-
In the Spotlight
Most Famous PG Underwear Scenes in Cinema
by Jaden
A few of my writer contemporaries wrote posts recently that related their website’s topic to underwear. I couldn’t resist but to join in the fun.
Here is my countdown of the most famous *PG-esque sexless underwear scenes of the last four decades.
Lost in Translation (2003)
Never have granny-panties looked so good as on Scarlett Johansson in the opening scene of Lost in Translation, written and directed by Sofia Coppola.
The scene is written like this:
INT. CHARLOTTE’S ROOM - NIGHT
The back of a GIRL in pink underwear, she leans at a big window, looking out over Tokyo.
CUT TO:
Melodramatic music swells over the Girl’s butt in pink sheer
underwear as she lies on the bed.
TITLE CARDS OVER IMAGE.
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Written and directed by John Hughes, Molly Ringwald plays a teen girl named Samantha who gives her panties to the high school geek in exchange for information about the boy she likes, Jake.
Played by Anthony Michael Hall, Farmer Ted the geek tells Jake about Samantha, “I mean, not many girls in contemporary American society today would give their underwear to help a geek like me.”
Like Lost in Translation, these are not the sexiest panties, but the scenes written around these underwear are priceless!
Samantha’s best friend tells her, “Last night at the dance, my little brother paid a buck to see your underwear.” Samantha screams.
Risky Business (1983)
By far one of the most famous non-sexual underwear scenes is Tom Cruise dancing in his tighty-whities, singing to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘n Roll,” just after his parents leave him alone in the house.
Written and directed by Paul Brickman, I think this scene is so famous because it is something to which we can all relate. It is that embarrassing performance that most of us would never do in front of anyone else. It is that private moment alone in your underwear using some inanimate object as a microphone as you sing at the top of your lungs to your phantom audience. Come on, you know you have done it. Tom Cruise goes over the top in this scene, it was sort of the precursor to Oprah’s couch, and we love him dearly for it.
Alien (1979)
Writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett didn’t specifically write in the script what Ripley was or was not wearing, but director Ridley Scott made a fine choice dressing tough and sexy actress Sigourney Weaver in white cottons. Again, as with the other three movies, these are not the sexiest underwear and the scene has nothing to do with sex, but the way the underwear are worn and the way the scene is shot, makes for a lasting impression.
What is your favorite PG-esque underwear scene in cinema?
You may see Melissa’s brilliant panty twist on writing at Writing Forward in her article called Briefs are Not Just Underwear. Melissa was inspired by Brett Legree from 6 Weeks who wrote about why blogging for profit is like collecting underpants.
*PG-esque: Some of these movies are R-rated, but none of these underwear scenes are sexual.
Script Buzz: The Mask of Manolo by Alveraz Ricardez
by Jaden
My website and services are geared to help people make a screenplay sale in Hollywood, a Hollywood that I would like to see change.
Part of my personal life mission is to elevate people and stories that have something positive to add to the world.
With so much negativity, selfishness, violence, xenophobia, ignorance and emptiness to combat, every bit of clever positive brilliance needs all the momentum and support it can get.
We have to entertain to educate. Film is a powerful tool that can be used for good or evil. There have been stories throughout time that have moved people and changed the world forever, some making the world worse, some making it better.
As writers, we can’t all write those special stories, but we can at least try.
Alveraz Ricardez submitted 
a script to me this week called The Mask of Manolo. Knowing nothing about him, I expected the usual fledgling screenwriter with little to say and much to learn.
What I received with The Mask of Manolo was a wonderful script based on 500 years of literature, intermixed with pop culture, and psychological issues that span all humanity. All of this was presented in a rapid-fire entertaining story full of quick-witted dialog, introspective poetry, colorful relatable characters, vivid imagery, and a wacky adventure. By the title, you can guess that this adventure story has a Spanish flavor as it travels through Mexico and the south-western United States.
Alveraz’s love of literature and understanding of people is evident from his script. He also clearly understands that to reach the public, you must entertain.
