Hollywood Film Theory

Screenplay consultant.

Jobs: Studio reader, development executive, research analyst on feature film projects.

Fascinated by how great movies operate

[matt bernstein @mattxiv]

with 12 days until the midterm elections, the entire republican party has coalesced around attacking a woman for having been raped by her stepfather when she was twelve

[Erik Torenberg @eriktorenberg]

Ari Emmanuel’s book is excellent

[Sci-Fi Archives @SciFiArchives]

The Empire Strikes back artwork by the legendary Japanese illustrator Noriyoshi Ohrai

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@shortnsevered why? you were entertained and its not a documentary meant to prove anything specific. it barely covers Holmes' crimes. Billy is not accused of anything.

You were literally hating on him for your own entertainment like he's a reality TV villain. He's entitled to compensation.

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@StatisticUrban This is standard for returning members of congress and senators.

Its also usually part of their negotiation before they run (assuming the party is trying to recruit them).

[FrothyCapSteadySlap @TennesseeChris]

GEN X HAD TO SMOKE OUT OF SODA CANS WITH SCREENS FROM A SINK FAUCET AND THEN BLOW IT INTO A TOILET PAPER ROLL FILLED WITH DRYER SHEETS SO GEN Z COULD HIT A WEED PEN AT TARGET

[charlie soprano @LittleCharlesTV]

@CindyBegel Have you seen the insane documentary about their writers room? Worth watching: https://t.co/zcyB5bZ1Ko

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@peterawolf Hairspray and A Civil Action.

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@TheInSneider Gonna do my last repeating of this. Choosing Amy Pascal to produce was their way to land Tom Holland. May not end up that way but sounds like they get camera tests out of the way plus casting progress if he doesn't want it. and its easier to negotiate with backups.

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@bdquinn $1 mil in texas buys ads on TV for a week in one market--that even people in that market may not see or be swayed by.

The time to spend a few million there was several months ago in building campaign infrastructure. But race wasn't seen as winnable then.

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@CinemaTweets1 Adjusted for inflation, this movie sold about $800 million in tickets.

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@it_was_babylon This discussion is useless. pretty much all incumbents win re-election. They raise big $, create relationships, shitty opponents happen, and a good year saves marginal cases.

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@CentristAllWay @Onmyrail1 14% of Michigan residents are black. 2% are Arab American. 2% are Jewish.

Arab Americans were already overwhelmingly D. So he picks up what, 0.2% of overall vote with them?

The hope is 1) big wave 2) picks up some white rural Trump/Sanders voters.

[Zack Stentz @MuseZack]

My extreme minority opinion is that I like the Aykroyd parts of Ghostbusters that are kind of a straight occult adventure much more than the Bill Murray cool guy smirking that made the film such a huge hit.

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@comradejosh7 The American election is going to massively change algorithms over next 2 weeks. Been happening already.

Elon already put $300 million in to help Republicans. There is no legal reason he can't have the algos changed to help them also. (I dont know why he wouldn't).

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

really good explanation of your reaction. AS strikes me as mostly natural. Maybe that's the performance.

This is a big studio movie. Unless the filmmakers go out of their way to proclaim its all real, it leaves it up to discussion.

This is not a documentary. Its a Nathan Fielder movie experience that uses Elizabeth Holmes as a jumping off point to entertain and explore the nature of truth.

I think we'll eventually find out how much of the non-re-enactment footage was "Real" and how much was scripted or how it was created.

[Sean Burns @SeanMBurns]

TURN THE FUCKING LIGHTS ON

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@twiggysays @jameslineky Rubio does not have the billion dollars to spend that Vance will. And if he runs against Vance, a big chunk of will be spent tearing him down.

Nobody has ever lined up $ like this. Biden worked his ass off to raise $59 million in 2019. Vance gets $1B in dark money on day 1.

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

@jameslineky Vance has a billion dollars lined up for the primary. No sitting VP has lost a nomination fight in 75 years.

Does Trump weigh him down in 28? Probably. But he's running the Kamala play. Get nomination, figure it out, see what happens, coin toss and if heads, you're POTUS.

[Hollywood Film Theory @StarterScript]

MEET DAVE was originally called STARSHIP DAVE. I loved the script and pushed it hard for the actor I was working for.

It's similar to idea of Joe Dante's INNERSPACE but uses same actor inside and outside.

Dave is a tiny alien who commands a crew aboard a vessel. But the vessel is a giant version of Dave that looks like a human body.

So when they come to earth, Dave and his crew steer the "ship" as puppeteers on this human (looking) body, awkwardly moving it through reality, interacting with people, and trying to achieve the goal of their mission.

It's a great role that was written for someone who can do physical humor. It ideally would have been Jim Carrey. Why did it fail?

This was a huge bomb. I dont know if the concept was too difficult for advertising to capture--"Dave" is the captain of a crew but also the ship looks like him. It's conceptually a lot to absorb.

Eddie Murphy humor is also different than this. He's a fast talker. He's smooth. We enjoy him navigating interpersonal situations with his brain and mouth. Here, its largely awkward physical comedy.

I think the title change didn't help. Maybe they were afraid audiences would think concept was too sci-fi with Starship Dave. But Meet Dave sells nothing. Kinda like John Carter of Mars becoming John Carter.

Finally, the 1987 Innerspace was a huge leap in visual effects and worked as a movie--but it was also a failure and one of the few Spielberg produced bombs of the era. But it did have one approach that might've worked here:

In Innerspace, Dennis Quaid is part of a military experiment where he's in a ship and shrunk down to the size of a cell. He's accidentally injected into Martin Short's body and due to screenwriting magic, they can communicate.

So you have the serious military guy in the ship communicating with the rubber faced physical comedian on the outside. It's now a buddy comedy where opposites navigate different personalities so they can work together and achieve the mission (to get Quaid out of there before his air runs out).

By Meet Dave using the same actor as the ship captain and the vessel/comedic body, it removes all the buddy comedy elements and a lot of conflict.

Still love it as a concept, enjoyed the script read, it was a big spec sale too. And its an example of smart writers taking a movie like Innerspace and saying "how can we update this as a fresh concept?"

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

Gabrielle Union was reportedly only supposed to cheer during this scene in Meet Dave, but she took things in an unexpected direction by improvising a slap to the back of Eddie Murphy’s head without warning.

According to the story, nobody on set knew it was coming, making the cast’s stunned expressions and confused double-takes even funnier. Union allegedly feared the spontaneous move might cost her career, until Murphy burst out laughing.

The moment reportedly made it into the final film, turning an unscripted surprise into one of the movie’s most memorable comedic scenes.