Appearing in the next Spiderman? I know this isn’t exactly script news, but it’s so earth-shattering and has such a profound effect on the industry, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t report it. Is this April 1st?? (checking…….no it isn’t) — Uhhhh, is this possible? Disney just bought Marvel Entertainment for 4 [...]
It’s Monday so it must be time for another Roger review. Today he jumps in his time machine and tackles a screenplay from the past, which, ironically, is set in the future. Bringing it full circle, I’m writing this from the present. But speaking of the future, the rest of the week should be fun [...]
Genre: ThrillerPremise: A U.S. Marshall must go to a maximum security psychiatric ward located on an island to find a missing patient.About: They’re baaaaaaaaaaaack. Moviemaking BFFs Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are back at it again with this surprisingly conventional thriller. In addition to DiCaprio, the film also stars one of my favorite actors, Mark [...]
Genre: DramedyPremise: Semi-autobiographical look at a man who finds out he has cancer. Coping with his mortality, he decides to use humor in his struggle to cure cancer and keep his sanity intact.About: Just last week, Seth Rogen announced this will be his next project. Mandate pictures and Seth himself will be producing (along with [...]
Genre: ThrillerPremise: A man wakes up from a four day coma to realize his wife no longer knows who he is and his identity may have been erased.About: Based on the 2003 novel “Out Of My Head” by French author Didier Van Cauwelaert, this Dark Castle Thriller went from the treadmill to the production mill [...]
I thought I’d never live to see the day. Mark the date my friends. Monday, August 24th. Roger B. gives a negative review. It’s too bad the script wasn’t any good. I have to admit, however, Roger’s pretty entertaining when he’s negative. Genre: Prophetic horror, ActionPremise: After a terrifying Biblical apocalypse descends upon the world, [...]
The blog End Of Show is reporting that The Social Experiment, written by Aaron Sorkin, is officially a Go picture. You may remember from my review of the script how much I liked it (it now stands as #10 on my Top 25). Because, up until that point, the idea of a Facebook movie was [...]
Genre: Drama (Independent)Premise: A high school teacher deals with the death of his daughter in his own unique way.About: This received one teensy tiny vote on the 2005 Black List, the first year the list was released. On that year Juno was the number two script on the list and Lars And The Real Girl [...]
Since I’ve had to deal with a barrage of e-mails begging me for the Black Swan script (note to those looking for script: There are no pictures), I almost forgot that I did a guest review over on LatinoReview for the comedy Ed Helms just signed onto, “Central Intelligence.” You may wonder how I have [...]
Genre: Psychological (Supernatural?) ThrillerPremise: A ballerina competes against a rival dancer who may or may not be another version of herself.About: Black Swan will star drool-worthy starlets Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis and is being helmed by visionary director Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky originally tried to set up the project in 2007 but Universal put it [...]
Two pieces of screenwriting news today. Alex over at Firstshowing.net has a couple of pictures from the set of “Buried”, one of my 5 favorite screenplays of the year. If you remember, I did a little review of the script not too long ago. I think the set pictures look great and wow, I realized [...]
Okay, so Intense Debate sucked. For whatever reason, it didn’t work on the most popular browser in the world. And when comments just started disappearing on Bubba Ho-Tep, that was the last straw for me. So out with the old, in with the new. On to the next service! I’m not going to give Disqus [...]
Genre: Action/Comedy/RomancePremise: A conservative woman goes on a blind date only to get wrapped up in a game of international espionage.About: To be directed by James Mangold (Walk The Line), this picture will star Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise. Originally written by Dana Fox, it was then rewritten by Patrick O’Neill, and finally, in this [...]
Guess who’s back? Back again. Guess who’s back. Tell a friend! It’s Roger Balfour capitalizing on all the vampire mania with a review of Bubba Ho-Tep’s sequel: Hubba Bubba Something’s In The Tubba! Or something like that. I like when Roger reviews scripts because he always sees the best in them. It’s a reminder that [...]
Ever since I saw Neill Blomkamp’s short masterpiece, “Alive In Joburg,” I became obsessed with him. I googled the shit out of everything that even remotely sounded like “Blomkamp” and when I found out he was doing the Halo movie, it was a bit like I imagine heroin must feel like. Or your first Krispy [...]
A lot of people have asked me what screenwriting books I recommend. I’ve read about 30 of them and these are the five I like the most (all books are linked): For the beginner: After you’ve written a few screenplays: Advanced (written 5 or 6 screenplays): Once you’re ready for the market (business side of [...]
Although nobody called for my head, there were definitely some heads being scratched after my extremely favorable review of Law-Abiding Citizen. I thought the script was one rip-roaring thriller that never slowed down and always kept you guessing. I loved it enough to put it in my Top 25. Well the trailer has finally hit [...]
Genre: ComedyPremise: Recent college grads are forced to lower their expectations as they enter the job market.About: CBS Films picked up Get a Job last month. Writing duo Pennekamp and Turpel recently penned the drama “Crowley,” (Harrison Ford, Keri Russell) which is shooting right now, as well as having numerous projects in development. The two [...]
In case you’re interested, I did a guest review for the guys at LatinoReview. The script is “Machete” by Robert Rodriquez. “Machete” was born out of a fake trailer Rodriquez made to play in front of “Grindhouse.” It was so widely loved, he decided to make an entire movie out of it. Robert DeNiro and [...]
Genre: Period RomancePremise: Set (I think) in early 20th Century Paris, a penniless journalist worms his way into the city’s upper crust, seducing all the ladies in his path.About: Robert Pattinson is in it. What more do you need to know?Writer: Rachel Bennette (based off the short story by Guy de Maupassant) Would you trust [...]
