Ah! at 2011-10-19 20:06:18:
Lost in Translation for romantic comedy category?
L. Fernando at 2011-10-19 20:34:45:
I vote for Eternal Sunshine. One of my favorite movies, and a script I'd love to read.
Teddy Pasternak at 2011-10-19 20:35:38:
Panic Room for Contained Thriller. It's a really fun, fast read and David Koepp got paid $4M for the script. It's not on myPDFscripts but it's available elsewhere as a PDF. Perhaps you can ask Sheridan to host it.
Joe at 2011-10-19 21:21:10:
I'm not a frequent participant on these (though I love reading others' thoughts), so definitely feel free to overrule me. But I'm not sure Zombieland is such a good choice for analysis. The success of that film -- commercially or creatively -- doesn't have a whole lot to do with screenwriting. Take away Bill Murray and the zeitgeist-y title and what do you really have? Drag Me To Hell might be a better example of "how-it's-done" w/r/t to screenwriting. It works so well, I think, because it's not only a fun horror comedy but a clever (and timely) moral fable.
Teddy Pasternak at 2011-10-19 21:43:26:
Oh, good choice with Drag Me To Hell. I forgot about that one. That was a really clever script. Yes.
Saint at 2011-10-19 23:24:59:
Romantic Comedy - Lost in Translation. Horror Comedy - Zombieland Contained Thriller - City of Ember (or The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) You almost have yourself Bill Murray Month.
Ah! at 2011-10-19 23:34:57:
hahaha
Scott at 2011-10-20 00:14:44:
Is Drag Me To Hell available anywhere or on myPDFscripts.com?
Teddy Pasternak at 2011-10-20 01:43:34:
Not on myPDFscripts, but I'll email you the links.
magic_melinda at 2011-10-20 02:44:15:
While I like the idea of reading Lost in Translation at some point, it doesn't really fit the bill as a romantic comedy, does it? If we're really looking at this category, I think the film should be one with the classic elements. Maybe When Harry Met Sally? Sleepless in Seattle? It's Complicated?
Joe at 2011-10-20 05:11:26:
The script that's widely available online (e.g. at IMSDb) seems fairly different than what must have been the final shooting script. So I don't know if that draft it's "close enough" to analyze. But if someone can locate a better, more final draft, I think Drag Me To Hell would be a great example of horror comedy. I don't enjoy most modern horror movies, but I definitely enjoyed DMTH. And I realized it was probably because of how well constructed it was. Instead of just being a slash 'em up with some funny quips, DMTH is grounded in real human dilemmas -- what you're willing to do to get that promotion, impress your in-laws, get back at your annoying co-worker.
Debbie Moon at 2011-10-20 07:52:02:
Eternal Sunshine for Charlie Kaufman week. For me, it's the one movie of his (so far) that's clever AND emotional, sympathetic, human. His other scripts are brilliant, but they don't engage you emotionally. Contained thriller: Buried is a terrific read. Rom-com isn't my thing, so I won't venture an opinion... Horror-comedy: Shaun Of The Dead, if available
tracinell at 2011-10-20 09:33:52:
I agree about the selections Melinda suggested. Maybe even old school selections -- Some Like it Hot, His Girl Friday? Can't find Bringing Up Baby on mypdfscripts...
Atlanta at 2011-10-20 09:37:32:
Buried, Drag Me to Hell, Eternal Sunshine, and how about Shakespeare in Love for romantic comedy.
Dave at 2011-10-20 10:07:16:
Lost in Translation would be interesting to discuss in how it subverts certain ROMCOM expectations, but perhaps it'd be better to do something more straight-forward as Melinda and Atlanta suggest. Maybe Wedding Crashers.
jwebb66 at 2011-10-20 12:21:55:
American Werewolf in London would be a good horror comedy, and I think freely available on pdf scripts. would love to do any of the main Kaufman ones!
Scott at 2011-10-20 12:35:52:
Good call, I had forgotten American Werewolf in London. And at one point, we were being considered to write the sequel. My mind is like a sieve! Is the script a myPDFscripts.com?
Saint at 2011-10-20 13:07:10:
Wedding Crashers is a bromantic comedy. Which is another good subgenre.
