Daniel Waters | SpoutBlog

Criticizing Diablo Codyspeak. Today in Film Bloggery 09/18/09

By Christopher Campbell posted 2 months ago

One of my favorite screenplays of all time is Daniel Waters’ Heathers, mainly because of its clever, yet not necessarily realistic dialogue. However, I’m not that into the work of Diablo Cody, whose writing style is often compared to and admittedly influenced by that earlier black comedy. Waters’ line “Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?” could easily fit in a Cody-penned film, as could “No one at Westerberg is going to let you play their reindeer games.” But most of the memorable, quotable Heathers lines are smarter. Aren’t they?

I often wonder if I would have had any appreciation for Heathers had I seen it as my older, more cynical self. Would I have dismissed the script the same way I now do the scripts for Juno and Jennifer’s Body? Or, is Codyspeak a lot more forced and cheesy than Waters’ writing? And is Waters more respectable for not following Heathers with continued attempts at similarly clever dialogue? Imagine Waters’ script for Batman Returns with lines like “I’ve gotta motor, Alfred, if I want to catch the Penguin” and “What’s your damage, Catwoman?”

Okay, so Waters’ later scripts weren’t very good anyway, and it’d probably be pretty interesting to see a Cody-penned superhero movie (just as I was curious about Kevin Smith’s Superman script). But reviews for Cody’s latest are nowhere near as good as Juno’s were (and she’s certainly not going to win another Oscar for it), and part of the reason may be that people are no longer giving her goofy Codyspeak (or “diablologue”) a pass. In reviews, interviews and other posts, film bloggers are criticizing Cody’s words more than ever.

Check out some of these criticisms after the jump:

2 Comments

Uncategorized

Trailer of the Day: Sex and Death 101

By Christopher Campbell posted 1 year ago

Never mind the fact that Sex and Death 101 reunites Heathers screenwriter Daniel Waters with that film’s star, Winona Ryder. After Ford Fairlane, Hudson Hawk, Batman Returns and Demolition Man (all movies I enjoy, yet on a much, much lower level), I’m not holding my breath. Heathers was a great, brilliant fluke or flash of genius, and I’m fine with its strengths not being repeated here or ever. The fact that it exists on its own makes it that much better. Instead, I’m more excited about seeing Mindy “Natalie from Facts of Life” Cohn in a supporting role, which, at least in the trailer, seems to be quite prominent (by the way, I never knew she voiced “Velma” in so many Scooby-Doo cartoons and video games).

As you can see, other than reuniting us with “Natalie”, Sex and Death 101, which Waters also directed, doesn’t appear to have much going for it. However, the film did play at Cannes last year and at the Seattle International Film Festival, where it picked up an award for best director. And Scott Weinberg, who saw the film at Fantastic Fest and reviewed it for Cinematical, wrote: “Unapologetically sexy, oddly unpredictable and ultimately kinda (yes) sweet, Sex and Death 101 is just a solid little comedy that snuck up on me and showed me a really good time.” SO, maybe it is just being sold as a crappy-looking magical sex comedy dealing with lustful male fantasies. But if the horny teens show up wanting Zapped!, will they be disappointed? Well, Winona Ryder does technically (though quickly and barely) appear partially naked in the film, so perhaps they won’t be. Of course, they could just watch the clip after the jump. Or see the freeze frame here.

According to ComingSoon.net, Sex and Death 101 will receive a limited release on April 4.

1 Comment

Indies