Here's what Jeremiah Kipp wrote about Almereyda in an online encyclopedia... "Almereyda moved to New York, working on a screenplay about the inventor of modern electricity, Nikola Tesla. That unproduced script secured him a literary agent and Almereyda went off to Hollywood, becoming a script doctor for hire. Some of his dialogue remains in Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven, 1990), perhaps more so than in his credited work on a botched sci-fi comedy called Cherry 2000 (Steve De Jarnatt, 1987). He penned the first draft of Until the End of the World (Wim Wenders, 1991) and scripts for renowned filmmakers Tim Burton and David Lynch. While this allowed Almereyda the opportunity to meet some of his contemporaries, he found the screenwriter's trade disenfranchising. The Lynch and Burton films were never made. His first attempt at directing was a 35mm short called A Hero in Our Time (1985), based on the story by Mikhail Lermontov. What resulted was a Los Angeles film noir starring Dennis Hopper, but one that Almereyda didn't have the resources to properly finish. He went from that to his wildly uneven first feature, Twister (1990), a project plagued with difficulties. This portrait of a dysfunctional family in the Midwest featured an excellent cast of character actors: Harry Dean Stanton, Crispin Glover, Suzy Amis, Tim Robbins, even a cameo by William S. Burroughs. But it never finds its visual or metaphorical footing, cursed by an inappropriate soundtrack and too-quirky characters that rarely feel grounded in emotional reality. It's more interesting as an entry point for Almereyda, his initial dealings with the comedy of miscommunication and tragedy of familial struggle that runs throughout his work." I disgree with his assessment of Twister, which I think is one of the funniest movies made in the last twenty years (maybe it's because of its treatment of the "artist") and one that breaks free of almost every American movie convention and then decides European cinema has nothing to teach it either. It's based on Mary Robison's cult classic novel Oh. Crispin Glover shines as darkly as crushed coal and simpers insanely throughout, sometimes posing as though he's in a 17th century European painting, sometimes spending afternoons pretending he's hanging out in Warhol's circle and doing the whip dance in his bedroom...bascially just acts as though he were starring in his own home movies. And Kipp totally "didn't get" what Almereyda was doing with the soundtrack, which is actually "spot on" for the sort of movie he's making...a young child's "ghost c.d." is an important part of liminal sound, as are parodies of southern anthems...uses of vibraphone to suggest drama...just lots of atavistic takes on musical "cues" abound and it worked for me. William Burroughs has a remarkable cameo (it's amusing to watch the way Suzy Amis and Crispin Glover are totally destabilized by Burroughs' presence in that scene...watch them...they are just suddenly standing outside the movie mentally slackjawed while he speaks his monologue in the barn). Harry Dean Stanton is cool as always, and there are great supporting roles worked by the likes of veteran actress Lois Chiles, Tim Robbins and Robin Wright (now Robin Wright Penn). Anyway, here are just ten of my favorite lines from this movie (and I have about thirty more favorite lines) and I just wrote down the ones that came to me, and I probably misremembered some of them, don't have them verbatim. Some may seem mundane but

in context they're perfect.... if you've seen or ever see the movie you'll know what I'm talking about. I give the name of the actor who spoke the line, or the name of the character they are playing if I am too lazy to look their real name up. So.... 10 Memorable Lines from Almereyda's Twister 10. "Ireland's just a place...people go there all the time."--Crispin Glover 9. "For a while he went around shooting horses, and then HE ATE THE INSIDES OF A CLOCK AND HE DIED."--William Burroughs 8. "Get out of my house. Get out of MY."--Crispin Glover 7. "She looks just like Amelia Earhart."--Suzi Amis 6. "And I'd like to know what WE DID to get our brains screwed up by a tornado."--Suzy Amis 5. "She would have just asked you for a Hershey bar or a Coke. Those are the things she cared about...and not either one of you."--Harry Dean Stanton 4. "I would see a doctor."--Robin Wright as Stephanie (when the characters were saying what they would do if they only had a few hours left to live). 3. "Now what does that mean an acquired taste? It seems to me you can acquire a taste for just about anything. But why would you want to?"--Harry Dean Stanton 2. "There's the Edgar Bergen man."--Dylan McDermott 1. (singing) "DADDY WAS SO MAN, DADDY WAS SO MEAN..." (at least I think that's what Crispin is singing with his band Dance Etiquette in his song which is used as outro/exit music).