What type of movie do you want to go and see; a dull one or a great one? While the question may appear a little (or a lot) on the brainless side, it’s a standard more screenplay writers need to apply.

Often they have a great idea, but really only fifty pages of real story. The other 40+ pages are just filler. The words amble along without any real purpose other than to get to the better part of the story. Those 40+ pages give the human race something to moan about. We all like to complain about something. Why chance them talking ‘down’ your 40+ pages when you have 50 great pages?

Now if you’d given them 90 pages of great story they could only talk you ‘up’.

When you want to go out on a hot date, you don’t wear your twenty year old t-shirt with food stains down the front. You prepare, you dress up, you groom. It’s the same for your screenplay.

• Prepare properly; be organised
• Dress up each word until it’s the best
• Groom your presentation to perfection

How often have you watched a film where it has such highs and lows you only remember the highs and there weren’t enough of them. You can’t really say what happened during the lows, but you do know they went on for a long time, far too long. Sometimes a movie has three great special effects or car chases, but happened in between?

Having a few ideas for a script gets you on the road to the average script. It’s only when you can maintain that flow throughout the whole 90+ pages that you’ll know you’re on to a winner.

If you don’t know by now the hot script comes from the re-writes, not your first draft. There might be several re-writes before you send it off to your friends and family, on spec to a producer or to your agent.

It’s during those re-writes that the professional screenplay writer will ‘out’ every word that doesn’t fit, every word that doesn’t move the story along to the next scene. They’ll not be prepared to accept anything that doesn’t keep the reader hooked and wanting to read each part of every page.

The reader will give up reading your average script by page ten, if you’re lucky they got that far.

To get yourself from the average screenplay to the hot one:

• What words can you take out?
• What makes the writing sharper?
• What dull writing can you exclude?
• What new scenes can you insert to up the tempo?
• What action have you over-written?
• Which characters change their personality too much?
• Have you cut out all the ‘thes’ and ‘thats’ as you can?
• How can you get more white space on the page?

They’re just a few of the key stages to go through to help you go from ‘average’ to ‘hot’.

When you need help with getting your screenplay ready to show to a reader, producer, studio or agent, check out our screenplay analysis services first.

Go re-write now.

All screenplay writers should know to write too many scenes as the director is always going to want to cut a few scenes (to prove control), although they’ll film everything if the producer holding the money isn’t close by.

Sometimes scenes are requested to be altered. There’s a story about a graphic explosion of a 747 in the show, 24. It was changed considerably because of the likeness and closeness of the 9/11 (murder) incident.

Most, but not all, movies are shown to test audiences before they get released to the general public. The audience is then asked for detailed views about what they’ve seen. I have to add here that I wonder how some movies got through the test screening process and were released as they are and how many producers ignored the viewer’s suggestions for changes to the movie when they should have listened.

This can lead to scenes being deleted for varying reasons. Perhaps the movie was too long. Maybe a character was introduced that didn’t need to be; their introduction possibly confused the audience and it was seen that by removing the character the film flows better.

The running time of a movie is an important point. If it’s a kid’s movie, then apart form Harry Potter where you have to keep the kids sat still for around five hours, most kid’s movies are shorter than most regular movies. This is, however, changing as more animated movies hit the two hour plus mark. Some movies like Mamma Mia! could have easily lasted another hour, but I guess we’ve all sat in a movie and wondered why they didn’t cut out a good half hour to help keep us awake.

Marketing will tell us how long a movie should be; marketing experts are always right – you ask them.

When we get to see deleted scenes on a DVD release, they can often be without correct colour adaptation, sync audio and timing. This is because they were considered for the delete pile before they completed the final processing of the movie.

Some scenes get cut in length. Often a scene goes on too long at the director’s request. They can then decide later to cut down to the part that matters.

Next there are alternate endings. How often a typical Hollywood movie has that sugary tasting ending when even after blowing up the whole world people still get to hug and kiss and make up. Alternate ending sometimes show us the ending the director really wanted. Perhaps more directors should fight for the ending that’s best merited rather than listen to marketing studios who insist that we have the nice sit down and a pleasant cup of tea finish.

On balance, most deleted scenes are cut for valid reasons. Which scenes should have stayed and not just been filmed for the DVD extra’s part of the package?

The Everyman Cinema Club, an eight theatre business serves wasbi peas, olives and Italian bread. We understand the wine list is quite up-market.

For those who loathe the smell of popcorn, at least they have the opportunity to watch movies without thinking about throwing up at vital moments.

