December 14, 2015

"The 2015 Black List, a collection of Hollywood's best unproduced screenplays, was announced Monday..."

"Bubbles, by Isaac Adamson, topped the list with 44 votes. It centers on a baby chimp that’s adopted by Michael Jackson."
Narrating his own story, Bubbles the Chimp details his life within The King of Pop’s inner circle through the scandals that later rocked Jackson’s life and eventually led to Bubbles’ release.
ALSO: "Reagan" —
When Ronald Reagan falls into dementia at the start of his second term, an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander in chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.
IN THE COMMENTS: Meade says:
Speaking of killing people with stupidity, I might be willing to pay money to see: "CHAPPAQUIDDICK... A historically factual look at what really happened when Ted Kennedy drove off the road into a Martha’s Vineyard bay with Mary Jo Kopechne in the car."
But look! Here 's news that the director of "Fifty Shades of Grey" is "in talks to direct" "Chappaquiddick"!
Mark Ciardi is producing the project... "I’ve done a lot of true life stories, many sports stories, but this one had a deep impact on this country.... Everyone has an idea of what happened on Chappaquiddick and this strings together the events in a compelling and emotional way. You’ll see what he had to go through."

40 comments:

mikee said...

Here is where we promote via comments our ideas which are worse than those listed as the worst failed ones in Hollywood.

I propose an opening scene of Obama actually causing the sea level to fall, where no one sees it happen, much like Chauncey Gardner walking across the pond at the end of Being There. This happens on Inauguration Day 2017.. Hilarity ensues.

damikesc said...

Ill remind people that the term best is subjective. The best script too bad to be made into a movie is equally apt.

Ann Althouse said...

Hillary ensues.

Michael K said...

I think Obama should don the gear of a Special Forces raider and single handedly attack ISIS,

He could heroically die at the end of the movie guaranteeing a big applause reaction.

Wince said...

THE FISHERMAN by Will Dunn - 18
A fisherman sails out of Martha’s Vineyard in search of the shark that killed his fellow sailors while they were stranded in the water for four days after their ship was attacked by a Japanese submarine.


Jeez, why didn't he just call it "Quint from Jaws"?

Here's a scene from a screen test:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtvDfEqPWPk

Aussie Pundit said...

Both of those ideas are utterly shit, and would almost certainly bomb at the box office. This "black list" has the opposite of its intended effect. It shows that the market for scripts actually works pretty well.

Meade said...

Speaking of killing people with stupidity, I might be willing to pay money to see:
CHAPPAQUIDDICK by Taylor Allen, Andrew Logan - 11
A historically factual look at what really happened when Ted Kennedy drove off the road into a Martha’s Vineyard bay with Mary Jo Kopechne in the car.

Fernandinande said...

Ann Althouse said...
Hillary ensues.


That's what I thought, but it immediately morphed to "Billarity ensues".

Baby chimp + Reagan = Bedtime for Bonzo.

Henry said...

That's odd. I've already seen all those movies. An unexpected twist.

Rick said...

Three of the last seven Academy Awards for Best Picture went to scripts featured on previous Black Lists as well as eight of the last 16 screenwriting Oscars.

There are 81 films on the annual list. I'm not exactly awestruck by identifying less than half the major award recipients in 81 tries by "more than 500 executives".

Aside: there's an article noting the black Jedi in the new Star Wars movie is the "Jackie Robinson" of the Jedi. Google Mace Windu m*^&#$@&%*&r.

tim in vermont said...

If Reagan was senile, maybe senility is a better quality in a president than narcissism.

‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ - Barack Obama

Sebastian said...

"ALSO: "Reagan" — When Ronald Reagan falls into dementia at the start of his second term, an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander in chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie." Edmund Morris at it again? One fable wasn't enough?

Meade said...

"Edmund Morris at it again? One fable wasn't enough?"

That one was fictional. This one is a documentary.

Bay Area Guy said...

@Meade

I'm with you on the Chappaquiddick movie.

Have you ever seen Dike bridge, and the water body it crosses, off which Teddy drove his car?

It's a tiny little bridge, over a shallow little body of water. If you drove your car off into the drink, you would simply open the car door, stand up in the 1 or 2 feet of water, and walk away. Clearly, Kennedy was lying about what happened. He must have been smashed out of his mind or on drugs or something.

Oh well. Pre-internet.





Ann Althouse said...

"He was truly one of the strangest men who's ever lived. Nobody around him understood him. I, every person I interviewed, almost without exception, eventually would say, 'You know, I could never really figure him out.'"

Michael K said...

Edmund Morris is the best argument I've seen for thinking Nancy, not Ron, was getting senile to ask him to write the book. What an opportunity was lost !

