Writing
May 25, 1970
Drew McWeeny
Writing
Biography
Drew McWeeny (born May 26, 1970), also known by his pseudonym Moriarty, is a film critic, screenwriter, and the former west coast editor of the Ain't It Cool News website. In a December 2008 review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, McWeeny announced that he would be leaving Ain't It Cool News to work for HitFix.com. He attended, but did not graduate from, Florida State University, instead choosing to focus on a career in entertainment in Los Angeles. He has two sons, Toshiro Lucas McWeeny, born in 2005 and Allen Miles McWeeny, born in 2008. McWeeny was the subject of controversy in 1999 when a screenplay he had co-written was favorably reviewed by Harry Knowles on the website "Ain't It Cool News". In reviewing the script, Knowles did not disclose that McWeeny was a regular contributor to the website under the name "Moriarty". Film Threat magazine would later accuse Knowles of lacking journalistic integrity. At the time McWeeny was working as a closed caption editor at VITAC. McWeeny, along with partner Scott Swan, has since become a working television writer, writing two episodes in the Masters of Horror series, both directed by John Carpenter. The pair also co-wrote the episode "Skin and Bones" for the NBC horror/suspense anthology television series Fear Itself. In May 2008 it was announced that "Bat Out of Hell", a motion picture written by McWeeny and Swan, would be directed by Joe Dante. He also continues to work as a film critic, though he has been banned from Twentieth Century Fox press screenings.
Feature Films (11)
A feature length, eight part documentary that covers everything from pre-production to adapting the source novel to casting to shooting to post and marketing. This is an amazing in-depth piece and it's notable how many women were involved in this production, from several Lionsgate executives to novelist Suzanne Collins herself. Jennifer Lawrence talks about her "hypocrisy" in not wanting to do a big budget blockbuster after having devoted herself to indies (despite X-Men, which she seems to discount somewhat). There's also a nice sequence on the strength and weight training the actors went through and the stunts that are so notable in the film, as well as having to dance around the violence implicit in the story due to the planned PG-13 rating the filmmakers were aiming for.
The World Is Watching: Making the Hunger Games
In 1974, Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky embarked on the quixotic project of adapting Frank Herbert's influential novel Dune (1969) for the big screen. After investing two years, and millions of dollars, the gigantic project ended in failure; but the artists Jodorowsky brought together to carry it out continued to work together, and ended up laying the foundations for modern science fiction cinema.
Jodorowsky's Dune
Home video changed the world. The cultural and historical impact of the VHS tape was enormous. This film traces the ripples of that impact by examining the myriad aspects of society that were altered by the creation of videotape.
Rewind This!
A tribute to the work of Alfred Hitchcock, featuring contemporary filmmakers, writers, performers, and cultural critics.
Hitchcocked!
A redneck with an uncanny knack for getting arrested becomes the star of his own reality program.
Run Ronnie Run
A documentary about how the critically acclaimed film wound up being a box office disappointment, only to become regarded as a classic over a decade after its initial release.
The Giant's Dream: The Making of the Iron Giant
A documentary charting the rise and fall (and inevitable undead rise) of fictional killer Jason Vorhees from the Friday the 13th series, which takes in the "video nasty" phenomenon in general.
The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees
Documentary focusing on the history of splatter cinema from the theatre of The Grand Guignol to the cutting edge work of "Final Destination 2." Produced for the "Final Destination 2" DVD.
Bits and Pieces: Bringing Death to Life
An investigation of the cop movie phenomena with some of Hollywood’s most intriguing filmmakers, actors, and personalities.
Shooting the Police: Cops on Film
Filmmakers, actors, critics, and pop culture pundits pay tribute to Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 classic.
Reservoir Dogs Revisited
Television & Series (3)
Film lovers examine the cinematic moments that thrilled, perplexed, challenged and forever changed them in this collection of visual essays.
Voir
Look back at the greatest geek year in films ever - 1982 - featuring stars, directors, writers, producers and pop culture historians sharing their insights about legendary movies that year.
Greatest Geek Year Ever! 1982
Through trials, false starts, injuries and near death experiences, the team behind "The Lord of the Rings" built a whole world from scratch, invented new technologies, making and breaking a studio in the process.