REVIEW: "The Woman in Black"

In 2003, I had the privilege of seeing the long-running production of "The Woman in Black" at the Fortune Theatre in London's Covent Gardens. Having loved it on the stage, with its play within a play framed narrative structure, I approached the 2012 stage version starring Daniel Radcliffe with trepidation.

REWRITE: "A Good Day to Die Hard"

So "A Good Day to Die Hard," a.k.a. "Die Hard 5" bombed because of its lack of storytelling (see previous post -- DOA: "A Good Day to Die Hard"). However, the elements of a good story were there, if only someone had bothered to write one.  

DOA: "A Good Day to Die Hard"

"A Good Day to Die Hard," the fifth installment of the "Die Hard" franchise is the most perfect example I've seen in a long time of the importance of establishing the 'ordinary world' in a film. 

Because it didn't.

Sure, the film devotes a whole 22 second newscast to tell us about some vague conflict in Russia between two rich and powerful men, and another short scene to establish there’s an upcoming trial and some ambiguous file of ambiguous importance. But there’s no hint of a reason as to why any of this matters to Russia, to America, or to the audience.

Why?

That’s the question screenwriter Skip Woods should’ve been continuously asking himself while writing this script.

Write What?

Write Time. Write Place. Write Story.

This phrase has been my tagline since I began my freelance writing career, but what exactly does it mean?

"Timing is everything," may be a cliché, but it's also a truism for all great fiction. Therefore time, to me, doesn't just refer to the era or hour, but to the pacing of a story. Timing is what makes words dance, race, or sashay across the page. It's what lets scenes build on one another and allows character relationships to develop fluidly. Beyond moving the story forward, perfectly timed writing moves an audience emotionally, whether it's to settle into a languid tale, or to the edge with a disturbing drama.