July Round-Up
"Is Your Dialect Coach The Minions?"
GREETINGS & SALUTATIONS
In this edition:
Let’s Twist again!
Inside Out 2 ker-azy!
Wolverine gets his claws out one more time
School’s out for summer, and the six-week holidays are here again! A few of life’s stepping stones are looming: The next school year will be my son’s final year in junior school, and my daughter’s final year in secondary school. The moments always feel like a huge deal, and I’m a big schmush when it comes to poignant times. There’s also a tendency at times like this to look to the future, which only provokes Anxiety to put down their cup of Anxi-Tea and hop off the vibrating recliner.
In the meantime, I’ve been working on pitch decks this month, trying to make sense of my various projects. Lots of floating in ideas and their potential, which is simultaneously relaxing and exciting, because (as a writer) you feel like anything’s possible. All of the ideas throw themselves at you thick and fast. It’s only when you have to sit down and make sense of it all that the pain begins!
Speaking of “the craft”, I’ve spent a lot of time expanding my knowledge in July, watching lots of Script to Screen webinars. I’ve also been listening to The Screenwriting Life podcast and watching Cinema Therapy videos, which were brilliantly insightful and thought-provoking. (More on all of this later, so keep scrolling!)
JUST ONE MORE THING…
Well, two more things: I closed my Facebook account for the second time. I originally left back in 2017, but re-joined when COVID struck and our community hub was the place to be to get the inside track on where to find a loaf of bread. But then I slipped into keeping it on my phone, and it resumed being a distraction. So it has gone. I don’t miss it.
I finished reading Tarantino’s CINEMA SPECULATION, brilliantly encapsulating QT’s thoughts on various films (mostly from the seventies). But it’s also part biography, charting his growing love for cinema as a kid. The best part was the final chapter, where Tarantino writes about a guy named Floyd who moved in with him and his Mum for a while. Young Tarantino goes toe-to-toe with the untrustworthy Floyd on movie knowledge and soon discovers a true source of cinema opinion which clicks with his own. It’s such a great story, and I wish Tarantino could somehow adapt it as his final film (think The Holdovers, but more street ‘n funky). He won’t, because it would be too much of a departure from his oeuvre, but it’s such a weird, sweet look at two very different people unified with the same passion. There’s a story there, and we need to know more!
ON SHORT PEOPLE
C4 & NFTS Script to Screen
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of sitting in on a week’s-worth of webinars, organised by Channel Four and the National Film and Television school. The talks covered various topics, from casting actors, film editing, working with a script editor, and the multiple routes to having your writing produced.
CINEMA
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Disclosure up front: I’m not a fan of the super-violent, super-sweary Deadpool (I’ve seen the movies; they just don’t do much for me: Sorry.), so if you are a fan then take my review with a pinch of salt. I find his 4th wall-breaking fast-talking quips as funny as a wannabe-Twitter troll. I get it. He’s poking fun at everything. He says rude, lewd things because he can. He’s the merc with the mouth and meant to be super-annoying, but when Wolverine yells at him to shut up for the fiftieth time, I’m right there with him. ANYWAY.
I went in with average expectations and after an hour it was so far, so as expected. But once the story kicked in, things engaged and became a lot more fun (coincidentally, the Deadpool yapping reigns in more at this point). I won’t say too much as there are spoilers aplenty, but the story requires Deadpool to find a living Wolverine to save his timeline, and they both end up in a sort of purgatory for ex/long-forgotten/had-their-day superheroes.
There are lots of great cameos (think No Way Home or Multiverse of Madness, but for 20th Century Fox superhero movies). Emma Corrin is the best Marvel Baddie in what feels like an eternity, Matthew Macfadyen is a hammy agent with aspirations for the top job and Hugh Jackman is his usual solid, dependable self as Wolverine, and his presence is very much appreciated.
This is probably the most fan-service Marvel film so far (as was evident at the screening: The same group of people laughed at everything, and the rest ha-ha’d every once in a while). The in-jokes are aimed at Marvel fans: If you’re not a die-hard Marvelite then you’ll be shrugging at the screen. And that’s a shame, as the second half of the movie is pretty darn good. If only they could have ditched the schtick (or, at least, opted for less-is-more) because (for me) it grates. If you love Deadpool, then this will be your new favourite movie.
On the plus side, if I’ve understood the message correctly: No more multi-verse stuff in the future! (PLEASE)
VERDICT: Zzzzzpool and WOLVERINE!
