Screenplay: The Dark Knight
Confession time. I have a horrible memory for the endings of stories. Take Lawrence of Arabia for example. I have seen it many times, it’s one of my all time favorite movies, but I cannot remember how it ends.

So, with The Dark Knight Rises coming soon and details trickling out about it I wanted to revisit The Dark Knight as I could not recall specifically how it left things in the city of Gotham. Since I couldn’t find anywhere to stream the movie, I found the screenplay and dove in.

Maybe it’s because I’m such a Batman fan, but this script just zoomed by despite being easily the longest one I’ve read this year. Any time I checked the page number to try and gauge where I was story/structure-wise, I was surprised by how far I’d read since I’d last checked. It does come across as a lot to have crammed into one movie, but it flows so well that you can overlook that.

While the Joker is very well written here, Heath Ledger really did take the role far beyond where it could have gone in the hands of a lesser actor. It’s also very disappointing, as it was when I saw the film, to know that this version of Two Face won’t be returning. He’s a character that was always too gimicky for me to really be interested in, but here he’s fully fleshed out in an exciting new way.

I need to read it again sometime to really pick it apart, but overall, very much worth reading.

I’m not calling it a resolution, but starting at the beginning of this year I am making a concerted effort to really get my screenwriting going. I had made a good go at it a few months back, but the time of day I set aside for writing became the time when we would change my wife’s bandages. I never found a different time of day and it all just trailed off.

So, I’m beginning by watching as many movies and, more importantly, reading as many screenplays as I can. Following up, I’m going to try posting a few thoughts on each.

Movie: Bridesmaids
The wife and I watched this on New Year’s Day. It was much slower paved than either of us expected. I think we both expected it to be more like The Hangover. We both enjoyed it quite a bit though. The relationships really struck home for her, but I didn’t identify as much. So while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t quite my cup of tea.

Screenplay: Bridesmaids
Given how I liked, but didn’t love the film, I really wanted to read the screenplay. Part of my plan is to read scripts I wouldn’t write or normally read. The main thing that struck me about it was that much of the bits in the film that I thought were the result of ad libbing, are right there on the page. In fact it was very much exactly what was on the screen, so glad I read it, but not planning to look it over again.

I’ve read a bit more, but this post is long enough for now. More to come.