Sunday, July 29, 2018

Confessions of a Screenwriting Contest Judge

A sadly blurry photo of the 2018 Screenplay Winners.
I have been honored to act as a second tier judge for the Baltimore Film Office Screenwriting Competition on a number of occasions. The contest is held yearly in conjunction with the Maryland Film Festival, which has programmed some of my shorts (but not features) in the past.

I do not know how many scripts the competition receives every year. However, the second reader judges, who are all respected members of the Maryland film community, are each given three feature scripts, and sometimes also three short scripts, to evaluate. These scripts were the ones deemed the best by the first set of judges. Our best selections are later handed to the final judges. In 2018, those judges included producer Nina Noble (“The Deuce,” “Treme,” “The Wire”), director Sheldon Candis (“Baltimore Boys,” “LUV,” “Young Cesar”), documentary filmmaker Annette Porter and writer/producer B. A. Parker (“The American Life”).

Who wouldn't want their script evaluated by Nina Noble? I know I would! (She also did a great Q&A at the festival.)

So how does the whole judging thing work?

The first year I helped with the competition, all of the second reader judges got together at a trendy eatery on North Avenue to discuss how to evaluate the entries. We already knew the basics. The Baltimore Film Office gave us a standard evaluation form. We were supposed to rate the Premise, Story Line/Plot, Characters, Dialogue and Production Value as either Poor, Fair, Good or Excellent. Then we were supposed to assign a numerical value from one to eight (with one being the worst) regarding the Premise, Originality, Characters, Plot/Structure, Dialogue, Visual Quality and Writing Skill. Finally, we were given a comments section to express our thoughts on the scripts.

(BTW. The entrants would be given our evaluation forms so we all resolved to be encouraging whenever possible.)

The question we judges debated among ourselves was whether to evaluate our assigned scripts subjectively or objectively. In other words, were we comparing the scripts against professional scripts, or simply against the other entrants. For example, Paul Attanasio's pilot episode for the television series Homicide: Life on the Streets was perhaps the best script I have ever read myself. Obviously, if that script had been entered into the competition, I would have given it eights and excellents across the board. Our question was whether it would be fair to compare all of the contest entries against that objective professional standard. Our answer was no. We decided it would be fairer to rank our assigned scripts subjectively against each other. That meant we would have to read all of our scripts before deciding upon the relative value of the rankings in each category. Still, even judging the scripts subjectively, I confess I remained stingy with my eights and excellents. I only gave those ratings to scripts I felt had risen to professional quality in the given category.

So how were the scripts?

Some years they are better than others.

This assignment allowed me to a experience the frustration that I am sure every development person must feel. Some scripts would have wonderful, lively dialogue but a tedious or badly-structured plot. Or an interesting plot with unimaginative characters. There were other scripts that I didn't feel worked at all but gave me an interesting new perspective on life. It was maddeningly difficult to find a script that worked from start to finish in every category. The best script I read this year was a stoner comedy, which, although I would probably enjoy watching as a movie, I knew would be immediately shot down in Hollywood because "the stakes weren't high enough." I hate being the type of guy who would say something like that!

My most frustrating experience involved a haunted house mystery for kids. It was the best script I ever read in the competition. I had no doubt it would sell with minimal changes, but it didn't do well in our contest. Why? Because that year we had an additional category. We had to rank scripts based on the use of local locations. Sadly, the script had absolutely no connection to Baltimore, which forced me to give it a one in that category. That lowered its overall ranking and effectively knocked it out of the running.

I am mentioning that incident to reassure people who are upset about losing a competition. You might well have had the best script, but the criterion of the contest might have worked against you.

BTW, when it comes to this specific contest, I am a consistent loser. I had previously entered two scripts in the competition and lost both times. The first script was the true story behind one of the most famous restaurants in Baltimore. It scored very high in the individual categories, but it was knocked out because the evaluator deemed the May/December romance between the two owners at the center of the TRUE story "unbelievable!" Huh? May I repeat: It was a true story! Believe it or not! The second script was a horror film set in a local cemetery. Talk about being Baltimore oriented! I should have racked up an instant eight points right there! Once again, I scored very high in the individual categories, but the script was eliminated by the evaluator for being "needlessly violent." Hello, it was a horror movie, not a Nicholas Sparks romance.  The violence was necessary for the genre!

