Question: Are we too cynical nowadays for Capra-esque movies?
Open forum question from itstartedwithawindmill:Is the modern viewing audience too cynical for Capra-esque movies? I just wrote one and wonder if I'm battling yet another windmill. The script got some interest from a producer, but I really doubt that I'll get any feedback.First off, let's look at what "Capra-esque movies" might mean. I just typed that phrase into Google and here are some of the descriptors that popped up:Old-fashionedFeel goodThrowbackKinder bygone eraSentimentalThere's als

2010 Hollywood movie release schedule (3rd quarter)
If you're serious about selling a spec script to a Hwood movie studio, you're well advised to keep up with what stories they're buying and what movies they're releasing. For the former, GITS posts every spec script and original pitch that sells as they occur. Re the latter, over the next four days, I'll post the 2010 movie release schedule, one quarter per day.

Writing Question: What are you thankful for?
In the U.S., we're celebrating Thanksgiving today. And I thought it might be interesting to hear what your thoughts are to this question:In terms of your writing and being a writer, what are you thankful for?I'll mention one thing I've noted before: That writing helps a person better understand their 'self.' By going into our stories, we're actually going into ourselves. And it's probably fair to say that much of what we imbue our characters with derives from who we are, drawing upon a lifetime of memories, experiences, feelings, thoughts, and so on. In a way, I suppose, it's like a variation of Freud's notion of projection: Whereas he lo

The Auteurs: 3 Bunuel films online for free!
I posted on the great new site The Auteurs here back in September:Not everyone can make it to the Cannes Film Festival-especially if you are a school teacher or you live in Winnipeg (or both)-but that doesn’t mean you can’t recite all of Kubrick’s films in reverse chronological order, or that you are not desperate to watch the latest Kitano film that’s definitely not going to be released in your local multiplex. Thus, this site, which believes firmly in the idea that popular doesn’t always mean good. The site’s film library is brimming with visionary films that wouldn’t fill a single

"The Definitive List of Clichéd Dialogue"
Just about a month ago, I posted this:Writer Kevin Lehane, whose script "Grabbers" made the most recent Brit List, the UK equivalent of The Black List, has a blog called The Anthology of Codology. I was bumping around it the other day and hit this post: "The Definitive List of Cliched Dialogue". The first 10:I was born ready.Are you sitting down?