The Secrets of Story Podcast · Episode 17: Two More Character Tricks Hi everybody! So this is all very confusing, but one month ago, Jam...

Why it might be hard to identify with Jake: He cares more about his venetian blinds than his client’s feelings. He’s a money-grubbing b...

Why it might be hard to identify with Rick: We don’t even meet him for 9 full minutes, and we wait even longer for him to speak. We spe...

I might be posting seven days a week for the next few months. Hmm, I wonder why...?  No telling! Why Annie Might Be Hard to Identify Wi...

Why Jason might be hard to identify with He’s literally a blank slate. You might think we would most readily identify with an “everyman...

Why Jeffry might be hard to identify with: He’s odd. He’s detached. He’s ultimately kind of disturbed. This world doesn’t really feel...

Let’s see what James is missing! Why Bart may be hard to care for: He’s pretty instantly lovable.  Believe When we meet Bart, he’s...

Why Amelia may be hard to identify with: She’s a very selfless character, and there’s always a big risk onscreen that this will be the s...

Let’s look at Lone Sherfig’s An Education , which is always a delight... Why it might be hard to care about Jenny: She’s fairly passiv...

Okay, that went well, so let’s continue alphabetically and go on to Alien . How does the movie get us to believe, care, and invest in Rip...

Okay guys, I’ve been meaning to do these for some time, especially after James dropped his five E’s on us in the last podcast. So I’ve su...

Bulletproof Screenwriting is a great podcast where they talk to all the biggies in screenwriting ... and me ! Host Alex Ferrari actually ...

The Secrets of Story Podcast · Episode 16: Neat Tricks for Creating Compelling Characters Hi guys! So sorry for being gone so long witho...

Hey guys, I occasionally let people pitch their apps here even though I haven’t really tried them, but in this case I’m voluntarily pitchin...

This is, to put it mildly, the best American movie of the year. It is, in fact, the best American movie in several years, since… well, si...

Yes, this movie is greatly indebted to Wes Anderson, but I think it’s ultimately better than any Anderson movie since Rushmore . When I ...

Brick wasn’t as smart as it thought it was. The Last Jedi was pretty dumb. Looper was downright idiotic. How did Rian Johnson get so...

By the time I finally got around to reluctantly watching my screener of this movie, I had been fully conditioned to hate it. Imagine my s...

This movie has received zero year-end love, so I just rewatched to see if it’s as good and I thought on first viewing. It’s even better! ...

A Saturday post?? It’s been almost ten years since I did that! Folks, there’s been a shocking turn of events: I unexpectedly got a chanc...