Ryan is Grant

Bob Ross Edward Zwick

I just saw this at the Dollar Theater in good ole La Mirada. I really enjoyed the film. It was a great set-up. Takes place almost entirely in the forest. I loved the dynamic relationship between Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) and Zus Bielski (Liev Schreiber). The build up of group survival tactics was slow and steady, but from the start, you feel like you're right in the middle of Jewish persecution. At the end of the film, there's a moment when Tuvia (Craig) is trapped alone with a tank and a dozen soldiers firing at him. Just when you least expect it, gunfire hits the enemy from the rear. Tuvia is saved! In the moment where you're trying to figure out who's doing the firing, there's this great reveal of Zus (Schreiber) and his "comrades" from the Russian resistance. Zus runs right out, shoots the guy on top of the tank, climbs on it, sets a grenade inside, and drops to the side, just in time for it to explode. Great film about brotherhood, importan...

I've been trying to finish my first feature length script for Script Frenzy, but I'm nowhere close to meeting the 100-page mark. Technically, I'm still in the "treatment/outline" phase. I've got a small black box of notes written on index cards. New ideas keep hitting every day, so I'm not ungrateful for inspiration. I just wish I knew how to put all the thoughts into a script form... and reach the deadline by tomorrow night (Thursday, April 30, 2009, midnight). www.scriptfrenzy.org    Added 1/2/23:   www.scribendi.com - Top Ten Ways to Beat Writer's Block

I am a fan of Joe Wright. I think he's done marvelously at combining that right touch of emotion, style, meaning (and dare I say, "sentimentality") that a film needs to truly move an audience. He's no Stanley Kubrick, but I would place Joe Wright in the realm of arteur . I just saw "The Soloist." I have to admit that I started tearing up about 20 minutes in, when Mr. Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) hands Mr. Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) the cello in the tunnel freeway under downtown L.A. When Nathaniel starts to play, there's that perfect blend of sounds from the instrument and the sounds of the city. It was very real . I was put into a simple scenario that brought me out of my worries and stress. I felt like I was there. All the noise blocked out. I will say, this film captured perfectly what it's like for me when I see an orchestra play in a concert hall. I loved the frequent "isolation moments" of Nathaniel when he's thinkin...

I didn't realize this was based on a hit TV series... I really liked this film. I loved the writing, and I can't wait to sit down and read the script. Thank you, Paul Abbott (tv series), Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, and Billy Ray. Had a very good opening scene. And I really loved how Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) was introduced with his crazy Irish rock music! I was intrigued by the film's ability to have so many things happen and not lose focus through the process. The End Credits alone is enough for me to like this movie. Anyone using Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Long As I Can See the Light" deserves a round of applause. Some very good acting by the entire cast. (Props to Jason Bateman for stepping out of the "comedy-only" box.) Definitely a good journalistic-political-suspense-thriller. Overall, I give it a Netflix 3 out of 5, and a 7 on a 10 scale. State of Play on IMDb.com