-Guest Contributor J. William-
I’m not a political scientist. I identify as a conservative in that I enjoy killing criminals and not babies, but I am not polarized to the right so far that I feel guilty telling you I, like about 70% of America, think George Bush is a moron. But recently, it has occurred to me that he may in fact be the most brilliant president in recent history.
Before I get into what he may be, I want to insist upon what Bush is not. George Bush is not the second Abe Lincoln. During the Civil War, Lincoln’s approval sank to tremendous lows, fueled by his unpopular policies which supported a war the country wanted to end. Lincoln used his speech at the Gettysburg dedication to invigorate a weary nation and is now regarded as one of the greatest presidents. This will not happen to you George. Sorry buddy. In the public’s eye, this war just isn’t accomplishing very much; except contributing to the decline of the American Dollar.
Jackpot.
As a native of Detroit, I’ve been able to watch the local economy slowly dwindle as more and more people lose their auto industry based job to foreign workers. Foreign workers are simply cheaper to employ. As time has gone on, other industries go the way of cars, and close production plants in America because we are just too damn expensive. Without even getting into a debate over socialism and the American sense of entitlement, it is sufficient to say that something needs to change. Over several years, the market has been in decline, commodity prices have been dropping and most dramatic, our currency has been significantly devalued.
Even the Euro is more valuable than the dollar.
According to news reports, the Federal Reserve Board has been doing something, but as an average American, I haven’t felt relief from their ivory tower. In the last few months I haven’t heard a peep from them. The government gave contributing Americans several hundred dollars to stimulate spending and jumpstart the economy. I don’t think that really made a difference. Not only is this money a transfer payment, but many people just used it to pay off existing debt, which wouldn’t contribute to new growth.
And that really seems like about all the government has done. In my, and a lot of people I know (including some very educated individuals), opinion the powers that be are just letting the economy slide. But this may not be a bad thing, as many Americans believe.
This country lost hundreds of thousands of jobs to cheaper foreign labor. However, countries like China and India are experiencing fast growth in their standards of living. Soon, workers there will demand higher wages. With the American dollar on the decline, it will become cheaper to produce goods back in America. Globalization is cyclical and given enough time, we will see foreign money pour into the American economy.
This is almost a certainty. In the Detroit area, foreign competitor Mazda has opened a production plant south of the city, and other large foreign companies have started to set up shop across the country. The biggest question to me though is if this was intentional? Is the future prospects of the American economy the result of careful crafting by the Bush administration. Surely they wouldn’t be able to tell us a plan as radical as purposely devaluing out currency. Is the rising foreign debt the best financial instrument for getting our economy back on track? Is George Bush, a Harvard MBA, a true genius? I don’t care if he is or isn’t, I will just be happy when I feel more confident in our financial stability as a nation.
-J. William
Monday, August 18, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Screenplay of the Week: The 40-Year Old Virgin
Written by Judd Apatow and Steve Carell
http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/40_year_old_virgin.pdf
With thoughts of “Pineapple Express” coming soon, I thought it appropriate to go over one of the first monster hits from the Apatow machine. The “40-Year Old Virgin” worked as an introduction to how humor would be played out in years to come. It is a formula that Apatow and associates have been following since this film. While not a bad formula, this movie looks more derivative in hindsight then it did at first glance.
Upon first viewing I really liked the movie. I thought that the main characters (specifically Andy and Trish) were well developed and the audience could and would feel for both parties. A virgin and a single mom are two characters that just ask for the sympathy of the crowd. The writers managed to wind these two characters together in a very believable manner and never strayed from the focus on the values of each character. Andy’s tragic flaw of being a virgin is also a strong point for how the story was written. Coming in to the movie, everyone knew the premise of the movie. They all knew what to expect in the form of a couple jokes. What almost no one could predict was that the virgin aspect was never really put on a shelf and made to look at. This virgin-ness was simply a feature to this deeper character. I truly believe that this movie would have still worked whether Andy was a virgin or not. Only a few times did jokes stem directly from this fact. Andy could just have easily been a simple, kind, caring dork that had lost his virginity earlier in life. This helps add a layer to the entire film (something that “Pineapple Express” struggled with, but more on this tomorrow…). Thankfully the writers stayed away from many easy jokes and actually tried harder on the other parts of the characters to develop humor.
Where most of the Apatow films score really strongly are the side characters. Most of the off the cuff jokes and, as a result, the biggest laughs come from the smaller characters. “Virgin” sets the stage for the characters to come in future films. Andy’s co-workers at the electronic store provide a good mix of serious moments and comic relief. These characters allow Andy and Trish to have a more serious, meaningful relationship without worrying about constant laughs. Add in the various odd balls we meet on the journey to sex and Andy never actually needs to be funny (thankfully he is due to the perfect role for Carell, see his next few movies, not the same…). For an example of Apatow characters going wrong, just look at another of his hits, “Knocked Up”. Loved the movie, loved the side characters, but as a writer and notice that the side characters in this film are seriously side characters simply along for the ride to provide comic relief. Get rid of these characters and the story would go on.
“Virgin” loses a few points for winding down and becoming quite a formulaic screenplay. After watching more and more Apatows, it is clear that the formula exists. Just throw a normal guy into a problematic situation, give them a strong supporting comedy cast, sprinkle in a small amount of touching moments, stick to easily followed and expected main story lines and you’ve got yourself a hit!