INSIDE OUT 2 - RE-REVIEW
I went to see this again - TWICE - after the first time was marred by - DUN-DUN-DUUUUUN - talking teenagers! (I mean, who spends 90 minutes flipping water bottles in the cinema?) The second time I only had to put up with someone leaving the phone torch on the entire time (and they took lots of selfies for some reason *SHRUG*).
I’ve been wrong about films in the past on first viewings (well, I’ve been too harsh, let’s just say): The Big Lebowski flew over my head the first time. After Fargo, I thought it was lazy. Then I realised that was the point. Jackie Brown? Dragged. Then I realised it was a vibe. Upon reflection, my previous review of Inside Out 2 - whilst not negative: I liked it a lot, but on first viewing, I felt it didn’t quite hit the heights of the first instalment - WELL: I should have sung its praises even more because it is brilliant.
Inside Out is one of my all-time favourite films. It’s such a brilliantly observed story, and the nostalgia of Riley’s progression from baby to Pre-Teen is easy to relate to, whether you consider your childhood or whether you have children. The Islands of Personality, Imagination Land, and Dream Productions are such masterstrokes of story-telling.
As Part 2 deals with puberty and all the complex emotions of being a teenager, the film itself is naturally more complicated. The addition of the Belief System is something we can all relate to: The inner voice that says we’re a good person - or not. And then there’s Anxiety calling the shots, which I found hard to watch because the film-makers get it so right. There’s even a moment of CBT, which is used to great effect.
Anxiety makes for a sympathetic “bad guy” - you completely understand their actions, and they’re not trying to wreck things deliberately: They’re doing their best to keep Riley safe, as did Sadness/Joy in the first Inside Out. These issues created by Anxiety play out in Riley’s life, making Riley much more of a character to root for throughout the story.
If the first film teaches us how we sometimes need to let Sadness take control, the second film is more contemplative; a film to “sit with”. And while there is no Bing Bong, there are moments which pang the heart.
I stand by the observation that it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel as regards to story, but there’s a lot to love. No spoilers, but the ending expands on the fact that we’re all complicated beings, capable of expressing many things - and in that mess of emotions, we sometimes need to call for joy.
VERDICT: Profound Joy
TWISTERS
The is-it-a-remake-or-sequel-or-just-another-one follow-up to 1996’s Twister features Daisy Edgar-Jones as an instinctive expert on all things windy, and Glenn Powell as a Youtube-famous Stetson-waving yeehaw who labels himself a “tornado wrangler” (which translates as “driving full speed at tornados, drilling his truck into the ground and yelling YEAH as things get bumpy). The original Twister can hardly be labelled as a classic, but it did feature ground-breaking FX which felt intimidating on the big screen, and the pairing of Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt brought the acting chops.
Much like Aliens was a sequel to Alien, adding an ‘S’ to the title isn’t the only thing Twisters pinches from Aliens: The first half an hour or so is Ripley’s set-up story from Aliens: Surviving a traumatic ordeal, Daisy Edgar-Jones’ character having PTSD nightmares, and has done her best to run away from her old life. But then an ex-military pal convinces her to get back on the horse and face her fears because lives are at stake…
Daisy and Glenn are fine, but are surrounded by cardboard cut-out characters and, much like the first film, it’s a repetitive rinse-and-repeat story: The experiment to find out more about tornados doesn’t work, so they try again. And it doesn’t work again, so they try again until it gets to the end of the film. It’s all ridiculous as before, but strangely dull, with forced “chemistry” between the leads: Anyone can see that Daisy is far too sensible for braggart Glenn’s brand of annoying gung-ho wackiness. (But he does walk through the rain in a tight white t-shirt, so there’s that.)
VERDICT: Blow out.
BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F
I’m going down a rabbit hole with this review, so bear with me.
The original Beverly Hills Cop was bottled lightning. The script was the very definition of tight 80’s storytelling. The plot was hardly world-changing: Fish-out-of-water cop investigates the death of an old buddy, but still it felt fresh. This fourth instalment sees Axel Foley heading back to Beverly Hills AGAIN after his attorney daughter is threatened (well, dangled off a car park, which seems considerably more than “threatened”). Many reviews have raved in terms of “It’s as close to the original as it gets.” I’ve watched it twice, and I’m struggling to understand the enthusiasm. There are some great actors here. A LO-HO-HOT of money was spent on it. So why doesn’t it work?
It falls into the same trap as all of the BHC sequels have done: Having Foley repeatedly go back to Beverly Hills (usually because someone close to him has been hospitalised or threatened). It lacks the fish-out-of-water element. Who is Foley going up against? What’s new?
