Four married couples, of whom all but one have threatening marriages, decide to embark on a fun-filled adventure to the Eden resort to get away from their daily lives and attempt to rekindle the diminished fires in their marriages. Shortly after arriving to their vacation destination they are pained to learn that the resort package they signed up for is actually a rigorous “couples skill-building” retreat. Saddened to the fact that there will be no free time to jet ski, get drunk, or enjoy most of the fun things the resort has to offer, they decide to stick to the program rather than return home.
Headed by Marcel (Jean Reno), a peace-loving and unusual psychiatrist, the couples retreat program is designed to use the beautiful Eden resort accommodations and surroundings to amplify Marcel’s unique and often odd lessons to help the couples find their inner strength and beauty. Most of the lessons and couple therapy sessions tend to be more disastrous than helpful to their marriages. The men become so torn apart from their cravings to let loose, party, jet ski, and do other fun activities that they become distant from their enthusiasm to partake in the couples retreat with 100 percent effort. At the same time the women also become distant to the retreat and the faith in their relationships that they start to question their involvement in their marriages. Eventually they make it to the other side of the resort, which is a forbidden place to their program, where the all night partying and dancing occurs, and begin to see each other in a different light and value the respect for each other that was always present but hidden somewhere in their marriage.
The writing for Couples Retreat was just not very good and completely unsatisfying. However, most of the basic elements are present for it is a fairly well set up screenplay, just poorly written. I think the character changes happened too late in the story and since I lost interest in the film very easily, I didn’t care much for the changes that went on.
The four couples and their relationship statuses are quickly and effectively set up. We learn that one couple is on the verge of divorce, one is unmarried, the other is having intimacy problems, and the fourth one seems to be doing just fine. The inciting incident happens when the couple with intimacy problems, confesses to the other three couples that their marriage might soon end. This comes to a surprise to everyone else for they seemed like the most stable of the four. The only thing that can save their marriage, they feel, is a vacation to the “Eden Prime” resorts. If all four couples attend the resort, they will get a special deal on a package that will be much more affordable to them. After much struggle, they convince everyone to go.
Plot point one happens when they find out that the package they signed up for involves no free time or fun activities. It is all based around couples relationship building and therapy. This comes as very tragic news to the group because they planned on drinking and doing fun things the whole time.
Plot point two happens when the girlfriend of the unmarried man runs away to the other side of the resort that has the all night partying and dancing. The group decides to break their resort package rules and escape to the other side to find her.
The climax finally rises in the end when they find the girl and all the couples perform a transformation when they find the inner strength of their relationships. The screenplay waited too long to come to a resolution and quickly ended after that. The character changes were bleak and predictable.
Written By: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, and Dana Fox

Zombieland

The foundation of “Zombieland”, along with the rest of the movie, is told through the perspective of Columbus (Eisenberg) through thoughtful narration. He tells us that a once peaceful society is now overrun by flesh eating cannibals with one goal, to tear you apart with their teeth and eat your flesh down to the bone. Columbus, whose name is masked the entire film after he was given this nickname by Tallahassee (Harrelson), believes, but hopes he is not, the only survivor in Zombieland. While on his way to Columbus to see if his parents are alive, he meets Tallahassee. Tallahassee is a tough and brutal zombie, hating individual with a very humorous and rambunctious personality. They decide to team up to help each other survive on the way to their destinations.
Zombieland is terrifically written and has a very nicely set up screenplay. We are established through effectively written dialogue telling us that the world has is overrun by viscous, flesh eating zombies. Only one thing left for the survivors of mankind is to survive and not be eaten. The inciting incident happens right from the beginning of the film. It is the explanation that zombies rule the world and there are potential survivors fighting for their lives. We are immediately thrown into the action.
Plot point one occurs when Columbus meets Tallahassee. At first they stand each other down at gunpoint, but quickly proceed to lower their guard and join forces. The two strong survivors embark on a mission to get their separate destinations. They later realize that where they are going is not somewhere they want to be, but rather they want to stick together.
While on a side quest to find a “Twinkie” for Tallahassee they encounter two other female survivors, Wichita and Little Rock. The first time they meet the girls con them into stealing their ride and weapons and leave them behind to defend themselves with nothing. Later on down the road they meet the girls once more, only to be fooled yet again. This time however, they stick together. The girls are on a mission to go to “Pacific Playland” in California where it is rumored there are no zombies. Plot point two occurs when Wichita tells Columbus that the place he is trying to get to, to find his parents, is a ghost town. This is the fact that causes Columbus and Tallahassee to travel to California with the girls. Their relationship builds throughout the film and they become very close. A love interest begins to form between Columbus and Wichita.
The climax of the film comes when they finally reach “Pacific Playland” after settling into a celebrity’s for a few days, the girls leave the guys one final time to travel on their own. Columbus, who has a very keen liking to Wichita, decides to go after her. He knows she will need to be saved and convinces Tallahassee to help him. Once the two men arrive at “Pacific Playland” they find it overrun by hordes of zombies trying to kill the two girls who are trapped on a ride. Columbus and Tallahassee kill all the zombies and save the girls to conclude the film. Columbus and Wichita kiss for the first time, and the four drive out of the amusement park to continue their journey for survival.

