Book picks similar to
The Big Lebowski by Joel Coen
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Pulp Fiction: A Quentin Tarantino Screenplay
Quentin Tarantino - 1994
Taking his inspiration from the popular, and often lurid, "pulp" crime stories of the thirties and forties, Tarantino intertwines three narratives and introduces a variety of fascinating characters; thick-witted hit men, a double-crossing prizefighter on the run, his absent-minded French girlfriend, the hit men-hiring mob boss, his exotic but drug-addled wife, and two young lovers contemplating a career change - namely whether to start sticking up restaurants instead of liquor stores. Full of wicked humor, dazzling dialogue, and riveting action, "Pulp Fiction" is a master screenwriter's look at today's Hollywood and its dark criminal culture.
The Royal Tenenbaums
Wes Anderson - 2002
There were three extraordinary children in the Tenenbaum family; Chas Tenenbaum (Ben Stiller) was a financial expert and started buying real estate in his early teens; Margot Tenenbaum (Gwyneth Paltrow) was an acclaimed playwright and won a Pulitzer Prize in the 9th grade; Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson) was a champion tennis player ranked 2nd in the world by the age 17. They were brilliant. They were famous. They were unlucky enough to be the children of a man named Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman). Now for the first time in 25 years, they're all living together under the same roof. After having largely gone their separate ways they're looking to mend fences--and themselves in the process.
North by Northwest
Ernest Lehman - 1959
His consolation is that he gets to romance an elegant female spy, but he soon learns that the game of international intrigue is played for high stakes. Ernest Lehman provides an introduction to this souvenir volume, published to coincide with the centenary of Hitchcock's birth, in which he describes the course of his cherishable collaboration with the master of suspense.
The Prestige - Screenplay
Jonathan Nolan - 2006
In late nineteenth-century England, two stage illusionists are drawn into a match of wits, each desiring to annihilate the reputation of the other. Upper-class Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) enjoys worldwide fame, while cockney Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) is his most ardent rival. Their antagonism is also a mutual fascination, but the competition between them leads to evermore dangerous acts of conjuring. When Angier raises the stakes by consulting scientist Nikola Tesla (David Bowie), the potential for a deadly reckoning draws near. This volume contains an Introduction by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan.
Memento & Following
Christopher J. Nolan - 2001
Its protagonist Leonard (Guy Pearce) is a puzzle, even to himself. He sports the trappings of an expensive lifestyle, yet he lives in seedy motels, and seems to be on a desperate mission of revenge to find the man who murdered his wife. Worse, Leonard suffers from a rare form of amnesia that plagues his short-term memory, so in order to keep track of his life, he must surround himself with written reminders, some of them etched onto his own flesh. In this state, Leonard finds that nothing is what it seems, and no one can easily be trusted.Following (1998) was Christopher Nolan's micro-budgeted debut feature. Bill (Jeremy Theobald), a lonely would-be writer, spends his considerable free time stalking strangers at random through the streets of London. This vicarious form of 'research' takes an unexpected turn when Bill is caught out by one of his quarries: a suave cat burglar who introduces him to the art of breaking and entering. Soon Bill is striking up a liaison with a girl whose flat he has turned over. But Bill discovers too late that he is out of his depth.This volume includes both screenplays, plus an interview with Christopher Nolan and Jeremy Theobald in which they talk to James Mottram about the making of Following, and a piece by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan, author of the story on which Memento was based, in which they recall the conception of the film.
Collected Screenplays 1: Blood Simple / Raising Arizona / Miller's Crossing / Barton Fink
Ethan Coen - 2002
Of the scripts included here, Barton Fink--an intense look at the psychological ruin of a New York playwright trying to make it in 1940s Hollywood--is a masterful culmination of these themes.
Dogma
Kevin Smith - 1999
Two fallen angels (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck), sentenced to eternal exile in Wisconsin, are trying to get back into heaven. A renegade cardinal in New Jersey (George Carlin), as part of his "Catholicism Wow!" campaign, has opened a loophole in Catholic doctrine that would give them their opportunity-and, in proving God's judgment wrong, destroy the universe. An abortion clinic counselor (Linda Fiorentino) who may or may not be of holy bloodlines is tapped as the very reluctant savior-and, accompanied by the thirteenth apostle (Chris Rock), a wayward muse (Salma Hayek), and two very questionable prophets (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, AKA Jay and Silent Bob), she sets off on a mission to save the world.
Goodfellas: Screenplay
Nicholas Pileggi - 1990
Young Henry dreams that one day he too might be a professional 'wiseguy' - a 'goodfella'. His wishes come true with remarkable speed once he teams up with renowned hoodlum Jimmy Conway and his alarmingly psychotic pal Tommy DeVito. Henry embarks on an everyday life of crime which takes him from rags to gaudy riches, in and out of the federal penitentiary and under the unwelcome spotlight of the FBI. As the 1970s turn sour Henry finds himself at the sharp end of the cocaine trade, increasingly adrift from his extended mobster 'family' and forced to make a tough decision about his future . . .The film that re-established Martin Scorsese's eminence among American directors after years of professional difficulties, GoodFellas is a tour de force which lays bare the crude and venal motives which drive a happy band of thieves and murderers.