For confidentiality, I can’t tell you any details about the story, but I truly hope he makes a sale with this script and that it gets made into a movie quickly because I am desperate for my friends and family to see it!
Crying by page one, laughing by page two, The Mask of Manolo is an emotional roller coaster that can help people to better understand themselves and others. Artistic and poetic, it also has potential for mass appeal. It is campy, silly, and fun, while also being profound with intellectual merit.
The best part about this script for whoever the lucky producers shall be, is that it is relatively cheap to make with potential to make a lot of money. This is a winning combo that any studio would love to have.
Wishing Alveraz Ricardez the best of luck. This is a movie I want to see!
You may learn more about Alveraz Ricardez at his kicking website:
“Zampano Films delivers lasting independent cinema. We strive to transcend the standard, indifferent movie experience and bring you independent film that is not only entertaining but innovative and engaging.”
For serious inquiries only, if you want to throw buckets of money at Alveraz Ricardez (like he deserves), you may contact him directly at:
a l v e r a z 1 (at) y a h o o . c o m
Sunday Picture Post 4 / Tip: Focus
For The Sunday Picture Post, we are going to flip upside-down the saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Thousands of words are great if you are writing a novel, but if you are writing a screenplay, you need to do the opposite and be as concise as possible.
Each Sunday I will post a picture. For your screenwriting practice in brevity, in the comments section, please post one or all of the following:
- 1 word describing the theme, mood, or scene
- 1 sentence to describe the scene
- A pitch to sell the entire movie
The more colorful and creative you are, the better! Use any genre.
A good screenwriter is laconic, using a few words to say a lot.
SCREENWRITING TIP OF THE DAY: FOCUS
Most writers have one thing in common in that they think too much.
When you write a screenplay, it is easy to get lost in your fantastic ideas and lose focus on what you set out to write. Don’t!
Stay focused.
Choose one of your best ideas. Draw up an outline. Come up with some strong subplots that you will enjoy writing and can carry your characters through the entire story. Everything must make sense with the main plot.
Whether you have a simple love story or a complex murder mystery, whatever you write, it must rotate around a central axis.
Don’t put in any dialog or actions just because you think they are clever. If it doesn’t have something to do with the main story, get rid of it. Your script needs to be tight.
When people watch movies, their brains actively try to piece together the story and make sense of what you are revealing to them. If you have unnecessary scenes, the audience is going to be frustrated, wondering why you have entered scenes or dialog that have nothing to do with the story.
Chances are, an unfocused script won’t be bought and no one will see it anyway. If your script is all over the place, going on a bunch of unexplained tangents, it will not sell.
The one thing all selling scripts (whether you like them or not) have in common is that they are focused.
Think of your script as a train on a track. You want to get from A to Z. Maybe you are doing a circular story and you are going A to Z and back to A again. Don’t get derailed. Stay on the track you selected to get to your destination. Make the necessary stops along the way that will get you there. Pick up some passengers. Drop off some. Get more fuel. Whatever. Stay on track. If you are going to Pittsburg with your dad, don’t suddenly pop up in Miami with your chihuahua. It makes no sense.
When you start going off on an unrelated tangent, you need to realize it, reverse, and get back on track.
Everything you write, ask yourself: Is this getting me to where I need to go with this story? Am I making a point, building character or story suspense? By adding in this dialog or this scene, will it pay off later? If not, toss it and write something more fitting.
Bikini Soccer: Muddy Sexy Asian Girls Movie
by Jaden
Browsing other film sites, I came across this sexy ad on 7MilesDown, and I just had to share it with you. We are guessing this ad is Japanese or Chinese; we have no idea what it says, but it’s hot! We are hoping it is a real Bikini Soccer movie. If it has not been made, it should be!
While I am on the topic of Asian soccer movies, I loved the movie Shaolin Soccer 
If anyone has any information on this sexy bikini soccer ad or speaks whatever Asiatic language is written there, please explain. In the meantime, we will just enjoy the fantasy of this mystery ad.
