When David Mamet's Redbelt was announced, the initial simple summary seemed bizarrely incongruous: A noted playwright and dramatist making a film about martial arts? But while Redbelt involves the worlds of Jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts, it's really just another way for playwright, screenwriter and director Mamet to look at the world. As martial arts instructor Mike Terry (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is taken from his noble (but underfunded) studio and plunged into the greed and glitz of Hollywood and commercial fighting.

As Mike tries to hang on to the things that matter to him in a world that dismisses honor as unprofitable, Mamet's script and direction create a film that somehow puts a philosophical twist on traditional fight films while also embodying everything we love about them. Cinematical spoke with Mamet and Ejiofor in Los Angeles.

One of the challenges of being a great artist is that not all of your art is going to be great. The Beatles wrote several songs that lesser acts would have turned into careers, but that nonetheless lack the power of "Yesterday" or the joy of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"; George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier is an excellent work of journalism, but not nearly as good as Homage to Catalonia. Redbelt, the latest film from writer-director David Mamet, is not as impressive or thought-provoking as some of his other dramatic works, like Glengarry Glen Ross or House of Games or Oleanna; at the same time, it's an exciting, engaging mix of drama and action supported by an immensely appealing lead performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things, Children of Men).

Redbelt's subject and setting may make it seem incongruous -- Why is one of America's greatest playwrights making a film about mixed martial arts and Jiu-jitsu? -- but it's actually in keeping with Mamet's other recent entertainments like Spartan, his work as a co-creator of The Unit and his pseudonymous work on the screenplay for Ronin. Redbelt fits in with these projects: They have a kind of heroic stoicism under them; they're stories of honorable men in a dishonorable world. They've all got a kind of muscular poetry, too, a hard-bitten nobility that's still a little sad about the edges.

So check out this pretty nifty Redbelt poster. Now what's interesting about the image above is that it's a "fight poster," which means it's not an actual poster FOR the movie, it's a poster promoting the big fight that takes place IN the movie. Talk about something cool to add to your geeked-out movie collection, huh? Not only that, but this poster also comes signed by David Mamet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ricky Jay, David Paymer, Emily Mortimer, Renato Magno, John Machado, and Joe Mantegna. Uh, yeah -- something tells me a lot of you folks might want one of these. Fine! Take them all, you bloody scavengers! Here's how this will play out:

You leave a comment (prior to 5PM EST on Monday, May 5) telling us why you're itching to see Redbelt. We'll then choose five random commenters, all of whom will be sent the fabulous poster featured above. It's that easy! Redbelt arrives in theaters in New York and LA tomorrow and nationwide on May 9. Check out the film's trailer, as well as the official rules for this contest, after the jump.

Who would have thought the brilliant playwright and pretty good director David Mamet would have anything in common with tasteless schlockmeister Uwe Boll? Boll once expressed a desire to fight movie critics in a boxing ring, and now Mamet has taken it a step further: he wishes all critics were dead.

Or at least that's what he told Vanity Fair. The magazine ends each issue with a "Proust Questionnaire," in which a celebrity is asked a series of frivolous-but-deep-sounding questions, usually to coincide with the promotion of the celebrity's new movie. This month it's Mamet (whose Redbelt opens May 9 May 2), and the first Q&A goes like this:

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
My idea of perfect happiness is a healthy family, peace between nations, and all the critics die.

All the critics, Dave? All of us? Aw, gee. In my high school drama class, we loved doing scenes from Mamet's plays. Granted, this was primarily because it permitted us to swear in abundance, but over time we came to appreciate his work on a deeper level, too. The way he writes dialogue -- the unusual cadences, the stylized realism -- is like music, and the intellectual themes of his plays are eternally thought-provoking.

Here it is. Just as it was gratifying to see all the hallmarks of the X-Files franchise in the X-Files 2 trailer we linked to yesterday (it's since been pulled, but will no doubt reappear in studio-sanctioned form soon), it's great to see all the David Mamet staples pop up here. Hey, there's Ricky Jay, and Joe Mantegna, and Rebecca Pidgeon! Magic tricks! Macho posturing! Hints of cons, and cons within cons! Best of all, we get to hear a little bit of that unmistakable clipped Mamet-speak:

"Excuse me. Uh, who's the...?"
"It's alright. Come in."
"I believe I..."
"Hey Joe, take the lady's coat!"

Music to my ears. And far from straying from his usual milieu with the mixed martial arts angle, Mamet seems to have used it to create another of his shady underworlds where nothing is as it seems. For fans of the man's work, watching this trailer is like settling into a comfy old recliner.

