Not considering how many awards the film garnered, or how much money it earned, what one film do you wish you had written the screenplay for?
Mine would be "Inception" by Christopher Nolan. It has the combination of a mind-blowing original plotline, lots of intelligent dialogue, a few exciting action sequences, and a fully-telegraphed-yet-still-surprising twist in the end. And yet, its a simple story about love and the sometimes dangerous power of belief. Who would not want to have written that?
So what do you wish you had written?
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Great question! There are so many, but I will answer with “The Gentlemen.” Stylish movie with witty dialogue, I walked out of the theater wishing my name was on the credits.
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I'm in a quandry. Can't decide whether to go with "Ghostbusters" (1984) or "The Big Lebowski". Both are full of such infinitely quotable dialogue, are incredibly funny, and are endlessly re-watchable. How I'd love to write something that people held onto as a favorite their entire lives.
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For me it would have to be Pulp Fiction. Anything Tarantino is always a ton of fun.
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PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.
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LA Confidential
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I'll take a different angle here and go with a script that I wish I had written because maybe I could have made it better: OBSERVE AND REPORT. Love the idea of a dark comedy version of TAXI DRIVER, which is essentially what it is, but somehow the humor just didn't come across for much of the film. Not sure if it's the script, the edit, the studio notes that led to more edits, or what, but I just want to make that movie funnier.
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David. Adding to your angle of what you wish you could have written to make it better, for me it's "Reign of Fire" (2002 feature written by Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka, and Matt Greenberg) which had the potential to be so much more. The first half could be the setup to an amazing limited series, but the 2nd half fell into predictable Hollywood tropes. Someone please adapt this into a limited series!!
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Too many to name. I'm a Sci-Fi fan, so Blade Runner tops my list. Alien, Matrix and then there's The Usual Suspects.
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The Matrix or The Dark Knight
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Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid... I'm a William Goldman fan!
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"Big Fish." One reason is it's one of my favorite movies. :D Another reason is the script pulled me in from the get-go. It's a masterpiece. I need to go back and reread it.
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Thanks for the script recommendations, everyone!
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I've been thinking non-stop about various films for 15 minutes since reading this post and gone slightly sideways on it...what would my top 10 films be? Could I get it down to 10? Okay, what's my top 20 then? Would 20 be enough? No, settle for 30 then... maybe.
The very first film that jumped into my mind the moment I read Joseph's post was 'Blue Velvet'. I am a David Lynch fan and my subconscious answered for me.
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I wrote a script in which the premise was that an EMP knocked out all electrical technology on Earth, and not even one year later, all human civilization went back to the dark ages.
Then a Giancarlo Esposito vehicle titled Revolution premiered...
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It's great so many writers have posted. As Maurice stated, this gives me some more screenplays to check out.
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What comes to mind right now, for me, are SeVen, Saving Private Ryan, Zero Dark Thirty and The Fifth Estate. Even the first two Saw movies.
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Gone With the Wind.
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So just to make sure, are you all posting your favorite films, or films that, in an alternate universe, you might have written yourself? For example, "The Player" is one of my favorite movies, but I do not have the insider's knowledge to write something that insightful. It's also not a style of movie I want to write, even though I love rewatching it.
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"Big Fish" is one of my favorite films, Joseph Rhea, but I picked that script as the one I would've written in an alternate universe.
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Judgment at Nuremberg The script was a poli sci prof's dream. It handled both sides of the argument well...I know, who can defend the indefensable? Every line was well thought out, and the facts staggering..like sterilization in VA, USA. Who knew?
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Blade Runner. Pleasantville. 1984. Pulse. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Metropolis. The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.
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Peaky Blinders. Knock at the Cabin. (But plenty more non recent ones.) Farthest back in time Double Indemnity, The third man.
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This is such an interesting question, I've actually never thought of that. I've thought plenty about "I could have written that" in perhaps not the most flattering ways, but never about wishing I had written something.
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Niki, my reason for posting this question was a way to coax writers into describing the type of movie they would love to write if they had the chance. I love the responses so far.
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Another movie is Moonrise Kingdom. So well written...and all of the actos were brilliant. Great writing has that effect. :)
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I would like to write a script for my film.
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Hahaha! I would also choose a Nolan, maybe The Prestige. And also Captain Fantastic, I find the children characters so articulate and beyond their age. I would've love to have written that one
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"The Treasure of Sierra Madres.". Now that is Dialogue1