The Stanford Prison Experiment

Genre: Drama
Premise: Based on a true story, in 1971, a Stanford professor initiated one of the most controversial university experiments of all time, recreating a simulated prison environment with volunteers. Within hours, the experiment spun out of control.
About: The Stanford Prison Experiment is a 2006 script written by Christopher McQuarrie and Tim Talbott for McQuarrie to direct. McQuarrie had assembled a great cast that included Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi, Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Eisenberg, Paul Dano, Jamie Bell, Ben McKenzie, and others, but just as the project was getting ready to go, Valkyrie emerged, and McQuarrie had to make a tough decision on whether to produce that film or direct this one.  It was a difficult choice but he ultimately went with Valkyrie. You might remember I reviewed a more recent McQuarrie screenplay, One Shot, a couple of months back.
Writers: Tim Talbott & Christopher McQuarrie
Details: 122 pages – August 7, 2006 Draft (This is an early draft of the script. The situations, characters, and plot may change significantly by the time the film is released. This is not a definitive statement about the project, but rather an analysis of this unique draft as it pertains to the craft of screenwriting).

So I’d been hearing about how good this script was for-evvvvv-er but the reason I hadn’t picked it up is because I’d seen “Das Experiment” (A German film covering the same territory - it was pretty good) and figured I already knew the story, so what was the point? But this script had a nasty habit of not going away. It just kept popping up on my radar. And due to the recent slate of less than stellar scripts here on Scriptshadow, I decided to read something I knew was going to be a quality screenplay.

Whereas Das Experiment took the subject matter and went all “creative license” with it, Chris and Tim seem to be more interested in exploring how things *really* went down on that fateful week in 1971. The event centers around an arrogant Stanford Professor named Dr. Philip Zimbrado who thought it’d be interesting to study the effects of how prisoners and guards interact with one another in a prison setting.

So he put an ad in the paper and narrowed the applicants down to 30 people, most of them in the 19-25 age range. 9 of them were made guards and the rest prisoners. Zimbardo then set up a make-shift jail and began the experiment.

Immediately, things started getting weird. The volunteers were led to believe this was going to be a fun little experiment they could leave at any moment. Zimbardo had another plan, however. His goal was to strip away every “prisoner’s” humanity, make them feel like dirt, and study how this affected them. So right when they arrived, the prisoners were literally stripped naked and de-liced. They were then given smocks that barely covered anything. The experience was humiliating but they still went along with it, figuring things would get better.

They didn’t.

One of the guards, a cocksure 18 year old sociopath named David Eshleman, decided to take his role very seriously, to the point where he changed his Northeastern accent to a Southern one. He took on the persona of a meaner creepier version of himself who didn’t take shit from anybody. He began harassing the prisoners with a vengeance. And if any of them got out of line, he’d send them to “the hole,” a box so tiny you couldn’t even stand up in it.

One of the prisoners, 22 year old Doug Corpi, quickly realized that if the prisoners didn’t stand up for their rights, they were about to experience two weeks of torture. So he began rebelling, refusing to eat food and barricading the cell entrances so the guards couldn’t get inside. Eshelman didn’t back down. He told the other inmates that unless Corpi started abiding by the rules, they wouldn’t eat. They wouldn’t get bathroom breaks.

It was a standoff. A hatred began building between the two sides, fueled by Corpi and Eshelman, and it was clear that only 48 hours in, things were out of control. But did Zimbardo stop? No. He was too fascinated by the interaction. He wanted more.

Soon, the psychological exhaustion of dealing with the relentless guards began to take its toll, and the prisoners started breaking down. They went to Zimbardo, begging for help, but since they never specifically asked to leave, he wouldn’t let them go. He’d force them right back into their cells to endure more psychological terror.

His biggest fascination, however, was Eshelman. He wanted to see how far he would go. The problem with that was Eshelman wanted to see how far he could take it. So he just got worse and worse and worse until he was a bona fide monster. But since no one was telling him to stop, he kept going. He devoted his entire shifts to torturing the inmates.

At a certain point, things became so ridiculously out of control, that Zimbardo had no choice but to stop the experiment, a mere six days in. It was not due to any sympathy on his part. It was only because his staff couldn’t bear it anymore. And just like that, it was over. The prisoners were released from their cells and told to go home.

Man, I don’t even know if I can talk about this script in screenwriting terms. I was just so fucking…..ANGRY at Zimbardo and Eshelman. These people were tortured for six straight days and there were no consequences for their torturers! They just got to smile and shrug their shoulders at the end and call it a day.

I think this is why this script leaves such an impression. There aren’t many movies where the bad guys get to mercilessly torture the good guys without any payback. It just feels so…unfair.

Especially in the case of Zimbardo, the smarmy piece of shit who came up with the idea. He just watches the whole thing with this evil little grin on his face, allowing these men to be berated and humiliated. I wanted to find out where he lived and conduct my own little experiment on him.

And you want to talk about a script with awkward mechanics. You know our hero? Corpi? Yeah well he goes insane and leaves the movie at the 65% point. So our main character is just gone. It’s a little like Psycho in that sense. After Corpi leaves, we’re sitting there going, “Who is it we’re now supposed to follow? Whose story is it now?” And at a certain point we realize it’s Zimbardo’s. We’re stuck with this manipulating douche-bag monster for the rest of the film.

You’ll also notice the script has a ton of characters, which I thought I’d bring up because last week I went off on Cities of Refuge for having too many characters. First of all, it’s important to remember that McQuarrie was directing this himself. So the only person who had to remember all these characters was him. But he and Tim also do something unique with the characters at the beginning of the screenplay. They tell you they're going to name them, but to pay no attention to their names. Because they’re not people in this movie. They’re rats in a maze. They’re nobodies.

Truthfully, the only people we have to remember are Korpi, Eshelman, Zimbardo, and a few minor characters.

This isn’t a GSU movie either. The driving force behind the movie is not a goal – it’s a question. What’s going to happen to these people? What’s going to happen in this situation? And because the situation is so compelling (every single scene is packed with conflict), we want to find out.

The thing about the script that baffles me most, though, is the lack of stakes. Going into this, I thought for sure I wouldn’t care because the stakes were so low. It’s just an experiment – and an experiment at a prestigious University at that. You knew nothing could get *too* bad. I mean any of the prisoners could get up, say they had enough, and walk out without any consequences.

And yet despite this, I was still riveted by their predicament. I’m still not sure how Talbott and McQuarrie managed to do this. I think part of it may be that humans always respond passionately towards a) people being taken advantage of, and b) people abusing their power. Since both of those scenarios were on full display here, we were invested in the story from the moment those prisoners walked into their cells.

I’m still pissed off there were no repercussions for Zimbardo and Eshelmen though. I wanted somebody to go down at the end of this. But you’ll have a tough time finding another screenplay out there that pulls you into its story as effectively as this one.

[ ] What The Hell Did I Just Read?
[ ] wasn’t for me
[ ] worth the read
[x] impressive
[ ] genius

What I learned: A lot of writers are looking for that perfect “save the cat” moment, the thing that’s going to make the audience fall in love with their main character. They forget, however, that an often more effective way of making us like the main character is to “kick the owner.” If we see the bad guy beat down our protagonist, a much stronger “sympathy” bond is created between us and the character, resulting in our steadfast support of him for the rest of the movie. You see that here in spades (you also saw it in The Shawshank Redemption). So remember, saving the cat isn’t your only option. Kicking the owner creates a similar – and often – more powerful effect.

Priority Run

Genre: Action/Thriller
Premise: A small group of correctional officers and inmates must band together to fend off a mysterious attack when their prison bus is sabotaged on a remote stretch of highway.
About: This script originally went into select production companies late last year - which landed the writer, Terrance Mulloy, meetings all over town. This new revised draft went wide a few weeks back, garnering the interest of a few A-list producers, and as a result, the writer is now working on a variety of projects. Terrance is repped by UTA and FilmEngine.
Writer: Terrance Mulloy
Details: July 30, 2010 draft (This is an early draft of the script. The situations, characters, and plot may change significantly by the time the film is released. This is not a definitive statement about the project, but rather an analysis of this unique draft as it pertains to the craft of screenwriting).


Back in the day, I used to trade barbs with Terrance on a few screenwriting message boards. I remember him steadfastly defending Avatar two full years before it came out, standing by it through thick and thin (including the advanced screening debacle), and him insisting that the movie and 3-D were going to be the next big thing. I told him 3-D was a gimmick and that people would never accept wearing bulky glasses in a theater. I think it’s safe to say Terrance won the Avatar 3-D battle, but I may still win the 3-D war. :)

Anyway, I was excited when I heard that Terrance was making some noise in Hollywood with his spec script, “Priority Run.” That’s one of the great things about the message boards, is you actually watch, in real time, as writers emerge and find their way into the industry, which makes you realize it’s not impossible – that it can be done. Anyway, I set out to find the script myself and finally, I have it in my grubby little hands.

Priority Run centers around single mother Anna Wilson, a correctional officer at a New Mexico state prison. Anna’s been working around the clock and feeling guilty for neglecting her daughter. So she carves out some much needed vacation time to make it up to her. Unfortunately, the captain’s got other plans. The facility has a priority run – a handful of monster criminals they need relocate to another prison – and the captain wants the experienced Anna on the bus. She says no thanks but it turns out not to be a question. I guess that trip to the aquarium will have to wait.

Anna’s joined on this ride of terror by a jumpy rookie named Calloway, a seasoned vet named Jim, and a generously pudgy driver, Keppler. The prisoners they’ll be transporting are some mean ass motherfuckers, the kind of guys who would make those pussies on Con Air give up an aisle seat. But none of these men comes close to William McBride, who’s what you’d get if you crossed Riddick, the Hulk, and Charles Manson. This guy’s his own fucking Armageddon.

So away they roll on this seemingly routine mission, when out of nowhere, in the middle of the desert, they lose radio and cell phone coverage. This is followed by some dark SUVs in the rear view mirror and all of a sudden this routine mission is looking decidedly un-routine. Sure enough, the cars close in and manage to flip the bus over into a ditch. However, this wasn’t exactly in the plans for the bad guys, as the flip positions the bus in such a way where Anna and the others have perfect cover. Flip fail.


