Name: Duane Whitaker
E-mail: mac507@msn.com

Josh,

How's everything? Caught RUNNING TIME on IFC -- really liked it a lot. Put a bid in on it on E-bay so I can here you yap on the commentary. The web-site is great; it's taking me forever to get through it. It's like a full time job.
I'm trying to get my next epic off the ground. Very painful... But I'm starting on it this year no matter what. Watch for me in FEAST in December. Also did a small thing in DEVIL'S REJECTS.
Hope you're well -- keep at it.

Best,
Duane Whitaker

Thanks. I wish you all the luck in the world on your new project.

Josh

Name: kdn
E-mail: jericho_legends

<<"you are an asshole" Q&As>>

You don't seem to insult anybody unless its in self defense. But I didn't write any questions for a few years cause at first glance, it looked like you were tearing people new assholes. But those people can go watch LEMONY SNICKETS I UNFORTUNATELY SHAT MYSELF (which is like a badly half-assed cross between Mr. Dahl and THE GLASS HOUSE, but I'll give it one star for the little toddler translations, Jim Carrey murdering 5 people in a kids movie, and the little elf jokes).

If they had any decency those people would go check out SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT or THE LONGEST YARD or THE APARTMENT (I'm in the middle of that one right now, I took a nice long nap so I can stay up tonight without anyone bothering me).

I do have a question about VHS though since I ran across my video copy of THE AFRICAN QUEEN today (it still has its box). Now video obviously wasn't around forever, so about when did they start releasing all these old movies on VHS? Before video, did people just go see them once or twice in the theater and then never again?

Also regarding something I heard from GONE WITH THE WIND and ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES documentaries: The studios used to own the actors? They just sign them up and then they couldn't act in any other studio movie unless they had permission to be loaned out? The studios married the actors for publicity? When did this change? Was there anything about the change like say SINGIN IN THE RAIN being about people losing their jobs when silent films changed over to talkies? Did it change at all or just changed forms? (because you still have all this bullshit in the media today about people marrying one another and breaking up)

Also Bruce Campbell said in an interview that Sam remaking the Evil Dead was different from just some studio exec digging up a script for money, but thats a bunch of bull. They couldn't come up with the time to make a kick ass sequel, but they can just remake it. It actually doesn't even need a sequel. I thought ARMY OF DARKNESS was a good ending. Why waste the money when they could just re-release the original. I don't even count remakes anymore, I just call them sequels. HOUSE 2 didn't make any fucking sense towards the first one but they consider that a sequel.

Jesus, I feel like the old man from the sea. Yes, my son, there was a time before video tape, where if you wanted to see a film a second time you had to go back to the theater while it was still playing. There were the second-run theaters that showed the films that had already left the first-run theaters in double-bills. There were even some grind houses that showed the low-budget films in double- and triple-bills, like the World Theater on Hollywood Blvd., where you could see three shitty low-budget films for 99-cents. Home video arrived in the early 1980s. Back in the days of the major studios, actors and directors would often sign exclusive 7-year contracts so that they could only work for that studio during that term. The studio could lend them out to another studio, but they didn't make any more money, just what they were contracted for (the lending studio would make a fee, not the actor or director). If an actor turned down a project they would be put on suspension, without pay, and the length of the suspension would then be added to the length of their contract. The king of this was first William Wyler, who turned down almost every script Sam Goldwyn offered him, so his 7-year contract ended up running from about 1934 to 1946 (with a hiatus for WWII). Bette Davis's contract got extended so many times for turning down projects that she finally ended up in court with Warner Bros., and she was the first person to break the studio's iron grip. And many actors didn't make the transition from silent to sound, even though their voices were perfectly okay. The main example was John Gilbert, who was a huge star in silents, but just didn't cut it in talkies, and he had a nice voice.

Josh

Name: Charles Grundy
E-mail: cgrundy@aol.com

Dear Josh:

I don't know exactly how the film reviewing / festival biz works, but here's a thought for you... Could part of the problem you've had getting people to pay attention to IF I HAD A HAMMER be simply due to the fact that you only offer it on an obsolete media format -- VHS? I'm not kidding; if I get a mixed pile of DVDs and VHSs to watch from the library, I tend to pick the DVDs first, just because it's more convenient to watch them (can watch them on my computer anywhere).

I'm not saying that this would be a fair situation, just that human beings can react to things irrationally and choose convenience over quality. You might want to consider this when packaging your products...

Also, one other problem I see, this time with the film itself. The film begins with a lengthy credit sequence of stock black and white historical footage, followed by a very slow couple of sequences. The sequence with the kid in his bedroom for instance seems to go on forever with no dialogue. It seems like this is another presentation choice that could affect your film's ability to be judged fairly. If someone slips the movie in and the first thing they see is black and white stock footage they could very well think "BORING!" and turn the thing off, if they have a huge pile of videos to review or consider for a festival. Putting a more interesting or funny scene before the credits might grab the uninitiated viewer better, who is skimming through videos deciding what to watch. As is, your movie opens like a History channel documentary on the '50s -- and I think that presentation does your interesting and funny material a great disservice.

Finally, the VHS box cover art / poster art for this film, while creative, is highly vague. You have a beatuiful girl starring in this movie, but she is only shown in silhouette on the box cover. I'm not kidding. That may sound incredibly shallow, but why not capitalize on your assets and show her pretty smiling face on the cover? Not to mention that your film is very colorful and humorous yet the box cover is mostly monochrome, dark, and somber. Looks like an advertisement for a horror movie or murder thriller rather than a teen comedy with cheerful folk music and philosophical overtones. Personally, I would choose a box cover that emphasized the time period of the movie by choosing fonts and colors from the era and show the interesting and attractive lead actors, fer chrissakes.

It seems to me that in these subtle ways, you have done a lot of things to turn off people who might enjoy your film if you put the thing directly in front of them and say fast forwarded directly to the scene of Max walking down the street to the Student Action Center where he meets the beautiful Lorraine. The movie seems to pick up speed and interest at this point to me, but many may give up before getting there.

I'm not trying to beat up on you, just sayin' you need some marketing savvy. Maybe hire someone to think about that stuff for you next time.

All reasonable comments and suggestions. Interestingly, perhaps, is that it once did begin with Max and Lorraine and I switched it in editing. That could well be a mistake. I must say that I do like my credit sequence, and it does come into play later as background information that everyone watching the film might not have. As to the artwork, that was done for me out of kindness by a friend (hi, Renee), since I was completely monetarily sunk at the time. It was never meant to be anything but temp artwork. As to the VHS, I had 300 VHS copies made when the film was completed in 2001, which, at that time were $5.00 each, whereas DVDs were $20 each. I'm sure that's changed now, but I still have about 30 VHS tapes left which I wouldn't mind getting rid of. And honestly I don't really want to sell anything on my website because it's a pain in the ass, so when these 30 tapes are gone, that's all she wrote with this movie, unless a distributor ever picks it up, which is highly unlikely at this late date. Thank you for the thoughtful suggestions.

Josh

Name: kdn
E-mail: jericho_legends

<<I do think you're doing the films you're watching a disservice, though. Each movie ought to be seen with as much clarity as possible.>>

I thought about this, technically, I've seen all these films individually. However, the fun from the marathon (or Almost Marathon 2005) is that you start to see fun little connections due to time periods, actors, directors, etc. for instance, I watched ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, remember the geeky waitress who gets picked up by her father? I spotted her a couple of films later in ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN. strangely, I just watched a very young Richard Dreyfuss in AMERICAN GRAFFITI only to see a very old Richard Dreyfuss in THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT. plus I think that's John Larroquette as the X-Ray technician in ALTERED STATES, he just doesn't look older or fat, but I could be mistaken. They mentioned Peck's Bad Boy in ALL ABOUT EVE which is later going to come up in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. Vincent Price from THE ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES and THE COMEDY OF TERRORS is going to pop up in THE TOMB OF LIGEIA being shown in MEAN STREETS but also the COMEDY OF TERRORS has Basil Rathbone who appeared in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD with CLAUDE RAINS whos going to pop up in CASABLANCA etc etc etc etc etc. I'm just sort of creating my own interconnected universe.

And stop and think a second. In what if all these movies we're watching is actually some alternate reality. Wouldn't that be cool. like Richard Linklater talking in SLACKER about how dorothy going down the wrong road created all these other choices or movies that we'll never see.

by the by. It say that SLACKER cost around $25,000 to make, but the booklet with the budget says it really cost $77,000 to make with $52,000 either deferred or in kind. so you're right, I guess they were lying through their teeth.

All of those connections will still be there if you watch the films individually and get some sleep between them. Whether you watch "Robin Hood" and "Casablanca" an hour apart or a week apart, Claude Rains is still in both of them. As a little anecdote, when my friend Sheldon started Beverly Hills High School in 1965, I believe, on the first day of school a senior is assigned to show each freshman around, and Sheldon got Richard Dreyfuss. His first appearance in a movie, BTW, was a bit in "The Graduate" in 1968.