Written by: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick

Pandorum

The movie starts off by establishing the concept that the Earth is no longer a suitable home for humanity. Nearly 200 years past present time, basic necessities like food, water, and fueling products have been completely diminished by inhabitants that are included in a population of twenty-four billion. A seemingly lone fleet corporal, Bower (Ben Foster) awakes out of deep freeze with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. This is the first side effect of “Pandorum”. After realizing the power is shut down and the only exit door is jammed he waits for the only other deeply frozen companion to awaken. Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid) wakes an hour later with the same side effects of Pandorum; memory loss that will return with time. Bower and Payton conclude that they are on a spacecraft 500 billion miles from Earth containing 160 thousand frozen soldiers and civilians. The spacecraft they are on is a sleeper ship whose inhabitants will repopulate a livable new planet.
After the film is nicely established, the first plot point comes when Bower first encounters the primal-like creatures on the ship. After escaping these creatures for the first time, he knows that his adventure to restore power to the ship is going to be a difficult one. Also included in the first plot point is when Bower encounters another survivor on the ship.
The second plot point occurs when Bower and two other survivors learn about what is going on. They find out that one of the crew members affected by Pandorum released numerous inhabitants and left them on their own to survive and evolve, into the creatures, for hundreds of years. Shortly after learning their history, Bower completes his mission of restoring power to the ship.
The climax of the film comes when we find out that Payton is not who he says he really his. Bower and Payton engage in their final conflict, where only one can survive. Is Humanity saved? Or does the evil crew member affected by Pandorum rise to the top?

Written By: Travis Milloy

Sorority Row

A group of sisters of the Theta Pi sorority at one of the largest party schools decide it is a good idea to pull a prank on one of the sister’s cheating boyfriend. They give Garrett fake roofies to slip in his girlfriend’s drink and have his way with her. The prank evolves when she fakes a series of convulsions and an apparent death. The sisters and sleazy boyfriend take Megan to a run down mining area where they will pretend to dump her body. Garrett then proceeds to ruin the prank by driving a tire iron through her chest to “deflate her lungs” so she won’t float in the nearby lake. The sisters vow to throw Megan down a mine shaft along with the tire iron and never speak of the whole situation. The plot thickens when all the sisters receive a text message from Megan’s phone showing a picture of the bloody tire iron. Thus the ridiculousness and typical question of “who is killing us all one by one?” ensues.
The script of Sorority Row, although shallow and filled with wak dialogue, holds to the basics of screenwriting. All the elements are present to contribute to a traditionally set up screenplay. It first establishes that the events to occur happen to a group of sorority sisters from one of the biggest party houses on campus. The inticing incident occurs when Garrett drives the tire iron through Megan’s chest. On the basis of the genre of the movie, we know that in killing Megan, someone will take vengeance and kill all the people who were involved.
The first plot point happens when the girls and Garrett receive a text message from someone they don’t know that shows a picture of the bloody tire iron. After receiving this message, they come to the conclusion that someone is just playing a horrible joke on them.
The second plot point occurs when they find the first dead person. The first girl to be taken out was alone and just seemed to disappear to all the other girls. But during a party, the sisters find a dead body and start to believe that someone is actually out to kill them. This is also when they realize that they are at a point of no return. There is no running or hiding from their secret anymore.
The climax rises when they finally come face to face with the killer and try and defend themselves. Most of the sisters who hold the secret are dead, and the ones left must fight for their lives. At the conclusion of the movie, the sisters reveal the true identity of the killer (and what a surprise it is… not), and kill him. The only two surviving sisters think that everything is finally at end, or is it?