So late last month, a little known E.T. story started making the rounds. Steven Spielberg had finished 1941 and was currently on production of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Like any smart director, he was lining up his next film, E.T., and needed a writer. As luck would have it, he wanted a young writer […]

Genre: Crime/Thriller Premise: When his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician — the father of the kidnapped boy. About: This script made last year’s Black List with nine votes. A year earlier, […]

Is ‘Straight Man,’ Bob Odenkirk’s attempt to create his own Big Lebowski? Genre: Dark Comedy Premise: An aimless professor at a backwoods university creates a stir when he threatens to exterminate the local duck population if his college doesn’t get its act together and provide his department with a budget. About: This is the big […]

It is 6pm Pacific time on Sunday, May 1, as I am posting this. That means you have exactly SIX HOURS to get your first act in for my First Act Contest (11:59pm Pacific Time!). I’d love to see you enter so hurry up and finish! Okay, it looks like my review of Everything Everywhere […]

Right Now #10: James Gunn – The strange thing about this choice is that I go back and forth on Gunn. I’ve appreciated him from afar, but he’s been hit or miss for me. Guardians of the Galaxy 2, for example, was one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had in a theater in a while. […]