Blueprints: FYC Original Screenplays

Following the first major award nominations of the season, Jorge takes a chance to remind any Academy votes to keep in mind some of the best screenplays of the year… 

Historically, Best Original Screenplay has been the category in which the Academy takes some of its biggest risks. Or maybe where it likes to think it does. This is the place where more daring, inventive, or “non-traditional” movies tend to get a shout-out, perhaps as a recognition of the overall novelty of the film without going as far as honoring those edgier achievements with a Best Picture nod or win...

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Blueprints: "Thoroughbreds"

This week, Jorge goes into the stables to talk a murderous teenage girl rampage.

Films come from many sources - novels, comic books, video games. The stage has been one of the largest pools of not only source material for the screen, but also of playwrights that eventually make the jump to Hollywood. 

Thoroughbreds was conceived and thought of as a play. It tells the story of two teenage girls (one without empathy; the other one with too much) plotting the murder of one of their abusive stepfathers. As the project evolved, writer-director Cory Finley realized it would be better told as a film. However, its stage roots are still very much present in the text.

Let’s take a look at a particularly theatrical moment, a monologue in which one of the girls recalls her actions, and in doing so puts forward her entire character...

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Box Office: A Fantastic Woman, A Wrinkle in Time, and More...

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office (March 9th-11th) Estimates
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
1. Black Panther  $41.1 (cum. $562) PODCAST	1. 🔺 Thoroughbreds $1.2 on 549 screens NEW REVIEW
2. 🔺 A Wrinkle in Time (pictured) $33.3 NEW REVIEW	2. 🔺  A Fantastic Woman (pictured) $287k on 166 screens (cum. $1.1)  REVIEW  | OSCAR WIN
3.🔺 Strangers Prey at Night $10.4 NEW	3.🔺 The Death of Stalin $181k on 4 screens NEW REVIEW
4. Red Sparrow $8.1 (cum. $31.1) REVIEW | JENNIFER IN VERSACE	4. 🔺 The Leisure Seeker $119k on 28 screens NEW
5. Game Night $7.9 (cum. $45) REVIEW	5.  The Party  $98k on 91 screens (cum. $483k)

It's a history-making weekend at the box office. For the first time ever the two top grossers are both from African-American directors. Ryan Coogler's Black Panther continues its astonishing run. It's now the biggest non-Star Wars hit since Jurassic World three years ago and The Avengers before that six years ago and likely to outgross them both). It was also opening weekend for Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time. $33 million for a movie with no bankable stars that's not a sequel is good though people are calling it a failure due to its heavy price tag.  How the Oscars affected the box office after the jump...

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Review: Thoroughbreds

By Spencer Coile

Thoroughbreds, written and directed by newcomer Cory Finley, was originally intended to be a play. The film follows the twisted relationship of two teens: Amanda (Olivia Cooke), who claims to feel no emotions whatsoever, and Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy), a spoiled rich girl with a history of lying. Friends back in grade school, the two drifted apart, but reconnect when Amanda’s mom asks Lily to be Amanda’s tutor. This all takes a turn for the bizarre when Lily enlists Amanda to help kill her stepfather. All hell begins to break loose.

The film’s rapid fire dialogue makes it very easy to envision a staged production. Fortunately, Finley has just as much skill with directing as he does writing, and so Thoroughbreds becomes a truly cinematic experience. It's absurd, gripping, and deeply uncomfortable...

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