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The Black List - 2011 Edition
AngelHedgie
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Registered User regular
So, some of you might remember that a few years back in 2008, I posted about The Black List - Hollywood's top ungreenlit scripts of the year. The 2008 list had a lot of scripts that wound up getting the greenlight - from my count aobut a quarter to a third of the scripts on the 2008 list are now movies that you can go and see. (Yes, even the script that was considered to be the squickiest by the forum - Sleeping Beauty - got greenlit and made.)
But that was 2008. It's 2011. And with a new year comes a new Black List.
Leading the nods on the 2011 list is The Imitation Game, a biopic about Alan Turing. Which, considering moves made in both the UK and US regarding homosexuality, means that this film has the potential to be a lightning rod. Also near the top is Chewie, which is a satiric "behind the scenes" movie showcasing the production of Star Wars from the view of Peter Mayhew (hence the title.) Looking through the list, biopics seem to be the rage now, with several making respectable showings. Apocalyptic films also make up a decent portion of the contingent as well.
So which scripts deserve to be made, and which need to be put down like the dogs they are?
But that was 2008. It's 2011. And with a new year comes a new Black List.
Leading the nods on the 2011 list is The Imitation Game, a biopic about Alan Turing. Which, considering moves made in both the UK and US regarding homosexuality, means that this film has the potential to be a lightning rod. Also near the top is Chewie, which is a satiric "behind the scenes" movie showcasing the production of Star Wars from the view of Peter Mayhew (hence the title.) Looking through the list, biopics seem to be the rage now, with several making respectable showings. Apocalyptic films also make up a decent portion of the contingent as well.
So which scripts deserve to be made, and which need to be put down like the dogs they are?
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how meta
We went through that phase this year. I don't think anyone cares anymore.
ed:
:rotate:
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
they can call it
jurassic park
edit:
Maggie - As a “walking dead” virus spreads across the country, a farm family helps their eldest daughter come to terms with her
infection as she slowly becomes a flesh-eating zombie.
The Slackfi Project - A hapless and broken hearted barista is visited by two bad-ass soldiers from the future who tell him mankind is doomed, and he alone can save them.
Before I Fall - When a popular teen girl is killed in a car crash, she relives the critical day seven times and makes changes in an attempt to affect the outcome; in the process, she herself changes as she tries to make up for previous heartless, self-absorbed behavior and gains a better understanding of herself and others. As she evolves and makes the connections necessary to save a bullied, depressed girl’s life, she comes to accept her own fate.
Sorry Maggie, you got the zombie virus, now excuse me while I put this bullet through your head.
In the Event of a Moon Disaster - An alternate telling of the historic APOLLO 11 mission to land on the moon that examines what might have happened if the astronauts had crash landed there.
Desperate Hours - A small town crippled by WWI and the Spanish flu finds itself facing major moral questions and a brutal invading force when a young girl shows up on a rancher’s doorstep covered in blood.
Bridges on the Fort Point Channel - An Irish family in the 1970s, dealing with the loss of their father and the busing of black kids into white neighborhoods, decides to blow up all the bridges in Boston.
Gaslight - Secretly imprisoned in a London insane asylum, the infamous Jack the Ripper helps Scotland Yard investigators solve a series of grisly murders whose victims all share one thing in common: dual puncture wounds to the neck.
When the Street Lights Go On has an awesome title, but I feel like it would be a better premise if it was set during the murder investigation and not after.
Would love to see a Turing biopic.
It's pretty safe to say that The Imitation Game will be getting serious consideration. But let's be honest - it's going to be a lightning rod of a film, especially if it gets into all the shit the UK did to Turing.
Can probably do what every other film does, and rewrite it so America are responsible instead!
I have a friend who read The Slackfi Project. It is terrible.
The ones that sound interesting to me:
The Outsider
Father Daughter Time, especially because Matt Damon is supposed to be attached as I guess the father.
The Current War, but only if Edison is the villain.
Beyond the Pale
The Gun Eaters, which sounds like a present-day LA Confidential. Plus the title rules.
Gaslight, which will either be awesome, or terrible, or most likely both.
Two Night Stand, which will either be really good and sweet, or really angering and shitty, basically depending on what "extremely regrettable one-night stand" actually means here.
Jane Got a Gun, which has a terrible title, but I'm a sucker for movies about tough women in a man's genre, ala Winter's Bone.
Murders and Acquisitions, which could be a really biting satire, an updated American Psycho.
77, because we need more movies about the SLA.
Breyton Ave, which sounds cool but will live or die based on the inevitable twist ending.
Good Kids, because this actually sounds interesting, a high school movie that isn't about a bunch of assholes.
Hyperdrive, because putting the words "space opera" in your logline will instantly get my attention.
