What's a MITH? Not a
myth, you moron, a MITH.
Well, that's something you'll have to find out for
yourself. I had to after reading "Save the Cat! Goes
to the Movies" and I wasn't sure I'd get anything
out of it.
I mean on the cover it seems cutesy, but the
introduction almost suggests it's going to tell us
something we already know. Does it? Well, upon
reading the first chapter, I found I couldn't stop
reading, and that's because Blake Snyder does tell
us stuff we already know, but then... he surprises
you too.
What's a MITH? Once you discover what it is you'll
find it almost impossible to watch "Alien," and
"Jaws" again without referring back to the book and
the themes Snyder so classifies with amusement.
"Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies" breaks down
almost every story ever told and shows us that there
are always common links that bring them together as
on story.
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What does Snyder prove by this book? He shows us
that there's really no such thing as originality in
the world of fiction. There never really was.
Everything is derived from something. Every single story has been
recycled, rehashed, and approached from different
angels for decades in books and movies, and... there's
really nothing wrong with that.
From the individual prophesized to bring a certain
part of a world to peace by fighting an evil force,
to a knife wielding psycho, it's all relative and
it's all so much fun to read. Snyder's writing
doesn't have a single air of pretension to it, so
"Save the Cat!" goes down smooth and has an
utterly wonderful sense of entertainment to it.
Snyder single
handedly brings down some of the best and worst
films ever made, and reveals to us that we're
essentially watching the same stories over and
over, but with a greater creative angle. Stories
most times are really just the same concepts
redone, but there's no reason why we can't put a
new twist every now and then. That's what
storytelling is.
Snyder's novel is
great, and as a film freak, I loved reading his
dissections of so many movies in simple pleasing
bullet points.
-
Felix Vasquez Jr.
10/30/07 |
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