I don't know about you, but the brouhaha over David Mamet's recent pronouncement that he is "no longer a brain-dead liberal" has made me only more eager to see his forthcoming martial arts drama Redbelt. This is not because I'm a conservative and glad to see Mamet cross over to my side (I'm not), but because I'm hugely curious to see what, if anything, an ideological shift does to one of my favorite screenwriters and filmmakers. Mamet's always been a little macho; will Redbelt go all out with a crazy libertarian message of grizzled self-reliance? Will his view of human nature get even dimmer than it already was? It'll be fascinating to try and pick his brain.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tribeca Film Festival attendees will get to do it a little earlier than the rest of us. Redbelt will have a gala premiere in New York City as part of the ESPN Sports section of the Tribeca fest on April 25th. So, if you're willing to brave Tribeca crowds and prices, you can see the film a week before its May 2nd limited release -- though you'll probably need one of the fest's notoriously pricey VIP Packages (David Poland has the hilarious price breakdown on his blog) to get into the gala premieres.

Take a look at the trailer for the film here. Can't you just feel the Republican vibes?

You know, if this movie had been made by anybody else but David Mamet then I would have fully expected to catch this flick late at night on the USA network and for it to star Michael Dudikoff. One look at the trailer above, though, and you know you are not dealing with the usual action cheese.

Redbelt stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as master of Ju-Jitsu who has dropped out of the unscrupulous world of professional fighting. After he helps out a mouthy movie star in a bar one night (as played by Tim Allen) he is eventually forced back into the ring of UFC fighting to defend his honor. There is also a hint of a freaky fighter selection process involving marbles and tying your hands behind your back, but that explanation is best left to the trailer.

Appearing alongside Ejiofor are Emily Mortimer (aka, the woman with 'Avian Bone Syndrome' on TV's 30 Rock), Alice Braga (I am Legend), Ricky Jay (who you might recognize as the cameraman from Boogie Nights and a few million other films), and Joe Mantegna. Mamet, who is a big fan of Ju-Jitsu and UFC fighting, wrote the script himself, and besides a few photo releases this trailer is our first chance to see what the film is actually about. Like many, I was having a hard time reconciling a master like Mamet with this kind of subject matter, but luckily it looks like it is all going to turn out for the best. Redbelt will hit theaters in a limited release on April 25th of this year.

Well, it looks like Ultimate Fighting champ Randy Couture has caught the acting bug. Couture is a multiple title holder in the UFC, and is making his acting debut in David Mamet's Ju-Jitsu flick, Redbelt. Now, The Bad and Ugly is reporting that Couture told Columbus Ohio radio station, QFM 96.3, that he was on his way to China in the next few weeks to begin work on the big screen version of Mandrake the Magician.

The film is based on the 1934 comic strip about a magician with lightening fast hypnotic powers who, along with his partner Lothar, would battle the usual crew of comic strip bad guys (just your usual array of crime lords and mad scientists). The film will be directed by Chuck Russell, and will star Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Mandrake. According to Ugly's tipster, Couture told the DJs "...he had quite a few scenes in the movie, and that it was being billed as a cross between James Bond and Harry Houdini." The bad news -- Russell is also the director behind some fairly crappy flicks including Bless the Child and The Scorpion King -- so we should probably keep our fingers crossed that Meyers is up to the task of carrying the movie.

Back in June there had been talk from celebrity magician Criss Angel that he was in the midst of making his own movie about the hypnotist/crime fighter, but it looks like Russell and company have beat him to the punch. I wouldn't count on another magician movie battle a la The Prestige and The Illusionist -- mainly because there hasn't been a peep out of Angel's Crow-inspired adaptation since June. Mandrake has yet to find a release date, but we are bound to hear something as soon as shooting has wrapped in China and the States.

[via ComingSoon.net]

So to start with, I can't say I'm all that jazzed about watching a movie about Ju-Jitsu, but this is one directed by the master of snappy dialog David Mamet -- and so that definitely helped raised my enthusiasm level. ComingSoon.net now has two new exclusive photos from Mamet's sports-drama, Redbelt. News of the film hit last April, when Monika gave us the heads up that Chiwetel Ejiofor had been signed for the lead. Not long after that, Patrick gave us the word that Tim Allen -- that's right, Mr. Toolman Taylor himself, was set to play the spoiled movie star Chet Frank. Rounding out the cast is martial arts master Randy Couture, Joe Mantegna, Rodrigo Santoro, and Emily Mortimer. The first image was released in August and these latest hi-res photos give us the chance to see Mamet at work on set.

Mamet wrote and directed the story, which centers on Mike Terry (played by Ejiofor); the chief instructor at the Southside Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Having shunned the spotlight of competition fighting, everything changes when, "At his brother-in-law's club one evening, Mike saves a famous action star, Chet Frank, (Tim Allen) from a severe beating. His defense of Frank leads to a job in the film industry, but other events conspire to force Mike to participate in a prize fight. An American samurai film set in the world of mixed martial arts, Redbelt is a story about the limits of a single man's integrity." Sounds like a perfect theme for a 'macho' director like Mamet. Redbelt opens in theaters on April 25.

