by Jon Favreau and drawn by Avi Granov who helped design the Iron Man movie armor. There’s also Marvel Adventures: Iron Man (currently at #4) for younger readers and Ultimate Iron Man, which I think was a limited series and is now over (?).

(I will probably pick up the Favreau mini-series and the first issue of Invincible just to give them a chance as I’m a fan of both the authors.  Maybe they’ll surprise me with their accessibility… but I’m not holding my breath.)

The point being, there is no one easy place to start. It’s a mess.

If I were Marvel, I would produce an original graphic novel to act as a “sequel” to the movie. I’d release it the same day the movie comes out. It would pick right up where the movie left off (while leaving room for the movie’s actual sequel, sure to come.) When I left the Iron Man movie, I wanted to know what was going to happen to THAT character, not a character with 40 years of history. And then, I’d follow up these OGN’s about once a quarter. Make them readily available in bookstores and market the hell out of them.

At the very least, there should be a very clear cut place to start for fans of the movie. Release a free (or very cheap) comic to comic book stores that fills you in on the history of Iron Man and tells you where to start (hopefully with a new #1.) Hell, even pass these free books out at movie theaters when people walk out, with a website to visit to find their local comic book store.

They need to create one very large button on their web page which reads “Liked the Iron Man movie, wanna read more? Start HERE.” Provide a link to where they should start with reading more Iron Man and where they can find that book.

There is so much potential to these comic book movies, but they are so bogged down by continuity that a new reader cannot easily jump on. Even if you could jump on easily, would you want to? The comic book Iron Man looks so different from the movie version.

With movies like 300 or Sin City, you see huge jumps in sales of the respective comics. With X-Men, Spiderman, Batman, not so much. And it’s because there is no one story you can pick up.

These comic book publishers need to WAKE UP and realize that there is a huge massive audience out there a hundred times the size of who they are spending all their time and effort catering to right now. The millions of people who saw and loved Iron Man this weekend is who they need to be aiming their marketing at. Those people need to realize that comics are as cool and smart and funny and entertaining as the movies. But it will never happen if they keep being so inaccessible.

“I have lived such a wonderful life! I’ve lived enough for two people.” - Charlton Heston

Both will be missed.

Harry Knowles remembers the films behind the icon that is Heston.

My writing partners and I have been writing screenplays for about 3 years now. We’ve found moderate success. We’ve written 3 screenplays and one TV show. We’ve sold an option on a script. We’re in talks for a couple of other things. We have a great attorney, but no manager and no agent… yet. We’re not WGA… yet.

We assumed that once we sold a script, we’d be “in” and that it’d be “easy” from there on in. We were wrong.

It has been the most passionate, challenging, encouraging, pulse-pounding, smile-inducing, hand-raising, heart-racing, head-scratching, hair-pulling, wrist-slitting, higher-power-questioning, mind-numbing experience I’ve ever gone through. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

As we continue our journey, 4 things have consistently popped out in my head as the “building blocks” of a screenwriter. Without these 4 things, you will never make it in this crazy world. (It’s yet to be seen if we truly have these 4 things or not.)

1) PASSION

Trying to break into screenwriting is a long and hard road. Notice that I said just “trying” to break in is a long and hard road… not breaking in. There is no guarantee at the end of the journey. So, you better be sure that you are passionate about, not only movies, but writing. If you are not truly and deeply passionate about what you are doing, you will not sustain.

We’ve gone through a lot in our 3 short years… from bad script notes to rewrites to being replaced to falling-outs to lies & deception to long drawn out contract negotiations… The only thing that has kept us going is the fact that we LOVE writing.

I feel like I have stories within me that need to be told. I love movies. I love the power they hold. The power to entertain, to take you to worlds you never dreamed, the power to challenge, and the power of escape. To have written a screenplay is like learning a magic trick to me. I feel like I’ve been let into this world of creation, shared by Steven Spielberg, William Shakespeare, and God himself.

The first thing I want to do in the morning is write. The last thing I want to do at night is write. I want to write movies that show my girlfriend how much I love her, to teach my son a lesson, and to tell my friends how much they mean to me. It’s in me and I have to get it out or I don’t feel like I’ve lived.

Because of this, no matter what obstacle comes my way, I will be writing today, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of my life, even if it takes that long to “break in.”

2) PREPARATION

You’ve got to know what you’re doing. I think there are many people who are born talented writers. Others have to work at it. Everyone strikes that balance to some degree. No matter where you lie in the talent department, you need some education.

I have not been to school for screenwriting, so I can’t speak to that. But I have read basically everything I can get my hands on.

It’s important, first of all (of course), to get a handle on what a screenplay looks like. Learn the rules. There are any number of books out there about the how-to’s of screenwriting… or you could just pick up a script and “see how they did it.” That’s how I first learned the proper screenwriting format. Buying software such as Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter does this for you.

But secondly, you need to learn the “secrets” of screenwriting. Screenwriting is unique in a number of ways and you only realize this as you start writing.

The first step is to watch a lot of movies. The more movies you watch, the more storytelling comes naturally to you.

The 2nd step is to read a lot of scripts. What better way of learning the craft than seeing how the greats have done it before you.

The 3rd step is to read a lot of books. I’m going to recommend a couple of resources here that aren’t books, but to me are way more important.

wordplayer.com - this is the single greatest resource I’ve found anywhere on screenwriting. 48 columns written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, the screenwriting team behind Aladdin, Shrek, the Mask of Zorro, & the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. These columns opened my eyes to that “new level” of writing. Ted & Terry share some amazing inside information here from their many years in the business.

