My script was the best!

[ghalied]

Callaghan, I've been dying to find out what your favourite line(s) of the competition is.

[Nektonic]

Interesting H P Lovecraft is an incredible author and of course you reference the name more as a style/theme than anything particular to his mythos fictional world (albeit the insect like villain does hint at the more cosmic/alien nature of his occult horror.)

I liked it - that was one of the scripts i was reading when i was way too high on coffee - with eyeballs burning like fire (in other words one i could not appreciate right away.)

Scanning over it again it is rich in delicious dark texture. If i were you i'd tap into more Lovecraftian influences (rather than the tried and true biblical good vs evil.) As that is sooooo yankee doodle dandy that its a little contrived (yours isn't!!) But i think developing along the line of your insect baddy (and the idea that heaven ain't exactly heavenly) is definately going along the rick track (in my 'personal' taste based opinion!)

I was thinking something similar after reading it. He could infuse this with all kinds of cool Lovecraftian creatures from the various mythos that old H.P. created. And not that he would have to just transfer one of the creatures from the old stories. Think of Alien, both the creature and its overall cold and desolate tone. It is very Lovecraftian in its basic nature. Obviously, once it was actually conceptualized, H.R. Giger's design sort of took center stage.

What I am attempting to say is that one could take the basic elements of what made Lovecraft's monsters Lovecraftian, and add additional elements to make them into new entities.

Oh and heck how could i forget 'The Man from Tomorrow' - I was reading that while a friend of mine was er getting a little too excited i think watching Basic Instinct - I turned in fact just in time to see the famous Michael Douglas ass in the moonbeam shot (the one where he clenches his buttocks while walking in slow motion.) Suffice to say this crude insertion of a somewhat surreal and perhaps even disturbing image knocked my concentration off. Which was terrible given that this particular script (like any with interesting plots and twists) then required a second reading. I certainly had a Blade Runner style world playing in my head - or at least a cool techno-punk concept. That script could be produced into something very stylish - in fact, if there was ever a script in the competition that would benefit from a trendy French director it would be that. Now of course other folk will have totally different visual takes based on the same script!

Damn you Micheal Douglas. Why do you always have to be cramping my style? He's always on my heels trying to get a role in one of my films. Chill out Mike, I'll find you a role here soon. And lawriejaffa, look on the bright side, at least you weren't subjected to Dennis Franz's naked rump from NYPD Blue.

Seriously, that is hilarious. Thank you for giving it another try after that interruption. Maybe now I'll have to add a scene where Barlowe struts across his apartment naked with only his fedora on. A little something for the ladies in the audience.

As for the style, you got it when you said a French director could do something with this. I was partly inspired by the heady French sci-fi / noir Alphaville, by Jean-Luc Godard. I love the whole retro sci-fi look and feel. I was thinking of going the retro route for the future scenes, sorta like I was writing it from the perspective of a sci-fi scribe from the 40's or 50's. Of course Blade Runner is also a great film, one of my all time favorites. You can't sit down to write a sci-fi / noir and not be somewhat influenced by it, whether consciously or subconsciously.

Cheers!

I think my top five were X-Elixer, Lovecraft and The Man From Tomorrow, Solstice, Candy and Valor. I know that's 6, but I liked them all so much I couldn't really pick one to omiss.

That's not to say of course that the others weren't good - there was not a single script that I thought was even remotely bad - it's just that those are the ones that stand out to me the most!

Thank you for the compliment. I'm humbled to be in with the others you listed.

[CallaghanFilms]

Callaghan, I've been dying to find out what your favourite line(s) of the competition is.

The Callaghan Top 5

#1
"I was just wondering why you didn't bring the girl who taught this chump how to hit."

#2
"I guess that depends on how much they like killing, and how much they like beer."

#3
“I guess I tend to think of myself a bit more Seinfeld than Gandolfini.”

#4
"...which is all well and good. They whisper sweet nothings into your ear. We're not so bad, just misunderstood."

