Posted 2:03 PM by Chris

I missed this one when it was first posted, apparently. Frederick J. Chiaventone of TMNC.org reviews the script for "Alexander" (located here, written by Peter Buchman and Christopher McQuarrie and there is no date of the script listed, only reference to McQuarrie as director). This is neither the script for the Oliver Stone or Baz Luhrman efforts focusing on the Macedonian conquerer Alexander the Great, but another effort altogether.

There, Chiaventone writes that "It’s not that I don’t usually appreciate films on either this period or with such epic themes but in this case, well, this script is the dog’s breakfast...[Alexander the Great's] is a fascinating story but, as I read this script and considered what I knew of rival projects, I was unsure that any of the prospective storytellers currently in the running were up to the task. I found myself wishing for a John Huston and finally recalling with delight the other end of the Alexander myth as it appears in the brilliant film "The Man Who Would Be King." If only we had a storyteller/director today capable of evoking for Alexander the Great the passion, humor, pathos, and drama I associate with John Huston’s telling of Rudyard Kipling’s classic. Okay, they’re both dead but even so they are still better storytellers than this."

I just finished up Manfredi's trilogy of books on Alexander and trying to track down a script from either project now in pre-production...really looking forward to seeing each film being realized on the screen.

Posted 1:49 PM by Chris

El Mayimbe over at Latino Review reviews "Cellular" (located here, the script is dated July 11th, 2003 and written by Larry Cohen, with revisions by Chris Morgan and the team of J. Mackye Gruber & Eric Bress). The film focuses on a slacker who gets a random phone call on his mobile phone from a kidnapped woman. Unsure of her whereabouts, and with little clues, a dying cell phone battery, and bad reception, the hero must go out, find her and rescue her before the cell phone battery dies. Sounds like a retread of "Phone Booth" to me, and is even from the same writer.

Interesting piece by Latino Review overall, but the grammatical and spelling errors throughout the piece give me a giant headache. I would have also liked to see more analysis and information on the film, it reads like a puff piece right now. As the writer says there, "Overall, a very lean script, very fast paced, and a damn good read." Smacks to me of a writer giving his script to a favorable outlet, for a positive review.

Posted 1:37 PM by Chris

Stax over at IGN FilmForce gives a look at "Tripoli" (located here, the script was written by William Monohan and the 134-page draft is dated February 8th, 2002). A historical epic, it focuses on a U. S. naval agent sent to the Barbary States in order to restore the exiled Bashaw of Tripoli back to power, all in order to curb piracy against American merchants and military vessels.

Stax writes that "Tripoli" is not a jingoistic, anti-Muslim propaganda piece nor is it a screed against American interventionist foreign policy. It certainly has shadings of both and, if tinkered with by lesser filmmakers, could easily fall into one or the other category. But this draft achieves, at least in this layman's eyes, a fine balance...This draft's (sometimes heavy-handed) contemporary resonance is what makes Tripoli a compelling and important tale that will hopefully be produced someday. As long as the filmmakers focus on the characters' shared humanity and aren't overwhelmed by the story's political subtext then Tripoli will have been worth the wait."