Others will say it’s an institution that cannot end, like the monarchy; surely it’s treason to even consider it. No longer it appears.

We all know (or you will now having read this) that movie houses don’t make money from selling tickets and seats to you. They make it from the amount of junk food they can get you to consume. Where else would you pay that much for a Coke or a Pepsi and not want to call in the consumer protection office to get those people to explain how they can charge enough for just one drink that could buy you a crate full at your local supermarket? The boxes and bags cost more to produce than the popcorn in them.

Could it be the noise of rustling containers and the crunching of that imitation food that haunts cinema goers or is it still those challenged people who not only keep their cell phone on, but take the calls?

Oh for the days when there was a break between films and you had to queue at the front to buy the only item on offer; a nice quiet ice cream in a tub.

Perhaps it’s the cinemas that are to blame for culture’s current obesity? Where else can you be guaranteed more salt and sugar necessary for ten weeks, than in a ninety minute feast of popcorn and cola?

For the informed: Popcorn is a two billion dollar industry with most of it made/grown in Nebraska and Indiana. To save some comments, unflavoured popcorn is high in fibre, low in calories, salt-free and sugar-free.

Personally I like both Pepsi and Coca Cola, but I see the evidence sat on my stomach.

‘I didn’t know what was happening so I fell asleep.’ Well not me, but one of my companions on this fun filled visit to the local movie theatre. Actually two of them fell asleep, so that’s 50% of our team. They didn’t miss all of the film, but probably a third of it, so the ending might have rejuvenated them or perhaps it was just the thought of the film ending and home time being just around the corner. They may have been tired; it might have been the movie.

WALL-E has some interesting surprises; it’s probably not the film you expected it to be. When you see it listed as a child’s film you think it’s going to be full of tempo, fun, jokes and excitement. WALL-E is not that movie. WALL-E is a computer animated adventure and science fiction film.

Firstly, it’s a Walt Disney film so you know the standard must be high. It’s also a PIxar movie, so you now expect brilliance and you get it, but in the quality of the film making, not necessarily in the expected ways of entertainment and fun.

It takes us through a romance between two robots from the future. Instead of dialogue, we get the robot’s sounds and body language.

WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth-Class) meets EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator.) EVE is trying to find life on earth. WALL-E has found life on earth after 700 years. The humans in space have been waiting to go back to their earth, but are now all television watching cabbage potatoes losing bone structure, but having gained body mass from what looks like 30+ meals a week at their local greasy fast food eatery.

Sigourney Weaver is one of the voices used and I can’t help but wonder why these types of movies need such expensive (no offence Ms Weaver) big name stars to ‘talk’ for the animated characters when they don’t need to appear on the film, in person. I’m told because they are the world’s elite actors they give the world’s best performances required by the animators. I can’t help that think that many skilled actors could have done the task for many millions less, but that won’t make the theatre ticket price any less. I don’t believe we go to the cinema to hear our stars when we visit an animated feature.

The movie isn’t thrilling; it is enjoyable as it sends out two clear messages of love between two people (well here, it’s two robots) and the message that if we don’t take care of the planet we’ll lose what we have and need to live in a spaceship somewhere orbiting a long way, away waiting for the earth to restore itself without our help.

It’s the only film I’ve ever seen that features a loyal cockroach. This animal made it though the dirt and grime of the human race. That shouldn’t have been a surprise. Perhaps we all learn something. I’ve learnt that the message will have been lost on too many of its audience; it’s too clever at getting the message across. Most of the audience where I saw this movie was aged between five and ten years old. I hope the message was at least subliminal, but I’m not convinced. I’m looking forward to Ice Age 3.

The Happening has a very important message, about acting now to save our planet before we destroy it, but it waits until the last few minutes to get this across. Unfortunately, by then we’re so uninterested that we almost think ‘sod the planet, let’s go home.’ If we’d got the message earlier, we wouldn’t be wondering what might happen at the end of the film. Nothing did happen, in the event, of any interest. Instead of making us actually think about our planet we really couldn’t care less at that moment.

The Happening is a 2008 American apocalyptic film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Mark Wahlberg (who was terrific in The Departed) and Zooey Deschanel. People become disoriented, then stop moving, and finally find the quickest way to kill themselves. The pandemic starts in parks, and rapidly spreads to nearby population centers. It is at first thought to be a bioterrorist attack, but this is ruled out as the events increase in regularity.

