Sixty-five years ago this month, an iconic horror movie made a star out of Steve McQueen and showed disappointingly little of its titular character.
That movie, The Blob, involves a goo that crashes down to Earth, and McQueen as a tough teen who tries to warn others of the encroaching sentient slime. (And it features plenty of outdated gender problems, like teen girls who don’t speak unless they’re talking about a puppy or their baby brother, because women are only useful for their maternal instincts.)
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On Thursday, short of a surprising announcement, the Writers Guild of America’s strike will reach its 100th day. That’s over three months that screenwriters have spent picketing the major studios for fair pay, improved working conditions, regulations on use of artificial intelligence (AI), and more.
The writer’s strike, combined with the SAG-AFTRA actors strike, has brought the vast majority of TV and film projects to a halt. “Who cares?” I hear some of you curmudgeonly readers saying. “I don’t need TV and movies. I’ve got books.” Actually, there’s more at stake in this strike than when fall TV shows will return. Below is a guide to the strike for book lovers, including why it might impact publishing and authors, and information on how to support the striking writers.
The Basics of the WGA Strike
After weeks of unfruitful negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on the Minimum Basic Agreement for writers, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) declared a strike on May 2, 2023. WGA members and non-members are instructed to cease any and all writing projects with member studios of the AMPTP, including powerhouse producers like Sony, Universal, Paramount, Disney, and Warner Bros., as well as any other studios that participate in the Minimum Basic Agreement.
As the strike approaches the 100-day mark, no clear progress has been made on finding agreeable terms. Representatives of the WGA negotiating committee met with AMPTP president Carol Lombardini on Friday, August 4, in a confidential sidebar to discuss resuming negotiations. Before the meeting even occurred, however, the WGA sent a message to its members about the AMPTP’s “calculated misinformation” about the meeting.
John Wick is one of the most visually spectacular and emotionally unrelenting action franchises around. Chapter 4 is about to hit theaters – part Western, part Kung Fu film, part Samurai story and part redemption tale, this genre mash up is thrilling, sexy, violent and – oh yeah, one hell of a good time.
From a screenplay by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, based on characters by Derek Kolstad, the latest sequel picks up after a tense cliff hanger in Chapter 3 only to bewitch the audience with another jaw-dropping twist at the end of Chapter 4. We sat down with writer Shay Hatton to find out more about his writing process and the unconventional spec that landed him the job writing for the John Wick films.
It’s clichéd to say this about someone after they’re gone, but a show or movie changed when Lance Reddick showed up. He brought a quiet intensity and refined gravity to everything he did. So when his face appeared on screen, everything was somehow instantly elevated.
Think about when he appears late in Adam Wingard’s “The Guest,” taking a film that has been focused on a family and community terrorized by a sociopath and turning it into something much more expansive and intense. His very presence in a scene somehow added stakes to that scene. Oh, wait, we have to take this more seriously now. Lance is here.
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Murder, mystery, intrigue, and the machinations of the macbre hold a lot of what movie-goers find most entertaining and thrilling about storytelling.
Found within the idea of not-knowing, the classic “Whodunit?” offers something in the foundation of its conception that other genres do not: An active role for each viewer as a guest-detective.
The best murder mysteries/whodunits do just that, they bring the audience into the story, taking them on a ride, introducing characters, obstacles, and setting, to deliver the poignant punch of mystery.
This mystery is what captivates each movie-goer and puts them on both a chase and a race to the finish line, as viewers are tantalized by the mystery and galvanized in their participant-watcher role of both trying to inwardly figure out “who did it” while watching the plot unfold toward the ultimate revelation that either confirms their suspicions or gives them the best “A-Ha!” moment.
Over the years, there have been several movies that have done this extremely well. Here are some of those, ranked.
10/10 Clue (1985)
Guber-Peters Company
Based on the original board game of the same name, Clue revolves around six guests who are mysteriously invited to a mansion for a dinner, but when the host of the dinner is murdered, the guests and the attending staff are all suspects as they attempt to figure out who is the killer. The movie is considered a brilliant comedy while simultaneously offering a great mystery to solve.
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James Stewart and Donna Reed, center, in a famous scene from “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Photo: RKO publicity still.
Elizabeth Brown is a reference librarian in the Researcher and Reference Services Division. This article appears in the Library of Congress Magzine, Nov.-Dec. 2
Perhaps the most beloved Christmas film of all time got its start during a morning shave. Philip Van Doren Stern, while getting ready for work one day in 1938, had an idea for a story: A stranger appears from nowhere to save a husband and father from a suicide attempt on Christmas Eve, restoring his joy of living by helping him realize his value to others. Stern, an author and editor, eventually wrote a draft that he polished periodically and, in 1943, shared with his literary agent. It didn’t sell.
The first page of the script of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Motion Picture, Film & Recorded Sound Division.
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