A monthly roundup of things that give me life...
I'm not sure if I have explained - or could explain - the way that television and film influence my books. Sometimes it's the staccato dialogue from an episode of The West Wing or Gilmore Girls that inspires me. Sometimes it's the tongue in cheek humor of Rogelio de la Vega on Jane the Virgin that gives me the urge to let my crazy humor fly. And sometimes it's Jamie Fraser from Outlander.
(Okay. A lot of times it's Jamie Fraser.)
I realized recently that The Royal Runaway, my book about the adventures of a princess and a spy had a lot in common with my favorite type of movie.
Romantic-Adventure movies! You didn't know that this was a specific sub-genre of movie, did you? Maybe it's not, but I realized that so many of the movies that I have watched over and over again have certain things in common.
1. Romance/ Sexual tension
2. A quick pace
3. Banter
4. A plot that involves an adventure, mystery or quest.
Sound good? Check out my all time favorites...
Some Like it Hot
Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe star in this Hollywood classic. Even though the movie was made in 1959, the jokes still crackle, the performances shine and it's still FUN.
Charade, starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. You haven't seen it 1000 times? COME ON PEOPLE.
I'll say it again: AUDREY HEPBURN. CARY GRANT. PARIS. COSTUMES. SHOWER SCENE. BAD GUYS. MISTAKEN IDENTITIES. CARY F'IN GRANT.
Don't talk to me again until you've seen it.
Romancing the Stone starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. This film is a classic romantic adventure, with 80's sexiness (there's a lot of saxophones. That was code in the 80's for sexiness.) Kathleen Turner plays Joan Wilder, who is a romance novelist and her scenes with her editor, played by Holland Taylor are pretty much all I would need in a movie but then you add a treasure map, and Danny deVito as a comedic bad guy, and a heroic smuggler (think Han Solo but Michael Douglas) named JACK T. COLTON and it's just all the magic.
The Mummy. The 1999 version please, with Brendan Fraser as the action-y guy and Rachel Weisz as the intrepid scholarly archaeological heroine. Some might call this horror or an action flick, but to me it's all foreplay while trying to avoid death by cursed Egyptian artifact.
Speaking of foreplay....Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Just look at them. They're so flipping gorgeous in this movie about a smart, sexy person in the prime of their life and another smart, sexy person in the prime of their life trying to out-think each other. There's some caper-y art theft in between the battle of the sexiness. I'm sorry, I have to stop there. It appears I can't find another word for SEXY.
Tangled. Maybe it's not quite as sexy as some of these others, but I'll confess that I get a crush on Flynn Rider every time I watch this movie. Honestly, he's a lot like my hero in THE ROYAL RUNAWAY. He's battle scarred and weary but when he crosses paths with a gutsy princess he can't help but fall for her.
No celebrity endorsement implied. Just inspired to play around with a movie poster of my own.