Oy Vey.

I am looking forward to being a judge again.

I think I like it better than being an entrant!

General Filmmaking Blogs:


Now you can judge my writing. If you haven't gotten it already, feel free to pick up my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God published by TouchPoint Press. If you like it, please review it on Amazon. If you don't like it, try to be like me or one of my fellow judges and find something encouraging to say about it!



Here are some sample chapters of The Promise:
Chapter 7 - Mission Accomplished

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Saturday, July 28, 2018

ESPN Sports Center features Jamie Nieto.


SC Featured Raising the Bar from ESPNFrontRow on Vimeo.

The Encounter has been accurately called an inspirational film. However, one of its stars Jamie Nieto, a two-time high jump Olympian, is living a truly inspirational life since he broke his back in a freak training accident. Doctors told Jamie that he would be paralyzed, but, using the grit, determination and faith that made him a champion in the first place, Jamie has gotten him back on his feet. His goal was to walk down the aisle on his own at his wedding, and ESPN is telling that story this Sunday night. I can't wait to see it.

Congratulations, Jamie!  You are a true inspiration.

Here's Jamie in The Encounter.



Speaking of inspirational, have you read my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God published by TouchPoint Press:



Here are some sample chapters of The Promise:
Chapter 7 - Mission Accomplished

My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.


Learn more about the book, click Here.

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Friday, July 20, 2018

Top 10 Horror Films of the 1990s

I am a horror fan. Always have been. Always will be. I grew up on a steady diet of late night horror films in the bygone era of Friday and/or Saturday night horror hosts. I wanted to write a blog about my Top 10 Horror Films, but I had far too many favorites to choose from. Therefore, I plan to do a series of blogs dealing with specific decades. Now we're looking at the 1990s.

The 1990s were my prime movie-going years. The Baltimore Film Club was in full swing, and I usually saw between 120 and 198 films a year in the theater. Strangely, few horror films of the period stuck with me -- even the straight to video ones. The films just couldn't live up to the high standards set by the 'seventies and the 'eighties. Most critics who list the best horror films of the decade place The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en at the top. However, as I explained on my other lists, I do not include crime films in the horror genre unless they have a supernatural aspect.

Numbering this list also proved very difficult to me. Usually, the films I like most are the ones I watch most frequently. Repeat-ability is a big factor for me. However, on this list, I have found myself rating the films more on initial impact.

10, ARMY OF DARKNESS, 1992
Directed by Sam Raimi
Written by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi

Ash, the amazing Bruce Campbell, finds himself transported back into the middle ages where he must battle the evil dead and find the Nerconomicon to return to his own time.

This third entry into the Evil Dead franchise finds our much put upon but resourceful hero sent back in time in this demented variant of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The film could have used a higher budget. The effects are cheesy at times, but the humor more than compensates.  A truly enjoyable horror comedy.


9BODY SNATCHERS, 1993
Directed by Abel Ferrara
Screen story by Raymond Cistheri and Larry Cohen.
Screenplay by Stuart Gordon & Dennis Paoli and Nicolas St. John
Novel by Jack Finney

An angsty teenager, played Gabrille Anwar, lives on a military base with her defense contractor father and evil stepmother. Soon she realizes that people around her are being duplicated by an alien life form, but she has a difficult time getting anyone to believe her.

This is the third great version of the classic sci-fi novel by Jack Finney. It isn't quite as good as the 1956 version directed by Don Siegel and written by Daniel Mainwaring or the 1977 version directed by Philip Kaufman and written by W.D. Richter. but it is a sturdy and exciting retelling. I am not a fan of all of Abel Ferrara's work, but he hits a home run with this version. And it still holds up. If you have a free night, I would recommend a Body Snatchers triple feature. (The masochists among you could go all the way and throw in the execrable 2007 version The Invasion.)


