Blog Tour: Day 4, splashing with Joanne

Today I get to be a proud mum, because Joanne Faries is asking me about my kids.

I'm going to be a but slow replying today, however, because I'm meeting a friend for a hot chocolate - which always turns into at least two, and then some shopping as well.

When I get home, England will playing in Euro2016, against Wales, which will probably end up being a very nervy and nail-biting game.

And here's a picture of hot chocolate, and Artoo, who seems to enjoy hanging out with my blogging buddies now!

The post that keeps changing name

Apologies for being MIA during the Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest on Monday. I had my post up, then released no one could see my pictures, then - because I was already... erm, in a less than jolly mood - I pulled the post, sulked and didn't comment on any more posts.

Just so you know, I'm aware how lame that sounds.

I am so sorry. I feel like a teenager. All I needed was a pot of black paint and I'd have been in my element, and Hubby would have been left trying to wipe black paint off our ceilings.

So to make up for it, I'm taking part now. But - and this is REALLY IMPORTANT - I don't want you to comment. Because I sulked and didn't comment on yours - I did read them though! - you shouldn't comment on mine. Deal? In fact, to make sure you don't, I'm turning off comments.

Also, I've learnt my lesson, and I've taken off the pictures I attached the first time around. Without further ado, my films in no order at all are...

Love Actually Hugh Grant dancing, Emma Thompson listening to 'Both Sides Now' by Joni Mitchell, the seen at the wedding when the band start playing - there are so many scenes in this film that I love. It's the perfect Christmas film too - around about September, when I'm feeling Christmassy, I watch this film. And then I watch it on a monthly basis until Christmas, when it gets promoted to twice during Christmas week (it does help that as a gigging musician, Hubby is quite busy at that time of the year!)

Fight Club When I tell people I love this film, they assume it's because of Brad Pitt, but actually... no. Does no one get how awesome an actor Edward Norton is? Does no one love Helena Bonham-Carter as much as I do? This film grabs you from the opening!

Reservoir Dogs My favourite Tarantino film without a doubt. Magnificent soundtrack, brilliant dialogue, and - honestly - who hasn't mimicked the walk at one time or another? I first watched it with a group of friends when we were 17 - I was the only one to get the humour, everyone else sat in shock. They later caught up! While checking out the spelling of Tarantino (one R or two... simple stuff) I found these fun facts: George Clooney, David Dachovny and Samuel L Jackson all auditioned. It was a much bigger hit in the UK than the US, due to almost no promotion in the States.

It's a Wonderful Life Yes, I cry at this one too. I watch it every year. It used to be shown on TV, but one year when it wasn't, I went out and bought a copy. I love James Stewart, simple as that! The one scene that always bristles with me is when we see the spinster Mary - apparently if beautiful women don't marry at the right time, they turn into dowdy librarians who need to wear glasses and are scared when a man merely looks in their direction!

Shallow Grave Two years before Trainspotting, Danny Boyle made this film, a story of three flatmates who interview for a fourth. Any thing more than that would be a spoiler, if you haven't seen it - but I really recommend checking it out. It's very funny and dark. Boyle's father considers this to be his best work, according to a Top Gear interview I saw once (and then several times more, courtesy of Dave!)

The Usual Suspects Kevin Spacey is amazing. That's all. Again, great humour and banter between the characters - dialogue is hard to write well, and that's even more obviously when you find a film where it's so very well done. I'm still completely astounded by people who don't get the ending... apparently, there are quite a few in the UK, and I know most of them. Head. Wall. Bang.

Fiddler on the Roof I think I've written about this film before. Long story short - my maternal grandparent's were Ukrainian - although not Jewish - but would have grown up in a similar village, albeit with less singing. As a result, my mum used to watch this film a lot, which meant I used to watch it a lot, so it's seeped into my psyche. Topol was made for the role of Tevye (fun fact: he was only in his thirties when he played the part).

Sliding Doors This is a film/book/story I wish I'd written. It actually encompasses my beliefs that our destiny is written (within reason), but our journey is our choice. I love John Hannah in this film... oh okay, I love John Hannah in any film.

Dogma Another film with fantastic dialogue, courtesy of Kevin Smith who also plays Silent Bob. Alan Rickman is perfect as the sarcastic voice of God. It's been a while since I watched this, so I can't make a full-on argument for this film. After listening to other people talking about this film, I realise you either love it or hate it.

10 Things I Hate About You There were several contenders for a Heath Ledger film (because he had to be included). My other favourite is A Knight's Tale... but - but - what swings in this film's favour is Ledger singing Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You, and the look in his eye when he's sitting with Kat on the swing. And the awesome soundtrack. And, okay, I cry at the end of this one too.

There. I'm done. I hope we're friends again!
Normal blogging will resume soon.

Genre Favourites?

It's just occurred to me that I haven't posted all week - I've just moved from one blogfest to another - and I really hadn't noticed! I'll try hard to rectify this over the next few weeks, and hopefully visit a lot more of your blogs than I've managed recently. I've been using my marketing head on Cat and The Dreamer, and getting a couple more short stories ready for submission, and (still) decorating. 

