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Topic:
WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: 53. "All the President's Men")
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Epicauthor
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
11/7/07 12:40pm
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The Lion in Winter" by James Goldman
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If done correctly, this play just makes you feel uncomfortable. The point is the game that the two play with each other until they really begin to hurt each other.
It's more about the weaving of the dialogue than the dialogue itself. Hepburn won the Oscar for it.
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Sauntaero
Registered:
Jul '03
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Date Posted:
11/14/07 1:13pm
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The Lion in Winter" by James Goldman
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It's more about the weaving of the dialogue than the dialogue itself.
I definitely agree. It may be awkward, but the way they pull it off is impressive. An example of the words becoming more than just words: they embody the tension, plot, relationships, and atmosphere. Perhaps if anything 'Lion in Winter' relies too heavily on the dialogue, which could get tiring. I enjoyed it, though.
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Chancellor_Ewok
Registered:
Nov '04
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Date Posted:
11/14/07 6:45pm
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The Lion in Winter" by James Goldman
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Epicauthor posted:
Love Lion in Winter. The Screenplay is essentially the play on screen and retains much of the biting humor between the cast. It take genius to make this script work and Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn do it wonderfully.
Go check out the Patrick Stewart/Glen Close TV movie. Its too bad that it wasn't picked up as a major film project. If it had, Patrck Stewart would have almost certainly won an Oscar. His performance is unbelievable.
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Epicauthor
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
11/14/07 10:20pm
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The Lion in Winter" by James Goldman
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Chancellor_Ewok posted:
Epicauthor posted:
Love Lion in Winter. The Screenplay is essentially the play on screen and retains much of the biting humor between the cast. It take genius to make this script work and Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn do it wonderfully.
Go check out the Patrick Stewart/Glen Close TV movie. Its too bad that it wasn't picked up as a major film project. If it had, Patrck Stewart would have almost certainly won an Oscar. His performance is unbelievable.
I've seen it and HATE it, probably because Glenn Close is Horribly miscast as Eleanor. Couldn't get through half of it.
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Chancellor_Ewok
Registered:
Nov '04
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Date Posted:
11/15/07 4:49am
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The Lion in Winter" by James Goldman
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Epicauthor posted:
Chancellor_Ewok posted:
Epicauthor posted:
Love Lion in Winter. The Screenplay is essentially the play on screen and retains much of the biting humor between the cast. It take genius to make this script work and Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn do it wonderfully.
Go check out the Patrick Stewart/Glen Close TV movie. Its too bad that it wasn't picked up as a major film project. If it had, Patrck Stewart would have almost certainly won an Oscar. His performance is unbelievable.
I've seen it and HATE it, probably because Glenn Close is Horribly miscast as Eleanor. Couldn't get through half of it.
No she's not. I've seen both versions and the Stewart/Close version is excellent.
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For more information about the crack spider's bitch contact the Canadian Wildlife Service in Ottawa.
I robbed the second largest bank in France using only a ballpoint pen
I killed a man with this thumb.
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Epicauthor
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
11/15/07 9:09am
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The Lion in Winter" by James Goldman
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Chancellor_Ewok posted:
Epicauthor posted:
Chancellor_Ewok posted:
[quote=Epicauthor]Love Lion in Winter. The Screenplay is essentially the play on screen and retains much of the biting humor between the cast. It take genius to make this script work and Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn do it wonderfully.
Go check out the Patrick Stewart/Glen Close TV movie. Its too bad that it wasn't picked up as a major film project. If it had, Patrck Stewart would have almost certainly won an Oscar. His performance is unbelievable.
I've seen it and HATE it, probably because Glenn Close is Horribly miscast as Eleanor. Couldn't get through half of it.
No she's not. I've seen both versions and the Stewart/Close version is excellent.[/quote]
I never got the feeling she was being crafty as Eleanor, she just stays on the screen for two hours and is Gleen Close. Eleanor needs to be crafty, she has a plan for this whole thing at the beginning and then just improvises her way through it as it changes. It's Henry who is making it up as he goes along and clearly enjoying it. The second Close got on screen I thought, "My God, she's Batty!" and it never got any better.
