Tales from the Script - Trailer for screenwriting documentary

Shane Black, John Carpenter (above), Frank Darabont, William Goldman, Paul Schrader, and dozens of other Hollywood screenwriters share hilarious anecdotes and penetrating insights in Tales from the Script, the most comprehensive documentary ever made about screenwriting.

By analyzing their triumphs and recalling their failures, the participants explain how successful writers develop the skills necessary for toughing out careers in one of the world's most competitive industries. They also reveal the untold stories behind some of the greatest screenplays ever written, describing their adventures with luminaries including Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Stanley Kubrick, Joel Silver, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg.

The screenwriters involved are Allison Anders, Jane Anderson, Doug Atchison, John August, Shane Black, John D. Brancato, John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, Frank Darabont, Steven E. de Souza, Gerald Di Pego, Mark Fergus, Antwone Fisher, Naomi Foner Gyllenhall, Joe Forte, Josh Friedman, Mick Garris, William Goldman, David Hayter, Peter Hyams, Michael January, Steve Koren, Jonanthan Lemkin, Andrew W. Marlowe, Mark O'Keefe, Dennis Palumbo, Zak Penn, Daniel Pyne, Billy Ray, Adam Rifkin, Jose Rivera, Mark Rosenthal, Ari B. Rubin, Bruce Joel Rubin, Richard Rush, Paul Schrader, Mel Shavelson, Ron Shelton, Ronald Shusett, Joe Stillman, Stephen Susco, Duncan Tucker, Guinevere Turner, Kriss Turner, Linda Voorhees, Richard Walter, Richard Wenk, David S. Ward, James L. White, Michael Wolk, Kris Young, Justin Zackham.

Check out the official site.

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POLL: Which is your favourite Stanley Kubrick film?

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The Killer Inside Me is saved

The Killer Inside Me, the latest collaboration between director Michael Winterbottom and producer Andrew Eaton, has been saved after securing new funding. The $13m project was close to collapse after it lost key financial support.

The film had to secure new funding by 3rd April or it faced losing actors Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba. It lost its funding from Barbarian Film and Ocean Media at the end of last year.

Producer Eaton confirmed the production is close to signing a deal with Canada-based private investor Hero Entertainment, which will provide about 20% of the budget. The rest of the finance is from pre-sales deals, which have been handled by Wild Bunch internationally, and Endeavor in the US. It was widely sold at AFM.

Eaton described the deal as a "relief" and added he had been through "one of the longest prep periods I have ever had". He said that he was hopeful that shooting could begin the next six to eight weeks. Chris Hanely, Robert Weinbach and Bradford Schlei are also producing the film.

The film had been due to start shooting in Oklahoma at the end of January.

The project is an adaption of Jim Thompson's novel. The synopsis of which is as follows:

Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small Texas town, patient and thoughtful. Some people think he's a little slow and boring but that's the worst they say about him. But then nobody knows about what Lou calls his 'sickness'. It nearly got him put away when he was younger, but his adopted brother took the rap for that. Now the sickness that has been lying dormant for a while is about to surface again - and the consequences are brutal and devastating.

Jim Thompson was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma. After an itinerant childhood during which his sheriff father was driven from office for embezzlement; and as a roughneck in the Texan oil fields of the 1920s, Thompson became successful as a writer with the pulp fiction houses of the 1950s, writing a dozen of his more enduring novels in just 19 months. He also wrote two screenplays (for the Stanley Kubrick films The Killing and Paths of Glory).

Stanley Kubrick described the book as "Probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally warped mind I have ever encountered."

Source: Screen Daily


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Jack Nicholson with Stanley Kubrick on The Shining set

Source: Independent

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Stanley Kubrick: The Napoleon Film - I want this book