Steve Hayward would have written a masterpiece. He has already written a great biography but what if he had had that access ?

Bay Area Guy said...

Edmund Morris wrote a brilliant, riveting biography of Teddy Roosevelt, which read almost like a fiction adventure book. Think of being a 10-year old boy reading "The Last of the Mohicans." That's how it felt to be a 30-year old man, reading "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt."

I think the success of the Teddy book is why Nancy picked him to write the Ronnie book.

But, frankly, "Dutch" was just a let down. Morris got all bolloxed up. The problem wasn't with Ronnie, the problem was with Morris. He just couldn't get on top of his subject (Reagan), who lead a very public life (Radio broadcaster, Movie Star, Union Prez of Screen Actor's Guild, spokesman for General Electric, Governor, then President). Slowly, Morris went a bit crazy in the process. Overwhelmed by the subject -- Does that ever happen to writers? He didn't quite go Jack Nicholson in The Shining, but her certainly went on a similar trajectory.

Reagan 1, Morris 0

bgates said...

Dreams From My Foster Father

The greatest political talent in living memory leads the nation through a two term presidency which will be fondly remembered by many.

Then he refuses to help his wife run for the same office because he suspects she killed a guy.

Without her husband's help, the woman - whose sociopathic shamelessness and extraordinary vindictiveness are insufficient to overcome the handicap of an intellect which could be generously described as pedestrian even during her rare periods of sobriety - can't manage to beat a semi-foreign anti-American pseudo-lapsed heroin addict in a primary contest largely run by her own family's political machine.

Hillary then sues.

damikesc said...

I get that a lot in my life. I have to remind my wife "You know, sometimes, there just isn't an ulterior motive. And sometimes, you learn whose opinions matter and whose do not."

A lot of people seem to have difficulty learning that.

John henry said...

Why "black list"?

Is this supposed to put us in mind of the poor, mistreated, Hollywood Ten and the Hollywood blacklist?

Supposed to make us think of Wisconsin's own Joe McCarthy?

Seems like it is just for clickbait.

As for me, I think that the Hollywood Ten got exactly what they deserved from Joe McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, Roy Cohn et al.

I have a great deal of trouble understanding anyone who thinks otherwise. Seems to me they are ignorant or otherwise mentally defective.

John Henry

mccullough said...

We tend to deify our leaders, which is ridiculous. Reagan was probably aloof and a shitty father. So what? He had a successful presidency. Who cares if it was all by luck.

Eisenhower, Reagan, and Clinton had the three most successful presidencies of the 20th Century. Things were pretty peaceful and pretty prosperous. IKE ended our foray in Korea. Reagan helped turn the economy around and helped put the nail into the coffin of the Soviet Union. And Clinton helped balance the budget through tax hikes and agreeing to some capital gains cuts and welfare reform proposed by Republicans while the economy grew. All three of these guys fucked around on their wives.

FDR had the most important presidency next to Lincoln. He expanded the shit out of the federal government, most of it for the worse, and helped lead the U.S. to victory in WW2. He also fucked around on his wife, who was a lesbian, and was a trust fund playboy. Again, who cares.



Lewis Wetzel said...

Truman couldn't do it.
Eisenhower couldn't do it.
Kennedy couldn't do it.
Johnson couldn't do it.
Nixon couldn't do it.
Ford couldn't do it.
Carter couldn't do it.
But a dementia-ridden Reagan crushed the Soviet Union!
Way to go with your trenchant historical dramas, Hollywood! Never change!

William said...

It's still in the spitball stage, but here's the concept: A powerful Hollywood executive has a predilection for young boys. He uses his Hollywood position to recruit and groom them. Many of these kids end up drug dependent and suicidal. He's a generous supporter of liberal politicians and causes, and everybody is afraid to out him. A crusading reporter gets wind of these stories. He goes to his editor and says he wants to investigate further and bring the truth to light. The editor tells him to get serious and assigns him to interview Rubio's barber to find out if Rubio tints his hair.

mccullough said...

Terry,

Except for Carter, all those other administrations were very anti-Communist and anti-Soviet. Why the fuck do you think we got involved in Korea and Vietnam? What was the Berlin airlift about? Kennedy went to the Berlin Wall and told the Soviets to drop dead.

Reagan did not single handedly defeat the U.S.S.R. It was a result of almost 50 years of U.S. policy by leaders of both parties. Get a grip.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

John said...
"Why "black list"?

Is this supposed to put us in mind of the poor, mistreated, Hollywood Ten and the Hollywood blacklist?

Supposed to make us think of Wisconsin's own Joe McCarthy?"