Written & Directed by Daniel MyrickEduardo Sanchez

Three film students making a documentary about a legendary witch disappear in a Maryland forest. Their footage is later found and reveals their doom.

Nowadays there is a tendency among horror fans to look down their nose at this found footage film. They tend to dismiss it as gimmicky. They complain that all of its power was derived from false rumors that it was real footage. However, I think most of the disparaging remarks are a result of embarrassment. This was a film that really frightened audiences upon its initial release, and I think people hate to admit it.

I saw this film on the week of its release at a packed theater at the Loews White Marsh. Rarely have I seen a film grab an audience like this one. It had them by the throat throughout. It had me, too, and I knew it wasn't real. I heard about the film long before its release from the owner of a post-production facility in New York, who was raving about it. Still, I thought it worked beautifully. The first time. Personally, I don't think it holds up to repeated viewing. However, I have to give the film its due.


7. THE PROPHECY, 1995
Written and Directed by Gregory Widen

A mysterious body draws a would-be priest, Elias Koteas, who is now a homicide detective, into a second war between angels.

Count me in whenever you have Christopher Walken playing the arch angel Gabriel gone rogue. His quirky persona perfectly fits the role of the sardonic killer angel. Elias Koteas is also good as a priest who lost his faith. Eric Stoltz, Amanda Plummer, Adam Goldberg and Virginia Madsen fill out some nice supporting roles. We even get Viggo Mortensen as Satan. Who could ask for anything more?


6. TREMORS, 1990
Directed by Ron Underwood
Story by S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock & Ron Underwood
Screenplay by S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock

The residents of an isolated Nevada desert town find themselves battling large underground monsters.

This is one of my favorite monster movies, and, considering all of the sequels, other folks must feel the same way. The practical effects are pretty good and the film certainly provides the requisite thrills. However, it is the sharp writing and amiable performances that set this film above the competition. The film has a great sense of place. You definitely get the small town vibe where everyone knows way too much about each other. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, two handymen looking to get out, have an easy-going vibe, and Michael Gross and Reba McIntyre are great fun as a heavily-armed survivalist couple.


Directed by Taylor Hackford
Novel by Andrew Neiderman
Screenplay by Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy

A talented but obscure defense attorney from the South, Keanu Reeves, finds himself recruited by a powerful New York law firm only to discover that the senior partner, Al Pacino, is the devil himself.

A some point in his career, possibly around the time of Scarface, Al Pacino stopped being an actor and became AL PACINO (all caps.) That's a good thing. There's nothing I enjoy more than watching him turn the amp up to eleven in a role that gives him enough elbow room to do so. This is one of those roles. Al Pacino playing the Devil. Count me in. Keanu Reeves is good, too. I contend that he's best playing clueless characters trying to figure out what the hell is going on. This is definitely one of those cases.

Is the movie scary? No, but it does a good job of showing the temptations and allurements of the devil and the world.



Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay by James V. Hart
Based on the novel by Bram Stoker.

The ancient Transylvania count seeks fresh blood, and the reincarnation of his lost love, in turn-of-the-century London in the adaptation of the classic horror novel.

Aaarrgghhh.  On one hand there's so much to love about this film. The art direction is fabulous. Coppola gives the film a rich. old-Hollywood fairy-tale look. It is definitely the work of a confident, self-assured filmmaker. The film also boasts some excellent performances. Gary Oldman does a great job as the titular vampire, particularly in the older incarnation. Anthony Hopkins is obviously having a blast chewing up the scenery as Van Helsing. Sadly, however, we are also given the woefully miscast Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. Period films are not their strength, unless the period is the 'eighties. (Stranger Things, anyone?)

The greatest sin, however, comes with the script. Why must they try to redeem one of literature's greatest villains? The irony, of course, is that they give this film, which strays far from the original story, the official title of Bran Stoker's Dracula. Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, or even James V. Hart's Dracula would have been more appropriate.

