http://www.andyconway.net A weekly blog about screenwriting and so much more... en-us All content copyright Andy Conway 2002-8. All rights reserved. 01 Jun 2004 13:43:03 GMT Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:41:01 GMT andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) http://www.andyconway.net/articles/inception.html The cries go out every week in the filmmaking community: everything is being dumbed down, there's no space for complexity any more, films aren't as demanding as they used to be, we're all going to hell in a flatpack assembled handcart. It would be a matter for grave concern if it wasn't total bollocks. Last night I went to see Inception at my local multiplex... andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Sat, 24 July 11:50:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/yolandebeckles.html It was only a matter of time before disgraced 'educational guru' Yolande Beckles hit the headlines yet again for her murky financial dealings. Yes, four years after she disappeared from Britain, the Independent on Sunday have tracked her down to Hollywood, where she's up to the same old tricks. Why should this bother me? Well, me and Yolande go back a long way. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:45:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/500daysofsummer.html In the romcom everyone loves to hate, Notting Hill, floppy-haired beta-male Hugh Grant bemoans his mid-point split with out-of-his-league movie star Julia Roberts with the words 'It's as if I've taken love heroin, and now I can't ever have it again.' We then see a montage of him depressed and lonely without her, mocked by memories of her. If they turned that montage into a move all of its own, its name would be (500) Days of Summer... andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:45:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/timetravelerswife.html Anyone who's ploughed through this site will know that I've got a bit of a thing for time travel stories, as well as a penchant for romcoms and tragic love stories like Somewhere in Time. So it's no surprise that I was pretty eager to see the long-delayed movie adaptation of Audrey Niffeneggar's smash hit faux-lit novel The Time Traveler's Wife. And, despite the sickly trailer, it doesn't disappoint... andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:00:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/blakesnyder.html It is with great sadness and deep shock that I learned today of the loss of Blake Snyder, who died from cardiac arrest on August 4, 2009. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:45:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/trueblood.html In anyone else's hands, True Blood could have been so bad, but with 'Six Feet Under' creator Alan Ball, you know you're getting quality. It's yet another modern televisual classic from the HBO stable. They truly do spoil us. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:30:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/madmen2.html The conclusion to each Mad Men episode can be very much a "What just happened?" experience. You know it was something major and that everything has changed, but you're not quite sure what it is or how it happened... In the end it's all about epiphanies, not catastrophes. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:30:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/2008.html It's my re-cap of the very best on the big screen and the small this last year. From a robot cleaner with a heart saving humanity to a terminally ill chemistry teacher becoming a bad ass drug lord. This is the shit that mattered. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:50:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/life.html It's that time of year when new US TV dramas sprout up all over the UK channels and I have to concentrate on keeping my mouth shut because I've already seen the whole series that's just starting. Yes, I'm a committed downloader of US dramas. And LIFE is my latest addiction. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Sat, 07 Nov 2008 16:00:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/babylon.html For fans of great British movies, Christmas has come early this year, because Babylon (1980) is finally out on DVD after years of neglect. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:30:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/burnnotice.html When super spy Michael Westen gets sacked, he's dumped in Miami with no one to watch his back but a psychotic, gun-happy ex-girlfriend who used to be in the IRA, an old buddy who's informing on him to the FBI, and the most passive aggressive mother on the eastern seaboard. You know when you've been burned. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Sat, 04 Oct 2008 14:30:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/breakingbad.html It would be good enough if Breaking Bad were simply one of the few TV drama series that has something to say about what it means to be a white, middle-aged male in these post-feminist times. But it is not merely worthy. It is witty, outrageous, funny, tragic, disgusting. And above all it is fantastic writing. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:00:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/lucyprebble.html The second season of Secret Diary of a Call Girl has just started and I caught up with writer Lucy Prebble to talk about half-hour slots, showrunning, and The Guardian's fear of sex. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:45:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/manonwire.html As a fiction writer who worked for years in factual TV, I know that the best documentaries mimic fictional story structures. And nowhere is this more obvious than Man On Wire, which is a heist movie pure and simple... andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:00:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/thestrangers.html There's definitely a zeitgeist thing going on here that any Daily Mail reader will recognise. Much like the recent French film Ils (Them), in which a middle class couple are besieged by intruders from the underclass, this film speaks to our elemental fear of our homes being terrorised. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:00:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/wackness.html Why The Wackness is a major new contribution to the Rites of Passage genre. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:31:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/pettigrew.html Why Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is still quite engaging despite murdering the music I love and only pretending to be a screwball comedy. Plus thoughts on classic screwballs of the filmic and confectionary variety... andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:34:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/darkknight.html Another Friday afternoon rant, and today I'm talking about why screenwriters need to make emotional connections with audiences. Why 'bad' films make millions. Why The Dark Knight is rubbish... andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:00:00 GMT http://www.andyconway.net/articles/networking.html I realise that most screenwriters would rather hack off a toe than go out and network, so I thought I'd talk about how to make it seem a little less painful. andy@shootingpeople.org (Andy Conway) Fri, 8 Aug 2008 15:00:00 GMT