Josh

Name: Jonathan Moody
E-mail: jondoe_555@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

If I had a hammer is your best movie so far. Everything from the sets, to the dialogue, to the acting is perfect. My big question is who are the Springfield 5 supposed to represent or were they a real group? I'm gonna try and show this to as many people as I possibly can and try to get some of my friends to get it from you. It needs to be watched over and over again. Glad a movie you wanted to see done is out for everyone to check out.

Your fan,
Jonathan

Jeez, everybody is being really nice to me today, and I haven't even ignored any "you are an asshole" Q&As. Well, I am glad you liked it. I too think it's my best movie, although there are those who disagree, some of whom are good friends of mine. Bill Warren, who reviews for Leornard Maltin, shrugged it off without a second thought, and didn't even bother reviewing it. And I couldn't get any distributor to touch it, even with a ten-foot pole. I don't think people really want to see movies that have something to say anymore. The Springfield 5 are just made-up.

Josh

Name: Bryan Moore
E-mail: arkham-cinema@sbcglobal.net

Hi Josh,

Not so much a question here, but rather a note of appreciation.

I happened to catch your film "Running Time" on IFC this morning. I had never heard of it until today, but I wish I had. A beautiful film to be sure, it put me in such a good mood that a genuinely good independent film can be made in America these days. Nothing spectacular, just good, simple storytelling with a solid script and cast. The fact that it's in black and white (wonderfully shot) is a real plus, as it seems to be a neglected artform in film.

Again, I want to truly thank you for giving me the pure pleasure of watching a terrific film. Hope this email makes your day as much as watching your fantastic movie made mine.

Best wishes, and hats off to you for showing others that film can be an artistic expression as well as a commercial one.

Bryan Moore

Thank you very much. Considering I just got up, and this is the first email I've read today, it has made my my day.

Josh

Name: Jonathan Moody
E-mail: jondoe_555@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

Sorry if I never asked you this. And I know I need to watch "If I had a hammer" but I'm trying to watch it with my parents because they are big folk music lovers. Though if at least one of them don't watch it tomorrow with me I'll watch it by myself. My question is about Alien Apocalypse... Were you trying to have a really big political message in your movie? I mean I usually don't try to get in to politics because it usually means one person thinks he's right and the other thinks their right and they argue to no end and end up hating eachother, but what would you say your political message is in AA? Because I laughed hard when I first heard, "Republicans, Sheesh".... but in the end (and yes, this is a spoiler if you haven't seen it stop reading this)... doesn't the republican president help save the earth from the aliens? Meaning in a time of war a president who doesn't have the guts to face battle will still come and save the day? Or am I looking too much in to it. However the line, "You're nothing now. So move go get Dempsky" "I only wish they could pass bills that way" made me crack up! All in all AA was really written especially politically. Its just I wasn't sure which way you wanted to go with it. Were you trying to show that Republicans would be good at war but the president would be scared shitless in battle or that the republican president would be scared in battle but still help out when he got talked in to it by the hero? I dunno if my rant here was understandable or not but let me know what you think.

Your fan,
Jonathan

First keep in mind that the script was written when Ronald Reagan was president, whom I had no respect for as a politician (although I did like him as an actor). But I don't think it's proper for a writer to have to explain the meaning of their writing. Whatever you got out of it, that's what it is. But clearly there are a number of subtextural topics going on, like the environment, politics, and the meaning of patriotism. Nevertheless, it's still an old script. After the big wait I hope you (and your parents) like "Hammer."

Josh

Name: mike evans
E-mail: mikeinmosheim@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

i want to say that evil dead is my favorite of all times ! my question is i live very close to clinch mountain and morristown and i have searched for the location of where the cabin used to stand i would love to go see the location in person i think im very close to it from watching the movie and watching closely but it has changed so much here since the movie, could you please tell me where the location is actually please. thanks id really appreciate it.

Sorry, but it was 26 years ago and I don't remember. Bruce Campbell knows, so ask him.

Josh

Name: Robbie B
E-mail:

Josh,

What does an actual tv script look like? Do you have any of the "Xena" scripts you wrote up on your site? All the scripts I come across for TV shows are shooting scripts with numbered scenes. I'm trying to find an actual script so that I can see how spec scripts are written.

Thanks,
Robbie

A TV script looks a lot like a screenplay, only shorter. A 30-minute TV script is between 25-30 pages, and a one-hour script is usually between 45-50 pages. I can't really post any of those Xena scripts because they don't belong to me. TV scripts have the act breaks indicated, which fall about every 12 pages or so. Sometimes TV shows have a teaser, which is a scene right at the beginning that's usually a minute or two, and sometimes they have a tag, which is a short scene at the very end. The original "Star Trek" frequently had a tag, and as kids we termed this scene "the crack on the bridge," where Bones makes some snotty comment about Spock's green blood or something.

Josh

Name: kdn
E-mail: jericho_legends@yahoo.com

<<I'm convinced that most people marry because A). everybody else is doing it, and B). they're sick of dating.>>

I got married cause I was utterly miserable with nothing to do and no life, and I don't regret it one bit. I just got lucky. On you quitting the Star Wars essay, I don't think film is coming back either. luckily there are over 300,000 and more titles to reflect back on thanks to dvd. ALEXANDER THE GREAT (w/ richard burton) was okay. I didn't think the battles were as interesting as Alexander sentencing the two men who killed his enemy to death to show his men only a king can kill a king... but the battles weren't bad and I'll take this over the remake.

The 1956 "Alexander the Great" was a real disappointment to me. Good cast, good director, boring, static script. "The Fall of the Roman Empire," while still not a good movie, is better than that. And 300,000 titles may very well be overestimating the total number of films (maybe not ever produced, but those that still exist), given that there are about 20,000 in Leonard Maltin's book.

Josh

Name: kdn
E-mail: jericho_legends@yahoo.com

<<This is your rant>>

Here's a question, given the subject matter of LUNATICS: A LOVE STORY, have you ever hallucinated? Not particularly from LSD but just from lack of sleep or stress. I sat through 9 2/3 movies back to back yesterday which kept me up all night hyped up on coffee, I made it 2/3 through ALIEN before I felt something slimy lung at me and decided to take a break. I'm thinking of just continuing this with all the freaky movies like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY or ALTERED STATES just to see what happens.

As I mentioned, that 54-hour musical marathon I attended caused me to slightly hallucinate, although not in a good way. I do think you're doing the films you're watching a disservice, though. Each movie ought to be seen with as much clarity as possible. The second I start to get tired I turn what I'm watching off and pick it up the next day.

Josh

Name: Dan Noga
E-mail: dansher@sbcglobal.net

Hey Josh,

You made quite a splash with Alien Apoc. Congrats. I'm still here in MI working on the usual stuff and the occasional indie project. I have a new screenplay (you'd probably like it better than the last one). I have a producing partner and the two of us are working at getting it off the ground as a film. I just wanted to drop you a line to say congrats and to tell you I'd still like to shoot a project for you. Union, non-union whatever (so long as it's paid) I think I have something to bring to the party and we'd have a good time. Drop me a line.

Dan

Good to hear from you. I'll post this so Scott can get the news. You've been at this shit forever, I have no doubt you have plenty to bring to the party. If you'll recall way back when, you did the lighting on the reshoots for TSNKE in 1985, which is the best-looking sequence in that movie.

Josh

Name: John Hunt
E-mail: chowkidar@aol.com

Josh,

With all due respect to your personal experience with Judaism, I think you are wrong about the subject of conversion to Judaism. While I will allow that there may exist small sects within Orthodox Judaism which do not allow for conversion (one cannot disprove a negative hypothesis), I have done fairly extensive reading and find that, so long as the convert has met the conversion requirements, there is universal acceptance, at least in principle, of true and valid conversion.

Even among the Hasidic Jews, conversions are recognized so long as the convert has undergone Mikveh, Brit milah or Hatafa dam brit, whichever is appropriate, and satisfies a Beit Din of his or her awareness and acceptance of the Mitzvot. I include a site which supports this acceptance of converts, though it is certainly not the only source wherein I have seen it.

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/lifecycle/Conversion/IdeatoRealization/RabbinicRequirements/Circumcision.htm

I bring this up, not only because I am interested in the subject, but also because I admire Judaism , its practices, philosophies and belief structure. Obviously, I am aware of your disposition towards religion in general, but I wonder (respectfully) if you have considered whether, in the case of Judaism, your own proximity, if you will, might slant your view more than you realize.

On a completely different note, my brother is a singer/songwriter who has been approached about having several songs included in soudtracks of at least two movies. Is there anything he should watch out for or expect? His songs are all copywrited and I believe the movies are all Indies.

We'd appreciate any direction you might give. Thanks,

John

As I said, it's not that conversion to orthodox Judaism can't be done, I just don't believe it is done, nor do I think the closed-minded orthodox would readily accept a convert, no matter what the rules say. Clearly, though, you've read more about it than I have. My views are no more slanted against Judaism than any other religion: they're all ridiculous, they're all based on fear and superstition, and none of them has any extra insight into the unknown. Regarding having a song in a film, your brother should make sure to only sell them the synch rights, meaning that they only own the rights to the song on the film itself and in no other form. That way, should the movie cause the song to become a hit, he owns it and not them.

