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The Infamy Upon Us
Two more days till the biggest movie of the summer comes out. Forget A.I. or Planet of The Apes, the spectacle film of the summer is Pearl Harbor. So today, for your reading pleasure, we have a review of the Michael Bay flick. Along with that, we are featuring a script review of a big Summer movie, well Summer 2002, namely Scooby-Doo. The next issue will have a review of Moulin Rouge, So stick around...
'Pearl Harbor' Review
"I hope that I don't run out of superlatives before the end of the summer. There is still so much to see in the coming months but I just enjoyed the hell out of Pearl Harbor.
All the productions elements are solidly in place for this entertaining lesson in American history told on the grandest scale. It's all wrapped around a bittersweet love triangle involving two childhood friends Rafe (Ben Affleck), Danny (Josh Hartnett) and Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale), a gorgeous full-lipped navy nurse. Along the way we are privy to the machinations of power in the halls of the nation's capital trying to determine if there is a Japanese war machine arming itself for assault on our shores.
Though director Michael Bay is fully in his element with this broad, explosive canvas, a lot of credit also goes to Randall Wallace's screenplay. He reigns in the heart strings while Bay is always try to rip them out of us and wave them along with the flag. Pearl Harbor completely met my expectations and even surprised me along the way. While films like Mummy Returns dip deeply into the CGI bag of tricks and continually call attention, Pearl Harbor offers its visual gifts to clarify and viscerally bring home the havoc and fearful beauty that is combat.. Of course, the December 7th attack is the centerpiece of the film but thanks to Wallace's well-paced scenario the massive battle sequence manages to be powerful without overpowering the balance of the film, especially considering its lengthy running time. But like all instant classics, Pearl Harbor's three hours feels like less.
Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett are two country-fed fly boys who both fall for the same woman. And why not? Kate Beckinsale is one of the most watchable presences on-screen today. Here she plays a full-bodied, All-American woman who possesses courage and intelligence. I have to mention the remarkable piece of casting that brings us Jon Voight as President Franklin Roosevelt. His speech patterns, body language and make-up are almost documentary-like in their impact. I had to remind myself that I wasn't watching the real thing. Cuba Gooding Jr. turns in a fine performance as real-life hero Dorie Miller. Though the part is almost a cameo, Gooding brings his trademark high energy to the role with stirring effect. Also look for Alex Baldwin who plays another real-life figure, Commander Jimmy Doolittle.
This is a big, stirring shamelessly patriotic film that recalls a 'day of infamy' and recalls it vividly. Pearl Harbor is an instant classic and I predict that it will claim a massive victory at the box office. It might even be Michael Bay's best film yet."
(Review sent in by 'Q-Brick'.)
Another 'Scooby-Doo' Script Review
"Hollyfeld, here. I was lucky enough recently to receive a copy of the infamous Scooby Doo draft that has been circulating the internet for a while now, and have proved unable to suppress my urge to talk about it. This draft, written by Craig Titley with revisions by Jay Kogen and James Gunn, has been maligned on almost every movie news site on the net, even The Tuesday Night Movie Club, in this very column. But, I, for the life of me, cannot figure out why.
A little background information on me - I have never been what you could call an avid Scooby Doo fan. Sure, I watched it as a little kid, and find it pleasantly kitsch now, but even as a youngin' I found it formulaic to the point of absurdity. Ignoring the fact that the animation is bad (most shows at the time were in the same boat and paddling), the characters were cookie-cutter stereotypes and the plot was the same recycled mystery over and over again. Mystery, Inc. shows up at some vaguely spooky spot, and they find out that there is a demon/ghost/mummy/vampire/Jell-O mold lurking about and scaring people. So, without any real talk of monetary compensation, they go off looking for the monster, alone, with no protection to speak of. The attractive Fred and Daphne go off in one direction, the unattractive Velma, Shaggy and Scooby go off in the other. Velma loses her glasses so she doesn't notice the monster, Shaggy and Scooby sneak off to eat before being scared. Then they devise an elaborate scheme that involves using Scooby as bait, which inevitably goes wrong for some reason, they dance and then capture the monster. It turns out to just be some guy who was trying to scare people away so he could... do something vaguely bad, who 'would've gotten away with it too, had it not been' blah, blah, blah. The show got so repetitive that it had to bring in guest stars to distract from the sameness of it all-stars including Adam West and Burt Ward, Don Knotts and Dick Van Dyke.