Quibbles aside, I believe the film holds up. It has more re-watch-ability than most of the films on this list.


3. SCREAM, 1996
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Kevin Williamson

Teenagers are stalked by a killer who adheres to "the rules" of horror films.

Personally, I thought the slasher genre was thoroughly exhausted by the end of the 1970s. After a while I began tuning the slasher films out entirely because they relied too heavily on a few overplayed tropes. Kevin Williamson managed to breathe new life into the sub-genre by taking on the tropes headfirst. The witty, self-referential script benefited from a good cast and the skilled hand of veteran horror director Wes Craven at the helm. Easily one of the best horror films of the decade, but I have little use for the obligatory sequels.


2. FALLEN, 1998
Directed by Gregory Hoblit
Screenplay by Nicholas Kazan

Homicide Detective John Hobbes, Denzel Washington, watches the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese, Elias Koteas, only to be plagued by a series of copycat murders afterwards. Hobbes soon discovers that Reese was inhabited by a demonic entity who can switch between human hosts via touch. Now the demon wants revenge....

A excellent horror film that plays like a police thriller. The quality of the writing and the excellent cast elevates the material.  Denzel Washington provides a certain gravitas often lacking in films of the genre.  Definitely one of the best films about spiritual warfare!


1. THE SIXTH SENSE, 1999 
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

A child psychologist, Bruce Willis, who has relationship issues of his own, tries to help a youngster, Haley Joel Osment, who claims to be able to see dead people.

The Sixth Sense is a taut, suspenseful ghost story anchored by a gigantic plot twist, which I will not relate here for the benefit of the two or three people who haven't seen the film yet. Days after originally seeing the film in the theater, I saw it again to make sure the entire film was true to the twist. It was, and I was impressed. Sadly, like some other films on this list, The Sixth Sense doesn't really lend itself to repeated viewings. Once you know the twist, its power diminishes considerably.  Still, I am including this film at the top of the list because of its cleverness and the punch it packs initially. That said, I doubt I will ever watch it again, unless I am seeing it with someone who had never saw it before.


Honorable Mention:

Candyman, 1992. The haunting Philip Glass score sets the tone for this really effective horror film based on a book by Clive Barker. This film hovered right below the Top 10. Jacob's Ladder, 1990. I saw this film on a number of other lists. I don't consider it a horror movie, just a horrible movie. I think I walked out of it in the theater. Misery, 1990. Doesn't quite fit into my criterion for a horror film. Flatliners, 1990.  Good idea, but a little too slick and Brat Packy for my taste. Superior to the recent sequel. It, 1990. I originally liked this TV mini-series based on the Stephen King novel, especially Tim Curry's performance, but the film doesn't hold up. Really cornball compared to the recent version. Stir of Echoes, 1999. Kevin Bacon delivers in a pretty good ghost story based on the novel by the fabulous Richard Matheson. Innocent Blood, 1992. I have always been a sucker for both modern vampire and mob films. Therefore this one was a natural, but I dock it a few points because of John Landis' involvement. (I still remember Vic Murrow!) Needful Things, 1993. An often overlooked Stephen King adaptation with good performances by Max Von Sydow and Ed Harris. Wolf, 1994. This is what happens when a group of A-Listers go slumming to make a werewolf movie. Interesting, but not entirely effective. Lord of Illusions, 1995. I like this film better than Clive Barker's earlier directorial effort Hellraiser. The Rapture, 1991.  Not quite a horror, but this film, written and directed by Michael Tolkin and starring Mimi Rogers, offers an interesting take on the Biblical End Times.

Other Lists:



My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.


Learn more about the book, click Here.

Watch the book trailer:

  

Listen to me read some chapters here:


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Monday, July 2, 2018

CHAPEL STREET - Chapter 10 - The Motorcycle


Here's another sample chapter of my novel Chapel Street.  Keep checking back for more!