Josh

Name: Andrew
E-mail:

Dear Josh:

Thank you for abandoning your Star Wars essay. It would've just made you look silly. May I offer another suggestion? Maybe instead of complaining about the so-called childishness of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, ect, you should just quit lecturing about this stuff. The "satire" in your little Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie (now there's a low pedestal to be talking from) already proved that you lack a total understanding of genre films.

Why don't you explain genre films for all of us. I'm not exactly sure from what pedestal you'll be speaking since I'm unfamilar with your work, but I'm sure you can fill us in on that, too, okay? Oh, and the abbreviation for etcetera, by the way, is "etc."

Josh

Name: victor
E-mail: victor@victormarks.com

Josh, in a recent email posted on your Q&A page, you commented that it is not possible to convert to Hassidic Judaism. This is untrue, and there's precedent for it in the Torah, with Ruth as the first convert to Judaism. The tradition is to follow Naomi's example and attempt to dissuade the convert at least three times, but if they persist, to engage them in study on their way to conversion, under the tutelage of a Rabbi. Orthodox Jews (Hassidim, Haredim, so forth) can be converts, and once conversion is completed, no one differentiates between convert and born and raised.

As always, I enjoy reading the scripts and essays you post. Thank you.

You're saying that a gentile can convert to orthodox Judaism? I don't buy it. To reform Judaism, yeah. Maybe even conservative, but not orthodox. They may pay lip-service to such a thing, but I'm sure they're all utterly against it. Meanwhile, I just attended a Bat Mitzvah at a conservative synagogue. The service was over four grueling hours long. I spent part of the time leafing through their prayer book, and went directly to the incendiary sections of the Torah, two of which are Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, which condemn homosexuality and say that homosexuals "have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them." There was an astrisk next to this, and the footnote said, "We of the B'nai Torah congregation welcome gays and lesbians." The Torah may be the word of god, but I guess you don't have to take it too seriously, huh?

Josh

Name: klaus klein
E-mail: maninwhite@gmail.com

Mr. Becker,

I'll make this as brief as possible, since it is obvious by the posts that you are a busy man. I really liked your work in Evil Dead 2 and I enjoyed Alien Apocalypse as well. I was wondering if you sign autographs. If so, please just tell me what I need to do in order to get one. Best.......

Klaus

You liked my work on "Evil Dead 2"? I was an extra. The best you can say about an extra is that they showed up. Meanwhile, follow Shirley's simple instructions. [Send your request with a SASE (of sufficient size and postage) to: Shirley Robbins LeVasseur, P.O. Box 86, East Vassalboro ME 04935. I will forward it to Josh. If you have something you would like him to sign, send that; otherwise you will get a signed 8x10 still from "Running Time" (no photos of Josh left so it'll be a cast photo).]

Josh

Name: Joe Lindsay
E-mail:

Hey Josh
I love RUNNING TIME. I think it would be damn-near perfect except for two small flaws that bug me:
1)When Bruce is shot in the arm, blood from the squib hits the camera lens and remains there for the rest of the shot. In the next shot, the blood is, of course, gone. The disappearance of the blood draws unfortunate attention to the edit; thus making it the most noticable cut in the film.
2)Later in the film, a car (the police cruiser I think) passes by in the foreground and catches the reflection of the camera in its side windows.
My questions: Why didn't you do further re-takes or re-shoots of these shots? Would you ever consider using computer technology to 'paint out' the blood spots and the reflection for a future re-issue of the film?
Just wondering,
Joe
P.S.- I just finished reading your fine script for HEADSHOT. Nice job! I think it would make a terrific film.

I'd be happy to digitally remove the camera reflection, if someone else wanted to pay for it. One of these days perhaps I will do it myself. As for the blood on the lens, which was unintentional, you'd be surprised how many people have commented on "how cool" they thought that was. I thought it was cool, too, but it does point out the cut. Nevertheless, given the chance I wouldn't remove it. I'm glad you liked "Head Shot." I think it would make a terrific movie as well.

Josh

Name: Ben
E-mail: shippybs@hotmail.com

Hello Josh! Greetings from Toronto! I've been bumbling around your site for a little over a year now and I'm just coming to the end of the massive amounts of reading material you have here. I would just like to express a very deep thank you for all the knowledge you've been sharing with us, especially regarding film making. Go figure. Your guide to independant film making was more than most any aspiring film maker could have hoped to find! It answers nearly every question that pops up in regard to the film making process. All that for free?! My god I'd happily pay $40-$60 for a book like this. I can't belive that you never got a deal with this especially when looking at some of the horrible, vague printings that are being distributed on the subject. Pure gold. Your essays on story stucture were particularily informative and interesting as well. They have definetly opened my eyes to the potential depth that can really be written into a screenplay. I don't know how people can argue the need for structure or irony if you just think about how well using these elements can connect the characters and motivations throughout the story. Yes these people are the anti-christ. Again thanks for preeching the preech. Some of us are listening. I'm still in my short films on video phase as I'm not ready to say I know what I'm doing well enough to tackle a serious attempt at the feature film form. But thanks to your sharing what you know with us it will be much sooner than later. Anyway I think this is a long enough babbling for my first time out. Although I know you don't know me or my movie tastes well enouhg to take a recommendation I'd like to give it a stab anyway. After going back through the first 100 pages of your Q&A I never saw one mention of "The Money Pit." It's not a brilliant film however this is one of the funniest and well written comedies I have ever seen. There is most definetely a three act structure in place. The script has irony and theme running all thoughout. I can think of only one instance that it really breaks any kind of logic rule and being as it's in a comedy context I don't think it's a big deal at all. Besides all that it delivers what a comedy should...the laughs. I nearly pissed my self when I saw it a year ago for the first time (it's an 80's flick). So anyway that's that. Just wanted to say and thanks and get the movie recommend off my chest. I'm a regular visitor so you'll probably be hearing from me again, if that's cool. Keep preechin' the preech.
Ben
ps congrats on AA! I hear quiting the bottle is really tough! Kidding.

Welcome, filmmaking comrade. I've never seen "The Money Pit." I think I avoided it at the time because it was a Steven Spielberg production, and most of the films he was producing really sucked. Also, for the most part, I believe it's a remake of "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" with Cary Grant, and I generally avoid remakes. Anyway, should it pop up, I'll check it out.

Meanwhile, it appears that a publisher wants to publish my "Complete Guide," and when that deal is done I will take it down and make everybody pay. So get it while the getting's good. It will be a trade paperback and be priced between $15-20.

Josh

Name: Josh Clinton
E-mail: jclin@rudebaker.com

Hey Josh,

I was sitting in a movie theatre in Hollywood yesterday, seeing the day's first showing of Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. Needless to say, the movie was horrible-- no wonder they scrapped it and went with Renny Harlin's pile of garbage...it reeked less than Schraders! Anyway, point of this story is that I'm sitting next to this guy and we start talking horror. We get onto Evil Dead and finally make it to Thou Shalt Not Kill Except...a movie so "cult" there are very few people you end up talking about it with. I couldn't believe this guy knew about the movie and...of your career! We talked about Lunatic, Running Time, and AA for what seemed liek an hour and then got a bite after the flick where we decided we'd like to start the official Josh Becker Fan Club...not exactly a website like this but just one about all your movies and maybe working out some interviews with you...we both agreed that we're tired of you not getting your due...we were thinking about calling it, "Ultimate Fake Shemp: A Tribue To Josh Becker..." Would you be open for something like that? If so, let me know...if not FU! No just kidding.

Please, be my guest. A fan club with two members sounds exciting. We'll certainly put the link up here. So I'm the ultimate fake Shemp, eh? Horrifying. I don't even get to be Shemp, let alone Curly? I get to be the guy who was pretending to be Shemp. Wow.

Josh

Name: Jonathan Moody
E-mail: jondoe_555@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

I got "If I had a hammer" a couple days ago. I'm gonna watch it today. But also I'm renting a few William Wyler movies. So far I got "Roman Holiday" on DVD and "The Desperate Hours" on VHS. And today I'll be getting a few more VHS's of "The Big Country" and "Mrs. Minniver" and possibly "Jezebel". So my question is after I've seen those which ones do you recommend me renting? So far from what I saw of Roman Holiday before I had to go it was pretty marvelous. The blocking, to the way it was shot, right down to the acting itself has been top notch. I can't wait to finish it and watch some more. And since my folks love the folk movement I'll be showing them "If I had a hammer". I'll tell you what I think after I've watched it.

Your fan,
Jonathan

I love the selection, but to have my film stuck in there among Wyler's is pretty tough competition. You couldn't work me into your Ed Wood festival where I might come off a little better, huh? Meanwhile, proceed forward to "The Best Years of Our Lives," "Friendly Persuasion," "Dead End," "Dodsworth," "Carrie," and "Ben-Hur." Have fun.

Josh

Name: John
E-mail:

Hi Josh

You still writing that "living in a post SW era" essay? Sounded interesting. I wanna hear your views on the matter, specially now they're trying 3D to put bums back on seats instead of telling good and interesting stories...