But she and her men are now in a number of predicaments, starting with what they do with the prisoners. Do they unlock them? Can they trust them? They know if they just leave them locked up, they’ll be killed. But who’s the bigger danger? The guys outside the bus or the ones inside? Also, Anna doesn’t know what these bad guys want. Could it be they’re after one of their prisoners? And if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to keep them locked up? Whatever the handbook says, it clearly never covered this situation.

As the story unfolds, prisoners are indeed let go and start making up their own protocol. Some guys make a run for it, and just like you'd expect, they don't get very far. They also learn the real reason behind why they’ve been targeted, which may or may not involve one of the officers. Eventually, they have to make the biggest decision of all, whether to release William McBride. He may just be their only chance at survival, but that's only if he doesn't kill them first.

Priority Run is a good old fashioned action film. This isn’t Butter. Men shoot each other. Other men die. We like it.

One of the things I dug right away was the attention to detail. Terrance really sets up the correctional facility and the bus and the prisoners so that you believe this run is happening. Too many writers figure it’s an action film so who the hell cares if it’s authentic. But if we don’t believe in the world you’ve created, we’re not going to believe your story.

I also thought putting a woman at the center of this all was a great choice. Who worse to be in charge of a group of delinquent overgrown muscle-bound killers than a supposedly “week” little woman. It gives the story that “same but different” element which separates it from your average DTV Jean Claude Van Damme vehicle.


Nor is this overstylized nonsense. Anna’s just a working-class woman trying to support her child any way she can. She can’t run up the wall like Trinity or brandish double Berettas like Salt. She’s just a hard-nosed chick in a bad situation trying to survive so she can see her daughter again.

What surprised me was that this kind of thing really happens. They have women officers in male prisons believe it or not. Knowing what I've seen on some of those History Channel prison documentaries and how easily a prisoner can kill an officer, this was pretty shocking to me.

My issues with the story center around two things. The first is McBride. I think it takes too long to get him out. I love stories where a character has to depend on the worst possible person to help them out of a jam. That’s why Pitch Black was so good. They needed to depend on the crazy fucked up serial killer who cared about no one but himself to get out alive. Speaking of Pitch Black, imagine if they didn’t let Riddick out until 3/4 of the way through the story. That’s kinda how it felt here. I understood why Terrance did it. The location is extremely small – a bus – so if you bring him out too early, where do you go with him? It’s not like he has an entire planet to roam around on like Riddick did. But still, McBride is the draw here. He’s the potential break out star of this film, and it doesn’t feel like he gets the star treatment. For a large chunk in the middle, he disappears completely, and I don’t think that should happen.

My other main issue was that the plot lacked that one big twist to bust it over the top. Not to keep bringing up Pitch Black, but I loved all the little surprises that film had – when they found out the planet would be bathed in dark soon, that that’s when the aliens came out to feed, when we find out that Johns isn’t a cop, when we find out the boy is a girl. The script never lets you relax which is what made it so fun. In Priority Run, the only real twist is when we find out why they’re being targeted. And it’s not that surprising because we’re expecting an explanation anyway and the explanation is a mite predictable. I think Priority Run could benefit from a few more surprises.

But overall, this is a really fun ride. It’s a blast to see all of Terrance’s influences as he writes, which also happen to be my own: Die hard, Aliens, Pitch Black, The Road Warrior. And Terrance has all sorts of fun writing it, embracing an aggressive entertaining style that starts with the very first line of the script: “Buckle Up.” If Terrance plays his cards right, he could be one of the go-to scribes for Hollywood’s big action films. Really good stuff here. But I still think 3-D is going to die. :)

[ ] What the hell did I just read?
[ ] wasn’t for me
[x] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius

What I learned: Watching Terrance break in, it brought me back to one of the questions posed by a commenter Monday. He asked if a “nobody” writer could ever hope to get his scripts read in Hollywood. I thought Dan’s (writer of Monday’s script) answer was excellent, so I’m re-posting it here:

If you work hard enough you can get your script into many hands in the biz. It will take time and a lot of hard work so you need to be really dedicated to your craft and career.

Join a writers' group and an online community; read (many) other scripts and give notes and network with fellow writers in your position; you can all trade info and referrals when they come up. Use their notes (and ideally the notes of a pro reader, if you can spend a little extra money, and a pro writer if you can find one who will agree to read your work) to REWRITE and improve your craft. Enter some contests, see how you do, get some feedback. REWRITE. Improve your craft. Write another script, show it to your group, enter a few more contests. REWRITE.

Assuming this script is squarely in a commercially proven genre with a defined audience and at a low budget (hint hint) then post on Inktip.com; gauge the response, hopefully you'll get a few requests, maybe a few bites. Attend a conference or film festival, do more networking, meet people who may have ins with a manager or a producer so you can make a few more submissions.

When you're ready, get the WGA list of managers and agents that accept unsolicited material and submit to them. See how you do. You may get some notes, you may not. You may want to REWRITE an existing script based on feedback or you may want to work on a new script that is more focused on a commercial audience and genre so a Rep will look at it as something easier to sell in the current market.

When you feel you're ready, WORK THE PHONES to get into the bigger offices. It's not enough to send emails and enter contests, unless you're lucky enough to win a contest and immediately get signed by a rep, but for most of us, you're going to want to launch a flurry of cold calls and try to get an ASSISTANT on the phone who will listen to your logline and short pitch and agree to read your script. This will take time and a lot of tenacity but you may end up with a Manager or Producer that is interested in your script.

Rinse and repeat until you make some $$. Keep in mind that may happen at any one of these stages because you never know who might gel to your concept and your execution. It's all about finding the one person who really likes your material and is willing to sell it to others in town. This may be a scrappy young director with an award-winning short who has $10k from his dentist uncle and wants to make a feature, or it may be a junior agent at UTA or an assistant at Fox Searchlight.

It can be done. It's done every day. But if you're not in it to win it then don't bother. Good luck!

The Way Back

Genre: Drama/Period
Premise: A rag-tag group of prisoners from a 1940 Siberian Prison Camp escape, only to find that escaping was the easy part. They now must traverse hundreds of miles through enemy territory to find freedom.
About: Due to its weighty subject matter, World War 2 setting, “based on a true story” credentials, and prestigious director (Peter Weir), many are picking “The Way Back,” which is already finished and will premiere at the end of the year, as an early Oscar contender. The film stars Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, and a bunch of unknowns. Weir was born in Australia where he made a handful of films before breaking through with the internationally praised Picnic at Hanging Rock, the true story of a group of students from an exclusive girls' school who mysteriously vanish from a school picnic on Valetine's Day in 1900. It’s considered the film that first put Australia on the international filmmaking map.
Writer: Peter Weir
Details: 132 pages – 2008 draft – Inspired by the book “The Long Walk” by Slavomir Rawicz (This is an early draft of the script. The situations, characters, and plot may change significantly by the time the film is released. This is not a definitive statement about the project, but rather an analysis of this unique draft as it pertains to the craft of screenwriting).

I’m a big Peter Weir fan. He’s one of the few big-budget directors who marches to the beat of his own drum. If you look at his filmography, he’s made some really interesting stuff. Films like Fearless and Dead Poets Society and The Mosquito Coast and The Truman Show. It can be hard to categorize his films and that’s refreshing in a world where every movie is prepackaged and presold to us before a single frame is shot.

Strangely, Weir’s been absent since his underrated (which, when you think about it, can be said of all his films) 2003 period piece, “Master and Commander.” While that film lacked any single great quality, it did just about everything well. I don’t know what Weir’s been doing for the past seven years, but he certainly hasn’t changed his approach to choosing material. The Way Back is a challenging story that isn't quite like anything you've seen before. 

The script starts out wonderfully. We meet a group of prisoners in a Soviet Labor Camp in the middle of World War 2. It’s the “Casablanca” of camps as you have captured soldiers from dozens of different countries all living together, including the U.S., Yugoslavia, China, Poland, and many others. Of equal importance to the prison’s make-up is the prison’s location. It’s in Siberia. I’ve never been to Siberia personally but I know that whenever anybody makes a reference to the middle of nowhere, Siberia’s usually the first analogy that comes up.

This puts our prisoners in a precarious situation. Even if they were to escape, where would they go?

But escape is exactly what our prisoners plan on doing. And it’s a motley cast of characters who make up the conspirators. There’s Valka, the gangster thief of the block. There’s Smith, an American who keeps to himself. There’s Kharbarov, an actor who was sent here after a controversial performance. There’s Zoran, the jokester. There’s Tomasz, the artist. And finally there’s Janusz, the young leader of the group, the one who’s determined to get out of here through hell or high water.

I ain’t going to lie. I was a little disappointed when I realized this wasn’t a jail break script – because that’s what it sets itself up to be. I thought we were going to get another “The Great Escape.” But our characters actually escape pretty early on, and the escape itself isn’t that difficult. You see, The Way Back isn’t about the escape, it’s about what happens after the escape.

When you’re out in the middle of Siberia, there aren’t a lot of places to go. You can follow the roads to the next town – however far away that is – but you’ve been told that there’s a price on the head of every escaped prisoner in these towns. So after some discussion about their predicament and location, they realize that the only country where they’re guaranteed to find safety is Tibet. Now like I mentioned, I never checked the map here, but my impression from their reactions was that Tibet was really fucking far away.

The Way Back is sort of a really sophisticated drama-heavy version of “Alive,” and if you’ve seen that film, you may be saying, “How the hell can you get more drama-heavy than a movie about a plane crash where the survivors start eating each other to stay alive?” Well read “The Way Back” and you’ll know.

We follow this group on a torturous journey through weather so cold your spit freezes before it hits the ground, through sand dunes, through mountains – basically any terrain that can’t be lived on. None of these men really know how to hunt or live off the land outside of a few isolated experiences, so they just kinda keep moving, getting weaker and thinner in their pursuit of Tibet.

There are no gimmicks here. Nobody eats each other. They don’t join the allied lines and become heroes. It’s just a story about survival. A very straightforward story about survival.