The first film highlighted the social differences: Detroit was rough, poor, and broke. Axel’s car was a heap. The police department was chaotic. Beverly Hills was the total opposite. The cops wore suits. The police were polite and by the book. And that’s the gag. Take the poor guy who breaks the rules and put him in with well-groomed rich guys and watch the sparks fly. The closest BHC4 gets to social commentary is during the usual “Rich weirdos of Beverly Hills” montage, where a glamorous Mum poses for Tiktok outside a flashy store whilst her little kid films it.
None of the sequels have managed to find its fish-out-of-water theme. BHC2 was flashy, loud, brash, annoying at times, and had poor characterisation - but Murphy was still fresh at that time, and could get away with doing his thing. BHC3 didn’t know what it was: It tried to be Die Hard at a theme park (as most 90’s actioners were: Die Hard on a boat, Die Hard on a plane… heck, they even did “Die Hard at Beverly Hills” with The Taking of Beverly Hills.) The 90s were awash with iffy actioners (Eraser, Striking Distance, Blown Away, Executive Decision, Chain Reaction, Assassins, Broken Arrow, The Assassin, The Specialist, Money Train etc.), and BHC3 fell in with that crowd: It was all about silly laughs as opposed to edginess. Any sense of realism is out the window. BHC3 is not the terrible, unwatchable movie Murphy makes it out to be but it’s a million miles away from the first film because they got the hook wrong. (A fish out of water in a theme park?) It wasn’t without pace, and the stunts were bigger. The location and bad guy motive lacked momentum. (It came out in the same year as Speed - one of the best 90’s action films - Speed 2 would make the same mistakes as BHC3 a few years later.)
The first BHC took itself seriously. Other than the cocaine-in-coffee-grounds (which felt like a new revelation/insight at that time for audiences), the plot rested firmly on Murphy’s shoulders. It was Foley constantly butting up against the wrong people and rubbing them up the wrong way which made it work. Foley was always going to exclusive places where he didn’t belong.
Here’s what I think: It should always be about Foley and his pulling down of class and those who would consider themselves superior to him. Like John McClane (always being in the wrong place at the wrong time), Foley besting those above him in society was his thing, which I don’t feel the sequels properly grasped. Foley was simply a pain in the arse for everyone (usually white men in suits), and that became “the thing”.
In the first BHC, Steven Berkoff’s Victor Maitland had a tangible sense of someone who viewed Foley as beneath him: Continuously bottling up his frustrations; a fire raging under the ice. (Maitland walked so Hans Gruber could run.) For me, Berkoff’s performance is the template for British-Actor-Bad-Guy. And none of the sequels found Foley a worthy opponent.
No amount of original soundtrack callbacks will convince me this is a legit BHC sequel. The main defence of this film seems to be “It’s not as bad as part 3!” Well, whatever, but that’s not a selling point. The throwbacks to old characters aren’t justified. I’ve seen reviews where they say “The cameos don’t feel forced.” Yes. They. Do. Lots of “you’re my brother” talk to emphasise the importance of their lifelong connection, but not much else is shown to back it up. Taggart has somehow unretired and walked into Bogomil’s old job of “Chief of Police”, seemingly only because the film makers required Taggart’s face on screen to score points off of the one truly great Beverly Hills Cop movie.
Scenes play out, hammering home plot points: Jeffrey (Paul Reiser) talks about his grandchild, Foley replies with a wisecrack, and Jeffrey replies with “What about your Jane?” (i.e. Foley’s daughter). The exposition is delivered, and then Jeffrey announces that he’s quitting his police chief job to cover for Foley. And that’s a wrap for Paul Reiser. Jeffrey used to be a funny character, manipulated by Foley into always covering for him but wormy enough to know he didn’t want to get into trouble with the Chief. Reiser is given nothing to do here other than be an exposition delivery vessel (i.e. mention Foley has a daughter) and sod off.
Compare and contrast to the original BHC: Jenny, Mickey and Axel are believable as old pals. It lends weight to the story that Jenny wanted to escape the slums of Detroit for better things: It is relatable. She gets her old pal Mickey a job with Maitland which leads to his death. And when Mickey is executed, it’s harsh. Mickey has only been in the film for three scenes and bam - but you feel it. The motivation is relatable and believable. There’s a natural progression of the story. Even the casting of minor characters is spot on (Everyone remembers Damon Wayans handing Foley that banana!). The supporting cast feels like they have real lives, not just day players filling some shoes.
BHC is a stone-cold classic. Murphy is hungry and dynamic, the very definition of lighting up the screen. There are many iconic shots. I love everything about it, and maybe that’s my problem. But I don’t think this is a case of rose-tinted glasses or nostalgia, because if you’re going to trowel on so many callbacks to the first movie then you’d better do something with it.