You see how well 3-D brought 'em in in the '50s, meaning it didn't. I actually wrote a few pages of that essay, "Anticipating the post-'Star Wars' Era," where I was trying to be optimistic and suggest that we're leaving the Dark Ages of "Star Wars" films, and we're now moving to a brighter, better place, but I don't believe it, and that's why I stopped. Other than George Lucas promising that there won't be anymore SW films, and let's hope he's a man of his word, I don't see why movies should get any better, and there are no indications of that occurring. If movies ever do get any better it won't have anything to do with Hollywood, I assure you. Those folks don't know what a good movie is, and don't care. It will have to come from the independents, and as long as those folks just want to break into Hollywood and make "Free Willy 5," nothing will improve.

Josh

Name: Atticus Finch
E-mail: jericho_legends@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

I just read a review for Star Wars three stating "its good, really good" then goes on to talk about the atrocious bad acting and dialogue... WTF?!?!

You're changing names now, huh? I think what they're trying to say in their own stupid way is that this is the best of the last three "Star Wars" films, but since the two previous films were complete hammered shit, to be better than those two still means the film can be crap. Regarding the numbering of "Star Wars" films, there was the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth, and this one is the sith.

Josh

Name: kdn
E-mail: jericho_legends@yahoo.com

<<You've got a bunch of good films to see. Is it the old "Scarface" or the new one? I much prefer the Hawks version, which I just watched again recently and liked even more. Have fun.>>

Admit the wolf had wicked thoughts / But his name is Fredrik?!!! Yes its the original Scarface with Boris Karloff in there somewhere. I thought SMILES OF THE SUMMER NIGHT had a lot of memorable/quotable dialogue in it. It's like Ingmar Bergman wanted to make a stupid sex comedy but couldn't help making it a smart one instead. The woman that plays Fredrik's virgin wife does a good job of playing jealous, the dragoon is hysterical ("My wife may cheat on me, but touch my mistress and I become a tiger!"), the son that desperately needs to get laid, tries to hang himself,
> accidentally break off the noose knocks into a secret button on the wall that brings Fredrik's wife's bed into the room. WILD STRAWBERRIES just reminded me of A Christmas Carol for some reason, I like how in the opening dream, when the carriage is banging into the lamp post the wood squeaks like a crying baby and later in the film Victor Seastrom's (Sjostroms, whichever) daughter in law is going to have a kid. and the dream sequence where he shows up to take a test and he doesn't know any of the answers so his punishment is to watch his wife cheat on him. They also showed the dream sequence from WILD STRAWBERRIES and the dissectionsequence from THE MAGICIAN on the dvd for THE SEVENTH SEAL.

1. I watched ALIEN again a few nights ago. During the final scene with Ripley fixing to jetison the fucker, she's nervously singing the lyrics of YOU ARE MY LUCKY STAR implying she's seen SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. Given how your view is that film is not going to last forever (certainly not THAT long), you think that kind of shows Ridley Scott as one of the romantics that believe film is forever... or did they just fuck up?

2. Did the director of SINGIN IN THE RAIN really say he had Cyd's crotch licked? (in reference to her pubic hair was showing through her costume and they had to fix it)

3. Have you ever sat down and tried to memorize Howard Beale's rants from NETWORK? My brother in law works for a news station, I think its interesting that a movie like this exists, but in the newsroom they have up a poster of Will Ferrill's ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY.

This is your rant, I don't think you're really asking any questions. The directors of "Singin' in the Rain" were Gene Kelly and Stanley Donnen, and if Cyd Charisse's pubic hair showed through her costume, I'm sure they just
had it fixed, who knows what they said, and does it matter? No, I haven't memorized the dialog from "Network."

Josh

Name: Kirby Wrightson
E-mail: k_wrightson@hotmail.com

Hi Josh

Can genre films be successful if they do not have a theme or message? Say, if a comedy without a theme is really funny, do you think it can be viewed as successful? Same goes for a theme-less horror film that is actually scary; you get the idea. I'd appreciate your insight on this. Also, what did you think of 'Affliction'?

If a comedy is funny or a horror film is scary, then on a basic level, that's all it needs to do. Let's leave comedy aside for a moment. When you say "actually scary," do you mean it's full of fake scares where someone jumps out of the dark and makes a loud noise, or you turn a corner and monster is standing there, or is is REALLY scary, where it gives you nightmares, which is entirely different. To get to the deeper level you undoubtedly need a theme. Any idiot director can do fake scares. A comedy, if it's funny, needs nothing else. If a comedy is funny, it's successful.

Josh

Name: Jeremy Pinkham
E-mail: forms@serapion.com

Dear Josh:

It occurred to me last night that your "Ask the Director" Q&A is sort of an idealized version of the party line Hank calls into for companionship in "Lunatics." Only in this party line, everyone's calling in to talk about your life and your favorite subjects (making movies, the collapse of popular culture, classic films, etc). A sort of social funnel which still retains some of the cool remove of the anonymous party line, as the subjects discussed are rarely going to surprise -- you are the storyteller/answer man whose job is to reveal rather than to discover revelations. It's not a voyeuristic filter to provide observations about the outside world and people who write in, but rather a filter to provide comforting reassurance that the outside world does care about what you're doing on a daily basis and that the solitary work is not a waste of time.

It, most likely unintentionally,also plays into the wannabe filmmaker/cult film geek desire to identify/live vicariously through the story of the young filmmaking mafia you grew up in. The Shemp Geek gets the chance to write in and attempt to prod you to say something catty about Sam or Rob or Scott, and gets the vicarious thrill of feeling if he is somehow part of that exciting story of having creative friends who actually got things done, rather than the usual case of sitting around dreaming about it and ending up working boring day jobs. Most of us sat around watching the "Evil Dead" rather than making something like it, but the way the story of its making has been told we all probably feel like we could have done it, even though we probably couldn't, because we wouldn't have wanted to suffer for it. There's probably a perverse desire in a lot of the Dead fans, a voyeuristic wish to be personal friends with Bruce Campbell, making goofy student movies in an eternal creative youth without studio pressure -- a fantasy of unlimited creative freedom and potential for us wannabes.

As Bruce pointed out recently when confronted with our "making goofy student movies in an eternal creative youth without studio pressure," or something like it, was that we all never stopped arguing, and we took our "goofy student movies" VERY seriously. This Q&A is certainly my contact to the outside world, since I don't attend conventions, or any fan-oriented things. I would like to believe that I'm doing something of a community service, but perhaps it's all just for me.

Josh

Name: Mike
E-mail: Trogdor7899@gmail.com

Dear Josh:

Shit. Sorry for the double post, but I forget to ask something that's been on my mind lately. Writing screenplays can be pretty tricky if you're starting out fresh (like me), but I found a program that seems pretty convenient. It's called "Final Draft 7" and it basically helps you with many of the directions in a script, be it for stage, TV, or film.

It's $300 buckeroos which is out of my price range since I'm a poor SOB, but there's a demo version you can download.

It even has some demo's of TV shows like "Bernie Mac" or "Frasier".> Pretty cool.

Do you use any programs like "Final Draft 7" when writing? Or are you into writing freehand, avoiding all this technotrash that we call Modern Times?

I take all of my notes by hand, and make outlines by hand, but when I'm actually typing a script I just do it. There are only five tab stops, and you rarely use the fifth one. It's a very simple form to just write in, much easier than straight prose because there are so few characters per page. I don't see how software can legitimately help at all.

Josh

Name: Mike
E-mail: Trogdor7899@gmail.com

Hey Josh,

I was writing some shit that I pulled out of my ass for a story (possibly screenplay materail, possibly not) and I realized that when I write, I like to do so with music. In fact, a large chunk of inspiration is derived from music, because I can envision a certain event or dialogue taking place with a specific score or song playing in the background.

Jesus, that got really longwinded. Sorry bout that.

So, my elusive point is this: When you write your scripts(now and in the past) how much of it is written whilst listening to music and what kind of music is it that you'd listen to, if any?

Thanks for your time, Josh. It's appreciated!

I always listen to music, generally classical (which is on now) or jazz. Later in the afternoon I switch to rock & roll to shake things up a bit. If I'm not listening to my own CDs, then I listen to the satellite music channels on the TV which have no annoying DJs.

Josh

Name: Mike
E-mail:

Heya Josh,

I just got my copy of "Hammer" but haven't had time to watch it yet - I'm looking forward to it!

Main reason I'm writing is to wail and moan about Netflix partnering up with Wal-Mart! Jesus Christ! From what I understood the people who run Netflix were pretty left leaning, so I can't figure out why they'd cozy up to the one of the biggest exploitative money makers for the Religious Reich. I guess everyone has their price.

I've been doing some looking for alternate rental places, since I'd rather give my money to child pornographers than Das Waltons. Right now www.cafedvd.com looks very promising. Looks like a really good outfit with very good selection.

I'd really like to encourage anyone currently using Netflix to switch to another company. Supporting Walmart is very literally the same as supporting the homophobic, war mongering, religiously fanatic, and increasingly facist people who are ruining this country.

That's it - just wanted to put the word out and rant a bit.

Carry on!