Welcome back to The Write Stuff, Stuffers! Hope you found last week's interview helpful and entertaining. Adam's closing thoughts coincided beautifully with what I had planned for this week's post. A lot of you have questions about getting an agent and making contacts, and that's all important and we'll get there. But a majority of you just want to know how to come up with an idea and get started. Read on...

1) Watch a ton of movies and read a lot of scripts.

Sure, you watch a lot of flicks already, but you need to become an active viewer. Ask yourself questions. Who is the protagonist? Who or what is the antagonist? What does the lead character want? What obstacles are standing in his or her way? How does he or she overcome them? What are the characters saying in a given scene? What are they thinking? Are these two different things?

If you're watching a comedy and it makes you laugh, how did it make you laugh? Whether it's sparkling dialogue or a kick in the balls, there's an art to it. Are you scared watching a movie? Why? Cheering the climax of a film? What got your fist in the air? See what I'm saying? And you can learn something from every film, good or bad. If you're watching a movie that sucks, why does it suck? What did this screenwriter do wrong? If it's a thriller and you're bored, why are you bored? Once you pinpoint it, you'll know what to avoid when you sit down to write your script. Try it with the next movie you watch -- really watch, and ask yourself questions.

And even better, get yourself some scripts. They're available all over the internet and at most libraries. How can you write a script if you've never read one? Study your favorites. This will help not only with story construction but also formatting, which we'll get to in the coming weeks.

Welcome back to The Write Stuff! I'm thrilled that there is such a strong interest in screenwriting out there. Thank you all so much for your comments last week, both here and on my site. All of your questions and comments will be addressed in the coming weeks, so stay tuned and keep them coming!

The first interview for the column is with red-hot screenwriter Adam F. Goldberg. Adam is living the dream. He writes for both television and film, and his upcoming movie projects include Fanboys, the live-action Jetsons movie, and They Came from Upstairs. Cinematical spoke with the incredibly busy Goldberg about his scripts, his process, and Goonies: The Musical.

Cinematical: You said you were being "enslaved by a director," what are you working on? And should I call the authorities?

Adam F. Goldberg: Perhaps call them for my hacky writing! It's called They Came From Upstairs for Fox. It's a family movie, kinda like Gremlins -- but with aliens. The spec was written by Mark Burton and was sold for like $1.7 mil. I believe I am making about .0001212 of that. It's been a really cool project. The movie was in pre-production and the studio realized the script wasn't ready and shut it down pretty late in the game. I came aboard to get the train back on the tracks which is always high pressure and very difficult to do. I handed in 40 pages and they re-greenlit the movie and we're casting and location scouting now. I'm on draft two currently, working next to the director and bringing his vision into it.

Cinematical: Is that an awkward process at all -- being brought in to re-write a fellow writer? Do you ever run into hurt feelings or bruised egos? I guess the $1.7 million makes the pill easier to swallow.

AFG: Well, I come from the TV world, writing on sitcoms and that's very collaborative. You have to sit in the room and watch 10 other writers tear apart your script right in front of you. That bruises your ego. As for movies, more often than not a writer can only go so far and it's your job to bat clean up. It's never a great feeling to have your screenplay rewritten, but hopefully you've moved onto your next project, so it doesn't sting so much. And believe me, that $1.7 payday is like winning the lottery. I hope I can sell a spec one day. I've had little luck in that department.

OK, so these are three things I bet you never thought you would see in the same sentence; Tim Allen, David Mamet, and Jiu-jitsu. ComingSoon.net has the exclusive first image from Mamet's Redbelt, and it might not tell you much about the movie, but despite the lack of information, its still a pretty dynamic-looking photo. It was back in May when Patrick had first reported that "family-man" Tim Allen had joined the cast of Mamet's "martial arts drama." Unlikely casting aside, the thought of a Mamet film set in the world of ultimate fighting is a little strange to begin with. I mean, this is the man responsible for Glengarry Glen Ross, and The Verdict. But it still makes way more sense than his upcoming family film, Joan of Bark: The Dog that Saved France -- I'm still holding out for the remote possibility that that whole thing is just a bizarre rumor.

