FrankenScript :: Lee Gabel's Screenwriting Journal/Blog

Right from the very beginning you feel something’s wrong. By the time I found out the “twist”, I just didn’t care anymore. The characters were not compelling, and I had a hard time believing that a man would go through all that trouble “after the fact” to make another’s life hell. It’s silly. There’s no [...]

Predictable, formulaic, illogical and syrupy sweet at times, but I can see the appeal. Miley Cyrus can sing and perform. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t watch it alone. That would be wrong. Watching it with the family is the only way to go. And going into this film, we as a family had never [...]

From the onset of this film, I just could not take it seriously. It almost felt like the film was making fun of itself. The police are complete idiots. Anybody can tell you that in order to not draw suspicion to yourself, you don’t tail a suspect twenty feet behind them… in a windowless van. [...]

The logline sounded good: Unfortunately, this film fell into the same traps most wannabe horror films fall into. We get the same old setup of characters that we’re supposed to believe are the “stalker”, only to have them predictably knocked down one at a time. And startling the audience is not the same as scaring [...]

All style, well, mostly style, definitely no substance. What substance is there is not developed enough to really be meaningful. Lots of expository voice over too. The budding love story was some of the most genuine aspects of the film, but unfortunately it’s overshadowed by all the vapid, clichéd gangster/assassin set pieces. And folks, suicide [...]

So far I have seen two Twilight films, the first and second in the 5-part series (Breaking Dawn is broken into two films, like Harry Potter’s last instalment). Both times I have felt annoyed and angry while watching. It’s going to take some convincing for me to watch any more of them. The love stories [...]