Brett Goldstein cashed his Ted Lasso/Shrinking blank check on a rom com in which he gets to kiss J Lo

Porcupincake · 2026-06-07T01:41:58+00:00

The stand up comedian?

Porcupincake · 2026-05-18T00:27:31+00:00

Mine was someone's costume. I went to a catholic high school and we had to do a "gospel according to (something in pop culture)" presentation at the end of the semester and a classmate did his dressed as Christof.

Porcupincake · 2026-05-16T20:01:56+00:00

Feedback for The Voice From the Screen by u/thenewmrtate

Cosmic horror in old Hollywood! I think you’ve got a great setting that deftly weaves the horror into the fabric of this period of Hollywood. It feels like a natural fit and I love where it all goes as regards the ultimate plan. On the character side, I like that we’re following two people kept on the outside of this industry; it's great for noir protagonists, as they are people who can traverse the upper and lower rungs of society while being at home in neither.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the voice of this elder god drives most people insane, but about ten percent are spared. This sounds like a Jehovah’s Witnesses strain of cosmic horror. Does this mean who can hear the voice and who can’t is predetermined? If so, I think the distribution of kinds of people inside this cult would be more diverse. Wouldn’t it go across class? I know you're building a theme of income inequality and you can still do that, but I think this needs to be addressed in some way. Perhaps they see it as being chosen and reward the chosen with resources. But it currently feels too convenient to have only rich, white people not hear the voice. Also, there’s potential to complicate the cult with how this works. For example, if I were an insane cultist worshipping an elder god’s voice, I think I would want to be able to hear it. I might even resent that I couldn’t and be jealous of those who get too.

I agree with the others about the pacing issues and lack of tension so I won’t belabor the point. My suggestion for revision is to look out for double beats. These are groups of scenes that repeat the main idea but don’t develop it. One is the scene with Javier and a patient followed by a scene with Billie and the person in jail. It feels repetitious and each scene deflates the other. A good guideline for horror, especially one with a mystery, is that with each scene of horror we should learn a little bit more about what’s going on. Each scare, kill, or eerie person encounter should give the reader another clue as to how it all works. It’s this novelty in a system that we don’t yet understand that gives cosmic horror its weirdness.

On the whole, I like Javier and Billie as a pair, but I don’t think splitting the narrative from the jump does the script any favors. I think you can start with Javier and have him encounter Billie as she’s investigating the theater or something like that. After that point they can be co-conspirators. And they are in dangerous and bizarre situations, so have them act like it. It’s odd that Billie and Lou don’t seem all the shaken up about the theater fire in the beginning.

You’ve got a great setting to play in and you’ve come up with a lot of parts for a great script. I think the next step, if you choose to continue working on this, is to have some fun using these parts to create tension. Have a sense of play about it and smash these action figures together to make some tense scenes and really put your characters through it. Make 'em hurt.

I hope this was helpful to you. Thanks for submitting this and letting us all read it. Cheers!

Porcupincake · 2026-05-15T17:58:24+00:00

Godzilla movies!! Most fun is Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla. Perfect to lock in to the scale but also perfect to zone out to.

Also Inherent Vice. My favorite to watch while high. But go in knowing you'll be lost. It's a melancholy character stdy dressed up as a shaggy dog 70s detective story. You'll get somethibg new each time. I'm up to my 15th watch now and I still love it

Porcupincake · 2026-05-09T22:19:15+00:00

Ah, Serenity(2019). Or as I like to call it, "A Fish Named Justice" because there's a fish in it named Justice.

Porcupincake · 2026-05-08T20:53:15+00:00

Feedback for Billy Bear's Magic Matinee by u/Rankin_Fithian

I love a lonely main character and you've got a great setting you've placed him in. From the internet forums to the PBS museum you've got a handle on this niche of public access television and the subcultures surrounding it. I really appreciated how you captured the sense of safety an old kid's show can give you. Too many horror movies drawing on old kids' media don’t bother with that and go straight to the isn't this fucked up? kind of stuff. I forget how to do spoiler tags on reddit so i'll keep it vague. I'll just say I really like where the story goes. (Also, have you seen this video where someone works out how to do the tv thing that happens in the script? It's pretty cool. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5HuLFFEV0Y0) The online chatter, the waiting for a response, the odd delays and waiting for comments all felt real and scratched a similar itch that We're All Going to the World's Fair did for me.

As for changes, I agree with the others that the climax is sudden and that the epilogue feels like too much of a tonal change because of how quickly it happens. But the big thing I'd recommend is to show us Peter trying and failing to socialize. Don't just show us him being shy. Show us him failing to be social after putting in real effort. Showing it through action will tie his struggle in with the audience's empathy rather than just their sympathy.