In Bruges
Martin McDonagh - 2008
After a shooting in London goes hideously wrong, two hitmen, Ray and Ken, are sent to hide out in the strange, Gothic, medieval town of Bruges, Belgium, by their volatile and dangerous boss, Harry Waters.While awaiting instructions from him as to what to do next, the pair attempt to deal both with their feelings over the botched killing and their differing attitudes towards this curious, otherworldly place they've been dumped in ('Bruges is a shithole.' 'Bruges is not a shithole'), until the call from Harry finally comes through, and all three men are enmeshed in a spiral of bloody violence that few will get out of alive.This jet-black comedy marks the feature-film debut of writer/director Martin McDonagh, award-winning author of such plays as The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Pillowman, and the film Six Shooter, which won the Academy Award for the Best Live-Action Short Film.The film stars Colin Farrell as Ray, Brendan Gleeson as Ken, and Ralph Fiennes as Harry.In Bruges was the opening night film at the Sundance Film Festival.
Chinatown
Robert Towne - 1998
Jake Gittes is a successful 'bedroom dick': a private eye specialising in cases of marital infidelity. Paradoxically he might also be the last truly ethical man in a corrupt town. Lured into an investigation of the death-by-drowning of City Water Commissioner Hollis Mulwray, Gittes gets more than usually entwined with his new client, Mulwray's enigmatic widow Evelyn. He then finds himself crossing swords with Evelyn's redoubtable father, the aging business magnate Noah Cross, who has professional and personal reasons of his own for wanting both Hollis and Evelyn silenced.Academy Award-winner for Best Original Screenplay of 1974, Robert Towne's Chinatown is widely regarded as the finest American movie script of the post-war years. Complex in narrative design, infused with the sordid real-life history of Los Angeles' economic growth and unmistakably adult in its updating of the trademark violence and sexual intrigue of film noir, on the page Chinatown still shines - and cuts - like a blade.
The Truman Show: The Shooting Script
Andrew Niccol - 1998
He is the unwitting star of a nonstop, 24-hour-a-day documentary soap opera called The Truman Show, with every moment of his life broadcast to a worldwide audience. Everyone around him is an actor. He is a prisoner in a made-for-TV paradise. This is the story of his escape.Rarely has a first-time collaboration between a writer and director produced such a stunning result. In this book, both Niccol and Weir's lively talents and creative force come to light, as each contributes some highly original material to amplify the brilliant107-page shooting script, reproduced here in facsimile. Niccol has given us another version of The Truman Show, in photos and captions—in effect, our very own photo album. For his contribution, Peter Weir chose to let us in on the intricately detailed, often hilarious "backstory," which he wrote as part of his preparation, and eventually shared with the cast and crew during production. Also included are complete cast and crew credits.
Sideways: The Shooting Script
Alexander Payne - 2004
The newest screenplay from the Oscar®-nominated writers of Election and About Schmidt, Sideways is the tale of two men's adventure in California wine country.Based on Rex Pickett's acclaimed first novel, Sideways tells the story of Miles (Paul Giamatti), a failed novelist, and his soon-to-be-married friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church), a washed-up actor.To salute the remains of their youth, the two men take one last road trip in the week before Jack's wedding.A serious wine enthusiast, Miles is determined to educate his friend on the region's beloved Pinot Noir wines before the week is out.Jack indulges his best friend's passion for the grape but is mainly interested in living his last week of bachelorhood to the hilt.Trouble ensues with wine and women (Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh), and the duo comes to some profound realizations as they come to terms with maturity.
American Beauty: The Shooting Script
Alan Ball - 1999
But look closer. Lester Burnham's wife, Carolyn, regards him with contempt, his daughter, Jane, thinks he's a loser, and his boss is positioning him for the ax.Captivated by Jane's sultry high school friend Angela, Lester decides to make a few changes in his mere existence—changes that are less mid-life crisis than a life reclaimed. The freer he gets, the happier he gets, which is even more maddening to his wife and daughter. Complicating matters, Lester finds an unexpected ally in Ricky, the teenage son of the new next-door neighbors, who sees life through a camera lens that has lately focused on Jane Burnham.In pursuit of his new vision of the American dream, Lester is about to learn that the ultimate freedom comes at the ultimate price.The 1999 winner of five Academy Awards®, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, American Beauty boasts an accomplished cast led by two-time Academy Award® Best Actor winner Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects) and Oscar® nominee Annette Bening (The Grifters). The ensemble cast also includes Thora Birch (Ghost World), Wes Bentley (The Claim), Mena Suvari (American Pie), Peter Gallagher (Mr. Deeds), Allison Janney (NBC's The West Wing), Scott Bakula (NBC's Quantum Leap), Sam Robards (A.I.: Artificial Intelligence), and Chris Cooper (Adaptation).American Beauty marks the feature film directorial debut of award-winning theater director Sam Mendes (The Blue Room, Cabaret). The film is produced by Dan Jinks (Nothing to Lose) and Bruce Cohen (The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas) from an original screenplay by Alan Ball (HBO's Six Feet Under). Stan Wlodkowski (One Hour Photo) and Alan Ball are the co-producers.
Being John Malkovich
Charlie Kaufman - 2000
Being John Malkovich, which stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and, of course, John Malkovich as himself, is Charlie Kaufman's screenwriting debut. The movie premiered to universal acclaim and is guaranteed to become a classic of modern cinema.