Movies, Screenwriting & Independent Film
Header

Rainy Sundays: Hook

January 23rd, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Movies | Rainy Sundays - (0 Comments)

Welcome to the new look Rainy Sundays feature!

When I was growing up, Disney’s spectacular Peter Pan was IT. 

“You can fly, you can fly, you can fly, you can fly…”

If you matched those lyrics with the tune you understand exactly how much I loved that movie.

Along came a VHS copy of Hook for Christmas.  Knowing the legendary story of Peter Pan as I did, I was beyond excited to see what Captain Hook and Peter Pan were up to in REAL life. 

So many movies come out today that claim to be re-imaginings.  Most of the time, I always question why they make certain decisions with the material.  It’s frustrating when someone takes a story you love and changes things.  This is one example of filmmakers taking giant leaps with the story and getting it right. 

“Peter, don’t you know who you are?”

Returning To Neverland

Steven Spielberg’s film is unique because it retells the origin story in a fascinating way.  Peter has forgotten who he once was and how to fly and must face his old nemesis Captain Hook in order to save his children.  How can you not be fascinated to see how it all plays out?  Being reintroduced to Neverland was an experience then and it still is today. 

There are moments when you stare at a collection of DVD’s and simply can’t decide what to watch.  It has to be the perfect fit for your mood.  I firmly believe that choosing Hook once in a while is NEVER a bad idea and always fits your mood.  It’s a movie to get excited about and that’s why I love movies.

The Boo Box!

Hook was funny, original, touching and an all around entertaining movie.  However, I wasn’t expecting it to scare the crap out of me.

I’ve included a clip…

It’s the amazing scene where Hook is revealed and we finally get a look at him.  It’s a great introduction to (in my opinion) one of the greatest villains of all time.

Once you get to the 3 minute mark of the clip, imagine a boy who is totally engaged in the film and completely wrapped up in the story.  I pretty much believed that Neverland existed at this point. 

Having said that, the very concept of The Boo Box was terrifying!  Check out the scene.  Those scorpions have haunted me ever since.  I remember distinctly thinking how sad it was that everyone was cheering while this poor dude is being dragged to the box.  The magic of film.

Afraid of The Boo Box?  Read How To Survive The Boo Box HERE

Amazing Adventures

I have a section of my DVD collection that includes classics like Goonies, Labyrinth, The Wizard Of Oz, The NeverEnding Story, Willow, Dark Crystal and more.  (I’d like to take this opportunity to praise The Water Horse as well for nailing it.  I liked that movie a lot.)  Hook is with them in spirit because I still haven’t upgraded my VHS copy yet.  Be honest, who in their right mind would mix VHS and DVD’s on the same shelf!

The inspiration for this week’s post came while thinking about the new Alice In Wonderland’senormous potential.  The concepts are very similar as both Alice and Peter Pan’s adventures continued years after they left their fantasy world’s behind.  I’m really excited to return to Wonderland much like I was when I returned to Neverland years ago.  It’s the same with all films that belong on shelves like mine.

The rabbit holes, glass slippers and giant dragon-dogs remain with all of us because they got a firm grip on our imaginations and haven’t let go.  The memories of these films are treasured by millions.  Today, I think it’s time to revisit one of the classics.  You remember where it is right?

Second star to the right and straight on till morning.

I love adventure films. Hook is a spectacular addition to the Rainy Sundays list.

PS: Anyone think happy thoughts while reading this?  Did you fly?  Neither did I.  IT NEVER WORKS!

PS #2: I’m never going to stop trying.  I’ll keep you posted on any and all progress I make.

PS #3: In regards to the new Rainy Sundays logo…  I love it.  Normally, I tell people that my photoshop skills can be described as ‘Not Sucking”.  I’ve now upgraded myself to ‘Decent’  (I’ll have more on this subject in a later post.)

, , , , , , ,

I Like Working: The Follow Up

January 21st, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in 17 West | Design | Filmmaking | Screenwriting | Strings | The Climb - (0 Comments)

Earlier in the week, I updated you on the gigantic strings meeting we had on Saturday.  It was the main event of my huge list of tasks I wanted to get caught up on.

Click here to check out how epic the list actually was.

My days off are now behind me and here’s where we stand:

Strings

Strings now has a brand new shooting draft that I finished up yesterday. It’s always nice to finish a rewrite that doesn’t sacrifice story yet comes in 3.5 pages lighter.  I spent a lot of time trying to think of more interesting ways to stage scenes and really strengthened my descriptions.  Usually, I’ll tweak a lot of dialogue as well but those scenes worked really well so I left them alone.