Do Trendspotting and Action = Success?
by Jaden
Inspired by reading “Punk Rock Your Life: The Simple Six-Letter Word That Determines Success” by Copyblogger Brian Clark as a guest writer for Zen Habits, my passion for punk rock and the pondering of success flared; I want to expand on the topic for screenwriters.
Brian ended his post with: “Why did I just tell you a story about punk rock and independent music? Well, lots of people can spot trends and have great ideas, but only some do anything about it. So, what’s the six-letter word that determines success in life? Action.”
On what one chooses to take action is a matter of opinion and preference. One does not have to like whatever is the latest trend — usually I don’t. Success can be found in any genre or any ground-breaking or old thing.
Action is one serious deciding factor that can lead to success, for without action, a person has nothing, but in and of itself action won’t ensure success. Nor is success founded on innovation.
Think about coffee and burgers… I mean how many more chains do we really need? Yet new ones start up all the time to the open arms of success. These new businesses take action, yes, but burgers and coffee are nothing new, rather it is the business model and marketing that earns their success.
Does jumping on the bandwagon of something cutting edge equal success? Definitely not!
Screenwriters, I would advise avoiding current trends because by the time your script is finished, sold, and made into a movie, it will be so passé that audiences may be turned off. If you are going to jump on the train du jour, you better have a quick route to the final product or you might be left in the dust with a big flop on your hands.
The risk-takers and those who are on the fringe earn my respect, but they are not the people raking in the dough, not at first anyway. Initially, there are more obstacles to breaking into the industry for them, but the reward and career longevity for ingenuity are greater.
There are millions of copycats (musicians, writers, filmmakers, painters) who spend their life in action, yet achieve little or no success. Action and trendspotting alone are not enough.
Whether your product or idea is new or not, ultimately, does not matter, it is whether you have a successful marketing and business plan. As an artist, often you will have a team of people who handle these things. Unless you are an artist like Picasso or Warhol, or even a person like Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, your brain probably can’t handle the self-promoting part of the biz and it shouldn’t. You need to surround yourself with a strong team of agents, publicists, and people in your industry.
“The Future is Unwritten” is an excellent music 
documentary that illustrates these points. It is about the lead singer of The Clash and how he had to make some cutting choices along the way to achieve success by the orchestration of his manager.
When I was in college, I worked in a nightclub. The first time Korn played there, the only people in the huge place were a handful of my heavy metal friends who were always there and could dig on the new sound that until this point had never been heard (heavy bass with screaming angry vocals contrasted with gentle eerie vocals).
Several months later, Korn played the exact same show to a full house spilling over with 2,000 + people. Why? They did a publicity stunt with the local radio station announcing a cheap $3 entrance. Their song and this ad ran every day, many times a day for a month. Next thing I knew, Korn became a huge success.
A band called Far who played the same sound and shows as Korn, debatably with more talent, fell into obscurity. Why? No marketing. No strong representation.
Who else came through the joint? No Doubt, Marilyn Manson, and many more who also started out with nothing. What catapulted them to great success? It was not only the action of playing music, but rather great gimmicks, good managers and marketing angles.
It is often the people behind the scenes working their magick who hoist artists and entertainers to such heights. Success and fame are not accidents, they come from calculated plans created by hard-working driven intelligent business-minded people.
In regards to screenwriters specifically, you can be in the action of writing for your entire life. You can even write stories of better quality than any Oscar winning screenplay. You can go to every single movie and gripe about how much better you write. Without the right direction, without the right representation, without the right filmmakers, and without the right marketing strategy, you could easily remain in writer obscurity for all eternity.
No one is going to pound down your door and say: Look world, I have found the greatest writer of all time! Those sorts of success stories are myths. Your success relies on some talent, lots of work, staunch determination, and intelligent alliances with people who are masters of marketing, publicity, and the business. Oh… and how could I forget, you’ll need a lot of LUCK!
-
Subscribe
content rss