- Remembering the genius that was Robert Towne
Legendary screenwriter/script doctor Robert Towne died Tuesday, July 2, at the age of 89. He was most famous for writing the original screenplay for the neo-noir Chinatown (1974) as a movie for Jack Nicholson to star in.. That movie also brought Towne his only Oscar. And to be fair, if he never had done anything else, writing Chinatown would have been enough. But he also wrote The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975), The Firm (1993) and the first two Mission: Impossible films (1996 and 2000).Those were the films he got screenplay credit for, but his uncredited script doctoring record was even more impressive, with contributions to The Godfather (1972) and Bonnie and Clyde (1967); as well as The Parallax View (1974), The Missouri Breaks (1976), Marathon Man (1976), Heaven Can Wait (1978), Reds (1981), Fatal Attraction (1987), Crimson Tide (1995), and Armageddon (1998).
But honestly, if you want to understand the brilliance of Towne, pull out a copy of Chinatown, pour a big slug of bourbon, turn down the lights, and lose yourself in the world of 1930s Los Angeles. With direction (and acting!) from Roman Polanski; peerless performances from Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston; and one of Jerry Goldsmith’s best scores ever.You’ve got your homework. Go watch.
- What the success of Inside Out 2 does and doesn’t mean for Pixar, Disney and Hollywood in general
Disney
So the buzz over the last year has been that sequels, big budget movies, Disney and Pixar are all done for. Finished. Kaput! Just look at how everyone was crowing about the failure of Pixar’s Elemental. (Oh, you say it actually made $494 million globally after an admittedly slow start? Well, that’s inconvenient…)
But while there have been bombs this summer (Fall Guy, Furiosa), The Atlantic’s David Sims has some good analysis about what the emotional hit Inside Out 2 (see what I did there?) and other blockbusters mean for Hollywood’s future.
- A Quiet Place: Day One shows how to find success in the current marketA Quiet Place: Day One opened to $98.5 million globally, exceeding all expectations. Given that it was made for a reported $67 million, the post-apocalyptic thriller seems headed to financial success. Hollywood – Pay attention. Get an interesting cast, have an original take on your revisiting of IP (intellectual property), don’t spend too much money, and keep the length of the movie under control. Absolutely loved this new take on the Quiet Place alien invasion franchise. Go see it in the theater. Now.