Bites and Pierces

Maybe Serious Honor for Other Films-- "Capote" has gotten enough press lately that you can comfortably use the cliche’ "Generated Oscar Buzz" without people looking at you and saying, "Would you shut the hell up?!" The Golden Globe, the numerous Noms – Yes, we get it, it’s an important film. That is unless you talk to the people who created this cinematic gem.

Dan Futterman may initially strike you from his role as Robin Williams’ bemused son in "The Birdcage". He was able to parlay that breakout role into a television career in shows like "Caroline in the City", and "Judging Amy". His step into screenwriting however was not as easy, revealing that the line between false-modesty and false talent is razor thin. As Dan tells it there may not have even been a "Capote", had his wife not tipped him to a Rosetta-Stone-like discovery.

I had started writing sort of random scenes with Truman and Perry talking about what I considered to be interesting things in the jail cell. But it was not going anywhere; there was no narrative drive. And she was extremely clear with me about the fact that I needed to have a narrative drive, I needed to have an outline where one scene led to another ... And that as a revelation to me. It’s probably perfectly obvious to anybody who’s written a screenplay before.

Or obvious to anyone who has read a script before--such as an actor for example.
One other item that may have clued Futterman to the help he needed: the fact
that this is an adapted screenplay suggests the source material may also have
been a nice place to discover the "story structure secret".

On a related note of Oscar’s import, Phillip-Seymore Hoffman may end up providing this year’s speech to watch. It turns out that Hoffman, Futterman, and director Bennett Miller have been friends since their teen years, and they have made an arrangement:

We all made this drunken pact that if one of us ever won the Academy Award, that we would bark the whole acceptance speech."We were very serious," he continued. "Literally, we were like: 'I'll do that. I will definitely commit to that.' Bennett and I met...recently in Los Angeles and he said: 'So remember we made this pact that you have to bark?'"The thing is you can't just bark, you have to bark until they pull you off (the stage). Let's hope I don't have to get up there."

Sorry Flip, but let’s hope that you do win. Word of caution here -- vows over drinks should ner be put into writing.

A Warning Ladies:You Do Not Breakup With Lance – Example that life is a cruel irony: Sheryl Crowe diagnosed with cancer after breaking up with the disease poster boy.

Example That Bloggers are Ironically Cruel – Jake and Maggie Gylenhaal are Picasso objects.

Even False Modesty is Welcome These Days – During this time of year
where rotator cuffs are torn from self-congratulatory back slapping it helps to
find a Star who is not full of himself. Even though we are not sure who
considers Dr. House to be sexy, it is refreshing to see the term "Buns of
Yogurt" to describe an actor and it does not involve a subsequent publicist
outcry and defamatory lawsuit.