Max Landis is Killing It.

[Conz]

I'm certainly not a professional writer, and I may come off as jealous here but...

I'm reading Good Time Gang... granted I've only just got to act 2, normally i wouldnt stop reading, but this must be a really early script. The dialogue is insanely blockey, sometimes half a page at once. There are a lot of other things I've been taught that are wrong with it... but I'm not Max Landis, so I guess there's some leeway there. I'll come back with full review, because so far it's not grabbing me.

i think I'm reading the first draft

[Paul Striver]

I'm not saying the script is Oscar-worthy, but...

Originally Posted by Conz

The dialogue is insanely blockey, sometimes half a page at once.

The dialogue's pretty good. There's nothing inherently wrong with long blocks of dialogue.

Originally Posted by Conz

There are a lot of other things I've been taught that are wrong with it...

You've had bad teachers.

Originally Posted by Conz

but I'm not Max Landis, so I guess there's some leeway there.

No.

.

[Conz]

the dialogue was strong, agreed... didn't care for the cajun woman, but the rest were good.

Got a Losers vibe from it, but some of the action was definitely cool. I guess we've entered the "Jonah Hill, action star" phase.

and what i meant was, if I were to submit a script with a ton of "-ing" words in action lines, huge blocks of dialogue, weird cut to's, and a few other things, I'd get mauled... but that's just what I've read and been told over and over.

I did dig the spirit animal descriptions though.

[SCanfieldfilms]

FYI I do believe Max is around DDP, maybe he'll chime in. I've met him a few times. That's all I'll say about that.

I'm glad Chronicle is doing well, I really liked the film, despite being horribly underwhelmed by the script. Good story, but it all felt like it was written by a high schooler.

I heard Max on a podcast argue against nepotism, saying he isn't "Hollywood royalty", then went on to explain how his father facilitated his first sale. Great for him, and he's proven to be a hard/prolific worker, but you do have to wonder, if he hadn't sold his first script that way, what would have happened instead? Of course, anything said is purely speculation.

And I don't know why everyone always says Max has sold three things, he's sold like 6.

Chronicle, Amnesty (Ron Howard directing), Frankenstein re-whatever at Fox, Pied Piper at Fox, Goodtime Gang, and then the sci-fi project at Disney. All in the past 3 years. Killing it indeed. Obviously doesn't matter what people here think, he's laughing all the way to the bank.

[FilmTony]

59 scripts by the age of 26?

He's either literally written one per month since he turned 21 or he's been writing 5 per year since he was 14.

That's a crazy number if true.

I haven't read any of his scripts, but I liked Chronicle. I wonder if he intended for it to be shot in the found-footage style because while it was an asset early, I felt it became a hindrance late. They just went willy nilly into any and every camera.

****SPOILER****

My one problem with Chronicle was the jump in the 3rd act. It felt really rushed and while I understand the kid was bullied by his dad and misunderstood, it was like, "puking on a girl while getting a bj ruins your life?" Because he went bat**** after that.

I'd say the hoe who went down on him after one night and got puked on would get ridiculed more.

****SPOILER****

But the entire first half of the film was fantastic. That's exactly what my friends and I would do if we obtained super powers in high school.

[sherbetbizarre]

John Landis Says Fox Doesn't Love Max Landis' 'Chronicle 2' Script

...Landis even went as far as to compare his plight with his son Max Landis, who is currently working on several gestating projects after his hit superhero flick “Chronicle” earlier this year. One of those project is “Chronicle 2” for Fox, which Landis says, “He wrote a sequel, and it’s amazing, and the studio read it and said, ‘We want ‘Chronicle’ again!’ And he said, ‘No, this is the sequel, it’s the evolution, and they said ‘No, we want that movie again!’ So it’s difficult, we’re dealing with a difficult business.’

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplayli...010?utm_source

[Chief]

He got there 'cuz of his daddy.

[jboffer]

To me Chronicle felt like a made-for-TV or direct-to-DVD film but with great production value. Very hollow story and lots of filler that didn't matter. I have no idea how that film could have a sequel. Actually sounds like Max is doing the right thing by trying to "evolve" it, because that's really the only option.

That being said, a lot of my friends liked Chronicle.

[absolutepower]

Killing it is an understatement. His father being very well respected filmmaker does keep him from losing work -- though I've read some of his work and admire his style -- but I do agree that he is very talented and deserves the success. Chronicle was a masterclass in exploiting concept with rigor and style.

[TravisPickle]

This is, quite simply, untrue.

Let's look at his daddy's career for a second. I happen to think that John Landis is an absolute GENIUS. Up there with the greats. He was the biggest thing in Hollywood, in the Spielberg/Coppola/Zemeckis league.

Then the Twilight Zone thing happened. And a string of flops followed.

It is fair to say that John Landis's career was completely compromised, and eventually destroyed, by Vic Morrow's death. In a town full of false moralists, people LOVED crucifying and blaming Morrow's death on Landis's inflated ego.

The execs who stood by him are now out of the biz. They would be Landis's age- 60s.

Where does this leave Max? In a town where, sure, execs may appreciate his last name. Admire his father's work. But would they give him a shot because of who his father is NOW? Absolutely not. And who you are now means a lot more than who you were 20 years ago.

The dude clearly grew up around his brilliant father, working on his flicks and learning the craft by osmosis.

But claiming that he is successful because of nepotism is, quite simply, untrue. We can pick far better examples of nepotism in Hollywood if we want. Starting with... that chick in Magic Mike, Cody Horn- the daughter of the WB honcho. Now THAT was a joke.

But Max is a genuine talent, a hard-working son of a gun... and he wears pastels.

Originally Posted by Chief

He got there 'cuz of his daddy.