Favorite Screenwriters?
Someone asked me recently who my favorite screenwriters are and what types of scripts I'd recommend.
Now before you laugh at my recommendations, you have to understand that my exposure is pretty limited -- I've only been reading scripts for about two years and for the most part, I've been limited to what I can read for free from the internet. Still, in that short amount of time I've found plenty to like, plenty to admire, plenty of screenplays that I believe to be very well-written.
On the topic of favorite writers, I have a strong feeling that my absolute favorite would be that bastion of Merchant-Ivory films, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. If the theatrical cuts of A ROOM WITH A VIEW and HOWARDS END are any indication, she is an absolute virtuoso at taking a novel and adapting to film the depths and subtleties of human interaction (according to IMDB, both of her Oscar wins were for adapted screenplays of E.M. Forster novels). However, I'm basing my assumption on the screenplays she's written that I've seen. You see, I haven't actually been able to find any copies of her work to read (REMAINS OF THE DAY is notoriously hard to find, so if anyone knows where I can get my hands on a copy -- other than the copy residing at the Academy Library -- I'd be eternally grateful).
Jhabvala isn't the only screenwriter I'd like to read but can't find. Alvin Sargent and Frank Cottrell Boyce are two screenwriters whose work I'd like to read as soon as possible. Ditto Joyce Carol Oates.
A lot of my colleagues prefer Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, and David Mamet. I like those guys too, but I also like Richard Curtis (LOVE ACTUALLY, NOTTING HILL).
Of course, screenwriters have different strengths. For character, I like Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Both ELECTION and SIDEWAYS are incredibly lean scripts. So is GODS AND MONSTERS by Bill Condon. It's a goal of mine to write as minimally yet as powerfully as these guys.
For that pure moviegoing experience -- that sensation of looking at a bunch of words and actually seeing a film in your head, Jim Cameron and Frank Darabont are hard to beat. Read ALIENS (Cameron) or THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (Darabont) and you'll see what I mean. THE GREEN MILE, another Darabont adaptation of a Stephen King work, is really good too.
I haven't read much comedy yet, but I am exceptionally fond of GROUNDHOG DAY (Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis) and TOY STORY (John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft, Joss Whedon, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow).
Other scripts I'd recommend include AMERICAN BEAUTY by Alan Ball, THE WILLIAM MUNNY KILLINGS (UNFORGIVEN) by David Webb Peoples and SENSE and SENSIBILITY by Emma Thompson.
And then there are those scripts I appreciate, but whose style doesn't appeal to me personally. I have never regretted reading (nor would I hesitate to recommend) WITNESS, THELMA and LOUISE, ADAPTATION, THE GODFATHER, GOOD WILL HUNTING, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, THE TRUMAN SHOW, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, GLADIATOR and THE PRINCESS BRIDE. I learned something from every single one of them (I liked most of the finished films just as much as, if not more than, the ones listed above) and each is very successful as a screenplay. But would I pick them up again purely for enjoyment? Probably not. It's just personal taste.
What about the masters, you say? What about Ingmar Bergman? Billy Wilder? The Horton Foote's? Well, I've read CASABLANCA, THE SEVENTH SEAL, THE WIZARD OF OZ, and CHINATOWN but everybody talks about those.
I'm going on vacation in three days. My planned reading?
Wilder's SUNSET BOULEVARD. Also ROCKY, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, and an early, unproduced version of SPIDER-MAN by David Koepp.
And Horton Foote? I'm looking forward to reading him. And I'm gonna throw in some Nora Ephron, and some David Twohy and Jeb Stuart, too. Heck, I've wanted to read Alan Sharp's version of ROB ROY for a long time -- see if I like it as much as I liked the film.
Just give me time.
Now before you laugh at my recommendations, you have to understand that my exposure is pretty limited -- I've only been reading scripts for about two years and for the most part, I've been limited to what I can read for free from the internet. Still, in that short amount of time I've found plenty to like, plenty to admire, plenty of screenplays that I believe to be very well-written.
On the topic of favorite writers, I have a strong feeling that my absolute favorite would be that bastion of Merchant-Ivory films, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. If the theatrical cuts of A ROOM WITH A VIEW and HOWARDS END are any indication, she is an absolute virtuoso at taking a novel and adapting to film the depths and subtleties of human interaction (according to IMDB, both of her Oscar wins were for adapted screenplays of E.M. Forster novels). However, I'm basing my assumption on the screenplays she's written that I've seen. You see, I haven't actually been able to find any copies of her work to read (REMAINS OF THE DAY is notoriously hard to find, so if anyone knows where I can get my hands on a copy -- other than the copy residing at the Academy Library -- I'd be eternally grateful).
Jhabvala isn't the only screenwriter I'd like to read but can't find. Alvin Sargent and Frank Cottrell Boyce are two screenwriters whose work I'd like to read as soon as possible. Ditto Joyce Carol Oates.
A lot of my colleagues prefer Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, and David Mamet. I like those guys too, but I also like Richard Curtis (LOVE ACTUALLY, NOTTING HILL).
Of course, screenwriters have different strengths. For character, I like Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Both ELECTION and SIDEWAYS are incredibly lean scripts. So is GODS AND MONSTERS by Bill Condon. It's a goal of mine to write as minimally yet as powerfully as these guys.
For that pure moviegoing experience -- that sensation of looking at a bunch of words and actually seeing a film in your head, Jim Cameron and Frank Darabont are hard to beat. Read ALIENS (Cameron) or THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (Darabont) and you'll see what I mean. THE GREEN MILE, another Darabont adaptation of a Stephen King work, is really good too.
I haven't read much comedy yet, but I am exceptionally fond of GROUNDHOG DAY (Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis) and TOY STORY (John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft, Joss Whedon, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow).
Other scripts I'd recommend include AMERICAN BEAUTY by Alan Ball, THE WILLIAM MUNNY KILLINGS (UNFORGIVEN) by David Webb Peoples and SENSE and SENSIBILITY by Emma Thompson.
And then there are those scripts I appreciate, but whose style doesn't appeal to me personally. I have never regretted reading (nor would I hesitate to recommend) WITNESS, THELMA and LOUISE, ADAPTATION, THE GODFATHER, GOOD WILL HUNTING, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, THE TRUMAN SHOW, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, GLADIATOR and THE PRINCESS BRIDE. I learned something from every single one of them (I liked most of the finished films just as much as, if not more than, the ones listed above) and each is very successful as a screenplay. But would I pick them up again purely for enjoyment? Probably not. It's just personal taste.
What about the masters, you say? What about Ingmar Bergman? Billy Wilder? The Horton Foote's? Well, I've read CASABLANCA, THE SEVENTH SEAL, THE WIZARD OF OZ, and CHINATOWN but everybody talks about those.
I'm going on vacation in three days. My planned reading?
Wilder's SUNSET BOULEVARD. Also ROCKY, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, and an early, unproduced version of SPIDER-MAN by David Koepp.
And Horton Foote? I'm looking forward to reading him. And I'm gonna throw in some Nora Ephron, and some David Twohy and Jeb Stuart, too. Heck, I've wanted to read Alan Sharp's version of ROB ROY for a long time -- see if I like it as much as I liked the film.
Just give me time.
posted by Rochelle Smith at 10:31 PM
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