Written as a Film Note for Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“I’m not a storyteller, I’m a man who draws pictures,” says Hayao Miyazaki the super-director of some of the highest grossing Japanese films of all time, such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and most recently, Howl’s Moving Castle.

In Hollywood, children’s films in general and animated ones in particular follow the classical storytelling mold. The protagonist is oblivious, the protagonist faces difficulty and the protagonist overcomes difficulty. While the world that is built around these stories may be extremely detailed and enchanting- such as the talking furniture of Beauty and the Beast or the fun forest friends of Bambi- the story arc of the protagonist is central to the film and the tapestry is for show. Read More »

Written as a Film Note for Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Shane Black, the writer and director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, was the original Hollywood screenwriting fairy tale. At the age of 24, in 1985, he sold his first screenplay for a quarter of a million dollars and in the process invented a certain kind action film that defined Hollywood in the late 80s and early 90s.

That first film was Lethal Weapon. It transformed Mel Gibson from Mad Max to a true k faced a lot of resentment and backlash within the industry over the high price tag of that script combined with its critical and box office failure. At the same time, there was a perceived competition over becoming the “highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood” with writers such as Joe Eszterhas. Also, his talents as a writer were not very highly regarded among some of his peers since Black had stuck to writing action films for the most part of his career. Read More »

Written as a Film Note for Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Stanley Donen was never nominated for an Oscar, so in 1998, the Academy did what was right and awarded him an honorary Academy Award. Donen danced with his Oscar on stage before declaring the secret behind his directorial success. “You show up,” he said. “You show up- and you stay out of the way. But you gotta show up or else you can’t take the credit and win one of these.” Read More »