Artful Writer Forums - In a very close 2nd to wordplayer is Artful Writer, a website started by Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3&4, Superhero Movie). Part of his website features a forum with a section called “Ask A Pro.”

In this section, people have posted questions for professional writers, and each thread on there is like taking a class. The professionals posting their thoughts include John Turman (Hulk, Silver Surfer), Mike France (GoldenEye, Fantastic Four), the Wibberleys (National Treasure, the 6th Day), Jeff Lowell (Sport Night, Spin City), Tim O’Donnell (Growing Pains, Phil of the Future), Tim Talbott (South Park, the Stanford Prison Experiment), Derek Haas (3:10 to Yuma, Wanted), Ted Elliott (Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean), and Brian Koppelman (Rounders, Runaway Jury.

Go there and you can spend days getting a free education.

3) PEOPLE

The old saying, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know?” Well, it’s true. When it comes down to it, you could write the best screenplay this side of Casablanca, and if you have no one with connections to give it to, no one will ever see it.

This has been tricky for us as we’re still in Atlanta. The way we’ve gotten around it is just asking around… following every lead we can. Following up on every friend who says “hey, I’ve got a cousin who worked on this show…” No one you meet is not worth meeting. Get to know people. Don’t just take advantage of them, befriend them. No matter how low on the totem pole they are, they could be running things down the line. If you’re outside of L.A. find people in your own area who share common interests. Hollywood is a collaborative business, so collaborate.

The other way we meet people, more than any other, is through the wonders of the world wide web. Get on a forum of other filmmakers. I think you’ll be surprised by how willing some people are to help you. Find out emails of Agents, Managers, Producers, Execs, and just give it a shot. We’ve blindly emailed over 100 “business folk” and got about a 10% response rate. (That is 10% actually returned my email). Part of this is due to our having sold something before, but I believe nearly as many would respond to a quality script.

All this is moot of course if you don’t have a great product. You’re only as good as your latest script. So, make sure you have something of quality to present before you contact those directly involved. They can’t help you if you can’t help them.

4) PERSISTENCE

Writing is 90% observation, 90% persistence, and 0% math.

This screenwriting thing is a long and bumpy ride. You’ve got to be in for the long haul. And I mean really long.

Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio gave themselves 10 years to break into the business. Rossio made the observation that “anyone who worked at a job for 10 years invariably became an expert at that job.” Therefore, they would give themselves 10 years to become experts and if they didn’t break in by then… well, who knows what would’ve happened. They did it in five.

Five Years is still a long time. Remember how long High School was? Add to that Freshman in college.

If you’re not willing to give it that much time, at least, you’re probably not cut out for it.

For me, part of what keeps me going, besides my love for the craft, is having writing partners that encourage me… having parents that encourage me… a girlfriend that encourages me. It’s important to surround yourself with people who keep you going.

I have a feeling that I’ll always be writing to some degree… and I hope the Hollywood thing happens soon. It would be really hard to hang around for another 7 years with nothing to show for it, but I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Post-WWII, the film industry brought us wholesome family fare (It’s a Wonderful Life) , big-budget spectacles (Ten Commandments), and musicals (The Sound of Music).

In the 60’s an influence from European (Truffaut, Fellini) and Asian (Kurosawa) filmmakers begin infiltrating the cinemas, creating such high-grossing, “edgy” films as Bonnie & Clyde, the Graduate, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The big budget failures (Cleopatra) of the 60’s gave way to the “free-thinking” independent films of the 70’s. Starting with Easy Rider, released in 1969, becoming one of the highest grossing films eve.

The studio’s, unable to understand their audience as well as the auteur’s did, gave the power over to the filmmakers, setting the way for movies such as the Godfather, A Clockwork Orange, and Taxi Driver to be made.

However, on the heels of Jaws and Star Wars, the 80’s issued in the Blockbuster! My personal favorite era of cinema, where you could tell how good a film was by how much money it made. (E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Towards the end of the 80’s, studio’s started to take the power back away from the filmmakers, with films such as Top Gun - starting, not with a director or screenplay, but with a producer reading a magazine article and saying “this would make a good movie.”

This trend continued into the 90’s as the big budget movies took a nose dive creatively (Armageddon, Godzilla). Studio’s started banking all their money on the huge opening weekends. You could no longer judge the quality of a movie based on box office, you could only judge the hype.

In a response to this, the filmmakers turned to independent film-making and we saw the rise of Miramax, who independently produced many of the biggest, most well-received movies of the 90’s (Pulp Fiction, The English Patient).

Not to be outdone, the studio’s began imitating the Miramax model and created their own mini-studio’s (Fox Searchlight, Warner Independent) to produce small-scale films and further blurred the term “independent.”

Currently, this is where we sit - huge, big budget movies that open to record breaking weekends, but whose quality doesn’t hold up (Spiderman 3, Pirates 3). And “independent” films, produced by specialty divisions of studios, eating up all the critical response and awards. (No Country For Old Men, Juno)

So, what’s coming next?

I think you’ll see a return to “quality blockbusters.” Studio’s are realizing that “making big budget films and banking on the opening weekend box office before the audience can realize they are duds” isn’t a successful model.

And the filmmakers of today grew up on the great blockbusters of the 80’s… You’d be hard pressed to find a filmmaker under 40 who doesn’t count Steven Spielberg as an influence. I think there is a desire to recreate that magic of the Back to the Futures and the Ghostbusters.

Hopefully we’ll see studio’s return power to some of these filmmakers, which if you look at the best movies of the past few years, seems to be the best model for making great, high-quality, successful films. With the movies like Titanic, Lord of the Rings, and the Matrix being filmmaker-driven, not studio driven.