Mike

Buy one of my tapes and you can promote communism here. I jettisoned Netflix months ago when I got TiVo. Now suddenly there's too much to watch all the time, just because I have the platinum movie package and the TiVo to make use of it. I had to turn off "The Simpsons" because they were building up too fast (I'm trying to re-watch all of the early episodes of "The Simpsons," particularly seasons 3-8, and I'm keeping a list -- no one can say I'm wasting my life). I just watched a cool movie last night, "Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker," a Showtime production from 1996 with Samuel Jackson and Sam Waterston, about the first black cadet at West Point, who makes it through four years without anyone ever speaking to him, then gets the shit seriously beaten out of him right at the end, and is subsequently prosecuted for beating himself up, since no white cadet could even be accused. That's a good story, with top-notch actors. That's what a normal movie should be.

Josh

Name: Phil Mehringer
E-mail: mehringerpa@mfe.usmc

Mr. Becker,

A bonafide U.S. Marine here currently stationed with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe.

I have been to Belleau Wood on several occasions and would love to see your script come alive. Hundreds of Marines stationed in Europe will converge on BW Memorial Day Weekend to remember the battle and provide a proper Memorial Day Ceremony. The battlefield is very much alive.

Any possibilities of bringing your script alive???

If you ever do, there is a local French citizen in the area of BW who has been studying this battle for more than 30 years and could provide you additional details -- he's French -- the battle of BW is his passion.

Good Luck,
S/F,
Phil

Master Sergeant Phil Mehringer
Public Affairs Chief, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe
(49) 170 912 4520

Did you like the script? Did it convey the right feeling? I'm not a Marine, nor was I ever in the armed forces, but I wanted to get across that what these Marines did was very important, whether they knew it or not. So, I was attempting to tread a very fine line because the story is neither anti-war nor pro-war, it's simply trying to say, "this really happened and it was important." I was also trying to get across the feeling of loss when you lose your buddies. I'm a big fan of good war movies, but I don't feel we've had one in a long time (for me the last one was "Platoon" in 1986). For the rest of you out there, June 6th is not only the date of the Normandy Invasion, but 26 years earlier it was the date of the Battle of Belleau Wood in France (Eisenhower was well aware of this when he finally set the date for Normandy at June 6). Anyway, sadly, there's no immediate plans to make that film.

Josh

Name: Jeremy Pinkham
E-mail: forms@serapion.com

Dear Josh:

Any thoughts on how the three-act storytelling structure does or does not apply to documentary filmmaking? Is it useful, necessary, optional, or irrelevant to nonfiction storytelling?

Generally, I'd say the three-act structure comes into play in all stories, whether it's true or it's fiction. If your documentary is any good it's telling a story, and stories naturally want to fall into three acts. Of course, this isn't always true, just generally. For instance, the two most recent documentaries I've seen, "Whole" and "The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam," the former isn't in three acts, but I'd say the latter is. Here's the difference: in "Whole" a variety of people are being interviewed, and you sort of get each person's story when you meet them, then you cut back to them to comment on the issue (self-amputation); whereas, "Long Tack Sam" is the story of one man's life, which unfolds chronologically over the course of the film, and a whole life will naturally split itself up into three acts: youth, adulthood, old age. If a screenwriter isn't thinking about how acts one and two end almost all the time, they don't know what they're doing.

Josh

Name: Steve
E-mail: mowamba22@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

I am a huge fan of yours. I think you are a great director.I loved Alien Apocalypse, Running Time, and Stryker's War. I am also a huge fan of the Evil Dead series and thought you were great as a Fake Shemp in Evil Dead 2,and Army of Darkness. I was wondering if there was any was I could get a signed pic from you?
Thanks for your Time and All the great movies
Thanks
Steve
P.S
Do you plan to release
Alien Apocalypse on Dvd
I loved It!

Thanks. Yes, "AA" will be out on DVD pretty soon. I'm going to LA to do the commentary with Bruce Campbell in two weeks. That was a helluva performance I gave as a knight in ED2. All I can say is that was the hottest I've ever been in my life -- full body armor, on top of a black thermal underwear union suit, in a gravel pit in North Carolina in the summer. After the first utterly miserable day, Rob Tapert, the producer, said to me, "Tomorrow will be a lot better." I grimaced and asked, "Why would tomorrow be any better than today?" Rob grinned, "Because you'll know what you're in for," and he was right.

Josh

Name: Jonathan Moody
E-mail: jondoe_555@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

It's cool. I'm sure I can get an autograph someday. Anyway, just thought I'd ask how things are going on the writing front. I know you say you write everyday in someway but how are scripts coming along? And about being a good director I'd have to chime in and say to be a good director you should know how to pull it off both visually and have a keen ear for dialogue. Because just doing one or the other is usually bad. I mean if you're just making a movie with dialogue and no good visual style you're basically making a play. And if you don't have any good dialogue in your movie (and it's not silent) it might be not be that believeable. Well, can't wait to check out If I had a hammer. It'll probably be here in the next few days. Have a good one!

Your fan,
Jonathan

Media Mail can take 2 days or 2 weeks, you never know. Meanwhile, how do you develop a good ear for dialog? That's got to come from watching many other films, and reading, and developing a sense of taste. What made William Wyler so good, as per his good buddy John Huston, is that Wyler had better taste than anyone else. Being foreign, and not terribly articulate, he couldn't really state what he was after, but he knew it when he saw it (and heard it), and was willing to stay there until it happened. And he was almost always right. After 45 takes on "Jezebel," Henry Fonda broke down and said, "I've done it loud, I've done it quiet, hard, soft, smoking, standing, sitting, what's the problem?" Wyler said, "It stinks, do it again." Anyway, I'm not in Wyler's league, but I hope you enjoy "Hammer."

Josh

Name: Cynthia E. Jones
E-mail: cynthia@cynthiaejones.com

Dear Josh,

I just watched "Carnal Knowledge" for the first time. Why I waited this long to see it--I'm not sure. Something about the fact that it was pan & scan long ago on VHS. But my god. I was expecting some sort of sex comedy or something, I've purposely avoided any description of the film, knowing that I would want to see it someday. I thought it was like some sort of love triangle story or something. But my God, it was so much more. And so wonderfully and disturbingly acted! And, man. Just great. No extras on the disc, but you don't need 'em. That last scene with Rita Moreno was just about the saddest thing I've ever seen.

I think I'm glad I didn't see it when I was younger. I hadn't gotten as cynical about men and dating and marriage and all that crap. Now, I recognize quite a few people I know in these characters, in these lives. I love how films are always relating to life experience or lack thereof. Fuckin' great. I still don't want to see "Closer," though.

Take care,

Cindy

"Closer" isn't in the same league as "Carnal Knowledge." I love when Jack Nicholson is showing Art Garfunkel and Carol Kane (her first film) his slide show, "Ball-Busters on Parade," and saying things like, "Now this fuckin' cunt was a REAL ball-buster," then mistakenly shows Candice Bergen and has to quickly go past her. The film has terrific-looking photography by the great Guiseppe Rotunno. Another film that's definitely worth checking out, also written by Jules Feiffer at about the same time, is "Little Murders" with Elliot Gould, directed by Alan Arkin (and shot by Gordon Willis). Other than the costumes, it certainly doesn't seem like it was made 35 years ago.

Josh

Name: Craig
E-mail: Craigg@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

Why are you so bitter about people from your past who have made it and also just about every movie you talk about on this site, which is "garbage?" But more importantly, why are you so bitter about old friends who have made it?

What are you talking about? I'm not bitter about anything.

Josh

Name: Scott
E-mail: sspnyc@mac.com

Josh,

I made a mistake on the Q&A with Walter Murch, it wasn't last week, it was last evening and I attended and asked him the question about the end of "The Conversation". I asked him "Is the bug actually the phone itself, and is the last shot supposed to be emulating a security camera?"

With regards to the phone actually being the bug, He said "I really don't know the answer to that and there really isn't one, but that is certainly a possibility". He said Coppola wanted to let the audience decide for themselves so there is no real answer.

As for the final shot he had this to say; "The final panning shot is indeed supposed to be the point of view of what the audience would perceive to be a surveillance camera, but there is more to it than that.

It is also supposed to let us know that Caul's secret little world has been cracked open and he is just as vulnerable now as anyone of us, and it also represents Caul finally opening himself up to the guilt he has had in him for so long with regards to his work being responsible for the deaths of two people. The final shot is a wide shot and this is supposed to give the impression of the wider world outside of Caul's own world as he has nothing left to do, but play his sax."

The next answer is to Bruce Schermer. First, glad to here you are ok after your run in with a 9mm. I have to say that I have lived in NYC for 6 years now and I have never once had anything like that happen to me.

I personally believe that Los Angeles is the most dangerous big city in the United States. Every time I go there you can always feel this underlying repression amidst all the superficial cool attitudes. It is certainly by far one of the most segregated big cities in the US.

As far as who I am, well as I mentioned before, I had worked with you twice, the first time was on "Murder too Sweet" out at Cranbrook in 1991. It was an NYU thesis film.

Now I remember the second time. We both were hired to shoot this Screenwriting seminar at a hotel in Bloomfield, Michigan. It was a really boring job, and a money job for the both of us.

I can't remember the woman's name who did the seminar, but her biggest claim to fame was that she co-wrote 'Youngblood" the really bad Rob Lowe hockey movie from the 80's. She moved back to Michigan to get away from L.A. for a while and she was doing work for Sue Marks while she lived there.

