Sunday, August 23, 2009

Movies R Us...I mean Me...

I've been on my own over the weekend, and I've taken advantage of the situation and indulged in my own private movie marathon (romantic movies, of course). I wanted to see what I can learn from romantic movies. I'm not sure if the things I noticed are of help to anyone here -- I wasn't strictly taking notes, but I thought I'd record impressions here anyway.

"The Last Word" -- new out and v clever. A really good example of a new twist on an old theme. Quirky characters and great examples of "show don't tell". For example, the hero's really unhappy at first when the heroine finds his phone number... but gradually we see the change in him though his actions -- he's checking his phone messages all the time, replaying her message just to hear her voice.

'Down with Love" Renee Zellweger and Ewan MacGregor, funny, set in the 60s, OTT, but really good examples of conflict development. I was madly jotting down thoughts for my work in progress.

'Sabrina ' The old Audrey Hepburn classic. I was actually disappointed with this movie. The development of romance between Sabrina and Humphrey Bogart was so thin. They tried to tell us he loved her instead of showing how and why he'd fallen in love. Now I want to track down the new version with Harrison Ford to see if it's better.

'The Next Best Thing' with Rupert Everett and Madonna. Not actually a romance, but about two friends (he's gay) raising a child together. I cried buckets. Again, a great example of "showing" , in this case showing how close Rupert is to the boy, through wonderful scenes of them together, so that we totally believe and understand his pain when things fall apart.

Now I'm going to try to track down Renee Zellweger's New in Town because it looks like a great fish out of water scenario, which is one of my core themes.

Any other suggestions for must see romance movies? I have a few days left on my own. have to take advantage.

5 comments:

Magdalena Scott said...

Barbara, I absolutely love SABRINA with Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford. It had me from the intro where she begins to narrate the story...she's washing the car for her dad during the big party, then sneaks away to catch a look at the other brother... *SIGH* Love the scene in the Indian (I think) restaurant where Harrison is learning to eat with his fingers and says "I'll have to try this with soup sometime." I thought there was great chemistry between the two main characters, but the other characters were terrific too.

Then I saw the Audrey Hepburn version. I'm a big fan of Audrey's, and she looked fantastic in it, but the movie left me cold. Much prefer ROMAN HOLIDAY to get my Audrey fix!

I'd be glad to loan you my copy of SABRINA, but I guess it would be easier for you to get it more locally.

;)

Barbara Hannay said...

Oh, thanks Magdalena, that's very kind, but I hired it last night, along with New in Town which I enjoyed.
So when I get some work done today, I'll have a treat in store.

Lacey Devlin said...

You know I've tried to track down the new version of Sabrina because I've heard its a lot better than the original but can I find it???

I've become a little crazy I stop at ever DVD bin someone needs to put me out of my misery and rerelease it or something!

I love the sound of the last word. When I stop at my DVD bins I'll look for that too ;)

Barbara Hannay said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Barbara Hannay said...

Lacey, found the remake of Sabrina at Video Ezy in the Drama section. The Last Word is a new release with Wes Bentley, Winona Ryder and Ray Romano playing a v different role. I loved it.