This board is for creative storytelling.

On these here podcasts, we love to look at a movie (or other creative project) and figure out if something isn't working. Sometimes it's obvious, and the problem with Sucker Punch is... Zack Snyder writing Sucker Punch. Sometimes it's less obvious, and it's "okay, Sucker Punch had a semi-interesting idea that they completely failed to express coherently, but here's the better version of what I think they were going for."

Whatever the problem is, whether it's something everyone agrees with or it's just your problem, isolating it is tricky. Solving it is trickier. And we love tricky shit.

So we aim to get in the habit of creative problem solving, and break the habit of just shitting on something and moving on. In the real world, you don't have to be a chef to know when a steak is crappy. But on this board, we challenge you to make a better steak. Because it's fun.

Sample post format for new threads:

This isn't a rule, but a guideline. Do whatever you want.

As for "pitches," it's just what it sounds like. Maybe you're not Monday Morning Quarterbacking an existing film or franchise, maybe you have an idea for a way to handle a reboot, or an entirely new story. We are in. Post it. Start the conversation.

The only thing we want to discourage is two-sentence topic posts, like "Liar Liar, with Bryan Cranston playing every role." Come on. Exercise some brain muscles. New movies, old movies, any movie you've ever had a problem with - figure out your problem, and figure out a solution.

And show your work.

Still streaming on Netflix, kids.

This is a really fun episode.

What would you guys think about (more specifically, would anyone actually use) a board on here, like Reviews, called Pitches and Rewrites? It'd be along the same lines as Reviews, but more in the vein of what Jake posted in his awesome "Mending Steel" thread.

I mean, it's one of our favorite things to do around here, really trying to figure out the central reason a movie doesn't work right, and then figure out a clever solution for that problem, whether it's tone or motivation or plotting or whatever. And it can be done for pretty much any movie that isn't perfect, so there's a lot to be done with such a thing.

I'm imagining a semi-default framework for a thread being something like

And discussion would ensue.

Bear in mind, we all like reading these things when they happen, but what I'm really curious about is how many of y'all would actually enjoy posting a thing on at least a monthly basis. New movies, old movies, whatever. Would that get any use?

Any movie, doesn't matter, I'll post act one from it.

Any movie, doesn't matter, you'll post act two from it.

Any movie, doesn't matter, they'll post act three from it.

Let's see what happens. The only stipulation is try to maintain the same characters throughout the frankenmovie. I'll change the names from my movie; keep using my protagonist and add names as you need to.

Act I

Barney works at his dad's store, filling up the hours, selling what they sell... but his passion lies in music. At night he practices his instrument in the back room, playing along to old records, and generally not doing anything with his talent. His girlfriend Betty is growing bored with him. Some of his old friends have formed a band, written an original song, and booked a gig at a talent show... but one of them has broken an arm and can't play. Barney agrees to play in his place, invites Betty to watch, and when they get onstage he changes the tempo of the song without warning and effectively turns the ballad into a pop song. The place goes nuts. Betty is impressed. The band is divided over whether to be pissed about the change, or to be excited that - holy shit - they just got offered a steady gig! In any case, things are looking up!