We’ve also spent the last few days gathering paperwork together and composing letters with Ian overseeing the process.  We’re definitely on our way with this short film.

The Climb

I really need the snow to melt so we can start the location scouting.  Our two main actors have now read the new draft of the script and are just as excited to get started.

I spent some time over the last few days reading the script and really nailing down the visual style I have planned for the film.

Web Design

Here is a category that I destroyed over the last few days. There were a lot of housekeeping duties to perform on the sites.  A lot of little things needed to be done and it adds up quickly.  17west.ca received the bulk of the work. (More on that later.)  All in all, I’d say 70% of Tuesday was spent working on the websites.

I also continued working on the new look jaymckinnon.com.  I don’t think I’ll be making any big changes until the summer but getting a start never hurts.

Beyond that, theathleticnerd.com got some new logos, graphics and posts.  Many of which I’ll be rolling out in the next week or so.

I basically made sure I was fully caught up as we get closer to our deadlines for the films.  I can honestly say, I’m completely caught up on all my web design work.  It’s a great feeling.

Screenwriting

I managed to crank out the new draft of Strings which is a big check mark on my list.

Last night I spent a lot of time with my new feature. I didn’t finish the number of pages I wanted to but progress is always a plus.  It helps that this project has no deadline.

In addition to that, I officially started gathering notes for a new short that may end up being Eric’s next short film.  I’m not entirely sure when I’ll start writing it but the development is well on it’s way.

Whew!

“Find a job you love, never work a day in your life”

Weeks like this can get pretty crammed with work but they are important in order to stay on top of things.  As of today, I have no more pressing work digging a whole in my brain.  I now face about 6 weeks of relatively free time to be social and work on NEW material.

Until then, I’ll be updating often.

, , , , , , , ,

Screenwriting: The Back Story (Mine)

January 21st, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Screenwriting - (0 Comments)

When I was younger, I used to write short stories all the time.  The goal was always to take the plunge and pump out a novel but I was ultimately too lazy for that.  I tried to find a short cut by writing a series of short stories in the hopes that a novel would be the result.  I just couldn’t get my head around the enormous word count.

It’s ironic because when I finally settled on a writing style that suited me, it meant more work than I ever imagined… 

Screenwriting & Dial-Up Modems

Back when we still had dial-up internet and shareware games dominated most of my free time, I stumbled across the screenplay format.  For years, I had been making movies with my friends but we had been making them up as we went along.  There was never a script because none of us had ever seen one.

In those days, we filmed our movies in order with virtually no room for error and no time for scripting.

Discovering screenwriting was a turning point in my life.  Screenplays had far less pages and a miniscule word count when compared to novels.  I had found my outlet.  I would write screenplays.  It’s funny how I found my passion in life through laziness.  I find that humerous.

Studying the format

Right off the bat, I thought that producing a script would be easy.  I was mistaken.  However, I was so fascinated with the medium that I soon became obsessed.  I made hundreds of trips to libraries sometimes borrowing the same books multiple times.  I devoured every book and resource I could get my hands on for years before I felt comfortable enough to write my own scripts.  I started a bunch but I always felt like I would learn something new that would render my efforts useless.

In the mean time, my parents kept buying me books on plot, character, form and more.  Each new page I read taught me more and more about the craft. (In an upcoming post, I’ll be listing the books that have inspired me over the years.)

By the time I was 16, I had gathered enough knowledge to give it a shot.  The story was called Action and it was about the mafia finding a way to steal people’s money electronically using a ‘device’ called Mya.  I wrote it using a template in Microsoft Word.

My First Screenplay

Note: Above is a picture of the elusive script.  There aren’t many who have seen it and less than 5 on the planet Earth who have read it. 

The story featured a ton of action as you may have guessed.  It also had people named Spear and about a million spelling mistakes.  Entertaining to read though.  Lets just say I’ve evolved since then.

Action was the catalyst.  The moment I finished that script I was hooked.  When I printed it out for the first time, I knew I would be writing screenplays the rest of my life.  It’s too much fun! 

I’ve been addicted ever since.

, , , , , ,

10 Flicks: Eric’s Top 10 of 2009

January 19th, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in 10 Flicks | Movies - (0 Comments)

10 Flicks Movie Lists

My business partner Eric Gamache is a film encyclopedia.  You may not hear from him on our network of websites as often as me but he definitely loves movies.  He prefers to spend his time behind the scenes.  It’s understandable.  Regardless, he’s a massive film nerd and breathes movies on a daily basis.  Recently, Eric informed me that he posted his top 10 films of 2009 on his Facebook page.  I LOST it on him. 

Why didn’t you send me the list?  I could have posted it on the site!  Traffic Eric!  TRAFFIC!

