A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Book Club (2018) Directed by: Bill Holderman Written by: Bill Holderman and Erin Simms Starring: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Andy Garcia, Don Johnson,  Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Begley Jr., Wallace Shawn, Alicia Silverstone, Katie Aselton Sharon: If women our age were meant to have sex God wouldn't do what he does to our bodies. Vivian: Speak for yourself. Sharon: Well, that was not God, that was Dr. Nazaria. Q: What do you get when you put a first-time director, four legendary leading ladies, a supporting cast of A-list actors, and a somewhat flimsy plot centered on four friends who end up dissecting a trashy "mommy porn" trilogy of novels together? A: A sometimes unbelievable but nevertheless watchable romantic comedy about friendship, drinking lots of wine, and lots of bawdy dialogue delivered by a quartet of talented actresses. three of whom have earned Academy Awards. The premise of Bill Holderman and E...

In 1979, five years after the publication of his Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel The Seven Percent Solution and two before he directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Nicholas Meyer made his directorial debut with Time After Time.  Meyer got involved with this time travel thriller after his friend Karl Alexander, the author of the eponymous novel which inspired both the film and the recently canceled ABC TV series, showed him part of the manuscript and asked for a critique.  Nicholas Meyer was then best known as a novelist and budding screenwriter, and his Seven Percent Solution was widely admired by readers and critics alike. Intrigued by Alexander's concept - famous novelist H.G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper in 1970s San Francisco, Meyer bought the film rights; after Steve Hayes and Alexander wrote a screen story, Meyer then wrote a screenplay and eventually sold it to Warner Bros. with one condition: that he would be the film's director.   H.G. Wells: My name...