As for me, I have been an editor now for about ten years and I still shoot once in a while, and it is something that I want to get back into again.

Anyhow, I can remember we talked about you moving to L.A. and I had done some camera assisting work for Dan on a few music videos.

It's too bad about Dan suffering in the Detroit area. Actually, the film market in Detroit really started dying when I graduated from college in 1990.

I had a friend who worked at Victor Duncan and I interned there. When they were purchased by Panavision in 1995 or 1996, he lost his job and moved to L.A. and did some work at special Effects house. He hated L.A. and he was making peanuts, so Panavision offered him a job in Chicago. Now he lives in North Carolina, does 3D animation and is doing well.

As far as labs go in Detroit, there were only two for a long time anyhow. Filmcraft and Producers Color labs. I don't think Detroit needed more than two, L.A. has Deluxe and Technicolor, and NYC has Duart and Technicolor, so Detroit losing one lab was not really earth shattering, since it is a smaller market.

Filmcraft was purchased by Grace and Wild and they still ran the lab for a while, but not anymore.

Anyhow, I hope you are having fun in California. I have enjoyed living in NYC and I am glad I moved here even if there is more work in L.A.. To me, L.A. has no soul. Stay away from the crazies!

Scott

You and Bruce will have to just get into contact. There were in fact three labs in Detroit, in its heyday: Producers Color Service, Filmcraft, and Allied. Filmcraft is still there, BTW. I'm glad you asked Walter Murch those questions, and at least the second one seems to have brought forth a good response, so that's nice.

Josh

Name: Jeremy Pinkham
E-mail: forms@serapion.com

Dear Josh:

I read "Tumithak of the Corridors" last night, after reading your tip that "Cleopatra 2525" was an inferior knockoff (as the "Cleopatra" theme song was an inferior version of the Zager & Evans "In the Year 2525"). It struck me that you took something from this tale yourself! The main theme of Tumithak is pretty much identical to that of "Alien Apocalypse:" one man's quest to prove that oppressors who seem unconquerable can be killed. That said, adapting an abstract theme is a much nobler enterprise than copying a particular vision of a dystopian underground society. I suppose Romero admitted copying "Night of the Living Dead" from Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" and both are worth pursuing, but then again he didn't turn the protagonist of "I Am Legend" into three bikini-clad supermodels.

Indeed. And you're right, I guess that's where I got that concept. I think "Night of the Living Dead" owes even more to the 1964 film version of "I Am Legend," "The Last Man on Earth," except Romero's film is better. I personally would take "Omega Man."

Josh

Name: Jeremy Pinkham
E-mail: forms@serapion.com

Dear Josh:

I expect based on everything you've posted on this site you'll disagree with this rather strongly, Josh, but don't you think that in the end judgements of aesthetic quality are fairly subjective, and based on psychological factors that are at least somewhat outside of rational analysis?

For instance, you've stated a few times on this site that you find Harlan Ellison's writing to be excellent. It seems to me that this is probably because you read him at a certain time in your life where he made a nostalgiac impression, where he stood for a certain kind of proud intellectual machoism, a Norman Mailer type of no-BS sci-fi. He had a type of confident swagger and appealed to my inner asshole who thought he was smarter than everyone else. I enjoy listening to Alan Parsons Project albums for similar reasons -- there was a certain period in my youth where they represented a certain kind of comfortable pseudo-intellectualism to me and if I put on one of those old records it's like a comfort blanket. But I don't get upset at other people for not liking them... I recognize the cheeziness.

I don't know what I'm getting at. Just that perhaps a film like "American Beauty" can appeal to people on a level outside of pure craft. Maybe a lot of people related to the idea of wanting to drop out of society and get it on with cheerleaders, to tell society to go screw itself. And so to those people it came across as a good film. Same with "The Matrix," another film that basically appealed to the common man's desire to own machine guns and use them at will on "The Man" who makes them go to work each day.

I left the theater thinking "The Saint" with Val Kilmer was an excellent movie, but in retrospect that was only because I was holding hands with a pretty girl while watching it. Maybe there's more to people's enjoyment of poorly written, crappy Hollywood movies than the objective quality of the script.

Clearly, people like to watch movies, good, bad or indifferent. And all opinions are completely subjective, that's what makes them opinions. But opinions can be based on knowledge, as opposed to pure emotion. Pauline Kael's opinion was much more intelligent and insightful than any other film critic because she'd seen more movies and was just smarter than the others. I enjoyed "Plan 9 From Outer Space" while knowing it was an incredible piece of shit. But what the "average" person likes is of no interest to me; that's common denominator, and is basically aiming for the bottom. As a professional screenwriter, as well as a major movie fan, I know when I'm watching a film based on a decent screenplay or not, and bad writing annoys the piss out of me. "American Beauty" is not a good script, even if it has some amusing moments (and won an Oscar). To say that people liked it really means nothing. People like McDonald's hamburgers, but that doesn't make them good. So, you can base your opinions on what mood you're in at the time, or if you like your companion; or you can base them on knowledge and previous experience. It's all how you want to go at it. But to say that all opinions are equal is just not true, anymore than saying all people are equal. There are clearly smarter and dumber people, and there are smarter and dumber opinions, too.

Josh

Name: rogerdodger
E-mail: rogerdoger@aol.com

Dearest Josh,

Saw Running Time again last night...great work, BTW! Did you rehearse the scenes before you filmed them? Do you believe in rehearsal? And, how did you keep the handheld shots from making the viewer ill? In Woody Allen's film, Husbands and Wives I believe, the camera seemed obtrusive and actually made me sick because of all the shaking.

Thanks,
Roger

P.S. Oh yeah, what type of software do you use to storyboard your shots?

Two-thirds of the film was shot with the Steadi-cam, which takes the bumpiness out of it. Act II, the heist, is all hand-held, but on a slightly wide lens which removes some of the shake. I despise films that are entirely hand-held, and worse still, with a long lens, which increases the shakiness, like say "Traffic." Regarding software for storyboards, I use a pen and lined paper. I created the 2.35:1 frame outlines by tracing a matchbook.

Josh

Name: Bruce
E-mail:

Josh,

What qualities make a good director?

Best,
Bruce

A good director knows what they're after, and knows how to get it. A big part, I think, is communicating with the actors and the department heads, and getting them to see your vision. Also, a good director must have taste to know what actually is good and what's bad. Taste comes from knowing as much as possible, having watched a lot of movies, particularly the excellent ones, and having read a lot.

Josh

Name: kdn
E-mail: jericho_legends

<<Sorry to hear about "The Magnificent Ambersons." Apparently, it's STILL not out on DVD, or am I wrong?>>

Oh dude, they're going to be playing it at the Paramount Theater in my town in a couple of weeks with Citizen Kane. sweet. I just went to see Ingmar Bergman's THE MAGICIAN (and the last hour of THE MAGIC FLUTE, I didn't realize it was a double feature). If I'm lucky, I'll get paid in time to buy a bunch of cheap tickets for their summer classic movie fest, they're going to show 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in 70mm and I can see ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, SINGING IN THE RAIN, the original SCARFACE, ALL ABOUT EVE, SUNSET BLVD, DR STRANGELOVE, and so forth on the big screen in a bunch of double features. It's going to start with TOP HAT for 50 cents and end with GONE WITH THE WIND. So my summer's pretty fuckin set. Don't you just love the little shots in movies? I was watching Robin Hood and I like the little shot where Robin is keeping his threat going around shooting all of the guards with just an arrow coming off screen, and one of the guards is going to rape this girl, and he gets and arrow in the back and puts out the candle that makes the room go dark, and then lightning flashes.
I'm not so sure if I liked THE MAGICIAN more or less than THE SEVENTH SEAL, that was certainly a good trick where you think Dr Vogler is getting dissected on the table, and because of the witch grandmother seeing ghosts, you forget about the OTHER dead body, so when Vogler starts appearing in mirrors you really think he's a ghost until his wife pops through the door and stops the murder. If I'm lucky, I'll get paid in time to see SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT and WILD STRAWBERRIES, unfortunately, I didn't find out about the Bergman double features till the near end so I missed CRIES AND WHISPERS and AUTUMN SONATA but I'll get those on dvd eventually.

You've got a bunch of good films to see. Is it the old "Scarface" or the new one? I much prefer the Hawks version, which I just watched again recently and liked even more. Have fun.

Josh

Name: Richard
E-mail: filmfan_1@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

"You need to listen to U2's album "The Joshua Tree," it's one the best albums ever. The record before this new one, "All the Things You Can't Leave Behind," is darn good, too. When U2 works with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois good shit happens."

Good on ya, Josh! I definitely applaud (and agree) with your opinion on U2's recent releases. They have always been a band that didn't rest on popularity alone. I think Bono's writing has only improved as he's gotten older. There's a similar resonance to the new album "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" that was there with Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby as well. Lyrics like "Freedom has a scent, like the top of a newborn baby's head" are just profound little tidbits that comes with the band's maturity (and our own political climate of course.)