Nate Winslow at 2011-10-20 13:38:30:
Nothing against Chris Sparling--he's managed to sell the same movie three times in less than three years, so kudos to him and his agent--but anything but Buried. I'd say that Buried and the explosion of uber-contained thrillers over the past two years that have hit as specs (Devil, ATM, Down) are pushing "contained thrillers" to the point of easily advertised gimmicks. If we're getting down to the level where our character is stuck in a box and literally can't move, I feel like that deserves a different name altogether. Confined thriller? But there are some fantastic movies that are contained thrillers out there. Love Panic Room, and like Teddy said, David Koepp made a fortune selling that one. How about some of the classics? Rear Window? Lifeboat? Misery? The original Assault on Precinct 13? I'd love to read one of the classic romantic comedies for this, but I feel like the difference in the way scripts were written in the 40s and 50s is so dramatically different than the way spec scripts have to be written today that it might defeat the purpose of this particular exercise. That being said, you can never read The Princess Bride's script enough times.
Teddy Pasternak at 2011-10-20 14:39:39:
I agree with you regarding Buried. It's a clever concept, but I don't see the potential of learning much from it. I did read it a while back before I saw the movie and I admit it was "interesting" but not more than that. Maybe something with a bit broader appeal would be better.
Scott at 2011-10-20 15:00:52:
So we seem to be zeroing in on some possibilities: Horror Comedy: Drag Me To Hell Contained Thriller: Not Buried, perhaps a classic script like Rear Window? Charlie Kaufman: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Romantic Comedy: No consensus, but Shakespeare in Love is absolute cracker of a script. I mean we're talking about a screenplay co-written by Tom Stoppard, one of the greatest wordsmiths and Shakespeare scholars in the world. Still open for suggestions, or if people like the these four, let me know.
Teddy Pasternak at 2011-10-20 15:29:35:
My final four: Shakespeare In Love Drag Me To Hell Panic Room Eternal Sunshine
Jeffrey at 2011-10-20 15:48:48:
Nice to see "Drag Me to Hell" get some love. Probably my favorite horror offering of the past decade. Deceptively simple - - horror done well is when it has compelling characters and actually has something to say. I know I'll be terribly in the minority here but "Synecdoche, New York" would be my first choice of a Kaufman script to analyze, if only because there are so many remarkable layers and shades to that thing... it's bombastically original and that alone makes it something to be championed and cherished. But I know it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way... the curse of being 'bombastically original' I guess!
tracinell at 2011-10-20 17:26:55:
Teddy's final four look good to me.
Debbie Moon at 2011-10-20 18:11:02:
“Synecdoche, New York” was an amazing film, and admittedly I haven't read the script, but I do find myself thinking: because it's so unusual, what lessons could I learn from analysing it that I could apply to my own work? I'm not saying we have to stick to by-the-numbers scripts, far from it, but... Interested to hear what other people think about that...?
Jeffrey at 2011-10-20 18:37:12:
Debbie, I'd have to say that one might not want to write an entire CATALOGUE of "Synecdoche" style scripts but, y'know, it's nice to cut loose every now and then. Case in point... I wrote a really vicious satire on the Iraq war during its first months. I literally tried to bring a "Holy Grail," "Life of Brian" type thing to current events. It was a total gas to write... ...and ultimately un-marketable in almost every way imaginable. The entire venture was simply too out of control. (It would have needed a massive budget... the final product would have called for a massive Bruckheimer/Joel Silver sized bankroll). So I showed it to a few friends and politely put it to bed. Flash forward to today... I recently had a huge brainstorm on that particular project, one that would potentially make it a tad more sale-able and make it, ultimately, a better script. So the lesson to be learned from "Synecdoche" would be to not let the "market" ALWAYS dictate your whims and desires. We're WRITERS and we should certainly allow ourselves, once in a while, to indulge our every creative whim. Plus you never know what good things might come out of an exercise like that. Afterwards, once we get that out of our system, we go and write the next big teen vampire romance. Because I'm against starvation as much as the next guy!
Atlanta at 2011-10-20 20:32:54:
I'z down with those.
jwebb66 at 2011-10-21 06:32:47:
Hi, nope - can't see it. Never mind, Drag Me To Hell v good too!
Sam at 2011-10-21 11:40:58:
My 2 pence worth - a little late in the day! Eternal Sunshine for the Kaufman choice; Horror Comedy - Shaun of the Dead if available - I know there's a version on Drew's Script-o-rama but not as pdf. Contained thriller - Dead Calm (if could find it) or Phone Booth Romcom - What Women Want or When Harry Met Sally