I think what’s most disappointing about The Way Back is that neither the characters nor the relationships between the characters is ever explored in any depth. Rarely do these guys talk about who they are or what their lives are like or what their aspirations are or what their philosophies are. A few give us the barest essentials about their past. But I’d be hard pressed to say I knew one character here on anything more than a surface level. I’m not asking for boring on-the-nose dialogue where a character mumbles on for 20 minutes about how his daddy left home when he was four, but this is a 130 page screenplay where the majority of time is spent following a group of people walking. If they’re not talking, getting into their lives, their problems, their flaws, their dreams, their goals, their secrets…how are we expected to care about them?

If there is an exception, it’s Janusz, whose bare essentials backstory is interesting even in its one-sentence soundbite form (He was arrested for being a spy, for which they tortured and killed his wife). I tend to like any character who’s active and leads and has a strong goal and who is sympathetic. Janusz is all these things, a man who would walk through a mountain on two broken legs as long as he was still drawing breath. It’s hard not to get caught up in his drive. But even with that drive, I still couldn’t tell you three things about Janusz after the script was over.

This lack of depth dribbles into the relationships between the characters as well. There’s virtually no conflict inside the group. When a choice is made, pretty much everyone agrees with it. You have a scary character in Valka, the Gangster, yet he turns into a docile puppy once they’re on the road. No real friendships form, and even those that do (between a girl and Smith) seem to evaporate as soon as they’re introduced.  It’s like Weir is challenging us to accept the blasé nature of this group dynamic.

And I’m sure the argument is that the conflict isn't supposed to be man vs man, it's supposed to be man vs. nature. That’s what this is about.  Guys going up against the universe's most lethal force - nature itself.  My only problem with that is, we’ve seen straight-forward “man vs. nature” movies before. I don’t think this is different enough to keep our interest.

Where this really starts to hurt the story is in the second half.  Because the interpersonal dynamic between the characters is so nonexistent, the only thing left to titillate us is the plot. And the plot has our characters, walking, looking for food, dying, walking, looking for food, dying, walking, looking for food, dying, wash rinse repeat wash rinse repeat.  It's extremely repetitive.  The only thing that changes is the locations (snow, desert, mountain), so by the end, we feel like the record is scratched, playing the same few notes over and over again.

If the script has something going for it, it’s that universal theme we can all relate to – Freedom. It may be the most valued commodity on this planet next to air. Watching our characters stare death in the eye in pursuit of this commodity does have a dramatic punch, technically speaking. I mean, despite my above complaints, the story has a very clear drive – Make it to Tibet – and that’s more than I can say for a lot of scripts I read. I just think Weir became so obsessed with that drive, he overlooked a lot of the character stuff.

The Way Back has a great opening act and is an intriguing story of survival against all odds, but its second half isn’t as good as its first. There were too many scenes where no required story information or character development were introduced, giving the story a feeling like not enough was happening. I’ll watch it in theaters because it’s Weir but I think this script has a lot of flaws.

[ ] What the hell did I just read?
[x] wasn’t for me
[ ] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius

What I learned: This is essentially a road trip film, albeit a bleak one, and one of the keys to making road trip films work is to mix in enough interesting and varying obstacles to keep the journey fresh. Everything that happens to this group is too similar (walk, eat, die, walk, eat, die), particularly in the second half, and as a result, it loses us.

Screenplay Review - The Outsider

Genre: Period/Crime
Premise: In post World War II Japan, an American former prisoner-of-war rises in the yakuza.
About: "The Outsider" finished 4th on last year's Black List.  Writer Andrew Baldwin hasn't done any major work that I've heard of up until "Outsider," but he did script a draft of the in-development remake of "Logan's Run."  The last rumor had "Safe House" helmer Daniel Espinosa directing "Outsider" with a dream-casted Michael Fassbender starring as Nick.
Writer: Andrew Baldwin
Details: 125 pages, June 2011 draft

I must confess, I don't know much about the Yakuza other than that they have a really cool name: THE YAKUZA!  I like it so much, in fact, I'm thinking of naming my first kid after it.  "Yakuza!"  It has such a nice ring to it, don't you think?

But here's the reason this Yakuza script has been sitting near the top of last year's Black List and 10 months later I still haven't reviewed it: I don't connect with the crime genre.  When a bunch of tough guys are trying to out-tough each other with toughness - when that's the focus - I can't get into it.  I need some heart.  I need something to relate to in the characters.  And the crime genre is more about honor and codes and stuff that really doesn't interest me.  Every once in awhile, if a writer can come at the genre from a unique angle, I can be entertained for a couple of hours, but that's about as much as I can hope for.  I'm never going to think of one of these scripts as amazing.

With that said, The Outsider is one of the few crime scripts that does come at the genre from a different angle.  We're not dealing with the 15 hundredth movie about the Italian mafia.  We're dealing with the first movie about a guy rising up through the Yakuza in 1954.  Was it a little too familiar?  Ehhhhh, probably.  There were times where you could've laid in scenes from Goodfellas, Casino, Carlito's Way, etc., and no one would've noticed.  But there were also moments where I genuinely felt like I was learning about the unique culture that is the Yakuza.

The Outsider begins on a train in 1954 Osaka, Japan (hey, just like yesterday's script!).  The car we focus on is filled with prisoners being transported to their new prison.  One of those prisoners stands out, as he is the only Caucasion in the bunch.  His name is Nick.  He's 30 years old.  And what's spooky about the dude is that he actually seems okay with where he's at.

There's a reason for that.  Nick has gone AWOL since the war after murdering his commander who did something terrible (you'll have to take Baldwin's word for it since we never find out what the commander did).  But the American military sees it differently.  They see Nick as the bad guy, and they want to try him.  Which is why Nick's fled and is now hiding out in Japan.  In a prison.  In a Very. Bad. Prison.

It's at this prison where Nick gets all Mike Tyson on some big Japanese oaf who dares test him in front of the other prisoners.  Nick gouges his eyes out, blinding the man, and just like that he has the respect of everyone in prison.  But it's Nick's cell mate, Kiyoshi, who pays the incident the most mind.  You see, Kiyoshi is part of one of the biggest crime families around, the Matsuoka Family, and he decides it wouldn't hurt to have a crazy-ass motherfucker like Nick around to do some dirty work.

So when Nick's released, Kiyoshi snatches him up, and pretty soon Nick's hitting up the locals for the Matsuokas, unafraid to beat them into a pulp to get his point across.  He soon becomes feared in the real world as well, and as a result becomes one of the rare Americans accepted into a Yakuza family.

It would be nice to celebrate such a feat, but the nature of living in this reality is that your'e never safe.  And the Matsuoka's much bigger and badder rivals, the Seizus, start getting a little testy when Nick begins throwing his weight around town.  They blame Akihiro, the leader of the family, and pretty soon, the two sides find themselves on the eve of war.

As if inadvertently leading your new employers into a war they didn't want wasn't bad enough, Nick also ends up falling in love with a beautiful but dangerous woman named Miyu, who happens to be the sister of Kiyoshi, Nick's biggest ally.  Kiyoshi only had one rule when he brought Nick into his world: Don't fuck my sister.  So a big fat "oops" on that count.  This means Nick will not only have to figure out a diplomatic way to end this war, but if he doesn't, he'll need to protect Miyu from the Seizus, protect himself from Kiyoshi, and protect the Matsuokas from his big ass mistake.   I'm not going to give anything away here, but the nature of this genre is that things end badly, and I'm guessing The Outsider is no exception.

I'm glad this one popped into my reading pile because it takes a storytelling angle I didn't talk about in my "Storytelling vs. Writing" article.  If you remember, I said that most stories are run by either two engines: character goals or mysteries.  If you aren't using one of those, your story probably isn't very interesting.

The "Rise Up/Crime" genre is one of the exceptions to this rule.  There's rarely a concrete goal in these scripts.  And there's rarely a mystery either.  It's more about watching a protagonist rise up through the ranks of an organization.  Goodfellas is another example.  Or Scarface.  There's something about watching someone rise to power that's exciting.  I can't exactly explain why - maybe it's because we know that sooner or later they have to fall - but it definitely works.  

Except you know me.  I need those goals and those mysteries to keep me going.  I need more of a story than "guy rises up" to get my juices flowing.  And The Outsider didn't have that.  It had a unique backdrop.  It had authenticity.  And I guess there was a little mystery as far as our main character's past.  But other than that it was pretty straightforward.  Guy rises up in Yakuza.  No twists.  No turns.  That was it.

To Baldwin's credit, however, he did infuse his script with TONS of conflict - essential for this kind of movie.  Remember, you're always looking to make things tough for your hero (have them encountering conflict).  If you're not doing that, then you're not entertaining us.  We had the Seizu, the rival family pushing up against Nick.  We had Nick's past (his court martial) pushing up against him.  We had Orochi, a brash young member of the Matsuoka family who doesn't like Nick.  And we had Miyu, the girl he falls in love with who he can't fall in love with because he'll betray his only friend in the family.  Conflict leads to drama.  Drama leads to entertainment.  So The Outsider was strong in that respect.

But yeah, where The Outsider fell apart for me was the third act.  And it's not surprising.  When you don't have a goal or a mystery, you don't have a clear-cut finale.  Think about it.  If your protagonist isn't going after something (i.e. the Ark in Raiders) then you don't have anything for him to do in the third act.  Or if there isn't some big mystery we want answers to, then there's nothing to reveal in the third act (what the Ark does).

This is what really hurt The Outsider.  Its characters are basically reacting - waiting for the other crime family to make a move.  And making reactive characters interesting is a lot harder to do than making active characters interesting.  Don't get me wrong, it can be done.  I think this is similar to how Goodfellas ends, but it's just not my thing.  I like characters who are active, who are going after things (goals) and there just wasn't enough of that here.  For that reason, despite recognizing this as a very well-written script, I couldn't personally get into it.

[ ] what the hell did I just read?

[x] wasn't for me

[ ] worth the read

[ ] impressive

[ ] genius

What I learned: The power of the Underdog in this genre.  Without a goal or a mystery,  you're stacking the storytelling odds against you.  However, if you can give us a protagonist we love, we won't mind as much that there aren't any goals or mysteries.  Why?  Because we'll follow a likable hero through anything.  And what's the easiest way to make a likable character?  Make them an underdog!  Audiences LOVE underdogs.  Nick is as big of an underdog as they get.  An American prisoner in a Japanese prison - someone everyone hates, despises, wants nothing to do with.  You'll see this underdog quality in all of these types of movies, from Goodfellas to Scarface to The Godfather.   If you're going to write one of these "rise up" movies, make your lead an underdog.  I promise you it will pay off.