Following the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, I thought that a M. Night Shyamalan movie would be good to see. I wasn’t keen on Signs, but mostly his films are completely entertaining. He’s noted for his twists and turns, but in The Happening, it didn’t happen.

In fact, not a lot happened. All screenplay writers are taught to consider the main three acts of a film (even if they mess around with them a little or a lot). The opening act lays out the ground plan of who we’re going to be watching and why; the second act takes us through the various stages of conflict and partial resolution and the third act wraps up all of the plots and sub plots and leaves us with the ending that works. We were offered the typical Hollywood nice ending here, but even that appeared to be out of touch with the rest of the movie. It didn’t gel.

Unfortunately, this movie just about managed act one, act two didn’t take us anywhere; it was just same, same and more same. Act three almost didn’t occur. There wasn’t a resolution because the film’s message couldn’t allow one. I can see what the director was trying to get across, that act three might not happen if we don’t all take action and save our planet now, but did this movie push us in to action? No.

Perhaps his message was best left to a documentary that might have proved interesting. Perhaps if he’d told us the message at the start of the movie we might have understood why we weren’t going to get an ending and didn’t need to spend an hour wondering what it might be.

When you left the great 5 star movie ‘The Accused’ you knew, and more importantly, men knew, that rape was not acceptable in any society on this planet. You thought about it, you talked about it. The Accused had ‘shown’ us exactly what it’s like and why it must not take place. After the Happening there was nothing but the feeling of having been bored for over an hour and wondering how quickly we could get out of the drive in and what we were going to have for dinner.

To go or not to go and see it, that is the question?

I’ve not been a Will Smith fan recently. His last few movies have all been about him as the film’s star and the script/movie doesn’t really matter. I Am Legend was one of the worst movies I’ve seen in recent years with plot holes, poor script and was just plain uninteresting. I couldn’t wait for it to end despite the contrived action that was almost embarrassing. It ticked every box in the Hollywood list of what has to happen in a Hollywood movie, including the very poor ending, obvious to all and his cat. I wondered how this movie ever came to pass, but then the guy is a major star and it appears that even if the movie sucks, people will go and see it for the star. Wild Wild West and Hitch didn’t get there for me, although Men in Black (especially Men In Black 2) always restores my trust when I watch it each year.

I didn’t see The Pursuit of Happyness as the trailer told me that it was so much a star man film again that I missed the opportunity of a lifetime, so I’m told. It didn’t do it for me.

Do I give him a chance to redeem himself? Based upon the trailer it looks like another movie staring him and nothing else matters. That’s rather sad because he was a great actor and has appeared in many good films.

Now here’s the dilemma. Charlize Theron is also staring in the film. She only appears in good quality movies and she often chooses subjects that appear a strange choice before you see the movie and then afterwards you can’t help but think that she always manages to get us all into something a little different, with Monster being the recent stand out, but I enjoyed Aeon Flux and the Italian Job (which could never be quite as good as the original). So the movie must have something going for it.

The on screen effects look good (for big screens, not 5 inch portables) and if there are more of them than Will Smith showing us how great he is then there’s chance I’ll be satisfied. Any movie that incorporates a T.Rex’s 20th Century Boy music groove deserves a chance.

It’s unfortunate when you read and hear so many reviews of a film before you see it and gain a dissatisfied opinion before even reaching the drive-in. However, I do prefer my own opinion and the chance to view the delivery with my own my eyes. So I paid my dollars and settled in to at least give it a chance that so many appeared to failed to have done, looking around the half empty location.

My good lady and I exchanged a few ‘well it appears okay to me’ views during the initial fifteen minutes, so it looked like we were set to stay. Others had different ideas and unless it wasn’t other ideas taking people home, several cars left before the end so they’ll never know what happened, unless of course, they guessed, which was perfectly easy. There was just the one twist which almost twisted back, but stayed where it was. Otherwise, it was pretty much as we’d expected from an Indy film.

For those not in the know: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a new adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. Now there are two names to ensure people park their rears in the cinema. Set in 1957, the fourth film in the Indiana Jones film series pits an older Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) in opposition to the KGB of the Soviet Union, led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), in the search for a crystal skull. Indy is helped by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the greaser “Mutt” Williams (Shia LaBeouf), and fellow adventurer Mac (Ray Winstone). John Hurt and Jim Broadbent also play fellow academics.

