dances with mark twain
"Oh no she didn't?!"
Yasss! She blogs. Wicked wise word and other spit-sparklings, coming soon...
Yasss! She blogs. Wicked wise word and other spit-sparklings, coming soon...
BLUECAT SCREENPLAY CRITIQUE
~Coverage of the screenplay written by Brenda Logan titled: TRUE TO THE GAME
“I think it’s hard not to take notice of a script that includes dialogue as priceless as, “Fuck yourself with a frozen pipe you toothless sock-head!” The vivid writing style is apparent right from the beginning painting a picture for the reader that conveys tone, setting, and a sense of character. It is always very specific, such as on page 3: “Tricky trails traipse off into the wide wooded unknown. An abandoned baseball diamond devours the horizon deep in the distance.” It is beautifully written, the prose flows on the page, and any director reading this script would have a sense of the screenwriter’s intention and style.
The story begins fast and strong, with Myron beating up Peyton and hollering, “You been sleeping with that %$#! guy again?” on page 2. It catches the attention right away. What makes all these horrible beatings and rapes somewhat bearable is a technique used by films as diverse as A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, THE BUTCHER BOY and ANGELA’S ASHES. We are watching a nightmare unfold, but the voice-over is cheerful, ironic and funny. It’s a distancing device that allows the viewer a sense of counterpoint, and even a few laughs, in order to be able to continue watching. The wry voice-over keeps this script from falling into brutish sensationalism.
What also helps is that Peyton is an appealing character, as charismatic as the heroes of the films I referenced in my previous paragraph. She starts to come into her own as a character, more than a victim, when she becomes a prostitute and forms a bond with Malcolm and Chuck. Even though what she is doing is deplorable, her pluck and moxie while doing it keeps us going. When she uses her comb to scare off a potential attacker (making him think it is the click of a pistol) we admire her ingenuity in this strange and savage landscape of seedy hotel rooms and miles of Americana highway. Also, a true, hard-won pathos is achieved when Malcolm tries bringing her to the hospital and they are denied, and the birth scene is appropriately touching.
The character descriptions are incredibly helpful, using a device of naming them almost as if they are caricatures. It helps the reader keep track, since Peyton meets so many characters—probably two dozens or more! Lenny Lisp, Jolly George and Gary Guido form pictures in the reader’s mind. It would have been incredibly distracting to either assign the characters more “normal” names and have us struggle to keep track, or include long descriptions for each one.”
“I think it’s hard not to take notice of a script that includes dialogue as priceless as, “Fuck yourself with a frozen pipe you toothless sock-head!” The vivid writing style is apparent right from the beginning painting a picture for the reader that conveys tone, setting, and a sense of character. It is always very specific, such as on page 3: “Tricky trails traipse off into the wide wooded unknown. An abandoned baseball diamond devours the horizon deep in the distance.” It is beautifully written, the prose flows on the page, and any director reading this script would have a sense of the screenwriter’s intention and style.
The story begins fast and strong, with Myron beating up Peyton and hollering, “You been sleeping with that %$#! guy again?” on page 2. It catches the attention right away. What makes all these horrible beatings and rapes somewhat bearable is a technique used by films as diverse as A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, THE BUTCHER BOY and ANGELA’S ASHES. We are watching a nightmare unfold, but the voice-over is cheerful, ironic and funny. It’s a distancing device that allows the viewer a sense of counterpoint, and even a few laughs, in order to be able to continue watching. The wry voice-over keeps this script from falling into brutish sensationalism.
What also helps is that Peyton is an appealing character, as charismatic as the heroes of the films I referenced in my previous paragraph. She starts to come into her own as a character, more than a victim, when she becomes a prostitute and forms a bond with Malcolm and Chuck. Even though what she is doing is deplorable, her pluck and moxie while doing it keeps us going. When she uses her comb to scare off a potential attacker (making him think it is the click of a pistol) we admire her ingenuity in this strange and savage landscape of seedy hotel rooms and miles of Americana highway. Also, a true, hard-won pathos is achieved when Malcolm tries bringing her to the hospital and they are denied, and the birth scene is appropriately touching.
The character descriptions are incredibly helpful, using a device of naming them almost as if they are caricatures. It helps the reader keep track, since Peyton meets so many characters—probably two dozens or more! Lenny Lisp, Jolly George and Gary Guido form pictures in the reader’s mind. It would have been incredibly distracting to either assign the characters more “normal” names and have us struggle to keep track, or include long descriptions for each one.”
“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
~Mark Twain
Truth (FALSE) or Dare:
Truth: There is a chance the following could offend as TMI is oft to do. Proceed with caution. You've been forewarned..
Truth: We are living in extremely vast finger-tapping, internet search/job querying days. A world wherein, one might be quicker to recognize that they are NOT the only person wandering the planet with the name they received at birth, as IMDB has come to assure me?!
Truth: My name is Brenda Logan.
Truth: I was an actor/writer. Thus, one way or another, I will likely forever be.
FALSE: No, I am not the "adult" film actor that seems to have facetiously confiscated my real name, Brenda Logan, and likely-far more famously, rendered it her own. Wt...?!?!
Truth: She has long blonde hair; I have long blonde hair.
Truth: She has blue eyes; I have blue eyes. (Thank you dear grandfather-wish I knew you-rest in sweet peace.) What? I dig the color blue, back off!
Truth: She speaks Hungarian (as one might note upon watching her movies)...
FALSE: No, I do NOT speak Hungarian, and my accent skills do not extend far beyond the British Isles at present.
Truth: I speak English, at times-broken English, which could also be referred to as "gibberish." And that's a whole other TMI blurb reserved for extra special occasions.
Truth: Nada against chosen career paths here @BluvBrand. Just an obvious nod to perceptibility and a most loving upside down thumb to the litany of lies destructively a'globetrotting my once illustrious career away--by far more judgmental folk that I. Hence, check yourself before you wreck thyself.
TRUE AND FALSE: Sharing is caring, as I've grown a wee weary of answering this very question of whether or not we are the same actress :-)
Thank you most kindly for hearing me and have a fantabulous day!
~The Brenda Logan (though most people call me "bren," with a lower case "b." Heck, you may too!)
~Note to self: WOH bren. Time to put fingers on a diet... Far too many spelling mistakes prior to posting?!
DARE: ClICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT "b"
TRUTH: YASSS, I REALLY WORKED OPPOSITE JOHN CUSACK! THANK YOU SUSAN BATSON, FEET, BILLY HOPKINS, UNITED AIRLINES, PETER CHELSOM (all for getting me there) AND OSCAR-YOU SEXY DEVIL (I'm coming to getcha!)
DOUBLE DAWG DARE: TRY TO WATCH THE FOLLOWING WITHOUT LAUGHING!
SHARE THE SATIRE:
Art by Brenda Logan for BLUV BRAND ©2005-2015 All Rights Reserved