Chapter 10

The Motorcycle

I headed into my bedroom to throw the dirty towels into the hamper. Then I went into the bathroom to wash my hands. There was still plenty of cleanup to do, and I fully intended to go to the electronics store to get another keyboard and mouse, but when I sat down on the edge of my bed, I became deathly tired. I fell backwards, and I was asleep instantly.
The sound of a motorcycle woke me. Not a motorcycle—the motorcycle—Lenny’s motorcycle.
Lenny rarely owned cars. He sold cars for a living and borrowed ones from the dealership for his personal use. On the weekends, he always rode his big Harley Davidson motorcycle for fun. It was also his primary form of transportation when he was out of his mind. The sound of that motorcycle during the middle of the week was a telltale sign that Lenny was off his meds. The roar of that engine at night always inspired dread in my mother, my sister Janet, and myself. I could pick out that specific engine out of a thousand others. It was ingrained into my mind. That roar meant we would soon be wrestling Lenny to the ground and dragging him off to the hospital to be forcibly committed.
I opened my eyes just as the motorcycle pulled into the driveway. I turned to my alarm clock. 3:00 am. But something was wrong. That wasn’t my current alarm clock. It was the one from my bedroom in the old house. I looked around the room in the darkness. The contours of the furniture also told me that I was back in my second floor bedroom of our house on St. Helens Street, where I lived until I was thirty-one-years-old.
This isn’t real, I told myself. It’s just another dream. I shook my head back and forth quickly and opened my eyes again. My relief was palatable when I found myself back in my apartment bedroom. I fell back in bed and pulled the blanket over myself despite the fact I was still dressed from the afternoon.
Then I heard a key in the lock of my outer apartment door. I sat up. No one else had a key to my apartment except Gina, and I was sure that wasn’t her. Probably just a drunk neighbor at the wrong door, I told myself, calming slightly.
Then I heard the door open. WTF?   Who could that be?  Like a scared child, I threw myself back in bed and covered myself with a blanket. A light went on in the living room. I could see it under the bottom of my bedroom door. I heard footsteps, but they didn’t come all the way down to my bedroom. It sounded like they stopped near the kitchen. My guess was confirmed when I heard my cabinets open and close and the rattle of some pots and pans. Then came the voice.
“Mom, where’s the hot dogs?”
It was Lenny, adult Lenny, with his stupid hot dogs.
When Lenny was crazy, he would disappear for days or weeks at a time only to show up in the middle of the night to cook some hot dogs. He’d boil them in a pot on the stove, but he invariably fell asleep before they were finished. The water would boil off, and the hot dogs would start burning. Before long, the smoke alarms would be ringing, and the house would smell like burnt hot dogs for a week.
“Mom, where’s the hot dogs?” he shouted again, this time louder.
“She’s dead,” I shouted back, immediately regretting it. Note to self—you don’t shout when you’re trying to hide. It’s counterproductive to say the least.
More footsteps. This time they came directly to my bedroom door. I could see movement underneath the bottom of the door. Someone was really standing there because this wasn’t a dream. I had already woken up. Right?
There was a knock on the door. “You in there, man?” Lenny asked.
No way was I going to answer him. My thoughts went on the door itself. Did I lock it?  No. Why would I?  I immediately toyed with the idea of jumping up and locking the door, but instead, I just pulled the blanket the rest of the way over myself.
After another knock, the door creaked open. I heard footsteps as the person entered the room. I was shaking with fear as he stopped near my bed. “What are you doing under there, Ricky?” he asked. “Beating off?”
I stopped moving. Silence, then I heard a match being struck. I peeked out from under the blanket to see Lenny, looking more or less the way he did around the time of his death, leaning against my dresser drawers lighting up a cigarette. That was just like him. He was always so inconsiderate when he was off his meds.
“It’s a smoke free building,” I said, despite myself.