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Drac39
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
11/25/07 10:55am
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The Lion in Winter" by James Goldman
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THE AFRICAN QUEEN
Screenplay by James Agee and John Huston. Based on the novel by C.S. Forester
Haven't seen it
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
11/25/07 7:23pm
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The African Queen" by John Huston and James Agee
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I've read the novella, and the script follows it quite closely, except Charlie is a cockney, and since Bogart couldn't manage that, they rewrote him as a Canadian. They added more humour. The script is reprinted in the two volume "Agee on Film", but as in "The Night of the Hunter" there is some question of how much Agee wrote, since he was chronic alcoholic.
Apparently, Hepburn had trouble with Rose, until Huston told her to play her like Eleanor Roosevelt. That worked. It's a great script.
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Rogue1-and-a-half
Title: Manager: Amphitheatre
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
12/5/07 11:41am
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The African Queen" by John Huston and James Agee
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The dialogue is great; it's a bit long.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
12/26/07 6:49pm
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: "The African Queen" by John Huston and James Agee
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69. DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975)
Screenplay by Frank Pierson. Based on a magazine article by P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore.
A great screenplay, enlivened by terrific performances.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
1/10 10:00pm
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: 69. "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975)
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68. "Star Wars" (1977) written by George Lucas.
This is a very curious inclusion. Lucas is nobody's idea of a good scriptwriter. He developed the story, and was smart enough to start it in the middle to preserve the major plot twist. But his idea of dialogue is pretty lame. When his story sense meets a couple of good scriptwriters, as in ESB, karma results. When it doesn't, as in the PT, the movies are very uneven. Lucas' talents are for action, and for the *look* of a fantasy world; he doesn't deal with emotions well.
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Rogue1-and-a-half
Title: Manager: Amphitheatre
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
1/11 10:11am
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: 68. "Star Wars" by George Lucas
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This one has surprisingly good dialogue, with a few clunkers thrown in.
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wild_karrde
Registered:
Oct '99
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Date Posted:
1/11 11:11am
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: 68. "Star Wars" by George Lucas
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Star Wars? Never heard of it.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
1/21 9:33pm
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: 68. "Star Wars" by George Lucas
- Date Edited:
1/21 9:35pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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67. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
Written by Melissa Mathison
This is indeed a very good screenplay, balancing angst and humour and action.
She also wrote "The Black Stallion" (1979).
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
1/22 12:21am
Subject:
RE: WGA 101 Best Screenplays (Now Discussing: 67. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL)
- Date Edited:
1/22 12:43am (7 edits total)
Edited By:
JohnWesleyDowney
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It's a superb script, and the subtext of the divorce is well-handled. I always thought the final farewell scene in the forest was a model of economic screenwriting:
GERTIE: I just wanted to say goodbye.
E.T.: Be good.
GERTIE: I will.
Gertie steps away, teen Michael steps up.
E.T.: Thank you.
MICHAEL: You're welcome.
Michael briefly strokes ET on the head and ET allows this. Michael
stands back and Elliot steps to the forefront and faces ET.
E.T.: Come.
ELLIOT: Stay.
E.T.: Ouch.
They hug and tears roll down Elliot's face. He stands up straight and ET points his lighted, healing finger to the center of Elliot's forehead - his "spiritual" third eye for those of you interested in metaphysical concepts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_eye
and says:
E.T.: I'll be right here.
ELLIOT: Goodbye.
E.T. picks up his flowers and waddles back to the spaceship which ascends to the night sky.
JOHN WILLIAM'S MUSIC PLAYS TO THE END.
FADE TO BLACK.
This scene made such an impact on me, I wrote this from memory and I suspect I'm not far off the mark. A mere 22 words of dialogue, but the context and the emotional impact packs a punch.
At one screening I went to, I saw a very tough-looking U.S. Marine with a buzz haircut sob like a baby during this scene. Amazing.
One more wonderful thing about the script...they chose the perfect name for E.T.'s earth friend...ELLIOT. It begins with an "E" and it ends with a "T."
I cannot stress enough that people interested in this film watch the extra features where
Spielberg talks about how the impetus for the film was the emptiness he felt as a child after his parent's divorce and how he longed for a friend to fill the void of his father's absence. Spielberg's voice cracks with emotion.
And if you've never seen Henry Thomas's audition tape for his role as Elliot, it's extremely easy to why he won the role. It's beyond awesome. It's as memorable as the film itself.
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