"How To Dismantle the Atomic Bomb," which was not produced by Lanois and Eno (one cut was), is one of their lesser albums, in my humble opinion. I think U2 simply won't put themselves through the pain and misery every album that Eno and Lanois demand, so they work with someone like Steve Lillywhite, who is really an engineer and hasn't got the gravitas to make them go back and rewrite their songs. Still, U2 is one of the best bands around.

Josh

Name: Jonathan Moody
E-mail: jondoe_555@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

Before you send the tape out are you able to sign something with it as well? It'd be cool to have your autograph too. I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Is there a release date for the Alien Apocalypse DVD yet?

Your fan,
Jonathan

Oh, man! I sent the tape an hour ago, and I would have been happy to sign it, but alas, I did not. Sorry.

Josh

Name: Alicia
E-mail: Alikat2@Juno.com

Dear Josh:

What would you do if $5,000,000 suddenly fell into your lap? Would you make a film, two films, three films, maybe more? Would you travel the world? What? What dear boy?!

I would just hope that it wasn't in gold bars and didn't fall too far 'cause that might hurt. I'd blow it all having Bruce Springsteen play my birthday party.

Josh

Name: keith
E-mail: freakaman24@aol.com

Dear Josh:

actually- shelly winters was the first to win 2 best supporting actress awards dianne weidt also won 2 as well

I have no idea what you are referring to. Did I say otherwise? And Walter Brennan won 3 Best Supporting Actor Oscars. You mean Dianne Wiest, I'm sure.

Josh

Name: Andrew
E-mail: Andrewindetroit@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

I greatly respect Carl Foreman and think his High Noon, Champion and Bridge on the River Kawi are the amoung the greatest screenplays/films of all time. However, I think Robert Rossen's THE HUSTLER is the best screenplay ever written with Wilder's SOME LIKE IT HOT and Houston's TREASURE OF SIRREA MADRE coming in second and third.

THE HUSTLER is plot and character driven. And Oh, what characters! And the screenplay IS better than the book which is great.

Act One. Fast Eddie wants to beat Minnesota Fats in a game of pool... wants Fats to hand over the mantel of world's greatest pool player to him. Eddie could have done so but didn't have the character to beat a man like Fats.

Act Two. Eddie learns "character" dealing with Bert and Sarah (brilliant performed by Piper Laurie but it was a role Marlyn Monroe was born to play.) Bert.Sarah sacrifices herself in an attempt to free Eddie from Bert.

Act Three. Eddie beats Fats so badly Fats "quits" in effect proclaiming Eddie the best. Eddie, out of respect for the memory of Sarah, shakes himself free of Bert.

I do agree 10,000% on what you state about structure in the NEED FOR STRUCTURE PART 1. If it takes 8-10 years to become a doctor or lawyer why do some think they can write a GOOD screenplay over the Easter weekend? It's a profession and it's going to take a similar amount of time to STUDY and LEARN and BE ABLE TO APPLY the craft of screenwriting.

Your example with the joke was PERFECT. There's one about a screenwriter at a party wherein a doctor converses with him and says "I was thinking of writing a script over the weekend." The seasoned screenwriter replies "What a coincidence. I was thinking of performing brain surgey this weekend."

I'm not quite sure why everyone is so desperate to put things in order, with lists of bests and worsts. Certainly, all the screenplays you've mentioned are great ones, but are they the #1, #2, and #3 "best" scripts ever written? I personally think that the screenplay for "The Apartment" is a LOT better than "Some Like It Hot," but that's just me (as well as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, of course). But structure can be a beautiful thing if you can figure out how to use it.

Josh

Name: Jeremy Pinkham
E-mail: forms@serapion.com

Dear Josh:

Don't know if this is already common knowledge, but it was suprising to me: the season 1 Hercules 7-DVD boxed set is $14.95 at Amazon. This set includes all of the Hercules movies, including your "Maze of the Minotaur." At my local Borders, this set was priced $60. Don't know what's up with this, but I just got mine in the mail, so it is a legit offer.

Cool! I just went to Amazon and bought one.This is the first I've heard of it.

Josh

Name: Bob
E-mail:

Josh,

I just had to chime in again. The government is saying the economy is off, WalMart's stock price is down. So what, are we supposed to feel sorry for WalMart now. They put all the historic chains of America out of business, including Woolworth and we are supposed to care? I mean, the way it is now when you are looking for something, the choices you have now are the WalMart in your town, or the WalMart up the street or the WalMart down the street. They all have the same junk. In the old days, you had Woolworth, Grant's, Zayre's, Almy's, GEM. They all sold cheap stuff, but it was different stuff. Sometimes, you could find something at one and not the other. Every WalMart has the same stuff. Thank God we still have K-Mart, although the government has its sights on that too. One of K-Mart's only profitible lines is Martha Stewart, I think part of the reason, they put her in jail was to destroy that line and destroy K-Mart to pave the way for WalMart. But it didn't work, he he. What the hell kind of a government do we have anyway?

As H. L. Mencken said, "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." Walmart is the biggest retailer of Chinese goods in the world, and many products in China are made by slave labor, and who can compete with that? I just saw a report on slave labor in China and there are at least 300,000 slave laborers, who are mostly poilitical prisoners. China is our biggest trading partner, but we won't do business with Cuba? Oh, man, it all gives me a headache.

Josh

Name: Bob
E-mail:

Josh,

You mentioned some CDs that you had recently purchased. Are you a Mark Knopfler fan? If so, you must be a Dire Straits fan. I am a pretty big Dire Straits and MK fan myself, although, I regret I have never seen a live show. I think Dire Straits reached its peak with Brothers in Arms and On Every Street. The first MK solo Golden Heart was good, but he started to fade after that. What I am getting to, is that I didn't even buy the last MK solo, because I heard it playing in the record store and it sounded like the last one, which I thought was, well kinda mediocre.

I was never much of a U2 fan, so I wouldn't buy any recent release of theirs. My recommendations for the best recent releases would be 1.) Counting Crows-Films about Ghosts, which is a best of collection, but lots of good songs, and 2.) The Essential Bangles. By the way are you a Jethro Tull fan?

The guy that wants to buy Running Time and donate it to the video store, I would suggest he see if he could donate it to his Public Library to include in their collection, but they usually like to go through the bureaucratic process for that type of thing, so he may not be successful.

Michael, the guy who already bougt a copy of "Hammer" (thanks, Michael, it's coming to a mailbox near you very soon), is donating to a store that has all the rest of my films, or my entire ouvre, if you will. It will complete their collection, until "Alien Apocalypse" comes out, that is. Yes, I'm really a Dire Staits fan, and Knopfler's solo stuff is sort of like half-assed Dire Straits. "Brothers in Arms" was definitely the pinnacle of that band, although I like every one of their records. "Love Over Gold" is a GREAT album (I live right off Telegraph Road now, and I grew up right off Telegraph Road, too). You need to listen to U2's album "The Joshua Tree," it's one the best albums ever. The record before this new one, "All the Things You Can't Leave Behind," is darn good, too. When U2 works with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois good shit happens.

Josh

Name: Stacey
E-mail: staci_3088@hotmail.com

Yo josh,

I'll make it quick, what would be the best route to get a movie idea into production? Producer, director or writer? Bear in mind, i've tried script writing and i couldn't do it sucessfully to save my life, so even though i've heard the best way is to write a great script, it just ain't gonna happen. But this movie idea has been driving me up the wall, and if i don't do something about it i'll...well that's yet to be decided. Problem i have is, making contact with people, i live in Australia with practically no money and no association with the film biz, but in your opinion do you have to 'know' people in the right places to get heard? Or have you never had that problem?

BTW, love your work, my dream is to be a director, my brother and myself dabble in making stupid short films etc as a hobbie, but we are limited in so many areas to make them any good.

I'm from Detroit (and still live here), and it's is nowhere near Hollywood. Your fellow Ozzie, George Miller, made "Mad Max" very cheaply, edited the film on his kitchen table, and impressed the hell out of the whole world, as well as launching Mel Gibson's career. If you want it bad enough, you'll do it. And don't throw in the towel so quickly on screenwriting, particularly if you think you've got an idea that's driving you up the wall. Clearly, you have a grasp of the English language, and you expressed your thoughts and feelings to me. Pretend like you're writing me or your friend an email and spit this idea out in any form it comes out. It doesn't necessarily have to look like a screenplay to function as one. Sam Raimi literally wrote "Evil Dead" on napkins and scraps of paper, and when his good buddy Bruce Campbell typed it all up it came out to about 35-pages, which no one thought would make a feature film. Guess what? We were all wrong, and Sam's a big-shot director now. So, go for it. Seriously, what have you got to lose? And what would you do instead? Move to Kangaroo Island and live with the 'roos? Good luck.

Josh

Name: kdn
E-mail: jericho_legends

<<I thought "Running Time" was kind of a cheap noir picture, although it does take place during the day. But it is in black and white.>>

I like Running Time, although it kind of disturbs me that Bruce Campbell looks like he's near 40 and he's still talking about high school (and he was only in prison for 5 years), it was a really cool experiment. I thought the original EVIL DEAD was inspirational and ARMY OF DARKNESS got me into Sam Raimi for a while. Hope the quest for HORRIBLENESS is going well. I got screwed on the MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, the vcr started recording and hour into the movie.

