WORKING ON:
I finished DEMONS ON A DEAD END STREET this weekend while watching the Colts scrape past the Browns. Mailed it off this morning, fingers crossed. PETER ROTTENTAIL polish tonight. Apparently more of RAZORTEETH got shot this weekend in Pennsylvania, and the good weather is holding.

READING:
I've started MCKENZIE'S FRIEND by Philip Davison, a nicely hard-boiled British spy/detective novel with an interesting protagonist and a crisp writing style.

LISTENING TO:
THE CRAZED by Ha Jin, a book on tape in the car. It takes place in China post-Cultural Revolution and pre-Tiananmen Square, the time I visited as an exchange student one summer, so it has been compelling to me despite a jumbled narrative thus far.

MORE OF AMONG US:


CUT TO:
EXT. COFFEE SHOP -- AFTERNOON
Through a picture window, Billy and Jennifer are seen having coffee.
CUT TO:
INT. COFFEE SHOP -- CONTINUOUS
BILLY
We were scouting a location someone offered us for a film.
JENNIFER
What movie?
BILLY
It doesn't matter what movie.
JENNIFER
It matters to me. I said I would only come if you answered all of my questions. And I want to know who else's life you're ready to exploit.
BILLY
Nobody, it wasn't that kind of movie. It was...look, I'm working in couples movies these days.
JENNIFER
(scoffs)
A romantic movie? You? Didn't you already make "Bride of Bigfoot?"
BILLY
Yeah, yeah, okay.
JENNIFER
So what is this movie called?
Billy takes a breath.
BILLY
"Cornhole Cabin Part 12."
Jennifer absorbs this for a long moment, then bursts out LAUGHING.
BILLY (CONT'D)
Yeah, well, now you know I didn't make millions off your back like you've always thought. I still have to work for a living.
JENNIFER
So tell me, Billy...is there a big audience for log cabin fetishes, or is it the just the large number of places away from prying eyes that has kept this "franchise" alive?
Billy shakes his head.
BILLY
You know, it's hard to bring something fresh to the project after eleven straight films.
Jennifer shakes her head.
JENNIFER
I thought you were being sincere. For the briefest second. Just a sliver of light through the clouds. What was I thinking?
(beat, to herself)
What was I thinking.
Jennifer leans forward.
JENNIFER (CONT'D)
When you went to the movies as a kid, and you looked up at the screen...Star Wars, E.T., Close Encounters, whatever...did you ever sit there and think...I will never be in the same league as those people.
Billy sits very still. Then he gets up and leaves the frame.


Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.