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On Broken Projector, screenwriter Geoff LaTulippe and movie critic Scott Beggs dole out interesting angles on movie culture, talk to prominent filmmakers and debate topics of gargantuan importance.
Should TV shows and movies with mysteries at their hearts reveal their answers or is it better to let the top spin? What's the right balance in making your audience wonder and making your audience gasp at the answers? Geoff and I will consider these questions with Lost, Agatha Christie and Inception in tow. Plus, Geoff offers a 4-layer dip for categorizing mysterious stories. We'll call it the Oldboy Upstream Color Spectrum until someone else comes up with a better name.
The bigger question on the show this week is whether we want the things we think we want. With new episodes of The X-Files coming soon, and so much geek culture co-opted, repackaged and dumped on our doorsteps, it's starting to seem like the disappointments outweigh the anticipation.
Our big finish is a conversation with Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the filmmakers behind the romance-horror Spring, where a misguided old monster and a misguided young monster help each other while falling in love. It's as if Linklater and Cronenberg had a baby (with dragon wings and squid arms).
You should follow the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on Twitter for more on a daily basis.
Do you have to move to Los Angeles to become a professional screenwriter?
This is probably the most common question that aspiring professional screenwriters have. The answer is also the most hated, most despised, most likely truest pieces of screenwriting advice that aspiring professional screenwriters can get. However, instead of merely ending the conversation by insisting you uproot your life in order to make your dream come true, Geoff and I want to dissect and explain exactly why living in Los Angeles is so vital to creating and maintaing a career as a screenwriter.
Plus, we explore and revel at the concept that Cinderella, Captain America and Harry Potter are all the same character.
If you've ever stuffed DVDs into envelopes or furiously filled out Without a Box submission forms in order to prepare your baby, your darling, your movie to be sent off to a film festival for their harsh and final judgment, this one's for you. DC Shorts founder and programmer Jon Gann joins us to discuss some common mistakes made by filmmakers attempting to get their work screened and to talk about the philosophy behind how his team chooses what movies they pick.
Plus, Geoff and I answer your screenwriting questions about avoiding procrastination, specialized drafts and how to write scene description without going overboard.
You should follow the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on Twitter for more on a daily basis.
In Everly, Salma Hayek's title character is stuck inside a highrise apartment with well-armed bad guys constantly coming through the door. She'll need a lot of fire power and guts to survive the night.
Naturally, director Joe Lynch says, "the whole movie is about a mother and daughter reconnecting."
Our conversation with the filmmaker obviously covers the emotion and tonally wild action of Everly, but we also cover topics like making movies that Hollywood won't and the European techno-erotica of RoboCop. Plus, Lynch's enthusiasm should replace the three cups of coffee and that eight ball you were planning on crushing today.
Also on the program, I try to pinpoint exactly why the Oscars feel perfunctory and devoid of meaning.
Gary Whitta got a big break with The Book of Eli, a spec screenplay where he doesn't so much save the cat as he kills it and cooks it over a spit within the first few pages. Now he's coming off writing for one of the stand-alone Star Wars movies, he's working with Mark Millar on Starlight, and his debut novel "Abomination" is available for pre-order through an innovative publishing platform. It has everything in the above image and more.
Whitta joins me this week as our special guest co-host (Geoff is on assignment in Kazakhstan), and we discuss the dominance of The Empire Strikes Back, the slightly ironic relationship movies have to comic books now and why he might not have done the very thing that brought him success knowing what he knows today.
Things get educational, so grab a notepad and a splashguard.
You should follow Gary (@garywhitta), the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on Twitter for more on a daily basis.
Last week we looked at American Sniper as a political football, and this week we turn to a fresh take on military life which will sadly only get a fraction of the attention Sniper did.
Amira and Sam star Martin Starr will discuss preparing to play an army veteran, finding humor and nuance in an important script and the vital way in which the movie portrays a progressive Muslim girl.
Plus, Geoff and I will weigh in on the blockbuster-ish news about Ghostbusters getting an all-female cast and Indiana Jones hypothetically looking to Chris Pratt to take the whip and fedora.
Then, Rob Hunter will take some time out of shivering in the cold at Sundance to tell us his five favorites of the fest. You'll want to write these down and hunt them down in the future.
You should follow the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on Twitter for more on a daily basis.
Through editorials and online chatter, we seem to be struggling to talk about American Sniper in a meaningful way, deciding instead to divide into Team A and Team B before launching empty words back and forth. It's a political movie, yes, but it's vitally important that we remain able to discuss political movies without succumbing to conversation-ending blather.
This week, Geoff and I will discuss the great need for art to stay uninfected by the corrosive divisiveness that is modern political discourse.
We'll also dissect a handful of amazing, inspiring (and disheartening) movie speeches and answer a listener screenwriting question about what goes into a shooting script. You'll want to wear a helmet for this one.
Now that we've all had some time to think about it, we're going to explore the best movies of 2004 after dissecting our favorites from 2014. Pay extra special attention to the names of filmmakers, writers and actors that are shared between the years. What has stood the small test of time? What has survived by living in our memories or hiding out in our hearts? The answers will probably not surprise you or be in any way controversial.
To undertake this epic task, we've brought on FSR associate editor Kate Erbland and freelance writer for Esquire and The Atlantic Alexeander Huls to round out a four player rodeo of film appreciation.
You should follow Kate (@katerbland), Alex (@alxhuls), the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on Twitter for more on a daily basis.
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new year, which means that we'll be examine the concept of beginnings by figuring out how three different movies (Scream, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Drive) successfully set up the rest of their runtimes for success.
Plus, we'll answer your screenwriting questions and try to explain why the Academy considers Whiplash to be an adapted script when it's an original concept.
We'll be speaking with a co-lead for one of the semi-finalist teams, Tim Wen, whose short film Unexpected Arrival earned one of the top spots and a chance to compete for the grand prize. He'll talk about the challenge of making something quick without a budget and how to aim the camera in a way that hides your flaws.
Plus, while Geoff is sleeping off an egg nog bender, I'll offer three ingredients for a successful boxing movie and challenge you to correct me without your fists.
You should follow the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on Twitter for more on a daily basis.
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