The ones that annoy me:
Bethlehem (humans work with vampires against zombies), for stealing its premise from the spec-script-turned-webcomic http://lastblood.keenspot.com/
The fact that apparently we need two Pinochio movies, including a prequel that doesn't involve fucking Pinocchio, what the shit.
The Museum of Human Relationships, for not being a fucking movie. Same goes for The Flamingo Thief.
The Accountant, because really? Really?
Flashback, which... what? What the shit?
The Last Witness, because I'm pretty sure they already made this movie and called it Source Code.
Bad Words, because it might as well be called "Sundancin'".
On a Clear Day, because could you vague that up a bit for me?
Jurassic Park, although I don't know yet whether it's a "Harold and Kumar" quest comedy or an MST3K thing, but either way is just blatant nostalgia bait.
The Pretty One, because hasn't Ringer taught us this kind of story is stupid?
The Wedding, for having a description that literally tells you nothing that the title didn't, ie., there will be a wedding and also characters. Oh really, The Wedding? Will the characters say lines and perform actions? I'm just dying to know.
Self/Less, because if you're going to remake Seconds, you might as well just call it Seconds.
Oh, and then there's this:
He's Fuckin' Perfect - A social media savvy girl who is pessimistic about love finds the perfect guy and decides to use her internet research skills to turn herself into his perfect match.
That just pisses me off to no end. You've got a curse word in the title to make your script stand out and seem edgy, even though you KNOW it's not going to make it to theaters like that (the same way TV writers will pitch shows with titles like "Southern Bitches" or "Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23"). You've got a premise that marries the dead-horse cliche ("girl is pessimistic about love, but only because she was with terrible guys, and now she's with a great guy and love is awesome") to terrible themes (wait for the "perfect" guy, lie about who you are so he'll like you) to a storyline that validates stalking and obsessive behavior, like some kind of reverse Fatal Attraction.
The worst part is, I'm sure it'll get made (like Guy's Night and the other bullshit genericomedies). And while we're on the subject of horrible sexism, I'm looking at you, A Many-Splintered Thing, for being a movie about a guy who "finally meets a girl he can't have". Woo.
Especially if it really goes full-on space opera with a modern day tough cop and a novelist. Sounds like a neat mix.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Its going to be renamed He's Perfect and for some reason my first though as to actress was Kirsten Bell. God knows she has been stuck with crappy Rom-Coms since Veronica Mars. Which is sad as she is a good actress.
If not her, then any actress that can pull of a decent smile they can put on the poster of the DTV
Edit: Also, Ezekiel Moss. Is there a thing with TV shows/movies about a dude with mysterious powers whose name is the title? I remember there was Eli Stone, and I feel like there was another one.
The Book of Eli.
The Secret World of Alex Mack.
Sabrina, The Teenage Witch.
Probably a few others
77 sounds neat, and a period of history that seems to be just on the verge of being safe to tell.
line of sight]/b]-" After a military coup takes out the executive branch of government, the country’s survival depends on a Navy Seal sniper extraction team getting the Speaker of the House from Washington DC to New York." Ok, this sounds like a horrible movie, but my GOD i would go see it. explosions, action, intrigue. yes please.
Hyperdrive looks like it could be rather intriguing, if done correctly
Gaslight sounds like fun.
Flarsky looks like it could be a riot. But again, it would need to be written well enough to not be stupid. yes I might be imagining Danny & CJ from West Wing. shut up
Bastards and The Knoll Both caught my eye as movies I would go see, probably no matter how bad the writing was
Grace of Monaco would be enjoyable. Depending on who they get to play the Princess (scarlett johanson?)
In the Event of a Moon Disaster NEAT!
Other than that, most of the others made me roll my eyes, but then i'm not much of a movie-goer.
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Not only that, but the UK is currently trying to undo the damage in the Commonwealth that its anti-homosexualty policies did.
That's not the pattern
It would be like The Secret World of Alex Mack was just called Alex Mack, or Sabrina, The Teenage Witch was called Sabrina Spellman.
Like, Jonah Hex or... Electra Luxxx but the right subject matter instead of some trash and some other trash.
Which is why it has 136 nods - I fully expect that it will get greenlit. But to say it will invite controversy is like saying that the ocean is a little wet.
... ah, I read "is the title" as "is in the title."
a subtle difference
It'll be a horror, like that movie with the girls and the roommate.
I think you're overstating the case. It won't be any more controversial than, say, Milk, at least on this side of the pond.
and escapes, then transforms himself into the mysterious Cristo and systematically destroys the men who
manipulated and enslaved hi
I think so, if only to push back yet another terrible 3 Musketeers film for a few years. I would like to know if they had intended it to be a modern day retelling of the story.
Come on Hollywood, let's leave Dumas alone for a while, huh?
I love that you know Sabrina's last name
That's just how I roll.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_World_of_Alex_Mack
Unless it was renamed in Australia and I have forgotten.