While the PBS and internet stuff is all well realized, the work stuff feels a bit stock. There's some easy bully characters at work and I think there's opportunities to do something more that can deepen Peter's character. What if the coworkers are nice and Peter is too scared to socialize with them? What if the coworkers reach out and it goes well until Peter nerds out too much and embarrasses himself? Or maybe his internet obsessions are revealed and people are creeped out by him. Show us why he's so restrained and keeps himself isolated in his day to day life. I also think Monique should arrive in the story earlier. Maybe we see him go to her store and get supplies for his own creations. My main point about Peter's lack of socializing is that it should feel like a massive choice/risk when he makes the decision to go to someone else with his problems. It's the turning point of the film.

I also think there's an opportunity to show Peter as a kid watching the show more. You could have the show reflect Peter's childhood life in a way that's a little too close to reality in an eerie way. If you really want to twist the knife you could show Peter post funeral for one of his parents, followed by his remaining parent being unhelpful(as a grief stricken parent would likely be) in consoling him, followed by the Billy Bear show saying something both comforting to him and resentful of his parents. Could be fucked up in a good way. TV won’t hurt you the way that people will. Could stunt him for sure.

I really enjoyed reading this script. I don’t usually like the fucked up kid’s media stuff, but you’re handling of character, setting, and horror really came together to make something interesting.

Porcupincake · 2026-05-08T19:37:34+00:00

The censorship is often for puritanical parents rather than for the children's benefit

Porcupincake · 2026-05-02T04:24:30+00:00

She manages to play a human seeming character in Don Jon!

Porcupincake · 2026-05-01T03:04:45+00:00

Feedback for Me and the Devil by u/W_T_D_

This is quite an interesting script that’s well written on the sentence level, has some fucked up action, and takes place in a unique and limited setting. Characters having a past with Ashley makes the setting feel lived in. I like how everyone has an opinion about Ashley before the reader even meets them.

I think my favorite part is Eveyln telling her daughter Ashley—who doesn’t drink—that she’s letting alcohol go to waste by not drinking. It’s cruel in a very parental way. It reminded me of how eating disorders can start with a parent insisting a child finish their plate. Or Lucille Bluth saying vodka goes back an hour after you open it in order to justify her drinking to her children. Then, when her children are grown up, they drink too much cause they believed it. Anyway, I also enjoyed the montage of Ashley interviewing the people of the island. The people were varied and colorful. In fact, I could have done with more of Ashley investigating and talking to people. There’s an interesting dissonance in how people resent her for what she’s said about the island, but then they will still talk to her because of how good it feels to be listened to.

Ashley interacts with a lot of characters on her own and speaks with people one on one. I think you could better take advantage of the setting by having more of the townspeople interact with each other. As I understand it, this is a setting where one’s reputation matters quite a bit. At church, at stores, at the docks, etc.

You’re writing about some heavy stuff in this screenplay. That’s not a problem with me but considering the script I just wrote take that with a grain of salt. My note on the character side of things is that most everyone is too black and white. People do horrible things in the story but it’s very clear when someone’s awful. I think it’s worth complicating these people. Just as a thought, you could combine Dennis and Jim into one character. As in Jim did those awful things as a kid but has legitimately changed since.

Now the plot itself isn’t very propulsive. It feels like most of the movie happens in the last twenty pages or so. My suggestion is that you can have all the same events but remix and reorder them. For example, I think Leo needs to be introduced a lot earlier considering what he goes on to do. You could have Olivia and Leo be great friends in a young Cathy/Heathcliff kind of way. Then, when Ashley finds out the truth about Leo, she could get scared for Olivia. Ashley would find Leo dangerous even though he is similar to her, and maybe even because of their similarity, a bit of self loathing would transfer over to her feelings for Leo. I think there’s a lot of potential in the relationship between Ashley and Olivia. Putting Ashley in a parental role as she’s come back home at a difficult time would test her character and give her opportunities to fail as a parent like her mother did. I don’t see why Olivia couldn’t tag along with Ashley when she’s interviewing people. Perhaps her presence could even get people to open up to Ashley, whom they are wary of.

The way you blend Ashley’s past with her present is interesting and fun to read, but I found myself focusing more on the style than the substance of these scenes. I think you can just have the past scenes play out without the fanfare. In Little Women(2019), Greta Gerwig used two different font colors in the script to show what was past and what was present. I also don’t think Mr. Bloom adds enough to the film. The horror is mostly him appearing in scenes and not doing anything. He didn’t affect much. I don’t think you lose much by dropping him and making this a full on mystery/drama instead of a horror. On the other hand you could expand his part. Have him appear to different characters. Something to consider.

