Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Telly Alert. #012:
Malkovich's Mail (AMC, airing this month)
Well worth checking out this hour-long doc directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe (The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys, Lost in La Mancha). It follows a group of eccentric, determined screenwriters' attempts to get John Malkovich to notice - and ultimately produce and star in - their work by sending scripts and letters to his Mr. Mudd Productions office. Aside from L.A.-based Jesse Vint, they are outsiders and some are amazingly prolific: Lillian Francken, a Warsau, Wisconsin housewife, has written 20 original screenplays and 22 adaptations. Her submission to Malkovich, the murder-mystery Blue Moon Rising, includes a "climactic warthog attack scene". Jeffrey Marzi sent along some drawings to accompany his script about cyborg dinosaurs.
After profiling these Hollywood hopefuls and showing the daily, I-have-an-idea-for-John chaos of the Mr. Mudd phones and mail bins, the filmmakers chat with Malkovich. He reads through the selected pitches and agrees to bring these characters to life. The last 15 minutes are just amazing. You've got to see these Malkovich screen tests and the reactions of the screenwriters watching the taped performances.
John Malkovich is Pterodactyloid Man!
posted by Linus |
7:21 AM
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