What's your favorite movie marathon you've sat through?

I don't think movie marathons are a good idea; I think each movie should hopefully be a complete, individual experience. However, as a youth I did sit through the 54-hour Musical Marathon at Filmex in LA in 1977, with the aid of diet pills and pot, and by the end I was hallucinating and had a headache for three days. Sorry to hear about "The Magnificent Ambersons." Apparently, it's STILL not out on DVD, or am I wrong?

Josh

Name: Jonathan Moody
E-mail: jondoe_555@yahoo.com

Dear Josh:

I just ordered "If I had a hammer" so I guess I'm only patronizing you in two ways. Haha. Yeah, I can't wait to see it. Is it in widescreen at all? Hope that this can come out on DVD at some point. How come Anchor Bay won't release it? Well I'll let you know what I think of it when I get it. Have a good one and keep up the great work.

Your fan,
Jonathan

I was out of town for the past four days, but I'll get the tape out in the next day or two. Yes, "If I Had a Hammer" is letterboxed in 1.85:1, which is how it was shot. Meanwhile, I was hoping Anchor Bay would release "Hammer," but they didn't.

Josh

Name: JC
E-mail: joecap74@optonline.net

Hey Josh,

I was surprised to see the top film last week was house of wax, which, judging by reviews is no important piece of work. Worse its a remake, rehash, re-whatever.

Then I thought thats it. Films have gotten dumber not because we dont have good filmmakers but because the audience for films has gotten less mature.

It used to be that films were made for adults, or with adults in mind, by adults. I wonder if a film like chinatown would pull an audience if it opened tomorrow. Now films are made for 13 year olds who are taking a brake at the mall from shopping. Somewhere along the line the studios figured out that parents no longer spend money on films but their mallrat kids do. To that end, we get house of wax as the number one film in america.

Kind of sad.

Do keep in mind that, for the most part, Hollywood buys that opening weekend. If you put $20-50 million into the advertising, you had better take your opening weekend. But if it costs $30 million to gross $30 million, you're losing money because the theaters do take their cut, so that's not a great deal, and it says very little other than "advertising works," which we all know. I completely believe that if you make something good for adults, they'll come out and see it, but it's much more difficult to do than making a piece of shit for the kids, then simply advertising the hell out of it. The real arbiter, BTW, is not the opening weekend, but the second and third weekends, which tell you if the film has any "legs" and can do anything beyond it's ad campaign.

Josh

Name: Duffy
E-mail: g_duffy@bellsouth.net

Josh,

I just finished my first script thanks to the kick in the pants I got from you. You got my attention real good when you said life is not a dress rehearsal. I appreciate the nudge and have just one more question for you. As a director reading a script do you prefer action blocks containing fighting to be brief and let the fight choreographer and director storyboard it or do I need to put in all the detailed action myself. Briefly it gets the point across and isn't vague but I wonder if there should be more. Problem is it makes a script much longer that way. Thanks for your help.

Good question. I'd say don't put in all the details of a fight scene, it's exceptionally dull reading. Get the basic idea across, then let the director and fight choreographer work out the details. Big blocks of action are difficult to read. In my seven-minute bar fight in "Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur" I didn't follow anything written in the script pertaining to the fight. After shooting each section of the fight I'd sit back down next to the script supervisor, who kept whiting-out one line of script after another and she finally just tore the entire whited-out page out of the script, crumpled it up and threw it away, saying, "I guess I can just start with a blank page and write in what's actually happening." I worked every aspect of the fight scene with Peter Bell, the stunt director, and we paid no attention to script at all.

Josh

Name: Jim
E-mail: jeaganfilm@aol.com

Dear Josh:

those 48 hour film games really piss me off. It's some wannabe assholes running around with video cameras trying and failing to make something worth watching. I've seen a bunch of those movies and they're completely awful. Most people can barely make a good movie after years of effort and piles of money and talent. It's like someone creating a "24 Hour Great American Novel" contest. Why bother? I think maybe I actually LIKE movies too much to want to be involved in something that will automatically result in something so poor. Maybe I'm just too sensitive, but I find the whole thing very demeaning for not only the participants but also the artform.

Jim

I heartily agree. Nothing good will ever come out of that sort of game, which is what it really is. Making a decent film is a LOT of hard work, and most of it goes into prep and pre-production, so to dismiss that part of the process is to not understand how films are made. Even a Xena ep (or any one-hour TV show) had two to three weeks of prep, and it was totally necessary. Good films cannot be made in 48 hours. End of story.

Josh

Name: MIchael Cory Davis
E-mail: mail@michaelcorydavis.com

Dear Josh:

Hey, first of all, there are but 5 black folks in Minnesota:) and why didn't you ever pass the dutchie on the left hand side in Bulgaria? I am in L.A right now anxious to get back to the sights and smells of Sofia. I just checked out ur sight and stories. Funny stuff. You have a career in stand-up if directing eats the crapper.. but, with the ratings Alien brought in for Sci-fi, I doubt that'll be happening anytime soon. Hope u r well.

Sorry if I embarrassed you with that story, but I thought it was funny (being a half-assed stand-up comic and all). You did a great job in the film, and I thank you very much. Sorry your character lost his head so soon into the film. All the very best to you.

Josh

Name: Martyn Perry
E-mail: Evileyeperry@hotmail.com

Dear Josh:

Hey there Josh, as ever your honest answer to the evil dead question is to be admired but i would like to elaborate on that theme if you don't mind. I seem to remember (apart from the social aspect) that one of the main aspects that annoyed you during the filming of evil dead 1 was Sam's reluctance to film a master take of a scene. When you turned up for evil dead 2 (in your suit of armour) did you pick up on whether Sam had learnt how much easier a master take is to draw from if needs be in editing or was it still the old "one day = one shot" routine that so annoyed you first time around? A lot has been said about your thoughts from the first evil dead shoot and i just wondered what your impressions were when you visited the "set" of the second evil dead, i consider you to be the master of the master take (running time) so i hope Sam has realised your point of view by now! regards as always, martyn

Sam has his own style and it rarely included master shots. I think he may do them now, but I don't know. Nevertheless, even without master shots, by the time he got to ED2 he had his shit wired, and has had it completely together ever since. Keep in mind that "Crimewave" came between ED and ED2, and that was one of the big disasters of a film shoot that ever occurred. I quit that film after four days. Bruce has said it just felt like the ED shoot continuing. So when that film didn't even get released, Sam changed his worldview entirely, although it still didn't seem to include master shots, but that's how he works. He's got a great sense of montage, and has always had it even in the super-8s.

Josh

Name: Bruce Schermer
E-mail: bsure@juno.com

Hi again Josh,

I just got up after a being almost robbed at gunpoint last night. Black guy pulled up to me just as I was going to take the stairway to my apartment. Never got out of his car but pulled a Glock 9mm out and asked for my money. I thought "you know, I'm not going to get any closer to a man with a gun" and said "Fuck you" and ran away. He drove off. I supposed the "fuck you" wasn't necessary but it felt good at the time. An exciting 15 seconds. I called the cops and got involved. I didn't want to end up like Peter Parker, feeling guilty, if the guy killed someone later. Sounds like an opening for a film. Maybe I'll call it "Crash". Anyway I understand any objection to "Fightclub". If you take it as a straight narrative. I saw it as a Kubrikian black comedy. A movie like "Clockwork Orange" or "Doctor Stranglove" where the characters are very involved in their own world and,in this case, think that extreme fighting is going to is going to solve their manhood problems. Like Gen. Ripper thinks that atomic war with the "Russkies" will solve his similiar problems or Alex gets a rush from "Ultra Violence." You're not supposed to take it to seriously on any level. The fighting does throw the pic off a bit. But Kubrik had similar problems with "CO" with his fights. Both pics are supposed to horrify with you their violence but they are so beautifully choreographed (whew had to look up the spelling on that last word) that the message gets muddled. Anyway I liked "Fightclub" for those reasons immediately. But I understand the objections. One reviewer, I read, said that they hated the picture until they watched the film with the commentary by actors and director. Then he changed his mind completely. Anyway so what?

To answer "Scott's" question Dan Noga is still in Detroit suffering under the way things are there. He has a wife and two mostly grown kids right now. Things there in the film business disintigrated in the ninties. All the films labs but one closed down and Victor Duncan closed shop. Not good indicators. So Scott who are you really?

That's it.

Sorry to hear about you encounter with potential violence. It's good you ran away. Meanwhile, I think you WAY overestimate David Fincher and "Fight Club" comparing it in any way to Stanley Kubrick. It makes perfect sense regarding the human psyche that young people might get off from "ultra violence," as some people already do. NOBODY wants to lose a fight. You might even kid yourself you do right up to getting hit the very first time, then that plan will go right out the window and you'll fight back (unless the other guy has a gun or a knife). "A Clockwork Orange" is based on a brilliant vision of the future by an extremely bright writer, Anthony Burgess. "Fight Club" is a truly a second-rate screenplay by a screenwriter who had no clue where his story was going, and by act III is drowning in improbabilities and plain stupidity. As I said, Edward Norton beating himself up and throwing himself over cars, which is impossible, is one of the dumbest things I've ever se