This book features the greatest film never made. It features Kubrick's unfilmed masterpiece. Tucked inside of a carved-out book, all the elements from Stanley Kubrick's archives that readers need to imagine what his unmade film about the emperor might have been like, including a fascimile of the script; a unique art object, historical document, and artistic statement. For 40 years, Kubrick fans and film buffs have wondered about the director's mysterious unmade film on Napoleon Bonaparte. Slated for production immediately following the release of "2001: A Space Odyssey", Kubrick's "Napoleon" was to be at once a character study and a sweeping epic, replete with grandiose battle scenes featuring thousands of extras. To write his original screenplay, Kubrick embarked on two years of intensive research; with the help of dozens of assistants and an Oxford Napoleon specialist, he amassed an unparalleled trove of research and preproduction material, including approximately 15,000 location scouting photographs and 17,000 slides of Napoleonic imagery from books and libraries across Europe. No stone was left unturned in Kubrick's nearly-obsessive quest to uncover every piece of information history had to offer about Napoleon. But alas, Kubrick's movie was not destined to be: the film studios, first M.G.M. and then United Artists, decided such an undertaking was too risky at a time when historical epics were out of fashion. Taschen's sumptuous, limited-edition tribute to this unmade masterpiece makes Kubrick's valiant work on "Napoleon" available to fans for the first time. Tucked inside of a carved-out book are all the elements you need to imagine what Kubrick's film about the emperor might have been like. Along with the fascimile of Kubrick's final draft of the screenplay are 10 individual books exploring the various chapters of the director's work on the project: writing, research, costume design, location scouting, budgeting, and correspondence. The text includes the complete original treatment, an essay examining the screenplay in a historical context, an essay by Jean Tulard on Napoleon in cinema, and a transcript of interviews Kubrick conducted with Oxford professor Felix Markham. At once an art object, historical document, and artistic statement, this unique publication offers readers a chance to experience the creative process of one of cinema's greatest talents as well as a fascinating exploration of the enigmatic figure that was Napoleon Bonaparte.

Alison Castle received a BA in philosophy from Columbia University and an MA in photography and film from New York University (NYU/International Center of Photography masters program). The editor of TASCHEN's Some Like it Hot and The Stanley Kubrick Archives, she lives in Paris, home of the world's best cinemas.


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The Shining - Great poster by Tom Whalen

Here's another great piece of movie art work from Tom Whalen. This time from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. It is a fantastic design and I'd love to have a full size copy of it to hang on my wall.

Check out some of the other art work I've posted of Tom's in the past - The Warriors, Alien and the Avengers. There's even more stuff on his DeviantART site.

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Stanley Kubrick Remix - Amazing

LFF regular Daan sent me this remix tribute to the films of Stanley Kubrick. The remix was done by Paul Proulx and it really is a thing of beauty. Thanks to Daan for pointing it out.

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The Killer Inside Me - Kate Hudson joins Jessica Alba and Bill Pullman

Kate Hudson, Elias Koteas, Bill Pullman and Ned Beatty have joined the psychological thriller The Killer Inside Me for Wild Bunch says Screen Daily.

Based on the novel by Jim Thompson, the story follows a West Texas sheriff and his downward spiral from a boring small-town cop into a ruthless, sociopathic murderer.

Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small Texas town, patient and thoughtful. Some people think he's a little slow and boring but that's the worst they say about him. But then nobody knows about what Lou calls his 'sickness'. It nearly got him put away when he was younger, but his adopted brother took the rap for that. Now the sickness that has been lying dormant for a while is about to surface again - and the consequences are brutal and devastating.

Jim Thompson was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma. After an itinerant childhood during which his sheriff father was driven from office for embezzlement; and as a roughneck in the Texan oil fields of the 1920s, Thompson became successful as a writer with the pulp fiction houses of the 1950s, writing a dozen of his more enduring novels in just 19 months. He also wrote two screenplays (for the Stanley Kubrick films The Killing and Paths of Glory).

Michael Winterbottom directs the $13 million project which also stars Casey Affleck and Jessica Alba.

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See The Shining at the hotel where it was filmed

This sounds absolutely amazing and I would so love to go. That's not going to happen though. Thanks to /film for this one. Read on.

Fantastic Fest is holding a party at the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, the original filming location of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

In 1980, Stanley Kubrick came to the Timberline Lodge to film one of the all-time great horror classics, THE SHINING. In the film, Jack Nicholson slowly loses his grasp on reality and loses himself in a hallucination of a 1920s era ball. Twenty-Eight years later, Nike Sportswear and Fantastic Fest have joined forces to recreate the very same ball at the very same lodge.

Two ticket options are available for this special night:

VIP Overnight Package:

Dinner at the Lodge
3 Cocktails per person
Live music and shows throughout the evening
Limited Edition Silkscreened Event Poster (available on Mondotees.com)
A one-night stay at the historic Timberline Lodge
In-room screening of the film
VIP gift package
Continental breakfast the morning after the party

This VIP Overnight Package is designed for couples who want to stay the night. Ticket price is $100 per person ($200 per room). Note: the regular Timberline room rate is $220/night for just the room. As there are only 50 rooms available for overnight stay, we are offering a “the Gold Room ticket,” a discounted admission to the party for guests not staying the night.

The Gold Room Ticket:

Dinner at the Lodge
3 Cocktails per person
Live music and shows throughout the evening
Limited Edition Silkscreened Event Poster
Round trip bus service to and from the party

Only 200 Gold Room tickets are available for $25 per person.

