Writers in the Movies

Screenwriting is an essential part of the movie making process, so it can be even more exciting to watch films with plots that incorporate authors or other types of writers in one way or another. This week, The Bumbles asks to share movies on our blogs that feature “writers authors, poets and scribes.” I considered highlighting a film like “Sex and the City: The Movie” based on Carrie’s writing career but I think that is way too easy. So, here are two other movies that fit the writing bill a little more closely and have more complex plots than this Sarah Jessica Parker centered box office hit.

“Love Jones”

Starring Nia Long and Larenz Tate, “Love Jones” is among the best dating movies because it is not overly sappy so it has enough depth to avoid being classified as a chick flick. This movie is about a budding photographer who relocates to a new city, where she meets an author who is working on his first book. As the story progresses, the ups and downs of their relationship seem to also have an impact on the career decisions that each character makes.

The couple and their friends also frequent a jazz club where they socialize and enjoy live poetry performances.....a main staple throughout the movie. In fact, poetry is how the two main characters first got acquainted and later becomes the vehicle that opens up a major turning point in their lives.

“Perfect Stranger”

This crime thriller starring Halle Berry and Bruce Willis is a shocker that seems to use writing as the foundation or background for everything else in the story. Berry plays an journalist who goes undercover as a temp worker at an advertising firm owned by a man who she suspects has murdered her best friend.

She poses as two different women to try and catch him but the deeper her personal investigation gets, the more dangerous this movie becomes for the characters involved. I watched this movie based on the recommendation of a friend and while I liked it.....it’s a bit creepy so I doubt I’ll watch it again.....unless I’m really jonesing to get another look at Bruce Willis!

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Farming on Film

Farming is a subject that I am unfamiliar with, making this week’s Monday Movie Meme quite a challenge. The Bumbles says to share “set on a farm, focus on farmers or reference farming in some way” today and I’m at quite a loss to recall much of any films that fit the bill. Here are movies that highlight farming in one way or another.

“Babe”

I wanted to see this movie so badly when it was released but never had the chance to because as a teenager, I didn’t have the money or resources to get the the theater and the adults around me would not support my interest in this recreational past time. The closest theater to where I lived was not exactly one that my family preferred to visit. Thanks to the movie meme making me put on my thinking cap, I now plan to rent this movie. So what if I’m an adult now!

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

I saw this movie on a bus during a trip when I was younger and do not remember which versions this was among of the many film adaptations of the book. However, it fits this week’s theme since the story involves a farmer who sold two slaves to cover his debt.

I would add this movie to my collection, if only I knew which one was shown on the bus. Maybe it was the TV movie version starring Phylicia Rashad and Avery Brooks but I’m not so sure but the fact that this movie has both silent and sound versions should help to narrow down a search if I were to shop around for it on DVD. Hmmm. I’ll have to ask one of my grandparents about this, in hopes that some answers can come of it.

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Flying High

The love of airplanes or at least, things that fly...how wonderful! This week's theme is on movies that are "focused on flight, things that fly or become airborne" according to The Bumbles, so here are two movies I thought of automatically to fit the bill.

Top Gun

The timing was perfect since this Tom Cruise movie came on TV last night after the White House, CBS and the President decided to interrupt my "CSI: Miami" episode instead of waiting 15 minutes until the news came on. Anyway, "Top Gun" has romance in the midst of fighter pilots being trained to fly an F-14A Tomcat.

Up

An old man decides that Tom Cruise's fighter aircraft options are sooo 80s and tying balloons to his home is a better form of transportation. Talk about traveling on the fly...and on the cheap! The floating house is supposed to help this man fulfill a lifelong dream of traveling to South America.

Let's see....floating home with balloons or a fighter jet?
Hmmm, I think I may want to go with Tom Cruise on this one. Then again, old man Carl has access to toilets, satellite television (hey, why pay for cable if you're already in the sky?) and possibly a change of clothes.......if he kept these things in his house. I didn't see "Up" but I do know one thing, Carl's form of transportation was not only more frugal and possibly environmentally friendly than the way Tom Cruise chose to fly but it also won him two Oscars while "Top Gun" is sitting pretty with only one....Best Original Song. Well, "Up" grabbed Best Original Score AND won Best Animated Feature. So, who's Top Gun now?! It surely ain't Mr. "You had me at hello"! At least not this week in the Monday Movie Meme!

Shucks! I just also thought of "The Aviator" starring Leonardo DiCaprio while adding the photos to this post. Oh well. Sorry Leo. I'm running late for something I have to do and still have to take a shower, so you're not going to get as much attention from me in this blog post, at least this morning anyway.

If you're not too busy, check out Manifest this, buddy by a fellow blogger who is participating in the WordCount blogathon.

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