Fix Your Five & Pitch Your Flick!

[pzarquon]

This thread isn't about a movie. It's about your movie. Inspired by a recent "Filmspotting" podcast (http://www.filmspotting.net/2007/07/filmspotting-167-sicko-transformers-top.html), imagine yourself a filmmaker, and tell me about your dream movie. Either your masterpiece, or your total pet project you can afford to do on a whim after a string of blockbusters.

First, pick your five favorite actors. Then, pitch your movie, summarizing the plot and the one-sentence character descriptions for each.

Example? The Stars: Paul Giamatti, Ben Affleck, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julia Stiles, and Phoebe Cates. The Story: Former college friends who've gone their separate ways but are brought together by a wedding of a classmate. Turns out Giamatti and Affleck once dated the bride. But hijinks really ensue when it's revealed that Stiles did, too, during a particularly gothy semester of English lit.

Okay, so I'm pitching what I'd think would be scrivener's movie, but... you get the idea.

And... action!

[Glen Miyashiro]

...

I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't get past the image of a gothy Phoebe Cates and Maggie Gyllenhaal pair. In fact it's so hard to get past that I'm just gonna stop and contemplate it until it goes away.

:D

[Pua'i Mana'o]

can we pitch the plot without having to name the actors?

[helen]

Stars: Christina Chang, Garrett Wang, Mel Harris, Tilda Swinton and Daniel Baldwin.

Each day a group of aliens arrives on Earth demanding that they turn over a fugitve from justice who is hiding on Earth or they will destroy a city. Only Christina Chang is aware the that day repeats itself. She tries to convince her ex-husband played by Garrett Wang that perhaps Mel Harris and another friend (played by either Tilda Swinton or Daniel Baldwin on different time loops) holds the answer to the time loop mystery.

[acousticlady]

Stars: Christina Chang, Garrett Wang, Mel Harris, Tilda Swinton and Daniel Baldwin.

Each day a group of aliens arrives on Earth demanding that they turn over a fugitve from justice who is hiding on Earth or they will destroy a city. Only Christina Chang is aware the that day repeats itself. She tries to convince her ex-husband played by Garrett Wang that perhaps Mel Harris and another friend (played by either Tilda Swinton or Daniel Baldwin on different time loops) holds the answer to the time loop mystery.

Sounds cool. I love Sci-Fi. Especially when time is involved.

[DKP]

Shawshank Redemption 2 (have no idea how). Same everyone.
Event Horizon 2 (have no idea how). Same everyone.

I cheated, I know.

This is really just a bump in disguise.

[helen]

Starring: William Sanderson, Tony Papenfuss, John Voldstad, Alan Ada and Henry Winkler.

The Story: Sanderson, Papenfuss and Voldstad reprise their Newhart (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083455/) roles as brothers Larry, Darryl and Darryl. The brothers find out that one Darryl is fathered by Alan Ada and the other Darryl is fathered by Henry Winkler. Trouble is they don't know who fathered who and the brothers leave Vermont in search of the answers.

[alohabear]

Title: Back In Action
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Segal, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Sean Connery, and Kurt Russell

The Story: A alien Supervillan force in invades the Earth and the Planet is held hostage. The planet's greatest superheroes are sent to restore order, but are destroyed in the battle. Now the Earth's only hope is a group of retired heroes lead by Mastermind(Connery), these geriatric powerhouses fight to save the world that forgot them.

[glossyp]

Title: Back In Action
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Segal, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Sean Connery, and Kurt Russell

The Story: A alien Supervillan force in invades the Earth and the Planet is held hostage. The planet's greatest superheroes are sent to restore order, but are destroyed in the battle. Now the Earth's only hope is a group of retired heroes lead by Mastermind(Connery), these geriatric powerhouses fight to save the world that forgot them.
I'd pay to see that movie, but can we swap Syl for Wesley Snipes?

[acousticlady]

OK - I actually had the awesome opportunity to actually make mine. Well, not a full length feature film, but a couple of short comedies on physics. I originally wrote a trilogy - Falling Bodies, Floating Bodies and Flying Bodies. We got the first 2 made and ran out of money so Flying Bodies is still on the shelf. My work in music tech got me contacts with an indie studio connected with NYU film school and the education dept at my school (Skidmore) handed me money to make them. The studio donated the use of all their equipment and facilities and a bunch of soap opera people donated their time and expertise. It was a really cool experience.

The first one pits Aristotle against Galileo in the story of how objects fall to earth. It tells of how Aristotle had it all wrong - but the catholic church deemed his ideas as the "true science. And how Galileo (in his early 20's) proved through experimentation that Aristotle was wrong. The second tells the story of Archimedes and his quest to find out why objects float or sink. It tells the famous story of Archimedes being in the bathtub when he discovered bouyancy and ran through the streets naked yelling "eureka".

The third was the story of Newton and his discovery of the laws of gravitation.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun doing this - I never set out to do it, it all just fell together. If anyone wants to see either or both, I'd be glad to send you a copy. They're free - it's an outreach thing.

[DKP]

I'd pay to see that movie, but can we swap Syl for Wesley Snipes?

And add a number of famous martial arts fighters/stars.

Have the aliens arrive on the ship, 'Event Horizon', and you have a city-buster of a film.

Then, after the battle (assuming we will win), capture the aliens and house them in Shawshank prison. Keep Jaws Jr. Jr. in the sewage outlet puddle so that...just when they raise their hands to the sky and think they've escaped...bam!

Send the ones who can prepare tax forms back on the Event Horizon, though...they are too much an escape-risk for Shawshank.

[DKP]

OK - I actually had the awesome opportunity to actually make mine. Well, not a full length feature film, but a couple of short comedies on physics. I originally wrote a trilogy - Falling Bodies, Floating Bodies and Flying Bodies. We got the first 2 made and ran out of money so Flying Bodies is still on the shelf. My work in music tech got me contacts with an indie studio connected with NYU film school and the education dept at my school (Skidmore) handed me money to make them. The studio donated the use of all their equipment and facilities and a bunch of soap opera people donated their time and expertise. It was a really cool experience.

The first one pits Aristotle against Galileo in the story of how objects fall to earth. It tells of how Aristotle had it all wrong - but the catholic church deemed his ideas as the "true science. And how Galileo (in his early 20's) proved through experimentation that Aristotle was wrong. The second tells the story of Archimedes and his quest to find out why objects float or sink. It tells the famous story of Archimedes being in the bathtub when he discovered bouyancy and ran through the streets naked yelling "eureka".

The third was the story of Newton and his discovery of the laws of gravitation.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun doing this - I never set out to do it, it all just fell together. If anyone wants to see either or both, I'd be glad to send you a copy. They're free - it's an outreach thing.

Wish they had stuff like this in my courses.