Prisoners sells for a boatload of money

"This sale was completely fucking unprofessional!"

Way back a few months ago, the spec script "Prisoners" by first-timer Aaron Guzikowski, made the Hollywood rounds and impressed a bunch of people. Wahlberg attached himself. Not long after that, Christian Bale came on as well. But before putting the script on the market, in order to sell it for the most amount of moola, they wanted to complete the trifecta and attach a director. Although they finally got Bryan Singer interested, for whatever reason, not everyone could agree on the direction of the project. So Bale and Whalberg deattached themselves and Prisoners went on the market sans any talent attached. It's still unclear to me if Singer stayed attached or not. But anyway, the script finally sold to Alcon Thursday for an undisclosed amount of money that is thought to be north of a million dollars. Take a trip down Scriptshadow memory lane when the script first hit the street.

2009 Black List With Thoughts

Here are the 2009 Black List scripts with my thoughts. Here is also a link to the list. It's going to take me a good 4-5 hours to put up my thoughts on everything. I may put them up in increments or just one big chunk, so keep checking back in. I know a lot of you want me to post script links but in light of some of the recent controversy surrounding the site, I'm not going to. However, they *will* be posted somewhere. My advice is to dig around Nikki Finke's site, Matriarchal Script Paradigm, or really any blog or site that has comments (look in my blog roll down and to the right), and comb through those puppies, as a big list of links will likely surface. Good luck!

Edit: If you are the writer or agent or manager or producer of any of these scripts and would like to add some more information (anything that's interesting about the project, any extra key details, genre, a full synopsis, story behind the writer or the script, anything at all, please e-mail me and I'll add accordingly: Carsonreeves1@gmail.com

2nd edit: Just added about 15 more to the list. Going to take a break. Next update will be roughly around 11:30pm Pacific time. Also, late tomorrow, I'm going to break down the list a little more, from agency to gender to genre, that kind of thing. So that should be fun. Oh, and I have word that there are people with all the Black List scripts. I anticipate they'll be coming online soon, easily by the end of the day. You just have to keep looking around, cause I'm not going to post them. :)


1) The Muppet Man by Christopher Weekes - A look at Jim Henson’s life, the creator of the most famous puppet franchise of all time, The Muppets.

Thoughts: I have to say I'm a little surprised but also very happy this script is number 1. As I noted in my review, I wasn't a huge fan of the first two acts of the script (not enough conflict in my eyes), but the last act is so fucking good that it makes you forget all that. I'd like to think Scriptshadow helped out here, as it maybe bumped up the profile of the script when it got reviewed, but you never know. The reason I'm surprised is that it did not make the Top 25 Reader Faves List. That's the only reason I'm thrown that it landed the number 1 slot. Still, this is a good script to represent the top honor for the 2009 list.

Review is here.

2) The Social Network by Aaron Sorkin - A look at the rise of Facebook and the effect it's had on its founders.

Thoughts: Well what can you say here. This is one of the script reviews that put Scriptshadow on the map. There was a lot of laughing from the movie industry at the thought of someone making a Facebook movie (and plenty of jokes were made at Sony's expense) so when I received the script, I expected it to be the worst thing ever written. It turned out to be almost exactly the opposite. Just a great great script. I don't know how much of an effect it had on the project, but there were certainly a lot less snarky internet comments after that. Its still not a cinematic script by any means, but that's why you bring in David Fincher.

Review is here.

3) The Voices by Michael R. Perry - Jerry, a schizophrenic worker at a bathtub factory, accidentally kills an attractive woman from accounting. While trying to cover his bloody tracks, Jerry starts taking advice from his talking (and foul-mouthed) cat and dog.

Thoughts: This is a script someone told me to read months ago but I was either too busy or falsely heard it was a standard horror film or something, but it didn't sound interesting at the time. In the last week alone I've heard about ten people tell me I have to read it. With that logline, you can bet I'm going to. Sounds deliciously wacky. This will be one of the first ones I review.

No review.

4) Prisoners - When his young daughter and her best friend vanish on Thanksgiving Day, Keller Dover takes matters into his own hands, imprisoning and torturing the man who he thinks did it. But does he have the wrong man?

Thoughts: Prisoners by Aaron Guzikowski is a script I liked, but didn't quite love. Its strength is its pitch-perfect dark tone, but it's a little messy in places, particularly in the end, where it seems to pay off things that were never set up. The thing I find most fascinating about Prisoners is that it was probably the hottest spec screenplay all year, and yet for a long time, because they couldn't get the right attachments, it didn't sell. First time screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski must have been fucking flipping out. I mean, they can assure you all they want that everything will eventually work out, but I wouldn't have wanted to be waiting in those shoes for all those months. In the end he won out though, landing a million dollar sale.

No review (taken down for various reasons)

5. Cedar Rapids by Phil Johnston - A small town insurance salesman heads off to the “big city” of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to try and save his company.

Thoughts: Cedar Rapids was another nice little script, however this is another screenplay I'm surprised landed so high. The first act put me off because of what seemed like the cliche "Midwesterners are idiots" angle. But once you get used to the writing style and Johnston's voice, the script just gets better and better. As others have mentioned, the casting here with Ed Helms and Sigourney Weaver (to start) is really really good. Go ahead and read the review for yourself.

Review.

6) Londongrad by David Scarpa - This is an adaptation of the Alan Cowell book, "The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder" which is supposedly about the death of that soviet spy who was poisoned by radioactive tea.

Thoughts: Don't have much to say about this one because I'd never heard of it before today's list. It's not really my thing so if this does get reviewed on the site, it probably won't be for awhile.

no review

7) L.A. Rex by Will Beall (based on his novel of the same name) - Rookie LAPD officer Ben Halloran gets partnered with scarred and tobacco-spitting Officer Marquez, and the unlikely team hit the streets of L.A. on the brink of a gang-rivalry explosion amid run-ins with the Mexican mafia, brutal gang murders, and corrupt cops.

Thoughts: Beall is a former LAPD homicide detective and on the LAPD for ten years. He wrote this book while he was still on the job. Roger's been jonezing to read this so I'd expect a review of this on Monday.

no review

8) Desperados by Ellen Rapoport - Wesley Robbins, a 30-something single attorney with an unhealthy obsession with coupling up, thinks she’s found the perfect man. But when he doesn’t call for days after the first time they sleep together she freaks out and sends him a scathing email, only to learn he’s been laid up in a Mexican hospital with some broken bones. On a whim, she and her girlfriends travel down south to erase the email before she ruins what she believes could be her one true love.

Thoughts: I've been hearing good things about what a lot of people have been calling, "The Female Version of The Hangover." The premise sounds very similar to that Tom Green film "Roadtrip" from ten years back, as well as a few sit-com episodes, but by no means does that mean it can't be hilarious. I definitely want to read this soon so expect a review in the coming week.

no review

9) The Gunslinger by John Hlavin - When a Texas Ranger is horrifically tortured and killed, his sharp-shooter older brother, Sam Lee Hensley, plots revenge against the mysterious, sadistic leader of a notorious drug cartel.

Thoughts: I actually started reading this once but it was a little slow and very dark so I put it down, promising to get to it later. It felt very "The Low Dweller," and as those who read my review of that know, I wasn't a big fan of that script. I would still like to get to this though, now that I've seen it made the Top 10. Hope it's good.

no review

10-tie) By Way Of Helena by Matt Cook - Set in the south at the turn of the century, Texas Ranger David Kingston and his Mexican bride are sent down to the mysterious town of Helena to investigate the multiple Mexican bodies washing up in the river. What they discover is an idyllic-like town where everything is not as it seems.

Thoughts: This is another one of those scripts that sounds, from its description like it could be incredibly boring or really cool. "Turn of the century" never inspires confidence in my "have to read" meter, but I love the idea of towns that have secrets. One of my favorite movies of all time is "The Sweet Hereafter" which is all about a town's secrets. So if this is anything like that, I'm totally in.

no review.

10-tie) The Days Before by Chad St. John - A man from the future keeps hopping one successive day into the past, desperate to stop a vicious race of time-traveling aliens from wiping out humanity.

Thoughts: This is the only script I've read in the top 10 that I don't agree with. My complaint isn't in the script so much (which is fast paced and well-written) as it is the premise, which I never found myself buying. I can't pinpoint anything specific about it, but this idea of this guy continually jumping one day back to stop aliens from invading felt...off. I kept thinking, "Why couldn't they hop 100 days back, coming to the world's leaders with photographic and video evidence they took from these previous attacks to prove that the aliens were coming, which would allow them to really be prepared for these things? I'm sure St. John would argue that I'm looking way too much into it for what should be simply a fun ride. And you know what? He's probably right. I have about ten people I trust who all love this script. So I think I'm the odd man out here.

no review

11) DOC AND HOWIE WHACK A GRANNY by Steve Leff
Two men, Doc and Howie, inadvertently kill an elderly woman when they neglect to help her carry groceries up stairs. The incident puts them in position to get closer to the woman's attractive granddaughters, and they struggle with deciding whether to tell the women the truth about the circumstances under which they met.

Thoughts: Well, it's not exactly Shakespeare, but any comedy where the main hook is that someone dies is usually pretty good (Hello, Weekend at Bernies???). Haven't read this but it will be on my immediate "To Read" list.

12 - tie) PAWN SACRIFICE by Steve Knight
The life story of chess legend Bobby Fischer leading up to his historic world
championship match against Boris Spassky.

Thoughts: Um, the greatest Bobby Fischer movie has already been made! The Search For Bobby Fischer! As you know, I'm no fan of the Biopic, but if you're going to pick a figure's life to detail, this odd chess genius turned recluse is a great place to start. Will likely read this soon.

12 - tie) WHEN CORRUPTION WAS KING by Frank Baldwin
A scrappy lawyer from Chicago's South Side rises to be a trusted attorney for the
Outfit – the mob that controls the city through an elaborate web of bribery, voter rigging and violence – until he turns state's witness and brings the whole corrupt
system to its knees.