From the curious mind of Alex J Cavanaugh comes:

One blogfest, four favourites!

List your favorite genre of:

Movie

Music

Books

And a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories!

So here goes:

Movie Genre: So hard,because I tend to watch films by who's in them. Favourite actors include Johnny Depp, Brad Bitt, Morgan Freeman, Adam Sandler, Tim Roth, Samuel L Jackson (apart from Snakes on a Plane). These are actors that span different genres, and I'm pretty happy to follow them anywhere they want to go.
Special Mention: British films. I know it's not a genre, but I love the variety of films that we produce, and I try hard to see them preferably in the cinema - although that hasn't been possible recently.

Music Genre: Rock/heavy rock/stadium rock... I'm not going to name them, because my choices are pretty old now, and it would date me and seem very lame!
Special Mention: Glam Rock... I know, I know... but think how many incredible acts were spawned from the glam period.... T Rex, David Bowie, Queen... they were all on the cusp of that genre and they should be proud.

Book Genre: Literary fiction. Stories that don't follow a formula, that surprise, that make you think. I'm not keen on literary fiction that's trying to be literary (and those books and authors are so obvious), but I like the ones that simply don't conform to other genres, and whose prose takes the story to another level.

Guilty Pleasure: Rom Coms, including 10 Things I Hate About You, 50 First Dates, The Wedding Singer - all those films you can curl up with on a lonely Saturday night (and as the wife of a gigging musician, I have plenty of those) and guarantee a tear or two by the end.

Click here for the list of participants. Are you taking part? If so, I'll be popping along later!

Love, Actually

Internet Movie Database entry

I stumbled on today's post a little bit, because I'm feeling a bit burnt-out - not from blogging, just in general. So I thought I'd share one of my favourite feel-good films.

I love this film for so many reasons. It's British. It's set at Christmas time. It's got a cute child in it.

It's also got Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and Alan Rickman.

It's got eight (possibly nine... ten...?) interlinked stories. It's got Hugh Grant's dance. It's got a great musical number at a wedding.

I can watch this film at any time of the year, curled up with a glass of wine and a big box of chocolates. And even writing about it is making me feel better.

What's your feel-good film?

S is for Sliding Doors

Internet Movie Database entry

The eagle-eyed among you will notice Sliding Doors is a film. Well yes, yes it is. But it's also a film that I wish I'd written, and therefore it counts as inspiration.

The story takes two very distinct paths after Helen tries to catch a Tube. In one reality she catches the Tube; in the other, she misses it.

From this relatively small incident, Helen's life completely changes in both realities - one in a postive way, the other less so. What makes this such a great story is the ending. It pretty much sums up my philosophy of life. But I'm not sure I want to spoil it. If you've seen the film, you'll know. If you haven't, it would be so cool if you check it out - especially as it has John Hannah at his sexiest!

This plot device would be difficult to manage in prose. In the film, Helen has her hair cut in one of the realities, so immediately the viewer knows where they are. Alternate realities are abound in fiction, but usually taking a significant event and imagining how the world would be if the opposite had happened. To do both in the one film/book would take a lot more planning than I think I could manage!

N is for Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller (a rant)

The Goodreads entry

I read this book once. I thought, "Not bad, quite good". I took it back to the library and thought nothing more of it. I assume you are all book-lovers, so you'll recognise how insipid this reaction was. But, read on...

This post isn't really about Notes on a Scandal. As I was struggling for an N post I picked on this book, but in truth I could have picked any number of books.

Today's post is actually about books that are made into film. Now, I maybe in the minority here - and I do love going to the cinema and watching films - but what annoys me is later, after I've decided a film is my all-time favourite, finding out that it was actually a book first.

Internet Movie DataBase

Books and films are different media. You can do different things with them; you can use different devices to tell the story. A full novel will never fit neatly into 120 minutes. Plus a lot of the time, the film doesn't even follow the storyline of the book, or it changes the ending so completely that people debate whether the book or film was better.

(I realise that on C day, I talked about Fight Club - a film I like, which was first a book - so I hope this doesn't come across as too hypocritical. I was just as disappointed to discover Fight Club wasn't an original screenplay.)

It often seems like the film is cashing in on the success of the book, and the author cashing in on the success of the film. Fair enough, I concede that money is important, we need to buy food and fuel - that's not really part of my argument.

The real complaint I have is if you're the scriptwriter tasked with the adaptation, why change the story? If you want to do that, why not write your own original script? Worse, if you're the original author writing the script, why tinker with the plot you thought was perfect? (That last example may or may not have happened, I'm just covering my bases on that one.)

Some authors claim that the film is a separate entity so they don't mind what the director does with it, but I'm not sure if I could detach myself like that. Maybe one day I'll be in this position myself, but hopefully I'll have the strength to say stick to my story, please.

Because today's post isn't a recommendation, I'd love to hear your opinions on books being turned into film. If you're a screenwriter, I'd love to hear from you too.