Generally after teaching a screenwriting class, I feel a sense of positive accomplishment, however meager.  Something's been learned, even if it's as trivial as the proper formatting of sound effects.  But after my last class, I felt like I was leaving a trail of fire and...

I think it was Alfred Hitchcock who once said, "The worst novels make the best movies." I'm not sure why he said it or what particular novel he had in mind. But I suspect it had something to do with the fact that novels are word-driven while films are primarily concept or image-driven. As a result, ...

The arguably greatest graphic novel of all time is finally being released on the big screen.  Ever since Alan Moore's legendary "Watchmen" was released in 1986, there have been innumerable failed attempts to adapt the story to film: writers such as Sam Hamm and Charles McKeown penned...

By Tom Stempel COMING UP IN THIS COLUMN: Moscow, Belgium; He’s Not That Into You; The International, Taken; Taking Chance; Ugly Betty; The Closer; and Damages, but first: *** FAN MAIL: Thanks for the nice comments about my grandson and Lawrence. Hokahey mentioned teaching a unit on American Film H...

Just an excerpt from a longer (or some might say "long-ass") post just published on GreenCine Daily, on the current market for screenwriting:Trying to sell an original spec script in today's market is a real challenge. Even before the economy......

Megan Fox has been cast in Warner Bros’ adaptation of Jonah Hex and Fox Atomic’s adaptation of Fathom . Directed by former Pixar animator Jimmy Hayward, Jonah Hex tells the story of a former alcoholic and confederate soldier (played by Josh Brolin) turned supernatural loner and gunslinge...

For a while now, Kevin Smith has been trying t get his indie horror film Red State off the ground. But by the director’s own admission, the project isn’t exactly marketable, and the plan was to film it on the cheap with no big stars. It seemed obvious to me that the film is going to take...

“It’s the Nard Dawg meets Glory meets Bill and Ted’s.” Actor Ed Helms (The Office), a native of Georgia, will write and top-line an untitled comedy about a highly dedicated Civil War re-enactor who travels back in time to the actual event. Joining the character in the potenti...

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up - a police officer?  A movie director?  A professional wrestler?  A Nintendo game counselor?  At one point or another, all these occupations crossed through my juvenile, TV-saturated brain as suitable future employment.  During a bri...

Michael Mann's first theatrical feature, Thief , is one of my favorite crime movies. The fierce visual style we'd later see in Mann films like Manhunter and Heat was somehow already honed in this thrilling tale of a safecracker (James Caan, never better) who goes up against the mob that hire...