Thoughts: Doesn't really sound like my thing. But these types of scripts always seem to do well with the Black List voters. Probably won't be reviewing this.

13) TOY’S HOUSE by Chris Galletta
When fourteen year old Joe Toy and his buddies tire of their parents overbearing ways,they decide to build their own house in the woods, away from the restraints of the lives they have come to know.

Thoughts: Wish they listed the genres with these. This can either be a dark indie tale a la Where The Wild Things Are or a family friendly film produced by Nickelodeon. Either way, I have to admit the premise sounds intriguing. I'd like to read this one.

14) MIXTAPE by Stacey Menear
A thirteen year old outcast finds a mixtape that belonged to the deceased parents she
never knew, accidentally destroys it, and uses the song list to go on a journey to find all the music in an attempt to get to know her parents. (edit: Word is this script was never even submitted to anyone. It somehow got out and spread out purely on word-of mouth. Might have been even higher had it had an official release).

Thoughts: Hmm, a tweener version of Elizabethtown? That doesn't inspire confidence. There's a lot of sentimentality in this logline, and that can either lead to something great, if Menear's got the chops, or something really really cheesy and saccharine. Kind of interested in this one.

15 - tie) BOOK SMART by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins
Two overachieving high school seniors realize the only thing they haven't accomplished is having boyfriends, and each resolves to find one by prom.

Thoughts: I like the title. And I like that it comes at the high school genre from a slightly different angle (even if it isn't wholly original). I feel like the teen high school movie has kinda died and I'd like to see it revived. Is this the one? Might take a look.

15 - tie) THE ISOLATE THIEF by Kevin Leffler
In the dead of winter in the middle of the U.S. Civil War, a young man tries to hide
the gold he stole from rogue soldiers who have taken over his remote house.

Thoughts: Not enough information here to really form an opinion. But it sounds like something a bearded Viggo Mortenson might be in. This could definitely work if done right. Might give this a read.

15 - tie) MOTOR CITY by Chad St. John
A small time hood is framed and sent to prison, only to exact revenge years later.

Thoughts: "The Days Before" writer, St. John, gets his second script on the list. Makes sense since good scripts inspire readers to seek more from that writer. This is another place where it would be helpful to get a genre. Is this more action? More drama? The one thing that makes me intrigued about the script is that it's set in Detroit. That dying city is ripe for some sort of Hollywood treatment.

15 - tie) THEY FALL BY NIGHT by Zach Baylin
A burned out detective investigates the kidnapping of a socialite couple's child.

Thoughts: Baylin has, up until this point, only worked in the art department on such films as Winter Passing and Dave Chapelle's Block Party. Looks like he was secretly writing scripts during that time. The "burned out" detective angle contrasts nicely against the upscale family. Could be interesting. Would like a little more info on this one.

16 - tie) CELESTE & JESSE FOREVER by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack
A divorcing couple tries to maintain their friendship while they both pursue other
people.

Thoughts: Rashida Jones is like this industry mystery. Everybody loves her, yet she hasn't broken out despite a good dozen opportunities. It's not that we don't like her. She's one of those people who it's impossible to dislike. Here, she's written a script with another actor, Will McCormack. The two of them actually have another optioned property called "Frenemy Of The State," about a heiress who works undercover for the CIA.

16 - tie) CONVICTION by Jonathan Herman
After serving five years in prison after a botched heist, a mastermind bank robber is
forced by a tenacious FBI agent to entrap his former protege who has embarked on a
multi-million-dollar bank-robbing spree.

Thoughts: This was a weird script. Despite my attempts, I could never quite figure out the tone. It sorta swerved all over the place for me, starting out as one film, and then becoming another. I didn't think a lot of the situations felt realistic. For me, Herman's other script, "Rites Of Men," was vastly superior. Really liked that one. Either way, I'm happy to see Herman on the list.

Review.

16 - tie) NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH by Jared Stern
A suburban ‘neighborhood watch’ group, actually a front for dads to get some male
bonding time away from the family, uncovers a plot bent on destroying the world.

Thoughts: This sounds a little like a feature-length treatment of a beer commercial. The "plot bent on destroying the world" angle suggests something very broad. Maybe this could be the next "Old School?" Interestingly, Stern was a writer on the animated film "Bolt." He has another screenplay sale titled, "Self-Guided," about a guy who travels back in time to his high school days where he offers up tips to his younger self disguised as a guidance counselor.

17 - tie) BEST ACTRESS by Michael Zam and Jaffe Cohen
The story of the infamous career-long battle between screen legends Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, focusing on the on-set experience of the only film they ever made together WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE.”

Thoughts: This script introduced me to a rivalry I never knew about but I'm glad I do now. It also sent me searching for Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, which turned out to be a really good film. The back stage antics these two contributed to during the production are a little muted compared to the types of things we hear about in today's media, but it's a fun little script nonetheless.

Review.

17 - tie) BETTY’S READY by Jaylynn Bailey
After she discovers that her boyfriend is gay, a high schooler, determined to lose her
virginity before she goes to college, pursues several possible ‘candidates’ before she
finds love with her geeky neighbor, who has always loved her.

Thoughts: Not going to lie. This sounds like something we've seen a lot of before. So I'm hoping the execution is the star here. Jaylynn formally worked as a make-up artist.

17 - tie) THE SITTER by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka
A suspended college student, living at home with his single mom, is talked into babysitting the three, young kids next door.

Thoughts: This was a funny script. Period. Okay not period. I'm going to keep on going. Basically, this is what "The Adventures In Babysitting" should've been. It's edgier, it's funnier, it's more creative. The strange adopted Ecuadorian child is worth the price of admission alone. The writers have two other projects set up, one at Sony called "Hairstyles Of The Damned," and another at Universal called "The Overachievers," about a group of high schoolers navigating through tests and prep courses on their way to graduation.

Review.

17 - tie) WENCESLAS SQUARE by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Based on the Arthur Phillips short story. Two spies fall in love while participating in separate Cold War missions in Prague during the 1980s.

Thoughts: Unfortunately, I'm not a real big fan of the two spies falling in love thing, so I probably won't be reading this. But I gotta give Markus and McFeely props. These two have been blowing up, nabbing huge writing assignments like "The Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage of The Dawn Treader" and "Captain America." Obviously, they have some talent.

17 - tie) Z FOR ZACHARIAH by Nissar Modi
A sixteen-year-old girl named Ann Burden survives a nuclear war in a small American
town.

Thoughts: Jericho prequel? Or sequel? Not much info here but I love the giant implications of a nuclear war contrasted with the tiny life of a 16 year old girl. Could be interesting. Would like to read this. Nissar actually had a very brief acting career 20 years ago, appearing in The Return Of Sherlock Holmes TV series. (edit: This is actually based on a YA SF novel from the early 1970s by Robert C O'Brien, the author of MRS. BRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH. It's essentially a two-character piece with an isolated girl vs. a creepy fellow survivor. It won an Edgar Award and was previously produced by the BBC as a made-for-TV movie.

18 - tie) BALLS OUT by The Robotard 8000 (Tim Talbott and Malcolm Spellman)
When insurance salesman Jim Simmers has a near death experience, he decides that
nothing matters except getting a promotion, a new car, and the hot girl from work.
Jim's new attitude alienates his friends and co-workers, and he must figure out how to
live his new life without losing his old one.

Thoughts: Yes, the rumors were true. Yes, the most controversial script all year indeed made The Black List. Talbott and Spellman, masters of marketing, created a viral craze in the screenwriting community early this year with their early-90s style website promoting their masterpiece, along with numerous quotes from industry execs who had read and survived the script, a sort of parody of screenwriting and story conventions. The script was infamously ripped apart by Mystery Man On Film. As for what I thought of it, well, to be honest, I've only ever skimmed through it. But I admit to laughing a lot. Maybe one of these days I'll review it on the site. If anything, the script is a good example of what a creative mind can come up with to promote oneself. These two thought outside the box and it paid off. They may get a little nasty if you try and cross their path, but overall, I have nothing but admiration for these guys. You know you've made it when you start typing your name into google search and it finishes it for you!

You can download the script here.

18 - tie) BURIED by Chris Sparling
A civilian contractor in Iraq is kidnapped and awakens to find himself buried in a
coffin in the desert.

Thoughts: A little disappointed this script didn't fare higher but it's such a unique script that I can see how it might not have been everyone's thing. To me, this is one of the most intense readings I've ever had and one of my favorite scripts of the year. The use of ticking time bombs (which I go into in my review) is second to none, and is the perfect lesson on how to add more immediacy and tension to your script. Check this out if you haven't already.

Review here. (with script link)

Interview with the writer, Chris Sparling, here.

18 - tie) THE DIVERSIFICATION OF NOAH MILLER by Adam Cole-Kelly and Sam Pitman
A liberal New Yorker realizes he isn't as open-minded as he thinks he is and sets out
to make a black friend.

Thoughts: Ahhh, the old white guy making the black friend bit. A bit I am admittedly a sucker for (the Seinfeld episode with George looking for an African American BF is classic). Am interested to know if this is a straight comedy or a dark comedy. Hoping it's more dark. These two also have a project I've heard about with Eddie Murphy producing called "The Misadventures Of Fluffy," which is either about a dog on the run or an unfortunate porno production assistant. I want to read this. Please send.

18 - tie) THE GIRL WITH THE RED RIDING HOOD by David Leslie Johnson
A Gothic imagining of the classic fairy tale in which a young woman is confronted by a werewolf, this time with a teenage love triangle at its center.

Thoughts: Hmm, I like the Gothic angle. Sounds a little bit like that video game "Alice" that they were trying to turn into a movie (and maybe even did, I've forgotten). But this sounds like it may be trying to grab some of that Twilight glitter, with the teenage love triangle sounding very similar to the super-franchise. However, this is a follow-up to Johnson's successful spec turned movie, Orphan, which I thought was pretty good. What a great cast, especially that freaky ass semi-russian girl, who nailed it. So I may give this a read.

18 - tie) MY MOTHER'S CURSE by Dan Fogelman
The young inventor of a new organic cleaning product invites his mother on a cross-country road trip as he tries to sell his product to marketing outlets. His ulterior motive is to reunite her with a man she loved when she was young, and her motive is to help him overcome his ‘curse’ of non-commitment in relationships, for which she blames herself.

