My ten favorite movies aren’t in any particular order except for To Kill a Mockingbird which is my all-time favorite. The others are more listed than ranked.
- To Kill A Mockingbird
- The Sting
- Aliens (2nd movie of the series)
- West Side Story
- Apollo 13
- Divergent
- The Storm of the Century
- Dispersible Me
- Psycho
- The Terminator
I have rather eclectic tastes in movies. My tastes range as far back as such Turner Classic black & white greats as – The Adventures of Robin, Hondo, The Yearling, Sunset Boulevard, The Great Escape and Fail Safe. I love such musicals as West Side Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Cinderella (the Brandy one), Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and Beauty and the Beast. Those minions cracked me up in Despicable Me, I’ve seen How to Train Your Dragon, The Incredibles and Brave more times than I’m probably willing to admit and if the Disney movie Tangled is on tonight, I’m there. As for the holidays the must see multiple times for me are – Alf, and all the versions of A Christmas Carol. I love movies. Next to my dream of becoming a successful published author is the dream of writing a screenplay that actually shows up on TV, a Broadway stage or in a theater (preferably all three).
Personally, I feel my being an avid movie-goer helps me to be a better writer. As a fiction writer everything is about the worlds I imagine in my head – the characters, the stories with their intricate plot lines and the scenes that are so descriptively conveyed in bold and living colors. All that and more is inside my head and movies helped to put it there.
Writing is an art. Sure, it’s a talent or a gift, it’s a wonder when it’s being done well but at the end of the day I honestly feel it’s an art form. It conveys a story and evokes emotion. It snatches you up and engages you. It makes you shake your head and marvel in quite the same way a painting or photograph, a statue, blown glass or intricately sculpted metalwork stops you in your tracks and captures that part of you that’s entranced by beauty. Unlike movies that are so visually present for the viewer, the writer has to create all of that visualness in the reader’s mind. We have to make you see the aqua-clear ocean, smell the field of bright blazing wildflowers, feel the solitary tear rolling down the face of the main character – experience her anguish, feel her peace and joy. We writers know we have to engage all your senses or you won’t stay.
Writing is an art so long as it’s done well. Well and true with the reader in mind and at heart. Writing has to be more than just a journey the writer wants to take you on, it must be an adventure they want you, the reader, to experience.
I love movies. I love books. I love the pure art of both.