Actually, it didn’t really go down like that… Mostly.  I freaked out because I believe having his top 10 on this site is an important addition to this blog.  So for the first time in The Athletic Nerd’s history, we will now here from Producer/Director Eric Gamache. (And by that, I mean I basically copied the list from his Wall.)

Here they are:

  • 10. Star Trek
  • 9. The Hurt Locker
  • 8. Up In The Air
  • 7. The Road
  • 6. Moon
  • 5. Inglourious Basterds
  • 4. Paranormal Activity
  • 3. Up
  • 2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
  • 1. Avatar

If I have it my way, this won’t be the last we hear of Eric. 

You hear that dude? I won’t stop asking!

Also, in case you are interested in comparing:

My Top 5 of 2009

My Bottom 3 of 2009

PS: I almost want to jam a terrible movie in his list… Perhaps I’ll squeeze Dragonball in there at number 2? Nah…

, , , , ,

10 Flicks: Yearly Favorites

January 19th, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in 10 Flicks | Featured Posts | Movies - (3 Comments)

10 Flicks Movie Lists

A little while ago, a reader asked me which movies I make sure to watch every year. (Great idea for a post by the way sir)  I put some thought into it and came up with a very diverse list of movies.

I have to admit there are some films that HAVE to be on this list but are relatively new releases.  I wanted to focus on movies I’ve been watching once a year for more than… A year.

I also cheated and went beyond the required 10.  Crafty, investigative readers will notice that there are actually 15 movies on this list.  I don’t feel bad.

I decided to base the list on movies that make me feel like writing.  Films I turn to when I’m stuck or on rare occasions when my heart isn’t 100% into the story I’m working on.  These are the movies I’ll watch in order to ignite the creative fire. (I’ll have more on this topic on a later post… And by later I mean really, really soon.)

So here they are:

10 Movies I watch once a year

Honorable Mention: Goodfellas, Forest Gump, Signs, Proof, Unbreakable, Saving Private Ryan

The Sixth Sense

M. Night Shyamalan may have made a few duds but there is no denying how amazing his first 3 movies were.  The ending of The Sixth Sense was ruined for me yet I still thought the movie was spectacular. His overall style of writing and approach to filmmaking is a constant source of inspiration.

I also recommend reading The Man Who Heard Voices by Michael Bamberger.

Gladiator/The Last Samurai

THE double feature.  Once a year, I set aside an afternoon and watch these two films back to back.  I highly recommend it.  I also recommend chips.  It’s an all around fantastic afternoon.

Check out my Rainy Sundays post on Gladiator here.

A Few Good Men

One of my favorite screenplays of all time.  I love this movie but I’m inspired by the writing.  I’m not even going to bother quoting the famous lines from the epic final scene.  You have already thought about it and probably said it out loud.  Don’t believe me?  Maybe you can’t handle the truth. (Yes… I went there)

The Matrix Trilogy

The number one reason why I’m obsessed with films.  These movies were the catalyst for what became a daily routine of hunting for any and all movie news.  To this day, I don’t understand why people hated Reloaded and Revolutions.  I agree they weren’t as good as the original but you can’t you admit they were at least mildly entertaining?  They entertain me on a yearly basis.

Good Will Hunting

The only reason why A Few Good Men isn’t my all time favorite screenplay is because Good Will Hunting exists.  What an incredible movie this is.  I definitely watch this flick several times a year.

Garden State

Out of all the movies on this list, my writing style resembles this movie the most.  (Dramas and comedies at least.  Not horror.)  It’s such an amazing original story.  Great movie.

A Beautiful Mind

I love listening to John Nash talk about his work.  Makes me want to talk about my work and I LOVE to do that.

The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

Once or twice a year, I watch the extended editions of these movies.  Then I watch every single minute of special features.  That adds up to 25-30 hours of filmmaking magic and one dedicated movie fan.

The Shawshank Redemption

I’m fascinated by the world Steven King and Frank Darabont created.  You could also include The Green Mile on this list but I liked Shawshank better. (Don’t get me started on The Mist though.  I did not care for The Mist… It insisted upon itself. Note: You get 2 points if you can name that reference.)

Signs

My all time favorite movie… Of all time. I’ve seen this movie more times than any other in the history of the world.  M. Night Shyamalan’s classic continues to inspire me.  I easily watch this movie 6-8 times a year.  Sometimes more.  I loved Signs.  Signs was a phenominal movie.

Dear Crafty, Investigative People: You’ve probably also noticed that Signs is also an Honorable Mention.  I felt it was necessary to name this movie twice.  That is all.

PS: Greg, the reader who suggested this post also has a blog.  Check it out here.

, , , , , ,