WGA/Academy Member Spills the Beans on ‘Licorice Pizza,’ ‘Don’t Look Up,’ and His Love For ‘The French Dispatch’

A screenwriter who happens to be a reader of this site, and who also happens to be a member of WGA and the Academy, sent over remarks on three films that are currently very much in the conversation these days.

First off, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza”:

“I thought it was okay. Lights up when Sean Penn, then Bradley Cooper come on. Two wonderful sequences. In those moments you feel “Okay, now it’s finally a PTA movie!”

“There's nothing "polarizing" about this movie that I can see. Can't imagine anyone pissed off about it or hating it. Also hard to imagine anyone orgasming over it.”

“One thing...for discussion later....is that I think the movie represents PTA coming to terms--he's a dad of four kids, after all!--with the millennial, post-woke, post-me-too universe. He salts in a few "politically incorrect" things to show he's still there but the whole conception of the movie is kind of soft, and there are a lot of sigh-inducing 2021-isms--like Alana saying to Cooper, "You creep! You creep-o! You're acting creepy!'.....which NO kid in 1973 would say. (They'd say "God, you are so WEIRD!...")”

Next up is Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up,” which has been screening all over the place these last few weeks (to mostly positive notices):

“Yeah, it’s horrendous. I had the feeling that was gonna be a huge embarrassment for all concerned. I still can’t get over how bad it is. It makes Vice look like a masterpiece in comparison. What the hell was Leo doing in this? J-Law basically does nothing, she just stands there looking all emo .. You have to think Netflix knows it's a disaster. Other than an interview with Meryl Streep in their "Queue" magazine I've seen no real marketing for it. I have to think they are going to quietly drop it some time over the holidays. Can you imagine? That is a hall-of-fame fiasco. I liked Streep in it. The smoking in the Oval Office. I felt like there was an interesting character to be had there, Suze Orman meets Sarah Palin, but they didn't fill it in. WHY does this movie have Jen, Leo, Meryl, Cate Blanchett, Mark Fucking Rylance, Chalamet, etc etc etc? The only thing I liked in the picture was Jonah Hill. I thought his Don Jr-isms were hilarious.I dunno, I have this feeling it's going to be a huge bomb.”

Next up his love for “The French Dispatch”:

“THE FRENCH DISPATCH is a masterpiece! Give it another shot. Think of it more as a for-real French New Wave movie than a Wes movie. All the world’s a stage, and the terrorists/criminals/art phonies/jail keepers in it merely Max Fischer Players. It is dizzying, profound, ballsy, totally uncompromising, and nobody will get it until seven years from now, when they’ll all scream “Oh my God, it’s a masterpiece!”—just at the point it’ll be absolutely too late.”