#5
TIE:
"To you time travel is some magic fairy dust crap. But to someone like myself, it's just like taking a shi*. Once you do it enough, it becomes routine."

-and-

"Lick it, love it, ladies”

You asked for it, you got it (Toyota)

[Nektonic]

Sweet. A line from my script made the Callaghan TOP 5.

I'm going to throw out some of my favorites. Please note that this is not a definitive list at all. Just some that popped in spontaneously. And I'm going to be a cheeky bastard and see if you can guess which ones each line comes from. Original authors of the lines listed below, please don't bogart all the fun and tell us "it is from my script."

1. That old chair has waited a long time for just such an.... opportunity.

2. Mister, there are sharks in this water. They're everywhere.

3. Did you say size twelve? I love a man who wears a big boot.

4. This is the wife! Can you believe it? I didn't order her online or anything. I went over and got her myself. She doesn't speak English too good.

5. Come on Viv, if lumpy down there in the garbage can knows then it's not much of a secret now is it?

6. Did like you said... squeezed its little neck till its eyes popped out like red knotted rope.

7. Do I look like the kind of guy who's worried about how he's going to feel in the morning?

8. Yeah, I'm eager for either one of those dames to polish my bayonet over in dream land.

9. It'll be a walk in the park. Duck soup.

10. Well color me impressed. You certainly realize that, if you run with the big dogs, sometimes you have to lift a leg.

Answers are hidden below in the blank space. Highlight the area below to reveal them.

1. Another Man's Dame
2. Solstice
3. Ten Tumbles and a Boom
4. Valor.
5. Angelo's Girl
6. Red Rope
7. Don't Say I Didn't Warn You
8. X-Elixir
9. Wooden Kimono
10. Furious Factions Strong Reactions

[jasonthewho]

Nektonic, I might have to steal the colorful title you gave my film for its thread... It's too awesome...

[nitramlehcar]

Top 5 (no order): Ten Tumbles and a Boom, Valor, Solstice, Trigger Finger, Fun Palace

[preston]

i think this thread is evidence that the suspense is killing us!

good luck everyone!

[Nektonic]

Nektonic, I might have to steal the colorful title you gave my film for its thread... It's too awesome...

Go ahead. Steal away.

Oh, and since we were talking about Micheal Douglas a few posts downwind, I forgot to mention a not too well known Douglas film that would qualify as a neo-noir... it is called The Star Chamber. I got it for like 3 bucks at Circuit City the other day. You should all try to give it a rent if you can. Its from the 80's but is pretty good. And don't worry, as far as I remember he isn't naked in it anywhere.

[alex whitmer]

i think for me one of the big standouts was 'Another Man's Dame.' For me it was probably because it managed to fuse a challenging futuristic concept with a noir perspective (that i personally find appealing) so succesfully - with some tongue firmly in cheek. It was a script that worked on several creative levels.

Thanks for the nod.

And per yours, I have to say when I saw how your title worked it's way into the story, I felt it was quite brilliant. The big payoff and the title delivered on a silver platter!!

This fest was amazing. Truly great stories and hard to pick even 5 without going back and re-thinking - 'but wait ...' and then starting all over.

Technical merit was at an all-time high, creative storytelling even Hollywood would do well to aspire to, and great camaraderie in the threads.

And best of all, the twists.

Hats off to all.

aw

[Nektonic]

And per yours, I have to say when I saw how your title worked it's way into the story, I felt it was quite brilliant. The big payoff and the title delivered on a silver platter!!

Yeah, the way the title on Red Rope was revealed was really great.

This fest was amazing. Truly great stories and hard to pick even 5 without going back and re-thinking - 'but wait ...' and then starting all over.

Technical merit was at an all-time high, creative storytelling even Hollywood would do well to aspire to, and great camaraderie in the threads.

Hollywood better watch out. We're nipping right at their heels like an angry pack of wild Shelties.

And best of all, the twists.

M. Night is crapping himself right about now.