“And Then This Happens” Storytelling Starring Hellboy (2019)

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains spoilers for the 2019 release Hellboy, and while it’s arguable that calling the movie awful could come across as a compliment, I’m going to encourage you to see the movie anyway. So, if you have a local library that carries DVDs or Blu-rays, then check it out, or stream it…

Following the Story, with Alita: Battle Angel

Spoilers ahead for Alita: Battle Angel! Check out the movie first, if you haven’t yet seen it, then come back and read this post. Ready? Here we go… Alita: Battle Angel pulled me in, walked me through its world, introduced me to it characters, and hinted that more lay ahead and elsewhere. Then the writer(s)…

Shazam! and Unfocused Writing

Shazam! spoilers ahead! If you haven’t seen the movie yet, do see it, then come back and read this. But really, watch the movie first. Okay? Good. Let’s get on with this. So, I recently saw the movie Shazam!, starring the guy from the show I really liked (Chuck). Overall, I thought it was okay,…

The Two Obvious Problems With X-Men: Dark Phoenix

SPOILERS AHEAD Go watch X-Men: Dark Phoenix before reading this. Thank you! 🙂 One movie franchise that hasn’t been treated well by its writers is the X-Men series of films. The first two entries, X-Men and X2: X-Men United, are a solid pair of comic book movies, but once we got to X-Men: The Last…

In Celebration Of Star Wars… How To Remake The Star Wars Prequels

I like the Star Wars prequels, I really do. George Lucas has such an extraordinary imagination and showed us a lot of great things that could only come from a galaxy far, far away. However, enjoying something shouldn’t stop us from using our own imagination to change it, in our own minds, and wonder what…

How Removing A Character Can Make A Story Stronger Part 2 – Revisiting The Phantom Menace Re-Imagining

Not too long ago, I wrote a piece on how I would re-imagine one of my favorite films, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. In it, I showed how removing a single character, Qui-Gon Jinn, early in the film can affect the story as a whole, transforming the film into a hero’s journey for…

Re-Imagining Captain Marvel (The Importance Of Set-Ups And Payoffs)

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN MARVEL AHEAD! I RECOMMEND SEEING THE MOVIE BEFORE READING ANY FURTHER. YES, I RECOMMEND SEEING THE MOVIE. IT’S ACTUALLY PRETTY OKAY. GO SEE IT! NOW! This post will not at all discuss the SJW versus anti-SJW controversy surrounding the film. Frankly, I’m tired of all that useless shit. What I’m going…

Good Advice For Writers

Here’s a great quote from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. It’s wonderful advice for any writer, beginner or seasoned (I’m looking at you, Hollywood screenwriters). Audiences are as smart as you’ll allow them to be. You know, if you write dumb, then, you know, you’re just saying that the audience can’t handle it, which is,…

How Too Much Dialogue Can Get In The Way

In my previous post, I discussed the infamous, “Why did you say that name?!” line in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and how removing it changed the interpretation of the scene and brought sense to it. Now, we’re going through more dialogue to see how too much dialogue can actually bog things down a…

How Removing One Line Of Dialogue Can Totally Change A Scene

I have a firm love/hate relationship with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While I love Batman, and Superman is a favorite character of mine, I’ve always felt that the story in the film is so completely flawed that it needs a complete re-imagining. No, that’s not what this particular blog post is about (although…