Level up your writing — with Oscar- nominated films
Screenwriting Tricks for Authors
The Oscar nominees were announced in a ceremony last week, postponed because of the wildfires. I was really grateful to have something to focus on something other than the infernos, including the political ones, and to see Best Picture & Best Adapted Screenplay noms for Nickel Boys; writing, directing and Best Picture noms for The Substance; Best Actors noms for Colman Domingo and Demi Moore; and a whopping 13 nominations for Emilia Perez. So many good ones I still have to see!
The Substance
I was very happy to see well-deserved writing, directing and Best Picture noms for Coralie Fargeat for The Substance, the only woman in the directing category. I’m not a fan of body horror —at all — and this was a tough watch for me, took me several separate sittings to get through it. The searing social criticism of the premise and script and the stunning look of the movie made it worth it, although by the end I felt that I could’ve skipped the second half and wouldn’t have missed anything.
But what a MIDPOINT! Just Demi Moore in front of a mirror doing her makeup - and it was one of the most harrowing scenes I’ve ever seen on film. She deserves that Best Actress nomination (and probable win).
A Real Pain
I have real - and painful! - mixed feelings about this one. Kieran Culkin is as extraordinary as everyone keeps raving about. Jesse Eisenberg is a confident and skilled director, and his painful monologue halfway through the movie is his own tour de force. It’s a beautiful looking movie - hugely impressive for its $3 million budget.
But while the emotions of the characters got under my skin, I think it barely scratched the surface of its subject of Holocaust tourism. We were in Krakow last summer, and the movie didn’t do much to convey the profound fascination and beauty of Poland and didn’t get anywhere near the psychic earthquake that touring Holocaust sites is. Yes, it’s a dramady, or maybe more like comidram, but I’m still feeling hollow about it.
Also, I’m sorry, but I am so sick of movies portraying tragic figures without acknowledging that more than any other factor, they’re destroying themselves through untreated addiction and the mental health issues that inevitably accompany addiction.
BUT - this is still one I’m going to be thinking about for a long time, and will rewatch sooner rather than later, because there was a chance to do so much here, and I want to figure out what I would have done differently.
In terms of craft and story elements - both The Substance and A Real Pain are notable for their powerhouse and similar MIDPOINTS - which instead of explosions or murders or 10 minute CGI action sequences are really just the camera focusing on the lead character of each movie having a complete, excruciating emotional breakdown. Watching both movies is a masterclass in how to write a great Midpoint for a drama and/or a movie that doesn’t have the budget for the explosions and CGI and cast of thousands of extras. It doesn’t take more than one great character!
Read more about Midpoints:
And watch:
Conclave -
I loved being transported to Rome again and all the acting is superb. Also, Stanley Tucci for Pope! We were really riveted, but Craig and I both felt the reveal in the end wasn’t set up well at all and therefore felt very clunky, which it shouldn’t have been. So much potential for something truly devastating and important was completely bungled.
This is an example of how critical it is to set up a BIG TWIST with PLANTS AND PAYOFFS.
A lot of Conclave’s reviewers mentioned in their reviews how jarring this reveal was. If you’ve seen it, I’d love to know what you think!
A Complete Unknown
I didn’t just love this movie. I want to live in it. It was so much like being at a concert I had real trouble keeping from clapping and cheering every song.
And wow, imagine a world where artists banded together and used their art to oppose militaristic, archaic patriarchy. Well, it happened — and it can happen again. We better be damn sure it does.
There is a lot of excellent craft going on in this movie, invaluable for anyone writing a BIOPIC or MEMOIR, but also so useful for, well, all of us.
Timothée Chalamet is justly a frontrunner for the Best Actor Oscar, and his mesmerizing performance is a through line that holds us riveted through what could have felt just like a string of episodes. And oh my god, Ed Norton! He just became Pete Seeger. A truly fabulous example of a MENTOR character, and also an example of a DUAL MENTOR dynamic: there’s also Johnny Cash representing a darker, more chaotic Mentor; and the FINAL BATTLE shows those two opposing mentor forces in conflict to influence Dylan’s ultimate decision at the Climax. There’s a TRIPLE MENTOR, really — with the always great Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie providing influence as Dylan’s first idol, even mute and from a hospital bed.
There’s also a DUAL MUSE dynamic going on here, with the fabulous Elle Fanning and impressive Monica Barbaro both shaping Dylan’s songwriting and performance.
