Like the Seven Business Days of Whedon, I will write about an individual screenwriter every day for the next nine business days. The Screenwriters series could become its own weekly series when the ninth business day arrives. The focus will primarily be on feature film writers with the occasional television scribe thrown into the mix. Entertainment Weekly, one of the most popular entertainment magazines in America, does not include the screenwriter in their reviews. They only name the director and an actor or two. In the movie world, screenwriters can be an anonymous entity. Now, of course, many of the screenwriters who will be included in this series should be fairly well-known but, hopefully, some of the lesser known writers who bring the stories into your homes will find the spotlight in this series.
GREAT SCREENWRITERS SERIES
The Screenwriter: Ernest Lehman
Career Highlights: Sabrina (1954), The King And I (1956), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), North By Northwest (1959), West Side Story (1961), The Sound of Music (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966).
Ernest Lehman won six Academy Awards during his career. He broke into Hollywoody on the east coast and had to be convinced to move out to Los Angeles after executives read a short story of his that was published. Among the movies he wrote, I only saw four of them but the other films received critical praise so I had to include them. In 2001, he received an Academy Award for his career accomplishments. His most celebrated screenplay is North By Northwest. He collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock, suffered through writer's blocks numerous times but delivered a script for what is considered one of Hitchcock's best films. He was an expert at adapting plays and novels for the screen. He helped adapt Sabrina with Billy Wilder and Samuel A. Taylor. His first screenplay, Executive Suite, was adapted from a novel by Cameron Howley.
His two greatest achievements are original screenplays: North By Northwest and Sweet Smell of Success. In the latter, Lehman wrote a screenplay based on his experiences as a publicity copywriter. The story showcased an uglier side of show business; however, Lehman co-wrote the screenplay with Clifford Odets and Odets wrote much of the dialogue in the film.
With North By Northwest, Lehman wrote the entire script by himself. The process took a year and he made a few trips to Mount Rushmore (of course, if you've seen the film, you'll know why). Lehman wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures." North By Northwest is a staggering 181 pages and it tells the story of a man who is mistaken for another man and this man is followed across the United States by a mysterious organization because said organization wants to stop the man from interfering in their plan to smuggle out microfilm containing government secrets.
The dialogue is great throughout the film and it truly shines in scenes between Roger Thornhill, the main character, and Eve Kendall, the femme fatale-ish character, specifically, every scene between the two on the train. The whole story is incredibly well-done but the first act is exceptional in how Lehman introduces the characters, the mystery and the suspense.
Here is a link to the screenplay: http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/NorthByNorthwest.pdf
THE SOCCER SECTION
The EPL begins on Saturday and I figured it would be fun to predict the table standings for the league; however, I won't be predicting that until Friday because the EPL is the only soccer league I have a marginal grasp on as a fan. In the meantime, I'm going to predict other leagues and I will list the reasons why. One must note that no research went into the league or the individual teams. I will list reasons along with predicted club standing.
THE AUSTRALIAN A LEAGUE
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Even the damn league logo is lame...this will be a theme."]
[/caption]The season just began for the A League in Australia. I've watched a few games from this league last season at the fun hour of 1AM. Why? I like to watch soccer. The Central Coast Mariners are currently in first place with three points. I will not pick them to finish first. Anywho, let the prognostication begin. Also, if you want to chime in with your own thoughts on how the Australian A League will unfold this season, feel free to comment.
1. Melbourne Victory
Reason: The delightful Emilie de Ravin hails from Melbourne, Australia so I think the team should win it for her. Plus, their name is Victory. Do they have any other option?
2. Melbourne Heart
Reason: I'm as confused as anyone reading about the city having two teams but the Emilie de Ravin factor holds. She is delightful and pretty.
3. Central Coast Mariners
Reason: Their uniforms resemble the Philadelphia Union's uniforms slightly but the logo sucks. This will be a theme throughout--the lousy logos. I wonder if these Mariners will hire Don Wakamatsu and trade for Jack Wilson and Russell Branyan.
4. North Queensland Fury
Reason: Huge fan of the name of the city as well as the team name. Their uniforms and logo are lame but the entire name has a ring to it.
5. Brisbane Roar
Reason: Their logo consists of a roaring lion with a multi-colored mane. So far, the names of these teams remind me of opponents my own travel team faced as nine year olds. Australia is surrounded by an ocean with vicious sharks and so far we have names like Victory, Heart, Football Club, Fury and Roar. Apparently, Brisbane's players and coaches had massive problems co-existing. Oh.
6. Wellington Phoenix FC
Reason: Because I guarantee that I'll consider this name for my son. Wellington Phoenix Monigle. I like the way that reads AND sounds.
7. Gold Coast United
Reason: HELL YES! I want to live on the Gold Coast. What is the Gold Coast in Australia? Which towns and cities does this team represent? If only someone had done research prior to writing this! "United" is rather generic for a soccer team though. A Wellington Phoenix forward said the Gold Coast are unimpressive so I'm obviously going to listen to a player who represents a team whose name will be my son's one day. And this team represents...Queensland and has existed for two years. Is the Australia A League the MLS of Oceania?
8. Perth Glory
Reason: I want to visit Perth because of the name Perth. Who doesn't like a team that calls themselves the Glory? Once again, the logo is lame. It consists of the team name, a soccer ball, a sun and tons of purple. Thankfully they've been around for fifteen years but this DOES appear to be an MLS-type league.
9. Newcastle Jets
Reason: You know when you create your own team in any game and the game provides many terrible logos and team names for your team? Newcastle Jets are one of these teams. Luckily, their uniforms are awesome. They've had some success in the last few years so I bet that I am wrong about this ninth place finish.
10. Sydney FC
Reason: As much as I liked the season of Road Rules and the Real World that took place in Sydney, I can't support a team that calls itself Sydney Football Club. Predictably enough, the logo sucks. It consists of, essentially, a soccer ball. Awesome uniforms though. The jerseys are similiar to Uruguay and Manchester City's blue jerseys. I think the team won the championship last season but they will remain in tenth place.
11. Adelaide United
Reason: Adelaide drew the short stick. Lame logo. Uniforms aren't bad. They resemble the Serbian uniforms. I just dislike the use of United. Couldn't they have been named Adelaide Alligators? At least Alligators are abundant creatures in Australia. No news appears in the search engine about the team so I figure they are mediocre bunch.
With that written, I'd like to inform all eleven clubs that I will become your team's beat writer for the right price. Also, hire better people to design the team logos. If you want to view the logos, just search each team name on google. It takes about four seconds.
Another League. More Predictions. TOMORROW.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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