FrankenScript :: Lee Gabel's Screenwriting Journal/Blog

I’ve often wondered about films that begin with a horrific incident, only to then step back in time and tell the story leading up to that point. If the incident is compelling enough, it’s a good hook. Sometimes it’s not needed, and here I think the story would have gained more power had that incident [...]

This film offers a great example of visual effects that help tell the story. In fact, the visual effects are necessary to tell the story, and they still stand up well today. Thankfully the visual effects merely provide a believable backdrop to the changes that the characters go through during the story. And the changes [...]

Like it’s predecessor, this sequel offers a lot of laughs, but the setup is the same, many gags are the same, the villains are the same. Only the locations have changed. So why doesn’t this film end up being a bore? John Hughes’ genius writing, Chris Columbus’ solid direction and the cuteness factor of Macaulay [...]

You won’t be disappointed watching this film with a big bowl of popcorn. The main character, played competently by Bradley Cooper, plays the “everyman” well and his decisions are logical, for the most part. The De Niro storyline seems placed only to give the film an impactful ending, because it’s the thug storyline that offers [...]

I’m sure everyone has had a moment where they have an immediate connection with someone, one so powerful it lingers in their memory for the rest of their days. I have. I’ve often wondered what would have happened to my life if I had pursued other people. To watch someone else act on that is [...]

My first question is why? Why press that red button? Why not just reintegrate with society covertly? Well, because if Hanna didn’t press that red button, then we’d have no film. The reason, of course, is to exact someone else’s revenge (her father’s) on someone she’s never met (Marissa). I guess it’s the setup that [...]