ScriptNews

Saturday, November 29, 2003


El Mayimbe of LatinoReview.com checks in with a script review of "Mexicali" (located here, the script is written by Christian Gudegast & Paul Scheuring and dated August 2nd, 2002). Probably my least favorite script reviewer out there right now-- most likely because he peppers in phrases like "this script was so dope" and "I don't f*** around, my script gathering skills are on point" throughout his reviews.

Anyway, the film focuses on a successful businessman and his new wife on their honeymoon, who subsequently witness a drug deal gone wrong. When his wife is shot and then disappears, the businessman must now figure out a way to get her back and then the both of them back to the U.S.

His opinion of the film, you ask? El Mayimbe: "I've been tracking this script for the longest because I think it's a dope story...I hope MGM doesn't f*** this script up because it was fine to me as is. A page turner full of suspense and "Oh s***" moments."

It's actually a good read if you treat it as satire. Otherwise, it's pretty sad commentary on critical analyses these days.


Continuing on with the updates, here are very two very negative script reviews over at the rumor site AICN. And, hey, Moriarty actually writes a decent script review! (What was that about a thousand monkeys?)

First, Mr. Beaks takes the first look at the script for "Aliens vs. Predator" (located here). The script he reviews is written by Paul W.S. Anderson and includes revisions by Shane Salerno, with no script date given. A big tentpole for Fox, the film throws the fates of two franchises together, setting it in the current day.

As Mr. Beaks writes there, "Though there’s no shortage of Alien and Predator throw-downs in the third act, what I think will piss off the fans is the way this script thoroughly ignores the lore of the previous films...Granted, I wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about this project in the first place, but, if anything, I’m far more forgiving than the devoted fans on whose foreheads Fox will be thumping this mushroom bruise of a motion picture. This is a Viking Funeral for both franchises that will result in a quick payoff for the studio. Maybe that’s for the best."

The second is the umpteenth take on the script for M. Night Shayalman's "The Village" (fourth item down here, no script date given). Glomming on to the idea that the script that many have now reviewed is a fake one, Moriarty waxes poetic on the film's bleak prospects.

As he writes there, "Shyamalan wouldn’t pull one twist ending only to try to convince us of the same thing a second time, and then do the exact same twist again. He would realize how incredibly insulting that is, and he would come up with something far more clever...I have faith that this is all an elaborate prank, played on the Internet, by a storyteller who has something fun and original up his sleeve that he doesn’t want to see spoiled. At least, that’s what I’d be praying if I had money in this thing. Because if I’m wrong -- if by some chance this is the actual script that’s going to be used -- then a few things are apparent...this will be this director’s "Battlefield Earth" or "Showgirls," an epic miscalculation that gets stuck in the audience’s craw for a while, and it will take something really special to buy his way out of the cinematic doghouse this will earn him...this will infuriate audiences across the board. They’ll feel cheated, and they’ll be right."

Saturday, November 22, 2003


Re-emerging from some time off...

The first script review we look at is Guy Ritchie's "Six Shooters" (located here, this August 2002 draft is 123 pages) a project he abandoned "Revolver" for. Written by Stax at IGN FilmForce, the film is a lighthearted heist flick set during the last days of the U.S. Civil War and follows a quartet of Union soldiers who team with a sharp-shooting Richmond madame and a slave-turned-Confederate POW to plunder the riches of the Confederacy.

While focusing mostly on the script's content, Stax says that the film is a good one, "thanks to its action set-pieces, roguish anti-heroes, and quick wit, "Six Shooters" succeeds in being a charming and fun period romp, a sort of Lincoln's "[Ocean's Eleven]" or Civil War-era Kelly's "Heroes."

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