Dark Shadows Trailer

I think I've hated almost every Dark Shadows promotional picture released so far. Johnny Depp makes for one strange-looking Barnabas Collins. As much as I admire most of Tim Burton's work, I just haven't gotten a good vibe from this remake/re-imagining of the cult soap. And while I've seen a few episodes of the original, I'd hardly call myself a fan.

So the trailer dropped today... and I liked it! Funny. Campy. Set in the 70s. For whatever reason, I had assumed Burton was going to emulate the tone of the original -- which probably would have been a huge mistake. It's rare to have a supernatural show/film that isn't self-aware these days. Everything makes sense now. I imagine hardcore fans will scream sacrilege, but Dark Shadows is now officially on my 2012 must-see list!

With all that said, I have no idea how audiences will react. Outside the Twilight franchise, there haven't been a lot hit vampire movies in the last few years. Priest, Fright Night, Blood: The Last Vampire and Let Me In were all box office disappointments. Mixing horror with comedy usually yields underwhelming results. But I think Burton and Depp will be big enough names to draw in a sizable audience.

Contest Alert: FOX-NYTVF Comedy Script Contest

Enter the 5th Annual FOX-NYTVF Comedy Script Contest and submit your script for an original half-hour comedy series. 25 Finalists will have their scripts evaluated by FOX for a possible development deal with the network and one single individual winner (or a winning team of two co-writers) will receive $25,000 and a development deal. Scripts must be entered by uploading them in a PDF format on the NYTVF upload page, which can be found here beginning April 16, 2012.

Submission period open April 16-30, 2012
25-35 pages in length

GET ALL THE DETAILS HERE


Sitcom writing isn't my thing, but this contest is always worth mentioning. Maybe someone out there can come up with a supernatural-flavored show. A serial killer comedy might be a bit too much...

La Casa Muda (The Silent House)

The remake with Elizabeth Olsen, which I have yet to see, comes out tomorrow but I have a few thoughts on the 2010 original. For the last couple of months, I've been on a steady diet of foreign thrillers and horror. I haven't gotten around to writing about them, but La Casa Muda was one of the more interesting attempts I came across...



Trapped inside an old house, a father and daughter are terrorized by some one ... or some thing. The main selling points: "inspired" by a true story and shot in one continuous take.

It's hard to go wrong with a low-budget, single location thriller with some compelling hooks. The first two acts deliver the goods effectively. Dark and creepy atmosphere. Escalating tension. Obviously, it's easier to become emotionally invested in a story with just a few characters rather than one packed with killer-fodder. Anyway, things are going great, the story's clicking on all cylinders -- until the third act abruptly stalls and eventually sputters towards an unsatisfying and nonsensical ending.

The filmmakers were hard to pin down on the inspiration for this "true" story. A vague reference to a crime supposedly committed in the 1940s in Uruguay was the extent of the truth. The bit about one continuous take is also misleading, but it does help engage the viewer. Every scene feels important. I really liked the presentation. Unfortunately, the storytelling in the third act was a letdown.

It doesn't sound like the remake is significantly different from the original. I'm curious to see how audiences react to the final 10-15 minutes.

Avengers Assemble!

I keep meaning to post a 2012 must-see movie list, but the latest trailer for Avengers Assemble looks like an excellent way to kick it off. WOW!

62 Days Left...

It's been a pretty quiet February around here, but the good news is that I finally have a complete outline of my script. Figured out the ending and dumped heaps of logic into several gaping plot holes. My writing is usually a 50/50 split of preparation and inspiration, so I'm in unfamiliar territory... feels weird. I give a lot of credit to the screenwriting exercise from January. Making the Nicholl deadline will mostly be a matter of effort and consistency on my part.

Awake (Pilot)

You've probably seen it already, but just in case you haven't, check out the pilot for Awake.

After a car accident takes the life of a family member, a police detective lives two alternating parallel lives, one with his wife and one with his son. Is one of his "realities" merely a dream?



Probably the best pilot I've seen this season. Apparently there was some concern that the show might be too difficult to follow -- utter nonsense. The two cases weren't terribly interesting, but there's usually so much stuff going on in a new show (introducing characters, exposition, relationships, etc.) that I'm willing to give it a pass this time. The "dueling" therapists, BD Wong vs. Cherry Jones, worked extremely well. Both present valid reasons why they're not part of some made up world. Looking forward to future sessions.

Some might be quick to compare this to Inception or Life on Mars, but they'd be way off. There's no conspiracy to thwart or daring mission that needs to be completed. The protagonist loves his family and is willing to live in two different realities if that's the only way he can be with them -- even if his sanity eventually pays the price. Works for me and probably lots of folks. Emotional hooks.

Awake kind of reminds me of Passion of Mind, a small indie film from 2000 starring Demi Moore as a woman living parallel lives, unable to distinguish dream from reality. Much more of a Fantasy Romance but still similar. I'd post the trailer, but I couldn't find it on youtube.

NBC's been throwing a lot of stuff against the wall lately. I hope Awake sticks. BTW, you can follow the show's creator, Kyle Killen, on Twitter.

76 Days Left

You have time but don't take it for granted. The Nicholl final deadline has a way of creeping up on you.

My self-imposed deadline is actually a week or two earlier, but this makes for a cool (and less confusing) calendar. I think I finally turned the corner in Act II. Regardless of how much time I spend carefully plotting out a story, the breakthroughs invariably come from eureka moments that drive it in an unexpected direction — curse you, intuitive thinking! Plot points will have to be changed and I'm in need of a new ending. Still on schedule though...

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

This sounds like a terrific premise for SyFy's Most Dangerous Night on Television: Abraham Lincoln taking names and kicking vampire butt with his trusty axe!! However, the $70M production budget is a head-scratcher. Aside from B-movie fans like myself, where's the rest of the audience going to come from? Looks like they playing it straight, which is curious because the material screams camp. The book was on The New York Times Best Seller List but still... saner heads probably should have prevailed. Hopefully, it's not another Snakes on a Plane. I do like the remix of Johnny Cash's The Man Comes Around though...

Speaking of Presidential/Horror Mashups, FDR: American Badass has no problem embracing its inherent goofiness...