Attire: Formal attire is mandatory, 20’s era formal attire is preferred. We will have special gifts for the best period attire of the night.

Schedule:
5:00 PM Boarding begins for Gold Room Ticket-holders in Portland (location TBA)
5:30 PM Gold Room Ticket-holder buses depart
7:00 PM Dinner begins at Timberline Lodge
9:00 PM Music, cocktails and entertainment begin
11:50 PM Return bus boarding begins for Gold Room Ticket holders

At the stroke of midnight, all VIP Overnight guests are required to return to their rooms and turn on their TVs for a very special screening of THE SHINING. All VIP guests will be watching THE SHINING simultaneously, but in the privacy of their own rooms.

Note: VIP guests will need to provide their own transportation to the lodge. VIP Overnight guest check-in begins at 6:00 PM on October 31 and check-out is at 11:00 AM on November 1.

Tickets for this event go on sale on Friday, October 10 at 2:00 PM PST at The Shining Party, where you can find additional details and updates about the event.

How cool would that be? Anyone want to get me an early Christmas present along with the return flights?

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Designing the War Room

Production designer Ken Adam talking to the Telegraph's Horatia Harrod about the war room set he designed for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove some 45 years ago.

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Poll Results - Favourite Stanley Kubrick Film

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. The Shining
3. Full Metal Jacket
4. A Clockwork Orange
5. Dr Strangelove...
6. Eyes Wide Shut
7. Spartacus
8. Barry Lyndon
9. Lolita
10. Paths of Glory

416 people voted. 2001 had 20% of the votes and The Shining beat Full Metal Jacket by 1 vote.

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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Blu Ray Review

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Douglas Rain

Running Time: 141 minutes

Score: 10/10

Another review from Andy.

A classic and influential Sci-Fi film like this is surely a must-buy Blu Ray disc from the word go. But does it transfer to hi-def acceptably? Is it a quick lazy production or did Warner Brothers dedicate a bit of effort for this flag ship space epic?

Well Chisholm and I sat down last night to debut this disc. We were both very familiar with the film but neither of us had watched it for many years. I first saw the film about 20 years ago but I was a bit too young to understand everything that was going on... at the time seeing space ships was cool enough. I'd watched at again some time later and, being a bit older, followed it better. But it was as a teenager reading Arthur C Clarke's book and then hoovering up all the sequel novels that the story really gripped me. And so it was last night that I returned to 2001 for the full theatrical, hi-def, cinema roomed, blu ray'd epic viewing.

First off, some comments on the Hi-defness. Perhaps most people reading this will already be familiar with the movie and are only interested in whether it’s worth buying again on Blu Ray. Space Odyssey fans can relax... nay, not relax, …get positively excited! This is an incredibly good transfer to Blu Ray with lots of bonus material. There was no graininess that could have been expected from the original tapes, the picture is very sharp and the colours nothing short of gob-smacking. Particularly impressive are the sunrise vistas extensively presented in the “Dawn of Man” chapters of the movies. This is perfect wide screen eye candy. The hues of the clouds bathed in the early morning sunshine where rich and well saturated, the barren landscapes impressively huge and pin sharp in 1080p. The contrasts of brightly lit greys and deep space darks in the subsequent chapters based on the moon where equally impressive for their lack of colours letting the pin-sharpness of the hi-definition show itself off in a very stark environment. We did detect some minor tape damage (or something) at some points in the movie, but it was borderline irrelevant and easily ignored. The master tapes are in very good condition for their age, 40 years old this year, and the quality has come across in this reproduction.

The soundtrack is only in stereo so there's no 7.1/5.1 True HD or DTS, however the film simply doesn't need such modern cinema tricks like surround sound. The quality of the sound track was CD-perfect with no noticeable hissing or back ground white noise. The voice tracks where very clear and the music of Strauss is beautiful and haunting. The excellent heavy breathing we hear during the first EVA make us claustrophobic as though we too were in the Pod. The echoes of Bowman's movements in the alien 'cell' at the end heap on us the feelings of loneliness and emptiness that surely Bowman is feeling.

The special effects in this movie are gob-smacking to say the least. Whole sets were built to rotate with a fixed camera to give us the impression of zero gravity corridors, and the ingenious torus of the Discovery hub. The shuttle landing at the lunar base still looks better and more realistic than any modern day CGI efforts and I can say with earnest that this movie has not dated one iota since 1968. Hell, even the furniture and fashion is back in style. What this film does, cinematically, is hold a huge mirror up to modern day directors so that they can very embarrassingly see how lazy they've become with special effects and dumbed down narrative. 2001 doesn't have any narrative! Instead it relies on the audience to actually process what they're watching and then coming to conclusions as to what is being portrayed. This is the most powerful approach to story telling. And Arthur C Clarke's stories are amongst the most profound and brilliant out there. It demands further watching as you thirst to gleam more from it. Stanley Kubricks' genius is also exemplified in this film. Obviously the two giants worked very closely with each other to create such a masterpiece so stooped in accurate scientific detail yet so careful played out so to make everything seem so everyday.