Thoughts: You know, this sounds pretty good if done right. I know there's an aversion to this indie "on the road" type movie (I will murder myself before I ever watch Transamerica for example) but what I like here is that the two key players have secret motives to help the other. I can already see that leading to some funny situations. So I'd like to read this. And hey, if there's any writer qualified to write about a road trip, it's Fogelman, the writer of 2006's Pixar film, "Cars." He also has the geriatric version of The Hangover set up at CBS films titled, "Las Vegas."

18 - tie) RESTLESS by Jason Lew
A tale of young love between a teenage boy and girl who share a preoccupation with
mortality.

Thoughts: Don't worry. Jason Lew is not to be confused with Jason Mewes. This is actually the project that Gus Van Sant plans to direct for Imagine Entertainment. Yes, Imagine. That should be a hell of an interesting combination. Lew is brand new on the scene and was formally an actor with a couple of small parts. I'm guessing this will have lots of grainy shots and the end of plot as we know it.

18 - tie) STREETS ON FIRE by Justin Britt-Gibson
Two cops, reluctantly partnered, try to bring down a drug syndicate while navigating
the streets of Chicago.

Thoughts: This gets the most generic synopsis award, and that's too bad, because on a list this big, you gotta stand out. I'd love it if Britt-Gibson or his reps could send me a more detailed description of this. I'll put it up immediately. Britt-Gibson has one other screenplay he optioned titled "The 7th Son" about a group of strangers who come together after an assassination of the U.S. president and make an unusual discovery about themselves.

18 - tie) TAKE THIS WALTZ by Sarah Polley
A young woman struggles with her infidelities and the budding realization that she may be addicted to the honeymoon period of her relationships.

Thoughts: Hmm, very interesting. Polley's "Away From Her" was one of the better directing efforts I saw all of last year. I wasn't a fan of the script though, as it violated the rule horse I continue to beat on this site - a story that starts out one way, then turns into something completely different. It signified to me a writer that didn't understand how to craft an entire story. But I like Sarah Polley and with a little more experience in the Final Draft department, her follow-up should be better. This is another one of those scripts that could either be a drama, a dark comedy, or a rom-com. But it's Sarah Polley, so I'm guessing drama.

18 - tie) THE TRADE by Dave Mandel
The true story of two New York Yankees pitchers who caused a national scandal when they swapped wives in the early 70s.

Thoughts: Uhhhh, what??? This really happened?? And not in a Fox "Wife Swap" kind of way? Okay, I have to read this. But I'm really hoping there's some realism behind it and it's not some shit studio film starring Martin Lawrence and Jim Belushi as the "wacky" pitchers. And I really hope Dave Mandel is not related to Howie Mandel. -- OH SHIT! Fuck it all. I just realized this was the writer of Eurotrip (one of the biggest spec sales ever). This is going straight to my most anticipated list.

18 - tie) WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT by Morgan Foehl
After ten years on the run from the mob, the son of a mob lawyer must choose between
prison and helping the man who killed his mother.

Thoughts: Love the title here. The genre on this one is tough to figure out because while it sounds deep and dark, Foehl was previously an editor on two of Adam Sandler's films, Click and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. So could this be a comedy? Would like to know more please.

19 - tie) BAYTOWN DISCO by Barry Battles and Griffin Hood
Three redneck brothers get in over their heads when they agree to help a woman kidnap her son back from his seemingly evil father.

Thoughts: Another logline that's hard to figure out. These two are new on the scene, with most of their work coming as actors. If this is a straight-up comedy, I might be interested in reading it.

19 - tie) THE GUYS GIRL by Nick Confalone and Neal Dusedau
Three male best friends realize they’re each in love with their mutual female best
friend when she gets engaged.

Thoughts: Ugh, had a similar idea to this. Though mine's more "The Big Chill." This sounds like an out and out comedy. These two are brand new on the scene. Dusedau worked on both "Munich" and "The Happening" as an assistant.

19 - tie) JIMI by Max Borenstein
The life story of rock legend Jimi Hendrix.

Thoughts: Ahhhhhh! Biopic alert! Biopic alert! But I guess if you're going to make a biopic, it might as well be about Jimi Hendrix, right? Although Borenstein seems to have been writing for awhile, his success has come more recently. He has a project in development at Kevin Spacey's Triggerstreet Productions called "Rigged," a truth life story about a kid who became a bajillionaire changing the oil trade business.

19 - tie) LOVESTRUCK by Annabel Oakes
Cynical best friends Amelia and Ruth love nothing more than to ridicule romance. When
they take it one step too far at their friend's wedding, they are sentenced to a fate
worse than death - becoming heroines in their own romantic comedy.

Thoughts: Not sure how I feel about this one. Parodying romantic comedies is a tricky proposition. The conventions are so dated that I don't know if it's funny to make fun of them anymore. But this seems geared towards women, so I'll bow out of the commentary. Oakes has one foreign film to her credit titled Morenita el Escanadalo about a man desperate to save his family from death threats by a notorious drug dealer.

19 - tie) RITES OF MEN by Jonathan Herman
When a working class dad’s only son is murdered, he sets out to discover who is
responsible.

Thoughts: Ahhhh-ha! So here's Rites of Men! Flip this and Conviction around and I'll be happy. "Men" is very "Taken" in nature, with more of a detective angle to it. There are lots of twists and turns and the script never quite goes the way you think it will. Happy to see this on the list.

Review.

19 - tie) SHIMMER LAKE by Oren Uziel
As a small-town bank-theft job slowly unravels, it proves to involve virtually
everyone, from an ex-meth-lab runner to a crooked prosecutor and his vengeful cop
brother.

Thoughts: Yes! Another great script! This one won the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition and I immediately knew why after I finished it. What the synopsis doesn't tell you is that the script is actually told backwards. Now usually, that's a gimmick, but here, Uziel really makes it work. Combine that with his unique voice and gift for off-beat comedy, and this is a writer I see carving out a huge career for himself. Get on the Uziel train while you can.

Review.

19 - tie) SMILE, RELAX, ATTACK by Eli Attie
A young, ambitious political consultant finds himself in over his head when his first big client - an incumbent Democratic Virginia Senator - becomes the subject of national scrutiny by both Parties.

Thoughts: Uhhh, can someone say in the running for best title of the list? We had to get some more political action going so I guess this is filling the need. Still, how are you going to beat "Farragut North?" Well, Attie's no slouch, having written one of the bigger specs of the last few years, The 28th Amendment, which will star Denzel Washington. In it, the new President of the United States discovers a secret cabal that runs the government and wants him dead.

20 - tie) BOBBY MARTINEZ by Ric Roman Waugh
A coming-of-age biopic about the titular Mexican-American surfer. Martinez rose out of the gang-ridden streets of Southern California to become a hero to his community when he swept every major amateur surfing tournament in his first year of competition and won the ASP Rookie of the Year honors in his first pro season.

Thoughts: Not liking the biopic angle, but I have to admit, this logline has some great irony in it. A south-central surfer? Count me in. Finally, a biopic I'm excited about. Interesting thing about Waugh. He used to be a stuntman. Now he's one of the hottest writers in town, with a half a dozen scripts in development.

20 - tie) CORSICA 72 by Neil Purvis and Robert Wade
On the island of Corsica in 1972, childhood best friends Marco and Sauveur find their
lives veering in opposite directions - the first towards the Mafia, the second toward
a simpler life with his beloved, Lucia. When the Corsican mob kills Sauveur's brother,
they ignite a tit-for-tat blood feud that inevitably leads toward a final showdown.

Thoughts: Wasn't a huge fan of this script (which finished number 2 on this year's Brit List) but a lot of other people seem to be, so I'm not going to rain on the parade. I think people see some of The Godfather in it, and no doubt, it brings back memories of those movies. So if you love those films, I have a feeling you'll like this.

Review.

20 - tie) A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS: THE LEGEND OF NOLAN BUSHNELL by Brian Hecker and Craig Sherman
The rise of Nolan Bushnell, father of the videogame industry, who started Atari in the
70s.

Thoughts: Biopic fever. Unfortunately, I don't have a fever for the flavor. If Bushnell had a crazy life, then I say film away. But if this is just following a geeky dude through his life for two hours, I'll stick with my Playstation 3. This team is relatively new. Hecker has one produced credit to his name, the 2008 indie "Bart Got A Room." Sherman wrote an indie of his own, "New Suit."

20 - tie) GOOD LOOKING by Chris McCoy
In a future where dating services perfectly match soulmates, a man rejects the person
chosen for him.

Thoughts: Tough to get a feel on this one. Feels like we're missing some key information. Anyone want to write in and give me some more details?

20 - tie) JIMMY SIX by Daniel Casey
The screw-up son of a murdered mobster goes with a hitman to exact revenge on the
informer who sent his father to his death.

Thoughts: I like the "screw-up son" angle here. Gives this a little bit of freshness because if not for that, it would sound pretty generic. No info on Daniel Casey out there. He's a mystery man.

20 - tie) LIARS (A-E) by Emma Forrest
A twenty-nine year old woman on the way to President Obama's inauguration stops to
retrieve lost items from her ex-boyfriend in the hope of getting over her most recent
heartache.

Thoughts: Ah yes, the recently reviewed Liars (A to E). Although not reviewed by me. Novelist Forrest is notoriously known for her brief relationship with Colin Farrel, who is said to be the inspiration behind the script. Some people don't like the hip-as-thou semi-Juno lingo, but it's hard to argue against Forrest being a good writer.

Review.

20 - tie) THE STORM by Richard Taylor and Bryan Bagby
A bounty hunter and his prey must unite to take on an evil sheriff and his posse in a lawless Wyoming town.

Thoughts: This logline I really like. First, you got the storm. Rainy, messy, chaotic. Ripe for conflict. Then, it's always fun to see the hero and the villain have to reluctantly team up together. Throw the cherry on top of an evil sheriff? Hello! A fucking script sundae! -- This looks like an English duo as the company that bought the script is set up in the U.K. But if it's English, why didn't it make The Brit List?