A Complete Unknown is kind of a BIOPIC - a very tricky genre to get right. But it approaches that genre very wisely. Like another great biopic I always recommend - Ava DuVernay’s Selma — Unknown doesn’t try to cram its subject’s whole life story into a 3-hour movie.
There are two notable techniques going on here.
A Complete Unknown focuses specifically on a period of just a few years.
It’s based on the book by Elijah Wald, Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties — which focuses specifically on a period of just a few years: Bob Dylan’s first rise to fame beginning with his arrival in New York and sort of adoption by Pete Seeger and Joan Baez; culminating in an iconic incident in which Dylan defies his mentor and the folk establishment and plays electric at the traditionally acoustic festival.
Likewise in Selma, director DuVernay and screenwriter Paul Webb focus on one representative event orchestrated by Martin Luther King Jr., to illuminate King’s life, the civil rights battle, and the ongoing historical struggle against racism.
Selma analysis here
In A Complete Unknown, Director James Mangold keeps the scenes extremely short.
He skips through time without much explanation, creating a sort of impressionistic flow that’s very easy to get caught up in, and weaves well-known events of US cultural and political history in throughout to give context.
Timo
The focus on one short, representative time period and the use short scenes keep the movie from bogging down like most artist biopics — where an electrifying rise to fame in the first half disintegrates into the inevitable substance abuse and relationship hell that too typically comes with fame. (Obviously Mangold learned something from his other very watchable music biopic, I Walk the Line, which features such electrifying performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon but suffers from that second half plummet).
I’m working with an author who’s writing somewhat of a biopic
I’d also like to point out this movie follows A STAR IS BORN story pattern - a very useful structure for our writing toolkit, and one that people often don’t realize they’re writing!
More A STAR IS BORN stories:
As for all the films I still haven’t seen yet….
Wicked — I want to see this in a theater, just for the spectacle of the production design - so I’ll add that when I can.
Nickel Boys - I loved the devastating book — not sure how I’m going to feel about the first-person POV, but will report back!
The Brutalist… as a friend of mine said, “Three and a half hours of Adrien Brody? Dear God no!!!” But I’m willing to be talked into it if someone has seen it and wants to make a case.
Emilia Perez and Sing Sing are also on my must-see list.
I’ll update this post with more observations, but do you have any favorites, recommendations, or for the love of God steer away thoughts? Anything you want to talk about?
Finally, lest anyone think I’m not paying attention to the atrocities happening daily —
The U.S. government under the felon has just revoked the 60-year-old executive order that protects equal opportunity in employment and called for an end to all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Neither the Pentagon, by order of the grotesquely unqualified Pete Hesgeth, nor the State Department will be recognizing Black History Month. One of my other Substacks focuses on California and US history during the Civil War and beyond. Personally I plan to post essential, inclusive US history every day of Black History month.
I hope others will as well.
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After being a faithful devotee for decades, I had an Oscar burnout - maybe starting when Brokeback Mountain lost (and the dreadful Crash won), though I think I kept watching for a time. Anyhow, some years I checked in for the clothes if nothing else, then for a few years I wasn't interested in anything that was nominated unless it was the actors.
Last year was a glued watch as I've been a Cillian fan for ages - saw him in Batman and went home and rented a lot of early stuff. He still managed to amaze me in Peaky - I knew he could be sinister but not tough.
This year I'm interested in pretty much all the films to one extent or another. I've only seen Conclave. I'd read the book which went the other way in pretty much giving away the twist early on. I also found the book slow and clunky even though I'm a big fan of other Harris' books, An Officer and a Spy very much, since it's my era and a fabulous book, Pompeii, with all the fascinating and terrifying volcano info within a thriller, and the tricksy Fatherland. I think my view of the book colored my watching of Conclave. I loved Isabella Rossellini - such a subtle performance. I loved the cinematography and its use of color, or practically no color except red. I did find it interesting but was sort of surprised at the Oscar nomination.
I very much want to see A Complete Unknown, though the others highest on my list aren't up for Best Film: Nosferatu, Small Things Like These, and Queer.
Emilia Perez was so bad I couldn’t believe it was nominated for 13 Oscars, I understand the real reason why, but still can’t comprehend it. The music was TERRIBLE, storyline was all over the place, it promised to carry such an important and meaningful idea, value annd cause, and it absolutely failed to deliver either. I usually make myself to watch the whole movie, good or bad, to make an objective opinion, but this time it felt like torture, I had to stop 30 before the end. They should’ve invented «Inclusion» award if they wanted to appease DEI climate, but to give it Best Movie??? It’s a spitting on a history of the Best Movie nominations and winners.