Redbelt stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (American Gangster) as "Mike Terry, the chief instructor at the Southside Jiu-jitsu Academy." ComingSoon's description of the plot: "Although a talented fighter, he refuses to compete in professional bouts: 'Competition weakens the fighter.' Instead he trains dedicated students in the art of self-defense: bodyguards, cops. soldiers. At his brother-in-law's club one evening, Mike saves a famous action star (Allen) from a severe beating. His defense of Frank leads to a job in the film industry, but other events conspire to force Mike to participate in a prize fight." The cast includes martial arts master Randy Couture alongside Joe Mantegna, Rodrigo Santoro, and Emily Mortimer. There has yet to be any word of a release date -- all we do know is that Redbelt is expected to arrive sometime in '08.

When David Mamet is on, he is one of our finest writers. His script for Glengarry Glen Ross should be required reading for anyone aspiring to write for stage or screen. Mamet has put words in the mouths of some of the greatest actors in film history: Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, and now ... Tim Allen? It's true, Allen will star in Mamet's Redbelt. And it gets stranger -- the film is a "martial arts drama." I'm quite serious. Mamet wrote and will direct the film, which co-stars Children of Men's Chiwetel Ejiofor. Rounding out the cast are Emily "Brittle Bones" Mortimer, City of God's Alice Braga, 300's Rodrigo Santoro, Crank's Jose Pablo Cantillo, and Mamet regulars Ricky Jay, David Paymer, Joe "Fat Tony" Mantegna and Rebecca "Mrs. Mamet" Pidgeon. If that cast isn't crowded enough for you, the film also stars "martial artists and fighters" Randy Couture, John Machado, Danny Inosanto, Enson Inoue, and Ray Mancini.

According to imdb, Redbelt is "the story of Mike Terry (Ejiofor), a Jiu-jitsu master who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, choosing to instead pursue a life of honor and education by operating a self-defense studio in Los Angeles. Terry's life is dramatically changed, however, when he is conned by a cabal of movie stars and promoters. In order to pay off his debts and regain his honor Terry must step into the ring for the first time in his life." Allen will play "a troubled action star with marital problems who meets the master when he is getting pummeled in a street fight." I'm sorry, doesn't this sound like something Jean-Claude Van Damme and Gary Busey would have starred in back in 1988? And, you know, I was just about to close this article with a line about how I'm not worried because you can usually trust Mamet to deliver the goods, but then I noticed his next project is something called Joan of Bark: The Dog that Saved France! If this is an Air Bud sequel, we'll know the guy has officially lost his mind.

I am quickly coming to the decision that Chiwetel Ejiofor can do anything. It all started when I watched him as the Nigerian Taxi-driving doctor Okwe in Dirty Pretty Things. Then there was his stint as Ellis Moonsong in Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda. And even better yet, the creepy Operative in the Firefly spin-off Serenity. But before he could become predictable, he looked hot in his Kinky Boots, and then butched up perfectly for Children of Men. Now he's set to work with Oscar-nominated David Mamet.

Mamet also has his share of variety -- everything from The Postman Always Rings Twice to Joan of Bark: The Dog that Saved France. Now, according to Empire, he's taking on the world of Jiu-Jitsu with Ejiofor starring in Redbelt. Tell me if this sounds familiar: there's the seedy world of Jiu-Jitsu fighting in West L.A. A man who is sick of the sordid world has started his own self-defense class, trying to live the good life, when he gets conned. By whom? "A string of opportunist bastard movie stars and fight promoters" that lead him into the ring once again to save face. Empire is spot-on. It's like merging Rocky Balboa with Kurt Sloan, but with someone who could act the pants off of Sylvester Stallone or Jean-Claude Van Damme any day. I seriously cannot imagine something tastier than a premise that reflects the goofy machismo fighting of the '80's with great acting and writing. Maybe I can sneak on set and be Ejiofor's personal sweat-dabber.

It's been a very long time since Alicia Silverstone was the girl on the tips of our tongues. After her Cryin' Amazing explosion into the world of media, she made men drool as The Crush and later became a cult phenomenon for her portrayal of Cher in Clueless. Unfortunately, her stint in Batman & Robin stunk of all kinds of offal, which put the kibosh on Silverstonian praise. She then Missed the Match and found herself acting in Scooby Doo 2, of all things. Granted, she also had a stint in the stage version of The Graduate with Jason Biggs and Kathleen Turner, but her portrayal paled in comparison to Katharine Ross'. Now, however, she's getting absolutely stellar praise for her onstage stint in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow.

Believe it or not, her portrayal of Karen (a role originally played by Madonna) has been given such descriptors as "tour de force," "finds unexpected dimensions in Mamet's flat language as she amplifies and explicates, pouts and whines, in an extraordinary, uninhibited and totally adorable exhibition of verbal foreplay" and finally, "Silverstone's performance alone makes going to the play not only worthwhile, but, for Hollywood types, essential." While her co-stars have been told to tweak, she has seems to have shined. This is great news for the actress, and I can only hope that such glowing words will help lead her to better roles and more solid and impressive performances on-screen.