21 - tie) 2 GUNS by Blake Masters
Based on the comic book of the same name by Stephen Grant. A DEA agent and an undercover naval intelligence officer unwittingly investigate each other while stealing mob money.

Thoughts: First of all, great name. Blake Masters. I'd kill to have that name. You know what it sounds like actually? It sounds like a professional golfer name. You know, Blake should consider taking up golfing. I hear there's an opening available. Anyway, Universal bought this one. Sounds like something Colin Farrel and Ethan Hawke would team up and do. I'm not sure what that observation implies. To be honest, this isn't my thing. But Roger would probably love it. Roger? Where are you?

21 - tie) ARTHUR by Peter Baynham
Based on the 1981 film of the same name. A spoiled rich twenty-something must decide
between true love and the vast fortune he’ll inherit if he marries a society woman whom
he doesn’t love.

Thoughts: Oh how I miss you Dudley Moore, you bottle-gourging son of a gun. Peter Baynham came up with the story for Bruno. He also did some acting before he wrote and was an extra on the film, Shaun Of The Dead.

21 - tie) CUT BANK by Roberto Patino
A small town thriller set in Cut Bank, Montana.

Thoughts: I couldn't have come up with a less descriptive synopsis if I wrote, "A man jumps." I'm guessing this isn't Patino's fault. Anyway, Patino is a true newcomer to the craft. He worke on a documentary and a short, both in the camera department.

21 - tie) DEAD LOSS by Josh Baizer and Marshall Johnson
A crab fishing boat crew rescues a castaway adrift in a life raft with mysterious cargo that soon both captivates and divides them.

Thoughts: Uh, can somebody say fucking robbed!!?? This script was awesome. It should've been way higher. Not only is it a unique contained thriller in that it takes place in one of the most dangerous professions on earth, but the characters are well-drawn, the twists and turns keep coming, and it's got a great central conflict between the two heroes (the brothers). This is a movie that needs to get made, like, yesterday man. Hurry up already. First major mistake of the Black List.

Review.

21 - tie) THE GHOST AND THE WOLF by Rylend Grant and Dikran Ornekian
An ex-cop and his old partner must reunite, burying years of distrust, to take on the
vicious Russian mobsters who altered their lives profoundly in the 90s… destroying one
and propelling the other to Captain.

Thoughts: Hating the Russian angle. Feels too played out. But I love the idea of two older cops who lost a friendship having to re-team. As always, you're looking to build stories with inherent conflict in them, and this obviously has it. Dikran Ornekian was an assistant to Stephen Sommers on both the last Mummy movie he did and G.I. Joe. Both writers are relatively new to the game.

21 - tie) I HATE YOU DAD by David Caspe
A father moves in with his son on the eve of his son’s wedding and promptly begins feuding with the bride-to-be.

Thoughts: At first glance I thought the title was simply, "I Hate You," which I'd already decided was the greatest title ever. This sounds like it needs something extra to explain why the dad is arguing with the bride. Right now you just scratch your head and go, "Why would he argue with her?" Could be good though.

21 - tie) IF I STAY by Shauna Cross
Based on the novel of the same name by Gayle Forman. A teenage girl leaves her body after a tragic car crash and needs to decide whether to return to her life or not.

Thoughts: Summit, the new mega-studio, is producing this one. Feels like The Lovely Bones to me. You might recognize Shauna Cross' name as she's the writer of the beloved screenplay, "Whip It," which if I remember correctly did very well on last year's list. The movie was kind of a bust, but I don't know a single woman who read Whip It and didn't love it.

21 - tie) I HOPE WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS by John Whittington
A couple breaks up after 5 years together but vow to remain friends after the fact, which proves much harder to do than they imagined.

Thoughts: This is the kind of movie that can be really good or really average. I love the premise, but because its staying power is minimal (they break up in the first 5 pages - now what?), the writer will have to come up with plenty of sub-plot nuggets to keep us involved. I wish I could tell you more about Whittington but alas, I know not a thing.

21 - tie) THE KING'S SPEECH by David Seidler
George VI, also known as Bertie, reluctantly takes the throne of England when his brother, Edward, abdicates in 1936. The unprepared king turns to a radical speech therapist, Lionel Logue, to help overcome his nervous stutter and the two forge a friendship.

Thoughts: Hmm, I kind of like this. The fact that a King is terrible at the one thing a King cannot be terrible at is intriguing. But the forming of the friendship with the speech therapist...I don't know. Not jumping for joy there. But good for Seidler. He's been in this business for awhile (he wrote "Tucker: The Man and His Dream," a dozen years ago). So it's nice to see him do well.

21 - tie) THE LOW SELF ESTEEM OF LIZZIE GILLESPIE by Mindy Kaling and Brent Forrester
A single girl in Manhattan dates the hottest guy in the world but must overcome her insecurities when she hears him deny they are dating.

Thoughts: Mindy Kaling you'll know as the Indian actress on The Office. Brent Forrester is another writer on the office. Things seem to be going well for the Office writers these days as they're all either writing Ghostbusters or Star Wars films or anything they want. The premise here doesn't sound very deep but this is a script that has come on strong with heavy word-of-mouth this last month. I'll probably check it out.

21 - tie) THE BLIND RAGE OF PEACOAT MILLER by Adam Penn
A college student home for the holidays discovers that an internet porn film turns its
viewer into homicidal maniacs. As the epidemic spreads, he has to save his longtime
crush while struggling to control his own urges.

Thoughts: Having a problem making the connection between watching porn and becoming a killer, but this seems like one of those out-there premises where you either go with it or you don't. Great title. Great writing name. We have another editor here (they say editors are good writers because they know what needs to be to cut out before they even begin). Penn worked as an editor on the HBO show, Oz, as well as the guilty pleasure Nip/Tuck.

21 - tie) CON MEN by Eric Lane
Greg Weinstock and Kevin Russell, two drug reps from Burlington Labs with nothing in common aside from a shared gift of moving product, are dispatched to a convention to hook the biggest sale of their lives.

Thoughts: Sounds like another buddy indie comedy. Hoping there's a little more pop to it than that.

21 - tie) JOSH by Gary Ross
The lives of a single father and his teenaged son are dramatically changed when the boy's mother returns and wants to be part of her son's life.

Thoughts: I think they mean "estranged mother?" Sounds very dramatic. Maybe it's because the word "dramatically" is in there. Anyway, Gary Ross is a heavyweight. He's written Dave, Pleasantville, Sea-Biscuit, and Spider-Man 4. And after all that, he found time to write a little indie film that made the Black List. Nice.

21 - tie) MY SISTER IS MARRYING A DOUCHEBAG by Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux
A young woman, thinking that her sister’s new fiance is a douchebag, sets out to sabotage their wedding.

Thoughts: When the Molyneux sisters write a script, watch out. Not that I know them. But you just better. The excessive offensive title approach is getting on peoples' nerves, which actually makes me have *more* confidence in this script, since it's survived that initial prejudice. The sister tag team has worked on some small-time TV stuff, but other than that, this is their first breakthrough.

21 - tie) NO BLOOD, NO GUTS, NO GLORY by Chase Palmer
A spy and twenty Union soldiers in disguise board a train in Georgia to execute a scheme that could bring a quick end to the U.S. Civil War.

Thoughts: This sounds good. It feels relevant, with hints of terrorism oozing from its premise. By Americans no less! Up to this point, Palmer's only written and directed short films, but he's tabbed to helm a couple of mid-level films, so he's definitely moving his way up.

21 - tie) NORM THE MOVIE by Sam Esmail
“A buddy comedy in which a guy is transported into a movie... or so he thinks.”

Thoughts: Let me tell you a little bit about Sam Esmail. This guy's nuts! He writes weird ass shit and he's really good at it, a sort of Charlie Kaufman in training. His last script, "Sequels, Remakes, and Adaptations," made it onto last years' list and was quite good. This sounds like an unofficial sequel to that script.

21 - tie) RENKO VEGA & THE JENNIFER NINE by John Raffo
Renko Vega, once a hero and now a rogue thief wandering the galaxy with his hyperintelligent spaceship the Jennifer 9, is forced to become a hero once again when the young daughter of the President of Earth is kidnapped.”

Thoughts: Han Solo type hero? Crazy imaginative sci-fi world? Uh, yeah, count me in.

You can check out the review, the script, and an interview with John here.

21 - tie) SMASH AND GRAB by Marc Wolff
When his wife is kidnapped, a reformed thief has to team up with his hapless ex-partner
to save her, while dodging the LAPD, the FBI, and various members of the Los Angeles underworld.

Thoughts: Okay, this damn well better be in the execution, because there isn't an original beat in that logline. Unless of course it's a Jason Statham movie. Then it's okay. Solid title.

21 - tie) THE TRUE MEMOIRS OF AN INTERNATIONAL ASSASSIN by Jeff Morris
Joe, an insecure writer with a boring desk job, finally manages to sell his assassin novel, The Memoirs of an International Assassin to the one publisher that will buy it. To his horror the publisher retitles it The True Memoirs of an International Assassin and markets the book as non-fiction -- making it seem as if Joe is the assassin himself. He soon finds himself in the crosshairs of the CIA, various drug lords, the media, and a beautiful investigative journalist while on a vacation in Belize.

Thoughts: Hip-hip hell yeah. Scriptshadow friend Jeff Morris makes the Black List. I could tell you more about Jeff and the script but why don't you just go to the review and interview to find out yourself.

Review here.
Interview here.

21 - tie) THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY by Mark Bomback
Based on the comic book written by Gerard Way. After being raised by a brilliant scientist and a hyper-intelligent chimp, six super-powered former ‘child superheroes’ reunite to stop one of their own from leading a violin symphony that will destroy the world.

Thoughts: Well, the premise certainly has panache. Sounds very "Lava Boy and Shark Girl," but there could be more going on here. Bomback's an established force in the industry. He wrote Deception, Race To Witch Mountain, and Die Hard: Live Free Or Die Hard.

22 - tie) 30 MINUTES OR LESS by Matthew Sullivan and Michael Diliberti
A comedy about a pizza delivery guy on an unlikely caper.

Thoughts: Not gonna lie. Premise feels a little dated, unless maybe it's set in the 80s? These two have been nabbed to do the update on Brewster's Millions (speaking of high-concept comedies). Very well may have gotten that job off this spec?

