6D - New Student Edition - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 6, 2000 SO YOU WANT TO WRITE MOVIES? 0 'Ghost' scribe climbs a spiritual 'Ladder By Erin Podoisky Daily Arts Writer .......... .............................. Fugitive' writer talks Life' at 'U' 0 Cinema CEO and U In 1990, two films were released hot on the heels of one another Robert Shaye and with only a few slight similarities to tie them together: they both dealt Foundation. with the supernatural and they were both written by the same man. The James Gind One, armed with three name-brand stars, you've probably heard of. Series invites variou One, starring an actor whom has been consistently robbed of j' and filmmakers in t nominations and awards over the past to the University to ten years, you probably haven't. Joel Rubin students and facult "Ghost" opened to audience raves Screenplays include : seminars, screen fil and box office adoration a few short Jacob's Ladder es and readings, an months before the darker, less straight- Ghost provide their persor forward "Jacob's Ladder." Screenwriter Deep Impact those interested inI Bruce Joel Rubin penned both. He won - Visited coa mpis in writing and ftmmal an Academy Award for his screenplay October 1999. Alpl Atos ccurtj for "Ghost." In addition to being made at the same time, "'Ghost' and 'Jacob's Ladder' were actually shot at the same° studio, so I just had a bike on the lot and would go back and forth1 between them," Rubin said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. S re "Jacob's Ladder" was a project that Rubin had been fascinated with from the start. "I had a Patricia Rozema dream of a man Screenplays include: being trapped Jfanslield Park under a sub- I Heard the Visited ca singing That was mere- Jan uurv 2000. ly the begin- ning. He pumped out the screenplay, filled with spiritual musings and a devastating final twist that rivals the recent film "The Sixth| . Sense" for potency. Audiences did not respond in Ne LiR kind, instead opting for the more viewer-friendly, campus on Oc feel-good Rubin offering of "Ghost." 7,.999to att "Jacob's Ladder" was directed by Adrian Lynn dedication oft ("Fatal Attraction"). Rubin credits Lyne with properly Ars SeriesV taking Rubin's inferno-like blueprint the Donald Ha sicript and creating the visuals that Toby imnrich- ScreenwritiOg the story required. There were the Screenplay: second of the occasional arguments, though, par- Frequency Bldg. next to ticularly over a climactic scene thati df a il Film and Vide ended up a little more subdued in the -.Visite camp fc film than was originally planned (a April 2000. low-quality version of the original scene can ne iound on the "Jacob's Ladder" DVD). Rubin has also written such films as "My Life" (which he also directed and produced) and "Deep Impact." While "Deep impact" may seem on the surface like an odd choice for a man whose work had previously been nothing if not personal, See RUBIN, Page 8D writing Screenwriter Jeb Stuart, never one to lie but certainly not above putting a spin on something, finally came clean on the origin of the classic Bruce Willis line, "Yippee ki-yay motherfucker!" from "Die Hard." "I think a lot of people take credit for it and that's usually the way it goes in the movies. It was not originally in the script, per se. I think Bruce added a little touch to it but there Jeb Stuart was something very similar to that in the screenplays include: script," Stuart, who wrote the film, said in The Fugi ti Ve an interview with The Michigan Daily. Die Rard "That's the way it goes. What I will d 48 Hours is I always take credit for something that - Vis ite d c amp us in turns out great and I distance myself from April 2000. it and blame it on the actor when it screws up," he said, chuckling. Primarily known for his work on action movies, Stuart had an interesting entry into Hollywood's ranks. "I went through a sort of academic course to get to screenwriting, which is kind of unusual. I did a masters at Chap Hill in communications, and off o that masters I spike Lee was then Screenplays include; accepted intoa Summer of Sam program ..at Jlalcola X Stanford Uni- Do the Right Thing versity and did -Visited camp~us in another mas- Febraarv 2000. ters in commu- nication which focused only on screenwriting," Stuart said. He then did a year-long fellowship througl Stanford, although the program is now adminis- tered through the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "It allowed me to write a screenplay which I then sold to a studio in Hollywood and got on the other side of the fence," he said. "It was kind of an unusual way to get into the business. Most people get in sort of non-academically." That first screenplay knocked around for 12 years before finally getting made and released in 1997 as "Switchback." "That was from what they call a 'calling card' script and it wa optioned at Columbia Pictures. It was cast and all ready to g hnd then it never was made,"Stuart said. "But on the strength of that script I was offered a five-script :ontract at Disney, which was just getting reorganized. This vas 1985 and that's when Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg came in and took over the studio. They were See STUART, Page 7D ne Cn- :tber end the visiting and 311 Coltec-> cn the Frieze the .o main ....... I L U .1 Actress alum gets 'Down' 0 t: Look for our semi-annual and edgy in younger genre AAror" R ESTA U R A NT 'iU IDE to be inserted into The Michigan Daily's Monday, September 11th edition. The only. restaurant ide ublishedr students! 67~a By Christopher Cousino Daily Arts Writer Who can say they've shared a liplock with handsome hotty Ryan Phillipe, the goofy, cute Freddie Prinze, Jr. and the heartstopping Jared Leto? None other than 1995 University graduate Selma Blair. And she's not complaining. "That seems to be all I do these days and God bless it. It's not a bad way to make a living,"jokes Blair. Her most recent peck on the lips comes with. Prinze, Jr. in this past winter's teen flick "Down To You." "Down To You" is a stbrt of firsklove between Al (Prinze, Jr.) and Imogen £Julia Stiles) set during the college years in New York