Monday, December 12, 2011

Writing Movies for Fun and Profit by Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon

If you want to read a book about how to write an Oscar award winning script, don't bother reading this book. As the authors point out, they are guys who wrote a movie where a monkey slaps Ben Stiller. If, on the other hand, you want to move to Hollywood and make a million bucks writing movies, read this book. That movie where a monkey slaps Ben Stiller made them a lot of money.

If you're like me and have no interest in being a screenwriter, it's a hilarious inside look at how the movie business works. They explain why almost every studio movie sucks donkey balls (yes, there is actually a chapter called that) and dish on everything from having lunch with Jackie Chan to their own true personal Hollywood horror stories. There's also a handy glossary at the back that explains what all those strange credits at the end of the movie mean.

Be careful where you read this one though. I think the cover scared the nice Korean waiter at my favourite lunch spot. I think he thought it was porn.