The 21st Rewrite

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In-Depth screenwriting podcast, focusing on the great films of the 21st century. We have three episode formats, either individual screenplay breakdowns, subject-matter experts coming on to discuss a film they love, and interviews with prominent screenwriters.

Episodes

Monday Mar 18, 2019

Sideways (2004) - Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Mar 18, 2019

‘Sideways’ was an enjoyable script to discuss, because it is a comedy with many tragic elements that always stays rooted in reality and its flawed characters. Based on the novel by Rex Pickett and adapted for the screen by director Alexander Payne and writer Jim Taylor, it’s a tale of debauchery, adventure, love and friendship set in California’s Santa Barbara wine valley.

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Monday Mar 04, 2019

The Lost City of Z (2016) - Screenplay by James Gray - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Mar 04, 2019

‘The Lost City of Z’ is a screenplay about the now little-known British explorer Percy Fawcett, who led a remarkable life, searching the Amazon rainforest for the ruins of the lost city at a time when most who ventured into the jungle never returned alive. But the screenplay covers so much more than that, and is primarily concerned with the monumental changes that occurred in the concepts of ‘culture’ and ‘civilization’ in the early years of the last century, as well as the impact a life like Fawcett’s can have on the family back home. We discuss the important themes that the screenplay addresses, and our personal experiences that shape our view of the story.

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Monday Feb 25, 2019

Ruin - Screenplay by Matthew & Ryan Firpo - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Feb 25, 2019

Set in post-war Germany, ‘Ruin’ led The 21st Rewrite to discuss the nature of hatred and redemption, the power of weaponized technology to cause mass suffering, Kurt Vonnegut’s testimony from that time, how the generations of the future will perceive the Holocaust in the absence of living memory, and the responsibilities of the screenwriter when dealing with the truth and fiction of these topics. Selected as the most-liked unproduced screenplay of 2017 by the Black List, ‘Ruin’ is the inspiration for another fascinating conversation.

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Monday Feb 18, 2019

Silence (2016) - Screenplay by Martin Scorsese & Jay Cocks - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Feb 18, 2019

‘Silence’ is a story that is meant to be pondered over and talked about with your friends. With a profound understanding of the meaning of faith, suffering and the struggle to choose the right path in life, ‘Silence’ is a masterpiece that led to The 21st Rewrite's most detailed and engaging analysis yet. We compare the screenplay to the original novel by the Catholic Japanese novelist Shusaku Endo, and consider Scorsese and Cocks' process of adaptation that took over two decades to do service to the source material.

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Monday Feb 11, 2019

Manchester by the Sea (2016) - Screenplay by Kenneth Lonergan - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Feb 11, 2019

The 21st Rewrite (William Coldwell and Alan Vazquez) are back to discuss the screenplay for ‘Manchester by the Sea’, which was written by Kenneth Lonergan. He then directed this film set in the Bay State seaside town of the same name, which started Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams and won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 2016. Our conversation covers how the screenplay conveys the sense of character and relationships that are built up over the course of the narrative and how personal tragedies can be written in a realistic way.

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Monday Feb 04, 2019

Coco (2017) - Screenplay by Adrian Molina & Matthew Aldrich - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Feb 04, 2019

After a trip to Oaxaca, there was only one story that the 21st Rewrite (William Coldwell and Alan Vazquez) wanted to talk about, and that was 'Coco'! An inspirational tale for young people following their dreams, and a celebration of the culture, music and traditions of Mexico, there was plenty to talk about with this screenplay. This episode covers some of the historical and current events that helped shape the portrayal of the Rivera family and the Day of the Dead celebrations in the town of Santa Cecilia, as well as the mythological motifs that are apparent throughout the film.

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Monday Jan 28, 2019

Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Jan 28, 2019

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ makes for a fascinating case study of a writer working with the spirit of a rich novel and adapting it into a screenplay that tells a much-changed but still familiar story - which made it a perfect candidate for The 21st Rewrite (William Coldwell and Alan Vazquez) to analyse this week. We consider the original source material (‘Q&A’ by Vikas Swarup) and compare it to Simon Beaufoy's script and the final version of the story as presented in Danny Boyle's film. It is ultimately a tale of triumph, set against the background of modernising India, starring Dev Patel as Jamal Malik, the boy who dares to dream that he can win the love of his childhood sweetheart against all odds.

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Monday Jan 21, 2019

Roma (2018) - Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Jan 21, 2019

We were so excited to talk about Alfonso Cuarón’s new film, we put our other episodes and research on hold to focus entirely on this one. This is the first Spanish-language screenplay that we have evaluated (don’t worry, the episode is entirely in English) hopefully with more to come for those that wish to learn more about Spanish and Latin American films. The protagonist is a young indigenous woman working as a maid for a middle class family in the Colonia Roma in Mexico City in the turbulent 1970s — the story written by Alfonso Cuarón is a unique combination of memory, magic and the tragedy of life itself. Filmed entirely in black and white and featuring exceptional performances by Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira, it is a triumph of artistic cinema.

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Monday Jan 14, 2019

Steve Jobs (2015) - Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin - Writing a Movie - Review

Monday Jan 14, 2019

In our inaugural episode, we take a look at Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay for ‘Steve Jobs’ (2015), directed by Danny Boyle. This film seemed to fly under the radar, perhaps due to the fact that it was based on the same person’s life as the less warmly received ‘Jobs’ (2013), but it was incredibly well-written and featured some great performances from Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet. We consider how the screenplay draws on the source material - Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs’ life - and the interesting techniques Sorkin used to bring that material to life on screen and his use of the dramatic form.

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