Rewriting blues . . .

I realized about a week ago that my draft for Walks Like A Man just wasn't working.

It wasn't a good story. And, even worse, it wasn't scary. It's a horror movie. If it ain't scary, it ain't nothing.

Then, I realized something--my characters were entirely too reasonable, entirely too willing to do whatever was needed to resolve the situation. While this may be ideal in real life, it makes for one helluva boring movie. Especially a horror movie.

So, I've made one of my characters a stalker and the other consumed with grief and confusion about her feelings. Considering the weirdness of the situation, that's enough to trigger all sorts of complications for them. Which makes for a much more interesting movie. Many of the problems I was having with it straightened themselves out. The harder things are for the characters, the easier things are for the writer.

Of course, this also screws up a lot of stuff in the draft that I need to change, but that's why it's called rewriting, isn't it?

So, I'm hammering away on the rewrite, and I feel pretty good about it as an idea. I just need to tighten up the story.

On an unrelated matter, I got the Blu Ray of Alien: Covenant this week. I've already rewatched it three or four times. I saw it in the theater twice and would have seen it a third time if I could have found the time to get out there.

I guess that's my way of saying I dug the movie. Is it perfect? No. I think the script could have used another one or two passes because some things didn't look to be blended in with the whole. They were obviously late additions. It looks like some story lines that were initially intended to be a big part of the film were later dropped but the script wasn't rewritten to account for them. I also get a bit tired of all the unsubtle reminders that all of the crew are couples--we get it, they're married. Just one or two "my wife" references would have been sufficient.

All said, though, I enjoy it. I do like the characters. Since it's a Ridley Scott film it is a visual treat. Dariusz Wolski's lighting is amazing--gorgeous and evocative. Jed Kurzel's score borrows a lot from the first film, but when it needs to become something in it's own right it is more than adequate to the task. Get the Blu Ray and watch all the extras, and listen to Ridley Scott's commentary.

For those who say the story is unsatisfying, I'd have to say that the story is not complete. There will (hopefully) be at least one more film. I'd like to give the series a chance to finish before evaluating the whole thing. I guess as a writer I can see what they're setting up for the next one, and trust me, it's going to be epic. You will not want to miss it.

One thing I'll add here, and I may be totally off my rocker--I think the Blade Runner film coming out soon will tie in with this series somehow. Maybe I'm completely crazy, but I think the story-line in Alien involving the synthetics will somehow create a tie-in with it.

I think a lot of people who were so disappointed in the film were expecting it to be like Alien. Guess what? It won't be. It can't be. That can never happen again. That's the nature of horror films. If you want to see Alien, then see Alien. It's on Amazon Prime. In the mean time see this as a series of films on their own merits.

One suggestion I'd have for the filmmakers for the next one, if I may--cut the budget in half. One of the things that made the first film so urgent and interesting was the fact that they didn't have an adequate budget to do the things one normally does for something like that, like fabricating sets and the like. They had to make do and improvise. Which created a fascinating setting that had never been seen before and added so much believability to the film. Which, in turn, made it that much more terrifying--the Nostromo looks like an aging bucket of bolts that people have been living and working in for years. In Prometheus and Covenant I think Ridley Scott had a lot more money to play around with and it shows, in good ways with the excellent production values, but also in bad ways, where the sense of urgency is missing.

I'll admit, though, that I'm a die-hard Alien fan. It'll take an awful lot for me to turn against these movies.

Now, back to rewriting my own horror movie.

Favorite movie rewatching event!

I've decided it's time to watch my top five favorite movies again this weekend.

This time, though, I've decided to be logged onto Twitter while I do so, sharing any thoughts I may have as I watch. Feel free to follow along and offer your opinions or wiseass remarks as you see fit--my Twitter handle is @jfranklinevans.

I'll start sometime Saturday afternoon, watching two movies, then I'll finish with the other three on Sunday afternoon. I can't give specific times because I have other stuff to do and also I want to get some work done on this horror script. I'll send out a Tweet about twenty minutes or so before I start watching, to give a heads up.

Movies I'm going to watch, in the order I'm going to watch them:

Saturday

5. John Carpenter's The Thing (#TheThingRewatch)
4. Citizen Kane (#CitizenKaneRewatch)

Sunday

3. Casablanca (#CasablancaRewatch)
2. The Sixth Sense (#TheSixthSenseRewatch)
1. Alien (#AlienRewatch)

The version of Alien I'm going to watch is the original 1979 release, not the 2003 director's cut. I love them both, but I think I prefer the original slightly ahead of Ridley Scott's recut.

Anyways, if you're interested, feel free to follow along and chime in!