I really did enjoy this film and its screenplay. It is arguably the Apatows greatest hit up to this point. Hard to argue the writing and the jokes are clever and original. This was the turning point in many careers with Apatow, Rogen, Carell to name a few. Simply because other films are borrowing the formula should not take away from the enjoyment of a good screenplay.
Please click the link above to read the full copy.
-GR McBride
http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/40_year_old_virgin.pdf
With thoughts of “Pineapple Express” coming soon, I thought it appropriate to go over one of the first monster hits from the Apatow machine. The “40-Year Old Virgin” worked as an introduction to how humor would be played out in years to come. It is a formula that Apatow and associates have been following since this film. While not a bad formula, this movie looks more derivative in hindsight then it did at first glance.
Upon first viewing I really liked the movie. I thought that the main characters (specifically Andy and Trish) were well developed and the audience could and would feel for both parties. A virgin and a single mom are two characters that just ask for the sympathy of the crowd. The writers managed to wind these two characters together in a very believable manner and never strayed from the focus on the values of each character. Andy’s tragic flaw of being a virgin is also a strong point for how the story was written. Coming in to the movie, everyone knew the premise of the movie. They all knew what to expect in the form of a couple jokes. What almost no one could predict was that the virgin aspect was never really put on a shelf and made to look at. This virgin-ness was simply a feature to this deeper character. I truly believe that this movie would have still worked whether Andy was a virgin or not. Only a few times did jokes stem directly from this fact. Andy could just have easily been a simple, kind, caring dork that had lost his virginity earlier in life. This helps add a layer to the entire film (something that “Pineapple Express” struggled with, but more on this tomorrow…). Thankfully the writers stayed away from many easy jokes and actually tried harder on the other parts of the characters to develop humor.
Where most of the Apatow films score really strongly are the side characters. Most of the off the cuff jokes and, as a result, the biggest laughs come from the smaller characters. “Virgin” sets the stage for the characters to come in future films. Andy’s co-workers at the electronic store provide a good mix of serious moments and comic relief. These characters allow Andy and Trish to have a more serious, meaningful relationship without worrying about constant laughs. Add in the various odd balls we meet on the journey to sex and Andy never actually needs to be funny (thankfully he is due to the perfect role for Carell, see his next few movies, not the same…). For an example of Apatow characters going wrong, just look at another of his hits, “Knocked Up”. Loved the movie, loved the side characters, but as a writer and notice that the side characters in this film are seriously side characters simply along for the ride to provide comic relief. Get rid of these characters and the story would go on.
“Virgin” loses a few points for winding down and becoming quite a formulaic screenplay. After watching more and more Apatows, it is clear that the formula exists. Just throw a normal guy into a problematic situation, give them a strong supporting comedy cast, sprinkle in a small amount of touching moments, stick to easily followed and expected main story lines and you’ve got yourself a hit!
I really did enjoy this film and its screenplay. It is arguably the Apatows greatest hit up to this point. Hard to argue the writing and the jokes are clever and original. This was the turning point in many careers with Apatow, Rogen, Carell to name a few. Simply because other films are borrowing the formula should not take away from the enjoyment of a good screenplay.
Please click the link above to read the full copy.
-GR McBride
Update
If you look at the top right corner you will see the first issue that is going to be put to a deciding vote. After looking through the comments and reading through the emails, we have narrowed the topic of the project screenplay to four outstanding ideas. As a reminder the only thing that is set is the genre; this screenplay will be a comedy, so keep this in mind when voting. Also notice a few changes and additions to the site. We now have our logo to greet the page, the latest movie news is conveniently located on the sidebar, the films that are currently in theaters are featured in a slideshow in the upper right corner and finally some videos will be airing for your entertainment on the sidebar to the right.
As a request, please continue to comment, email and, now in addition, Digg the page. If you find anything interesting please don’t keep to yourselves, this is a sharing community. Hell you can even act anonymously. So why not?
Moving on to the important issue of the week: the discussion topic!
This week will focus on the main characters of the movie. We will be trying to decide the amount and gender of the characters this week. Your choices will be:
5 characters (all men)
5 characters (4 men, 1 woman)
5 characters (3 men, 2 women)
5 characters (3 women, 3 men)
5 characters (4 women, 1 man)
5 characters (all women)
4 characters (all men)
4 characters (3 men, 1 woman)
4 characters (2 men, 2 women)
4 characters (3 women, 1 man)
4 characters (all women)
3 characters (all men)
3 characters (2 men, 1 women)
3 characters (2 women, 1 man)
3 characters (all women)
The task this week will not be to create the poll question, but rather to debate and convince others to vote in one direction or another. Keep the good ideas coming!
-GR McBride
As a request, please continue to comment, email and, now in addition, Digg the page. If you find anything interesting please don’t keep to yourselves, this is a sharing community. Hell you can even act anonymously. So why not?
Moving on to the important issue of the week: the discussion topic!
This week will focus on the main characters of the movie. We will be trying to decide the amount and gender of the characters this week. Your choices will be:
5 characters (all men)
5 characters (4 men, 1 woman)
5 characters (3 men, 2 women)
5 characters (3 women, 3 men)
5 characters (4 women, 1 man)
5 characters (all women)
4 characters (all men)
4 characters (3 men, 1 woman)
4 characters (2 men, 2 women)
4 characters (3 women, 1 man)
4 characters (all women)
3 characters (all men)
3 characters (2 men, 1 women)
3 characters (2 women, 1 man)
3 characters (all women)
The task this week will not be to create the poll question, but rather to debate and convince others to vote in one direction or another. Keep the good ideas coming!
-GR McBride
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