“Really?  When did this stop being America?” Lenny asked, making eye contact with me as he took a puff. “I’m glad I’m dead.”
“You’re not Lenny,” I said.
“Then who am I?”
“You’re her,” I replied. “Elisabetta Kostek.”
“The lady from the picture?”
“Yeah.”
“Ricky, you’re supposed to be the smart one. Use your head,” Lenny answered. “How would she know about The Kobayashi Maru?”
Good question, but my answer came quickly. “You can read my mind.”
“And you were thinking about The Kobayashi Maru when?”
Good point. I hadn’t thought about it since Charlie’s funeral.
“I can prove I’m Lenny,” he said.
“How?” I asked.
 “Ask me something you don’t know.”
“What?”
“If you don’t know the answer to the question, I can’t be pulling it from your mind,” he answered. “Right?”
“But how do I know you’re not just going to make up an answer.”
“Ask me the question. I’ll give you the answer and someone who can back me up.”
I didn’t necessarily think this was a smart game to play with this person before me, but I couldn’t resist. “What happened to your motorcycle?” I asked.
That was something I had wondered about. It disappeared a few weeks before his death, and its fate really worried our mother because the State of Maryland threatened to fine us over its missing license plates.
“At the bottom of the Gunpowder River about a mile east of Belair Road,” Lenny replied; then he laughed. “I was really nuts then. Pete and me were doing some trails, and I saw a little hill that looked like a perfect ramp. I bet Pete twenty bucks I could jump over the river. He said I couldn’t, and he was right. It’s probably still there in about six feet of water. We tried to get it out, but it was wedged between some rocks. I’m lucky I didn’t die that night. Ask Pete about it. He’ll tell you.”
Lenny took a contemplative drag from his cigarette.
“You know, I wish I would’ve died then. It would have been a much better way to go. More fun. People would still be talking about it,” Lenny said.
“People still talk about you,” I said quietly.
“That’s cool,” he said, and then he added, “I liked that memorial you put online for me. Very touching.”
“You saw it?”
“Of course.”
Silence.
“I have a question for you,” I said.
“Shoot,” he answered.
“If you really are Lenny, why did you try to trick me into jumping off my balcony?”
“Because you’re my brother, man, and I love you,” he said, before he turned and left the room. He called to me as he walked back toward the kitchen. “You sure you don’t have any hot dogs?”
I got up and followed him. I didn’t go into the kitchen with him. I stayed in the dining room and talked to him over the serving island. “If you love me, why do you want me to kill myself?”
Lenny stopped rummaging through my refrigerator and turned to me. “Cause I know where you’re headed, Rick, and I’m trying to make it as painless as possible.”
“Where am I headed?”
“Insanity and death.”
“I’m not crazy,” I responded angrily.
He really struck a nerve. Trust me, when you live in a family touched by multiple suicides, you constantly search yourself for any signs of madness. I had none, the last two days notwithstanding.
“Really?” Lenny asked with a smile. “Then go to work tomorrow and tell everyone you spent half the night talking to your dead brother. Trust me, you’ll go from employee to patient lickety-split.”
He had a point.
“Here’s your options,” Lenny explained. “One, you’re actually talking to your dead brother. That’s crazy. Two, a dead woman you took a picture of at a cemetery is masquerading as your dead brother. That’s really crazy. Or three, you’re sleepwalking yourself onto your balcony two nights in a row in order to jump off. That’s lock ‘em up and throw away the key crazy.”
“I’m not going out on my balcony,” I replied.
“Really?” Lenny replied. “Where do you think you are now?”
“My dining room.”
“Think again,” he replied, his expression sympathetic. “Open your eyes.”
What did he mean?  I was awake. I had been dreaming, but I pulled myself out of it already. Or did I?  I squinted hard, and when I opened my eyes, I discovered Lenny was right. I was out on my balcony again. I was holding onto the railing and looking down ten stories toward certain death.
I backed away slowly until I reassuringly touched the outer wall of the building.
“Lenny?” I whispered, but there was no response.
Maybe he was never there, and maybe I was crazy.
-->


While you're waiting for the next chapter of Chapel Street, feel free to read my memoir:


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