William Goldman

American master William Goldman has passed away at age 87. There was simply none better. His writing touched so many in so many ways.

I have no idea how many times I've personally seen The Princess Bride. It's simply beyond count. To let you know how much my family loved that movie and how much Goldman's writing permeated our lives, whenever I dropped my kids off at school I would say goodbye by saying, "Have fun storming the castle."

Every time.

In his tributes the movies All the President's Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid usually get the spotlight.  Mostly because journalists are writing these tributes and obviously All the President's Men is their industry holy grail. And Goldman won an Oscar for Butch Cassidy (as he also did for All the President's Men).

For me, the movie other than Princess Bride from Goldman that has been part of the fabric of my life is Marathon Man. Interestingly enough Goldman wrote both the books and screenplays for those two movies.

In Marathon Man it takes a master to turn an innocent question of "Is it safe?' into an object of terror. Perhaps Dustin Hoffman's best work with an unforgettable performance by Sir Laurence Olivier as the Nazi Christian Szell. Let's not forget excellent supporting performances by Roy Scheider and William Devane.

Pain is one of the main plot devices in both The Princess Bride (the pain machine and the awesome "to the pain" speech) and also obviously in Marathon Man's  "Is it safe?" scene.  Goldman is also well known for the quote, "Life is pain, anyone who says differently is selling something." I like to think this understanding of true pain came from Goldman being a "long-suffering" New York Knicks fan. I think that James Dolan could believably be listed as Goldman's cause of death by an honest coroner.

One last thing - Goldman did not write Lord of the Flies. That was William Golding. Common mistake.

Die Hard Prequel - The Wrath of Bob

Hollywood is so bereft of ideas that a Die Hard prequel is in consideration. Supposedly the producers are looking for a screenwriter to deliver an idea that makes sense. That's where I come in.

Here's the pitch!

There's only one main character that makes sense to focus on especially since Bruce Willis is too old and bald while Hans Gruber is now Professor Snape to every single movie goer over 8-years of age. The character I'm talking about? Nakatomi Tower itself - an unfinished skyscraper which would be easy to green screen recreate. Why was it unfinished at the time of the first Die Hard? Go into that backstory.

Enter Bob the builder (actually General Contractor). Bob's company is responsible for building Nakatomi Tower but due to a series of mishaps and permitting issues his company has fallen way behind schedule and seriously in the red on this project. His company is on the verge of bankruptcy and to top it off Bob is a single dad trying to raise a teenage daughter who has gone missing with her punk rock boyfriend on Christmas Eve. Bob is ready to put a gun muzzle in his mouth and pull the trigger.

Then miracle of miracles! Nakatomi Tower is blown up! BOOM! Just like that Bob's back in business! The insurance money floods into Bob's company. Clean up this mess! We don't care about overtime just fix it!  To top it off in a feel-good moment Bob's daughter returns home to declare that her boyfriend is a jerk and that not only did she really miss her dad - she wants to take that job with the construction company Bob has been trying to get her to take.

Fade to black. I might need to get an agent to market this pitch.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Will the NFL's blatant lies about Ted Wells' independence even hurt them?

- Bob Cousy turned 87 on Sunday. It is hard to come up with a player who impacted his pro sport as much as Cousy but somehow has gone more under-appreciated. We still love ya Cooz!

- Heh heh. I like places that look nice and I'm not even British!

- Just became a fan of Dr. Roy Spenser and his views on Climate Change.

- Very cool photos - underwater mangrove trees and salt plains after rain.

- Heh heh

- If you've ever wanted to be a screenwriter or were ever curious about the process read this!