Write, write, write

Yeah we've all heard that Ben Affleck will be our new Batman when the Man of Steel goes for round two ... I loved a tweet suggesting that Matt Damon would play the role of Poison Ivy ... but I digress! Take a look at a 10-year old Superman/Batman script.

The rants keep coming - everybody seems to love bashing Hollywood, again, and again, and again ... time for my own rant ... first of all, shut the fuck up if you're not part of the solution - and second of all ... BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!

You didn't like it? Don't bash, don't hate. Instead go write and do better.

Hollywood, the place where they always have and still do make the stuff that dreams are made of. Yeah, folks, a hell of a lot of the most amazing films we call our all-time favorites were made there - in the Hollywood swamp, zoo, abyss and whatever else they like to call it. "Oh no it's all so dreadfully bad!" Get a friggin hold of yourself and write something better!

I don't wanna hear anything about the Lone Ranger - was it brilliant? No. Was it okay? Sure. Was it summer-time fluff? Abso-friggin-lutely. It's a business, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Today's crap is tomorrow's gold.

Stop wasting your time blasting Hollywood - they're still in the business of creating dreams - some astounding, some horrific, some way off the chart stupid ... but there's a market for most of that. You don't have to like it - go write your own. Don't bash directors and writers who've jumped through thousands of burning hoops to get a film actually made - they made it - have you? Shut up and write!

And you know what? If the huge chunk of the people who claim to be part of this amazing industry would spend a little less time bashing and a little more time learning from perceived failures - everybody might gain. I tell you what - I LOVE bad movies. I love good movies more, granted. But I thoroughly enjoy a lame flick - guess what - it juices my brain - I instantly go from living in that world to analyzing that world. The moment it jars I switch and start learning. Why did I just drop out of the story, why am I in analytical mode all of a sudden? What happened, what went wrong, where's the flaw and most importantly - how could it have been done better?

Learn - be part of the fucking solution! Hollywood is packed with human beings, too. Of course they fuck up occasionally, it's part of being human. So some movies suck, some don't, some win Oscars, some don't - there's no ultimate truth, there's no right or wrong and there sure as fuck is no single how-to screenwriting book that'll have all the answers. 

If you want to be a part of this industry, if you want to live in this crazy world - don't even think about bashing it. Hollywood's reinvented itself for a hundred something years now - it'll do it again, and again. Nobody wants to make a bad film - but it happens for a gazillion reasons - actually, every time a movie really clicks is in fact a fucking miracle - and that happens, too. The dream factory keeps delivering. Wanna continue to bash films and the people who gave their blood, sweat and tears to making them happen? Well then fuck you because you're crapping on family.

Wanna be part of the solution? Then deliver meaningful feedback, provide thoughtful pieces people can learn from and strive to do your very best. If you are, like me, a writer, you'll write. With this I'm signing off. I rarely rant but it just kept pissing me off. Now it's back to my own particular dream world - working on a script that'll star ... nah, I'll keep that to myself.

The Third Man is an iconic film noir set in post WWII Vienna - Orson Welles' Harry Lime and the music alone make it worth watching again and again. Here a bit of script gold, original scrip annotations by Trevor Howard, who played Major Calloway.

Gotta love the web - I came across the wonderful place by chance - The Third Man museum page on Facebook - even just going through their photo albums is brilliant.

They've curated everything they could (and can) in connection with the film. Scenes from the shoot, trivia, you name it. And on the occasion of what would have been Trevor Howard's 100th birthday, they got hold of his original script (dated 20 September 1948). The script, of course, was written by none other than Graham Greene.

Here's the two script pages annotated by Trevor Howard pre filming (the full script is apparently on display at the museum in Vienna).


And here the title page of Trevor Howard's script


















And here the original trailer - if you've never seen the film - catch up with movie history!