John and Craig stand waist-deep in rotten tomatoes and ask, what can we learn from bad movies? Resisting the urge to walk out, they explore ways to evaluate a movie’s problems, interrogate your taste, and turn a real stinker into an opportunity to grow as a writer.
We also follow up on Lifetime movies, colored pages and AI screenwriting, and answer listener questions on weirdo characters and the validity of a ghostwriter.
In our bonus segment for premium members, when is it okay to bail on something you no longer enjoy? We look at when to bounce on books, friendships and more.
Links:
* [WGAW Good and Welfare Emergency Assistance Loans](https://www.wga.org/members/finances/good-welfare-emergency-assistance-loans)
* [AI Screenwriter job posting](https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/3987023540/)
* [Pageant of the Masters](https://www.foapom.com/)
* [Pageant of the Masters Brings Art to Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6fg95StXm0) from the Wall Street Journal on YouTube
* [Arrested Development – The Living Classics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9-zi-qKg8I)
* [Severance](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance/umc.cmc.1srk2goyh2q2zdxcx605w8vtx) on Apple TV+
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [Check out the Inneresting Newsletter](https://inneresting.substack.com/)
* [Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/gifts) or [treat yourself to a premium subscription!](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/)
* Craig Mazin on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@clmazin) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/clmazin/)
* John August on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@johnaugust), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) and [Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Pascui Rivas ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by [Matthew Chilelli](https://twitter.com/machelli).
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/654standard.mp3).
**UPDATE 10-7-24:** The transcript for this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2024/scriptnotes-episode-654-how-to-watch-bad-movies-transcript).