What did SENATOR McCarthy have to do with the blacklist that grew out of an investigation by the HOUSE Committee on Un-American Activities?

rcocean said...

"THE VIRGINIAN by Michael Russell Gunn — 15
Based on the novel by Owen Wister, a young, down-and-out George Washington, desperate to join the British Army, accepts a dangerous mission to conquer a French fort and save the American colonies."

LOL. It might be a based on novel by Wister, but it certainly isn't "The Virginian". And when you call me that - smile.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Wasn't Dalton Trumbo a Stalinist stooge? And by "stooge" I mean he took orders about what to publish and not to publish from Stalin's comintern?

Henry said...

You’ll see what he had to go through.

The male pronoun pretty much kills it.

Saint Croix said...

Mark Ciardi is producing the project... "I’ve done a lot of true life stories, many sports stories, but this one had a deep impact on this country.... Everyone has an idea of what happened on Chappaquiddick and this strings together the events in a compelling and emotional way. You’ll see what he had to go through."

Oh it was horrible! That crazy bitch kept grabbing me, grabbing me, she would not let go! "You're going to ruin my presidential campaign!" I yelled at her, as I kicked her in the teeth. Right after that I had to call my campaign manager. That crazy bitch is going to ruin my campaign! We need to move the body. Get the fuck down here and put her in a bathtub or something. Hurry up! What? I don't know. Ten scotches. What the hell does that have to do with anything? Boy is my neck sore. This is going to be a great movie. It's a tragedy, it's a goddamn tragedy! It's Camelot, except this time the lady in the lake is bringing me down. You would not believe the grip on this woman. She would not let go of my ankles. How are they going to end the movie, that's what I want to know. Jimmy Carter, right? The fucking peanut farmer. Holy shit. I'm crying already. It's a goddamn tragedy, what happened to me. Wait, wait, you know who should play me? Jack Nicholson! That would be awesome. I think we should call it, The Last Lion. Or maybe The Last Liberal. Or Camelot Down, that's pretty good. I can't believe they got the soft porn king to shoot my movie. What the fuck, Hollywood. Don't flagellate me, soft porn king. I'm a Kennedy, you punk. Show some respect!

John Henry said...

Blogger Char Char Binks said...

What did SENATOR McCarthy have to do with the blacklist that grew out of an investigation by the HOUSE Committee on Un-American Activities?

Absolutely nothing but most progressives seem to think the Hollywood 10 going to jail and the later blacklist were McCarthy's fault.

Not long ago I read a bio of the 7 Warner Brothers by Jack (Harry?) Warner's granddaughter and she blamed the Hollywood 10 on McCarthy! She did correctly identify her grandfather and great uncles, with other HWood moguls, as being responsible for the blacklist.

McCarthy treated the HWood 10 exactly as he should have. He did nothing to them.

John Henry

Unknown said...

What HE had to go through???????

mikesixes said...

Too bad he already used the title "Bubbles" for the one about the chimp.

Etienne said...

Melissa Harris-Perry from MSNBC has declared Star Wars racist, because a black man was under the helmet first (as if anyone knew that), and now it is some fucking white guy when he pulls off the mask.

Melissa, you fucking dumb bitch, how the hell could Luke and Leia by white if Darth was black. Pull that out of your ass.

OK, here's the deal, I think Melissa is not really black. I think she is a white.

I'm wondering if there is some fraud going on now, and that MSNBC got took by the minority hire quota they participated in.

tim in vermont said...

All I remember about "The Virginian" is that it was a pretty good novel. I might read it again, I don't think that George Washington was in it. However that summary above sounds like a pretty good historical novel. At the end of it, England ends up ruling the biggest empire in history and imposes taxes on their colonies to pay for it, and thereby hangs a tale.

tim in vermont said...

In MSNBC's defense, any franchise that thought that Jar Jar Binks was a good idea probably is more than a little bit racist.

CWJ said...

"You’ll see what he had to go through."

OK then.

mikee said...

Well played, Althouse, well played.

Hillary ensues. The Dude abides. Great catch phrases, both. Both fictional.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

@John Henry

That's right. If lefties can't blame McCarthy, they can easily blame "McCarthyism", just as when BLM has trouble finding single instances of an innocent unarmed black teens being gunned down by racist white cops, they can easily point to a "pattern of abuse". "The African-American community is not just making this up." -- President Barack Ebola

Joe said...

About Hollywood, William Goldman [famously] said "Nobody knows anything." While true, I would say that Hollywood generally knows shit when they see it. "But what about all the shit Hollywood puts out?" That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this list.

Douglas B. Levene said...

Chappaquidick has the best story line since Panic in Needle Park ("Romeo and Juliet on junk"): He drived, she died.