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Blogger Screenwriting

2007-Oct-18 by Laughcalvin

JD brings up an interesting point in his comments over at HE  about the merits of the soon-to-open film Juno penned by blogger (The Pussy Ranch)and memorist (about her work as a stripper) Diablo Cody.

Juno is nowhere near as good as Sideways or Little Miss Sunshine, both of which were written with far more care, nuance, depth, and sensitivity. As for Thank You for Smoking, there was elegance to the writing in that film (which I largely credit to Christopher Buckley), whereas Juno is just a bunch of bitter one-liners that reminded me more of an Andrew Dice Clay routine than any of the other references being evoked. The problem with Juno's script -- and the concept of blogger screenwriting, in general -- is that it exhibits no understanding of cinematic storytelling. For better or worse, Diablo Cody is the female Kevin Smith. Her writing would play better as a radio show, blog entry or stand-up comedy routine. And the movie is not supremely hip, as some people suggest. Not only does Cody make fun of Sonic Youth (a supremely un-hip move, in my opinion), but the soundtrack is full of songs by Belle & Sebastian, a terrific band that you'd be ahead-of-the-curve to use in a movie, oh, somewhere around the time High Fidelity came out.

I agree and disagree. Many bloggers I read are elegant, talented writers and/but  yes, there are those like me who are rushed hacks who happen to write screenplays as well. However, just because one blogs does not necassarily mean that that's the way one will write screenplays as well. Sure one's unique voice might be the same but I hope most blogger/screenwriters will be able to write in the voice of their respective characters as well.













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