Spike Lee Snubbed - '89 Original Screenplay I - What's Worse? The Upset, or THAT dps Scene? - Ep 72 - a podcast by MMO

***This is a Spoiler Filled Episode***

We cover Dead Poets Society and Do The Right Thing including full breakdowns of the plot. Although we hope our reviews encourage rewatches, these Best Original Screenplay retrospectives are spoiler filled.

1989 Year in Review - 4:57

Dead Poets Society:
How a Thomas Schulman Script / VHS Tape from The Ring are the same thing - 11:28
Specs + Story Recap - 20:23
Best Scenes - 36:26
THE Worst Scene(s) - 39:43

Do The Right Thing:
Spike Lee Bio/ Filmography - 44:55
Specs + Story Recap - 50:32
Best Scenes - 1:03:25
Worst Scenes - 1:04:34

Social Media/Final Thoughts - 1:06:40

When Harry Met Sally written by Nora Ephron - Stay tuned for Part II

Sex, Lies, & Videotape written by Steven Soderberg - Also in Part II

The Crimes and Misdemeanors of Woody Allen - Part II

Perfecting Perfection:
AKA our re-rank of the 5 nominees - You must listen to part 2 for this segment.
& our Top Movies of 1989 - Seriously, don’t stop listening after part 1, there’s a part II.

Since we’ve already released retrospectives on the other 5 of the “Big 7 Oscar Categories,” we decided to continue to complete the set and give you a Best Original Screenplay retrospective that could be both timely and insightful, and you’ll be shocked how this historical analysis is continually replayed in the news and in the movies of today. Hence, we chose 1989 because it featured writers who are still making headlines to this day. Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansmen), Steven Soderberg (Unsane), and Woody Allen (A Rainy Day in New York) all have films coming out this year, and the other two nominees, Dead Poets Society and When Harry Met Sally put forth themes and dare we say, flaws that beg to be criticized by a millennial gaze. So it’s with pride and horror that we now write this statement: nowhere in our massive catalog of episodes does a historical Oscar Category prove more relevant to our modern day, and hence (my second “hence of this paragraph”), you don’t wanna miss these two episodes.

Part I begins with a 1989 Year in Review from Mike no 1, where he recaps the news of that day, news that is eerily similar to what we are dealing with now. Hence (3!!!), why we have so many connections to these films. After we contextualize you, we dive into each nominee over these next two episodes.

Dead Poets Society is beloved by many, and we certainly applaud it’s screenwriting achievements. But we ask some serious questions about its themes and morality as we offer some razor sharp criticisms against them and writer Thomas Schulman in our review.

We then close the episode with a full breakdown of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, a landmark achievement both of us believe could play equally well in our current modern times. The tapestry of characters, the wisdom of the subject matter, and of course, the explosive ending of the film all beg to be reconsidered by today’s standards, and we sincerely try to do Spike’s remarkable film justice in our review.

Part II will cover the other three nominees and include several monstrous debates about the entire Rom Com genre in When Harry Met Sally as well as the art of an allegedly monstrous persona in Woody Allen’s despicably titled, Crimes and Misdemeanors. There’s also a film with some electric dialogue sandwiched in between those reviews in Sex, Lies, & Videotape that launched the magnificent career of Steven Soderberg. It’s essential listening (we think), and we hope you enjoy our piping hot takes.

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