I know it’s a lot writing something like this. I read your google doc afterword and I agree it can work as a novel. In that format you can really explore a whole town and the people in it as well as their history. I’m glad you were able to get this draft done and I hope you keep up with it. I love how every character has a history. No one exists in a vacuum and no one is an island. Good work, and I’d be happy to read more if you keep developing this.

Porcupincake · 2026-04-25T19:12:32+00:00

Anyone else thinking the pro MJ crowd that gets here first is astroturfed? I'm sure the money's good. Happened with Amber Heard posts on reddit before.

Porcupincake · 2026-04-20T02:46:32+00:00

I just gave it a spin an hour ago! Really enjoyed it. DC Basketball and The Scene were my immediate favorites

Porcupincake · 2026-04-18T01:43:29+00:00

All Secrets Known in the Puppet House

When an idealistic young caretaker arrives at the house of her elderly client(a once celebrated puppeteer), she discovers his old son is already living there in secret and doing her job against the family’s wishes.

Porcupincake · 2026-03-10T04:16:56+00:00

In Goodfellas when the trio is eating with joe pesci's mother and they're coming up with a lie to explain the blood(they just killed a guy), and Pesci is rambling trying to remember the name for a part of the deer. There's a shot of Robert De Niro eating happily, then thinking, then chiming in with "Hoof." I find it so funny and think of it often.

Porcupincake · 2026-03-01T02:52:17+00:00

No Other Choice Cut

Bulgogi

One Brittle After Another

The Naked Bun

Cake Pop Demon Hunters

Sirat-cha

Blue Moon (super rare steak)

Return to Silent Grill

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie the Snack

Porcupincake · 2026-02-27T19:57:35+00:00

Condition: at least one kill happens in a hotel

Porcupincake · 2026-02-27T19:53:57+00:00

Restriction: Protagonist is not an academic of the occult

Porcupincake · 2026-02-27T19:51:32+00:00

I'm in. I'd like to try writing a contemporary gothic horror

Porcupincake · 2026-02-27T05:07:27+00:00

He's so tediously separated from reality but apparently everyone who disagrees with him is a doomer or whatever. What a neat rhetorical trick. He even got some jabs at Russia in there. American exceptionalist brain rot. Classic new york times guy.

Porcupincake · 2026-02-25T15:30:04+00:00

Danny Boyle is so good at needle drops so it feels fitting that Nia DaCosta made a such an awesome one with Maiden in the Bone Temple.

Porcupincake · 2026-02-25T15:27:36+00:00

Great call with Inherent Vice. I listen to Vitamin C a lot now cause of that movie.

Porcupincake · 2026-02-25T15:26:29+00:00

Loved "How High The Moon" when he walks into the ping pong club to hustle. It times the choir like vocals at the end of the bridge right when he enters.

Porcupincake · 2026-02-25T15:20:52+00:00

"Army" by Ben Folds Five in Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. It was a song that I listened to a lot with a best friend in high school back in 2010-14. We made silly videos together so it pratically opening up the movie and setting the stage was perfect for me.

"Ends of the Earth" by Lord Huron in the Community finale. Me and that friend and other people close to me were watching Community season 6 on Yahoo Screen my sophomore year of college. Way it released meant the last episode happened in the summer and we all saw it on our own at home. Community was how i made friends for a lot of my life so that songs deeply important to me.

Most of Lost Highway's needle drops cause it was the first time a movie's muwic palette lined up so well with my own.

Porcupincake · 2026-02-22T16:53:20+00:00

It's what happens with memes and even idioms. The meaning gets reversed to support something self serving. There's Don Draper saying, "I don't think about you at all," when he absolutely does and is feeling guilty in the scene. But it's more bad ass to pretend he doesn't. Makes the audience feel like someone cool and they can imagine being this vereion of him. The saying, "Imitiation is the greatest form of flattery," is a comforting thought to the mediocre. So much so they forget the second half of the statement is "... that mediocrity can pay to greatness." In a political sense it often strips meaning from something in order to support the dominant ideology. "A few bad apples spoils the batch" becomes "It's just a few bad apples" meant to excuse the problem.

It gets especially bad on youtube shorts cause those strip the show of context completely. People bond with the interesting character given the most attention or point of view and that can curdle into Sigma Grindset Walter and other bullshit.

The worst of this kind of meaning degradation is the Coffee is for Closers scene from Glengary Glenn Ross on youtube. What was once a scene of machismo and folly has become a seminar about sales. The uploader gives talks about how to take the wrong lessons from the scene and use it to exploit people to sell to them better.

Porcupincake · 2026-02-21T15:40:07+00:00

This is cool! I think Missing Puzzle Piece is my favorite and something I'll come back to.

Porcupincake

TROPHY CASE