My point in recapping all of this nonsense is this - since the show was so formulaic to begin with, why is everyone complaining that this draft (which has since been rewritten) isn't completely 'faithful' to the television show? Why would anyone want to watch an hour and a half version of what could easily be a thirty-minute show? Take The X-Files feature film, for example. The film failed to expand upon the themes of the show, and give the audience something that television could not provide. This draft takes the characters we know (and some of us love) from the show and places them in a situation beyond that which the show provided.
The script begins with a somewhat mysterious occurrence, then moves into a 'Behind the Music'-esque documentary about the problems Mystery Inc. went through prior to their break-up. The show is not ignored, but rather established as fact - even the celebrity cameos. Those were the groups' salad years. Since then, almost everyone in the Scooby Gang has struck out on their own to establish their own identity. Fred, having learned the rather obvious lesson from his adventures that all supernatural occurrences are hoaxes, writes books debunking urban myths (The Bermuda Triangle, What Crap, for example, or Bigfoot: Bullshit). Velma seeks to find herself and gain credit for her work as an individual (Fred and Daphne generally hogged all the glory in the show). Daphne, sick of the being the helpless victim, has dedicated herself to becoming more self-reliant, learning martial arts. And Shaggy and Scooby live in a junk-filled house, probably just mooching off of the Scooby Doo merchandising residuals.
When Shaggy's cousin is kidnapped on 'Spooky Island', he attempts to get the whole gang together to solve the mystery. Of course, everyone is reluctant, but everyone goes anyway. Their personalities clash, etc. Much has been made of the fact that the 'demons' in question in this script are REAL, as opposed to just people in masks, but I feel that this choice adds an extra element of danger. It takes the safety off the story, so to speak. Be honest - if you went in to a Scooby Doo movie, and had no reason to believe that the gang was in any REAL danger, and that the villain was just some dope in a mask, you wouldn't be particularly rapt with suspense, would you? As it is, the screenwriters took the people we knew from the TV show and places them in a situation the show never would, and as such we don't know what is going to happen next. Rather than follow the rules of the show, like, for example, The Brady Bunch or The X-Files, they go beyond them to give us, and the characters something new.
And something new, it is. One of the more amusing scenes in the script features Fred, having just learned of the kidnapping, automatically making the assumption that the perpetrator was 'a man in a mask'.. At first, Mystery Inc. just goes through the motions, comfortable in the fact that everything will turn out fine like it normally does - but when things get out of control, they find that they have think outside the box for a change, and end up proving their ultimate worth to themselves and each other.
Although I find myself mostly defending the plot thus far, I must say that in addition to all this, the script is really funny as hell, and does not resort to toilet humor. (Well, once... completely unnecessary, I might add.) The real comedy comes from the characters interacting with each other. Fred, surprisingly, becomes quite the breakout character, as he juggles the roles of leader, womanizer, egotist and closet homosexual at the same time. For example, when Scooby yells out his trademark 'Scooby-dooby-doo!', Fred counters with, 'Fred! Fred Jones!' Shaggy also turns out to be a bit of a surprise. Apparently his laid back attitude has made him the only member of the group with any real perspective, and is a friend to everyone in the Scooby Gang in spite of their differences to each other. I never thought I'd say this, but Shaggy is really a wonderful character to play in this script. With Freddie Prinze and Matthew Lillard playing these roles, of course, these characters could be really screwed up, but this could also be their chance to prove that they can really be the likable guys they've been claiming to be all along. (Incidentally, I think the ideal cast would be: Fred - Mark Blucas (Buffy), Daphne - Sarah Michelle Gellar (good choice, you casting guys), Velma - Amber Benson OR Alyson Hannigon (both Buffy), Shaggy - Jason Mewes (Clerks), and Scooby, as himself.)
In the hands of the right director (which, I must say, I am not really convinced they have), this can really be something special. And to all you guys who obviously busted your ass to write this, don't let everyone else get you down. I think you did a bang up job, and would really want to see your draft become a reality (let's just hope it wasn't changed TOO much, hmm?). And just between the writers and me, 'the fate of Scrappy' was absolutely priceless, and even if it doesn't make it into the finished film I will love that line until the day I die. Thank you for that, and thank you to Deadpool for letting me voice my opinions on this draft of Scooby Doo in his column. You the man, Deadpool. You the man. Hollyfeld out.."
(Review submitted by 'Hollyfeld.')
Stay tuned...
That's all folks...
Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)
Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org
Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.