Everyday, that is except for the last 15 or 20 minutes. Here Kubrick goes nuts with gloriously gaudy oil on water effects during Bowman's journey to the alien habitat. This version on the Blu Ray is completely uncut and this trippy segment lasts much longer than I can remember from my previous viewings.

I woke up this morning still thinking about this movie. How even the apes at the start out-acted most of today's plastic Hollywood stars. How the unsaid in the movie is just as powerful as the said. How fantastic and realistic it all looked. And how subsequently copied it has been over the years. The look of Star Wars is taken directly from this film. Event Horizon too mimics it in many ways. Space 1999, Red Dwarf, Star Trek.... all of them owe something to Kubrick and Clarke. This story has always been one of my favourite Sci Fi novels, but having watched the Blu Ray last night and got so much enjoyment out of it I think I can now upgrade the movie from “a film I like but haven’t seen for years” to be amongst the best movies I've ever seen. Possibly now my favourite film... for this week at least! The Chisholm and I where grinning from ear to ear for much of the length of this movie, for it is incredible. It’s well worth the Blu Ray price tag, and I'm now going head back into the movie room and absorb all the featurettes and extras for another few hours. Oh, and watch 2010: The Year We Make Contact, for the first time....

10/10 Perfection.

Stanley Kubrick Season on More 4

Here is what will be on during the Kubrick season on More4 here in the UK.

Stanley Kubrick's Boxes (2008)15 July, 10pm.Documentary. A biography of a remarkably talented man as seen though the rich collection of material he left behind. Presented by Jon Ronson.

Day of the Fight (1951)15 July, 11.05pm.Documentary short. A day in the life of a middleweight Irish boxer named Walter Cartier, particularly the day of his bout with black middleweight Bobby James.

Barry Lyndon (1975)16 July, time tbc.Kubrick's oeuvre was never more lavish, ravishing or brilliantly eccentric than in his 18th Century story of pugnacious Irish chancer Barry Lyndon, a man with a talent for money and appearances, but with a crippling lack of love in his heart.

Paths of Glory (1957)17 July, 11:55am.A story designed to make the blood boil: blameless French soldiers carry the can for their superiors' mistakes after a botched WWI assault. A work of genius from Kubrick, with a brilliant performance from Kirk Douglas.

Flying Padre (1951)18 July, 12.55pm (Friday afternoon).Documentary short. Two days in the life of priest Father Fred Stadtmuller whose New Mexico parish is so large he can only spread goodness and light among his flock with the aid of a mono-plane.

Lolita (1962) 18 July, 9pm.Kubrick's controversial and deeply ironic black comedy stars James Mason as a middle aged professor obsessed with a precociously sexual minor. Adapted by Nabokov from his own novel.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)19 July, 1.30pm.Spectacular, trailblazing and philosophical, it's an undisputed masterpiece.

Killer's Kiss (1955)21 July, 11.30pm.Stanley Kubrick's stylish second feature, shot on a shoestring but a clear indication of the great things to come. Intricately plotted, it tells the story of a has-been boxer who falls for a beautiful broad with a violent boyfriend.

The Killing (1956)23 July, 12.05am.Tightly plotted heist-goes-wrong thriller.

The Shining (1980)25 July, 9pm.Stanley Kubrick's atmospheric adaptation of a Stephen King tale. Jack Nicholson stars, in maniacal, terrifying form.

Stanley Kubrick's archive is now housed at the University of the Arts London.

Kubrick Season on More 4

More 4 in the UK are showing 10 Stanley Kubrick movies from July 15th. To help promote it they recreated the set of The Shining, got some look a like actors and did a 65 second tracking shot from Kubricks POV.

I've just watched it and it is very impressive. Take a look at it here. Apparantly lots of the equipment used in the shot were actually used to make the original movie.

The documentary Citizen Kubrick by John Ronson will kick of the season.

Some cracking movies then for us all to watch. I think 2001: A Space Odyssey is my favourite Kubrik movie. I just love the whole feel of it. It just seems so real. Oh and my Mum once met the bloke who played the ape who smashes all the bones up which is pretty cool!

What's your favourite Kubrick movie?