FrankenScript :: Lee Gabel's Screenwriting Journal/Blog

This film is an interesting take on slasher films. It builds the story by showing how one man becomes a serial killer. It’s low budget, but the visual quality and performances elevate it to a higher level. There’s lots of nods to past slasher films and it’s fun to try and find them all. Of [...]

Is it about an RV, which you are led to believe, or about a runaway vacation that involves an RV? Unfortunately, it’s too much of the latter and not nearly enough of the former. It’s really too bad, too, because the RV parts of the film get much more laughs than the runaway vacation. This [...]

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performance in this film is amazing. She captures perfectly the struggle to stay clean while on parole and trying to reconnect with a daughter she doesn’t know. Sometimes the scenes feel so real, they’re almost uncomfortable to sit through. But you do sit through it and deep down you really want her character [...]

I really enjoyed this film. It’s portrayal of the extremely competitive spelling bee competitions is, forgive the bad pun, spellbinding. Keke Palmer is absolutely fantastic, but I was surprised by Laurence Fishburne’s strong and silent performance. The story brings everyone together, even rivals, and does it with class.

As a documentary, it didn’t really answer any questions and instead fed Berliner’s self-indulgent ego and his unwillingness to change. I felt sorry for his wife. You won’t miss much by missing this.

I really enjoyed this. Sometimes cute beyond words, sometimes very frightening (one of the few movie I’ve seen so far that makes sea lions scary), this movie really works. Lots of music and singing, and the characters haven’t been caricaturized, which I found refreshing. This is a solid, enjoyable family film. I can see why [...]