The funniest part for me was a rehash of the original film’s Taggart/Rosewood shootout, only this time Taggart admits to not being able to get up off the floor due to old age. I know the feeling! (See? Relatable.)
VERDICT: It’s fine. It’s watchable. But… c’mon.
TELEVISION
COBRA KAI
Season 6 has begun, and it’s the final outing for the never-ending Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence rivalry. This final season will be released in three parts of five episodes each, so you can check out the first five episodes NOW! The first five episodes are business as usual: Just when you think everyone has settled their grievances it all kicks off again - and this has always been Cobra Kai’s brilliance: It continuously knows how to keep the conflict going. It’s a karate soap opera. The most interesting addition is a storyline centred on Mr. Miyagi, which feels like the right thing to do.
Much like Johnny Lawrence, the show knows it is looking a bit old but styles it out anyway. The cinematic back catalogue has been milked from all angles by now (If Hilary Swank doesn’t show up it will be the one callback which got away), but even the eternally-wise Mr. Miyagi would agree it was time to hang up the belt.
VERDICT: Get him a body bag! Yeah!
BRATS
The term Brat Pack encapsulated a time, place and group of people: Young, white aspirational American actors. Most young people in the 80’s could identify with at least one of the characters from yer typical “Brat Pack movie”, or at least they wanted to be one of the “cool kids”. Directed by Andrew McCarthy - an actor labelled as a “Brat Packer” and someone who was at that particular eye of the storm has made a documentary on how that label affected him and his co-stars, most of whom have not seen each other since the 80s. McCarthy feels as if he was saddled with an albatross; a short-hand joke which he believes tarnished his career and life.
It’s difficult to be sympathetic at first because it’s easy to be cynical: Here’s a guy who (seemingly) had the world at his feet, but by the end of this documentary I understood his need to do this. Sometimes things happen in your life which make no sense, and depending on how you’re wired, it can take decades to understand. This is a must-see for any fans of that era and observers of human behaviour. Oh, and Demi Moore is a very wise woman, single-handedly landing profound, insightful hits on how to process the good and bad, and how one man’s joke is another man’s misery.
VERDICT: Don’t you forget about this (It’s currently playing on Disney+)
READING
STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER by Fern Brady
Brady’s funny and vulnerable memoir talks about growing up with undiagnosed autism and how it affected her life - and it’s a bit of an odyssey, to say the least. Some of the tales are utterly eye-opening and the writing is a constant mix of funny ha-ha and funny WHAT-THE… The book unpicks the notion of the manic-pixie-dream girl and then some.
ON SUBSTACK
ELSEWHERE
Cinema Therapy has been around for a while on YouTube, but I - Yes, I, with my finger on the pulse - have just discovered it. And it is amazing. Filmmaker Alan Seawright and therapist Jonathan Decker take a look at movies and discuss the emotional triggers, powerful storytelling and character behaviours. I watched a lot of talks on cinema, but these guys get to the heart of what makes these films so damn good.
PODCAST
I listened to The Screen Writing Life with Lorien McKenna and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out 1&2, The Good Dinosaur: Three films which punch me in the chest and throat without fail), so here are a couple of podcasts about Inside Out 2 which I found thoroughly insightful.
PLAYING
IMMORTALS OF AVEUM
Released in 2023, this is a first-person shooter with magic-blasting hands as opposed to weapons. You play Jak, a thief residing in a shanty city which is invaded by some big baddies, and you just know Jak isn’t going to be picking pockets from now on. There’s some excellent world-building and the gameplay is very smooth (lots of running, double-jumping and blasting). Enjoying it so far, intrigued to see where it’s all going.
FORTNITE LEGO
If you’re a fan of Fortnite (as my son very much is!) then you can’t have missed the recent-ish inclusion of Lego Fortnite in the game. WELL. Life has imitated art because coming in October are ACTUAL Lego Fortnite sets! There’s the Battle Bus, Llama, Peely Bone (which is half banana, half skeleton. Don’t ask.) and something called a Durrr Burger. The sets look great, with the Durrr Burger being the most affordable of the lot (the Bus and Peely are upwards of £90 *GROAN*).
LEGO
Speaking of Lego, the latest addition to my wish list is this brilliant Jaws set featuring the Orca and its crew (Quint, Chief Brody and Matt Hooper). Can’t wait to get my mitts on this!
Finally, here’s what musical picks have been on rotation this month:
Thank you for reading Short People!
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