Harrison Ford plays the role just as we’d all expect, no more, no less; a highly competent delivery. A few jokes, but not so many about his age as other reviewers had stated. Those same reviewers also reflected upon Cate Blanchett’s performance, but I thought she again played it exactly as expected; if she’d been in an older Bond film, people would have said the girl had prepared and played it well.

A special word for Ray Winstone; he’s reached the select category now that if he’s in a film, you must get to see it, it’ll probably be good. Here he continues his fine acting performances with yet another on target role, most suited for him.

Here’s the rub; the film is okay, just okay. The action scenes don’t have you out of your seat. The long intervals between action scenes (commonly known as the dialogue that links one set of action to the next) are too long and leave you waiting. The script is okay, but the story lacks any real bite, but that’s okay; it’s an Indy film and we know what to expect.

If they make a Lethal Weapon 5, I won’t bother after almost falling asleep through 4, but if the Indy team go for number 5, I’ll give it a try, but it might be my last one.

It lacks the punch of the first three and maybe they’ve made one too many.

The update is here

When a book isn’t a film.

Bringing The House Down was a fascinating book from the pen of Ben Mezrich. It takes you through a four year period where a University professor builds a team of brilliant card counters who developed a system to win millions of dollars from top casinos. To those in the know, it’s advanced card counting. I didn’t know what that was before reading the book and I still couldn’t achieve it, at real life speed, so I won’t be getting my millions that way. The book mixes real life with fiction to create a thrilling read.

Now it’s a movie and it’s had a complete makeover. The film has a different name ‘21’, which refers to the target figures they’re after at the card table. Then there’s the story – it’s different in so many ways from the book, but at least the original writer is involved with the script along with two others, Peter Steinfield and Allan Loeb. Here’s the rub; why do we always expect the film to be exactly like the book?

Firstly, the book will take you between 4-12 straight hours to read; the movie can only last 90 to 120 minutes, so substantial cutting is essential. Secondly, some scenes that work well in books can’t work in films and vice versa. Third; you’ve already placed your version of the film in your mind after you’ve read the book so whatever the cast, crew and marketing do with the film, it won’t be the movie you expect. Accept that and move on.

21 is a good film, it’s highly entertaining and they make it quite believable. People behind me in the cinema were trying to count the cards on the screen.

You go with the flow and you hope they do get the money, but there’s always going to be an ‘oh-oh’ moment and that’s when the team fall out with their professor. Of course they would; he doesn’t do any of the work. So he double crosses his students and they double cross him. Who will win?

It’s always handy to put giant star Rihanna’s current hit in the film (which also begs the question which comes first?) and a massive Rolling Stones number, but the overall effect is a good quality movie, never boring; it maybe changes real life scenarios at the card tables to match the actors’ on screen needs, but it’s guaranteed to entertain – and that’s why we go to the cinema, isn’t it?

4 stars****

It’s not very often that a comedy film actually has you laughing, laughing consistently throughout the film and has you laughing out loud. This was does.

This Universal Pictures comedy film directed by Nicholas Stoller was written expertly by Jason Segel. The film stars Segel, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand and Mila Kunis.

Yes, it is an adult film, or at least I hope it is. I know today’s young teenagers think they’re adults and often believe that as well, but I hope that they take time to grow up properly, like older children should and then see films like this after they’re at least sixteen.

I’m not sure how worldly wise the audience were that I saw this film with, but there was a considerable gasp when the lead actor’s privates were on show. Moments later they appeared again followed by similar gasps from behind me. Seconds later they’re here again and this time my new found gasping friends were obviously getting use to what they were seeing. Personally, I didn’t think it was necessary to show these privates three times in such short repetitions, but it made them laugh in the chairs behind me and hopefully they were laughing at the joke. I suppose it’s only fair that we see so many women naked in films, that it’s only reasonable that the guys get to take a turn. However, the film wouldn’t have been worse for cutting those unnecessary clips. We got the gag without the bits on show.

The jokes were quite adult and I expect those eleven year olds who snuck into the cinema somehow would have been wondering at some of them. They were often crude, about the subject that we most laugh at and were unswerving in their ability to bring the whole audience to full belly laughs, not just sniggers.

An excellent day at the office for all; I haven’t laughed so much in this manner since Airplane and that’s a longtime ago. So often the trailer has all the laughs in it and the rest of the 93 minutes is just waiting for those now unfunny moments.

One reason why this film scores so high is its ability to be watched again. I’m sure, like Airplane that you only get to see some of the jokes on the second or third viewing. I can’t wait.