22 - tie) ALLIES WITH BENEFITS by Elizabeth Wright Shapiro
The female President of The United States falls for her old college fling, the now Prime Minister of England.

Thoughts: I am betting six billion dollars that this will star Hugh Grant. This is Shapiro's first sale.

22 - tie) COMIC CON by Matthew Sullivan and Michael Diliberti
To save their beloved neighborhood comic shop, a justice league of comic geeks must plan and execute a daring heist at Comic-Con.

Thoughts: They're BAAAAAACK. After like 2 seconds. A movie about Comic-Con absolutely needs to be done, even if it will be a little incestuous. You just have to make sure it doesn't turn into Fanboys.

22 - tie) CROOK FACTORY by Nicholas Meyer
Based on the novel by Dan Simmons and true events. An FBI agent is ordered to baby-sit Ernest Hemingway as he goes about running a motley spy ring in WWII Cuba.

Thoughts: I guess if this is based on true events, it's okay. I don't know what it is about Hemmingway, but whenever I see his name in a premise, I want to read it. Meyer is a true workhorse, having written a ton of films. Some of those include the recent film, Elegy, as well as older films Sommersby, The Human Stain, and Star Trek VI.

22 - tie) THE CURSE OF MEDUSA by J Lee and Tom Welch
An origin story of Medusa the Gorgon.

Thoughts: Can't say that's not an interesting angle.

22 - tie) DUE DATE by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland
An uptight father-to-be is forced to travel across the country with an idiotic stoner in order to close a major business deal and make it home in time for the birth of his first child.

Thoughts: This is going to star Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galianfinakgianis and be directed by Todd Phillips. In other words, this is going to be a mega-hit. Read it awhile back. It has some strong moments, moreso in the second half, and I love the potential chemistry between these two actors, but I wasn't a big fan of the spec version of this script. Thought it was a little sloppy

Review here.

22 - tie) THE HAND JOB by Maggie Carey
A coming-of-age comedy about a teenage girl who gives her first hand job (among other
life experiences).

Thoughts: lol. I really don't know how to respond to this one. Maggie Carey has learned her craft through writing and directing her own shorts, which she has a bunch of. The other script she sold, about a young woman's decision to turn things around by hiring a "life coach" is thrown for a loop when the person she hires turns out to be a real mess, sounds more interesting.

22 - tie) HANNA by David Farr
A fourteen year old girl is raised by her father to be a cold hearted killing machine.

Thoughts: Littler Nikita? Hanna is about a badass bitch who goes looking for her father when they get split up. My big issue with this script is the saggy middle, though I anticipate that's been cleaned up in rewrites. Let's hope, cause this is one of those scripts (because of the action) that's going to work better on the screen than on the page. Before he wrote Hanna, Farr worked on the show "MI-5." This is his first sale.

Review here.

22 - tie) THE HUNGRY RABBIT JUMPS by Robert Tannen
A man becomes entangled in a secret society that forces him to murder.

Thoughts: I believe this is the script that has the monetarily challenged Nicholas Cage attached? Cage shouldn't be jumping over hungry rabbits. He should be keeping his wallet closed when the auctioneer says, "Dinosaur bones, 250 thousand dollars!" Before this, Tannen wrote the 2006 indie film, "Even Money."

22 - tie) JAWS OF LIFE by Michael Goldbach
A seventeen year old boy falls in love with a woman old enough to be his mother and begins to question the meaning of love and relationships while his parents go through a divorce.

Thoughts: Phew, I was wondering when the inappropriate relationship script was going to show up. Thank goodness. All jokes aside, I kinda like these films. The train-wreck aspect to the relationship always compels me to keep watching. Goldbach also has a produced credit on a small indie film called "Child Star."

22 - tie) JITTERS by Marc Haimes
A dysfunctional, recession-struck family moves into a new neighborhood and is terrorized by superbugs.

Thoughts: Described as having a "Gremlins vibe." I'm thinking how Roger is pouring through trillions of terrabytes of internet information right now to find this script. Oh how I hope you find it Roger. Haimes has a few projects in development and associate produced Men In Black II.

22 - tie) THE LAST STAND by Andrew Knauer
A drug cartel king escapes his trial in a 200mph Gumpert Apollo, and the only thing in between him and Mexican freedom is a small town cop in a bordertown.

Thoughts: There's some coolness here. I'd like to know more about this town and this cop though, since that seems to be where the meat of the screenplay takes place. This is Knauer's first sale.

23 - tie) MEDIEVAL by Alex Litvak and Michael Finch
An unlikely group of imprisoned warriors are forced on a suicide mission to steal the King's crown in order to gain their freedom. They soon realize they've been set up to take the fall for the assassination of the King.

Thoughts: I waffled on this one. Not great but not terrible. Just sorta good enough. Yet, if I were a studio, it would be one of the first movies I put on my slate. It's one of those ideas where you can imagine the trailer in your head. And even on your dullest days, it's still fucking awesome. This script also sold for a lot of money. I think over 600k, right?

Review here.

23 - tie) OWENS MANUAL by Greg Ferkel
A mild-mannered IT guy finds an 'owners manual' to his dull life but struggles to manage the realities of it when he reaches the end of the manual.

Thoughts: I'm digging this one. Sounds like an off-beat take on a traditional comedy. Will definitely check it out. This is Ferkel's first sale.

23 - tie) SAND DOGS by Vineet Dewan and Angus Fletcher
A pair of Western Red Crescent Paramedics weather a series of intense, dangerous days
in the Gaza Strip.

Thoughts: This sounds a lot like The Hurt Locker, which I liked. As many of you know, Sand Dogs is one of this years' five Nichols' winners. I haven't read it yet but I hope to find it. Vineet Dewan worked in the art department on Monsoon Wedding.

23 - tie) SEX, GREED, MONEY, MURDER & CHICKEN FRIED STEAK by Reinhard Denke
The story of oilman T. Cullen Davis, the richest man in the United States ever to be
tried (and acquitted twice) for the capital murder of his stepdaughter, marking the
end of the reign of Texas oil billionaires.

Thoughts: Okay, I take back my earlier statement. This clearly wins title of the Black List awards. Also, it sounds really interesting. Us Americans are obsessed with seeing really rich people fall. It's sad but it's true. Which is why I will read this.

23 - tie) THE SPECTACULAR NOW by Scott Neustadter and Mike Weber
A hard-partying high school senior's life changes when he meets a shy, insecure girl.

Thoughts: These two might sound familiar to you as they're the writers of the indie hit "500 Days of Summer," which was also in my Top 25 back before it hit theaters. This one hasn't been getting a whole lot of heat, but they set the bar really high with Summer, which makes a comparable follow-up all the much harder. I will give this a read at some point for sure.

23 - tie) SWINGLES by Zach Braff
A bachelor who is dumped by his wingman teams up with a sharp-tongued woman he can't
stand in order to meet women.

Thoughts: This is the project Braff signed onto to rewrite AND make his official directing follow-up to Garden State. I haven't read the script but my lovely friend Erica has, and she did a review for the site. Just note, the draft she reviews is pre-Braff, not this one.

Review here.

23 - tie) THE TREES by Tyler Hisel
Isolated and threatened, a mysterious force hidden within the trees outside the small town of Laytonsville, Maryland strikes fear in the townsfolk as Sheriff Paul Shields attempts to overcome the demons of his past while protecting those that he loves.

Thoughts: There be some fear whistling through these bones. This sounds like a cross between The Happening and The Village. The good news? It's impossible for anyone to write anything as bad as those films. So we know this has to be better. This is Hisel's first breakthrough.

23 - tie) THE UNDERLING by Dave Stoller and Ben Shiffrin
A man slowly comes to discover his girlfriend is literally working for the devil and
has to find a way to escape.

Thoughts: Devil's Advocate like maybe? I hope so. We need another Devil's Advocate. This looks to be both these writers' first break.

23 - tie) THE VATICAN TAPES by Chris Borrelli
In a highly secured vault deep within the walls of Vatican City, the Catholic Church holds thousands of old films and video footage documenting exorcisms/supposed exorcisms and other unexplained religious phenomena they feel the world is not ready to see. This is the first tape - Case 83-G - stolen from these archives and exposed to the public by an anonymous source.

Thoughts: I love the sound of this. Will definitely be checking it out. Borrelli has been working odd jobs around Hollywood for awhile. This is his first sale.

23 - tie) WALL STREET 2: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS by Allan Loeb
Gordon Gekko, fresh from prison, re-emerges into a much harsher financial world than
the one he left.

Thoughts: Because Loeb is selling everything he writes these days, he's been heavily debated by the writing community, with some people "getting" him, and others not. Well, for better or worse, he's landing a lot of big money assignment work, and Wall Street was one of those. I read the script and thought it was okay, though there were some major motivation issues I had with the characters. Luckily it has an ending that saves the day and should have audiences leaving the theater with a buzz.

Review here.

23 -tie) WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Richard LaGravanese
Jacob Jankowski is about to take his final exams in veterinary medicine at Cornell when his parents are killed in a car accident. He drops out and joins Benzini Brothers, a second-rate traveling circus trying to survive during the Depression.

Thoughts: I've had this book on my shelf for two years now. I once got through 3 pages on a plane trip (until a suspicious looking guy started to hang around the bathroom and I had to keep an eye on him). LaGravenese has written such movies as "P.S. I Love You," and "Freedom Writers."

23 - tie) THE WETTEST COUNTY by Nick Cave
Based on the book by Matt Bondurant. The story of a moonshine gang operating in the
bootlegging capital of America – Franklin County, Virginia – during Prohibition.

Thoughts: Not my genre, but I rarely meet a write who doesn't love Nick Cave.

23 - tie) YEAR 12 by Edward Ricourt
Twelve years after an alien invasion leaves humankind decimated and brutally subjugated, a former soldier must smuggle deadly uranium in his bloodstream and, with help from a pair of rebels, fight his way to an air force base where the uranium can be extracted and used to fuel a nuclear missile for a counterstrike that will reverse the direction of the war.

Thoughts: Started reading this one but haven't finished it yet. It's like a hard-edged version of "V." Like, really hard. This is Ricourt's first sale.