Adventures in Paradise actor Gardner McKay’s novel, Toyer, is a haunting and inventive thriller. Also produced as a play by McKay, the novel is a compulsively readable, if not slightly long-winded, examination of the media’s relationship with violence, the dark side of Los Angeles, and madness in and of itself. The heroine of Toyer is […]

Part Five: B.K.’s Silent Return and a Champion Hollywood Fight Backtracking slightly from the end of our last installment, Allison Burnett’s screenwriting career proved to continue without disruption– in spite of Autumn in New York’s failed reception and his public feud with Richard Gere. Surprisingly, as far as he could perceive, the entire debacle failed to […]

Novelist, screenwriter, and director S. Craig Zahler continues to impress with his latest-published book, Hug Chickenpenny: The Panegyric of an Anomalous Child. Following the footsteps of Tim Burton, Caroline Thompson, and the David Lynch of The Elephant Man, Hug is a gothic representation of the outsider that is beautifully and masterfully executed. The title character, […]

Part Four: The Smell of Rain Brings Forth Fulfillment For his next screenplay, Burnett returned to the core of an idea that was present in both Red Meat and his first unpublished novel, Orwell’s Year: a self-centered man who selflessly falls in love with a terminally ill young woman. This time around, Burnett altered his […]

Part Three: Devoured by Red Meat After the disappointment of Bleeding Hearts and since he could now “afford to draw a line in the sand” with the sale of his Freckles screenplay, Allison Burnett was ready to face the next challenge that so many screenwriters long for: directing. In writing the screenplay for what would […]

Expectations can kill a movie quicker than just about anything. A great director, actor, or actress in its credits, beloved source material that inspired it, or a successful predecessor in its franchise can dampen our reaction to a film every bit as much as they create the hype that propels us to want to see […]

Part Two: Going Solo Allison Burnett met Mark Evan Jacobs, a fledgling producer, actor, and businessman (not to mention the son of a predatory businessman named Irwin L. Jacobs, nicknamed “Irv the Liquidator”), through friends in the late eighties. A few years later, Jacobs made Burnett an offer: write a script about racism with a […]

2018 has gone by like a whirlwind filled with nothing but superheroes. While there have been plenty of films without Iron Man, Deadpool, or The Incredibles, a good portion of them have so far been largely overshadowed by all things demi-God. What else is new? Movies, large and small, get lost today quicker than they […]

Introduction In Hollywood, success for any screenwriter can be a conflicted accomplishment. On one hand, he or she has obtained something only achieved by a select few. On the other, if that writer had any desire for artistic fulfillment on a movie screen, they are more than likely going to lead a frustrated and alcohol-soaked […]

As far as teenage/adolescent movies go, Bo Burnham’s Eight Grade is one of the most achingly authentic ones ever made. The film never relies on clichés and its earnest but bluntly honest tone is complimented by the evident sincerity behind Burnham’s intentions. The film’s ultimate emotional payoff is all the richer because it never succumbs […]