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My Sister’s Keeper and Why Books’ Readers Should Be Kept Separate

Posted on August 23, 2009 Written by ripitup

I went to see My Sister’s Keeper yesterday and I loved the movie. I hadn’t cried during a movie since Braveheart and that came out in 1995, so you can conclude that I don’t cry very often. I did not read the book. My friend was reading it but she told me the movie was coming soon and that Cameron Diaz was going to be in it so I waited for the movie instead.

I usually avoid dramas. Especially dramas that include cancer-stricken people. Cancer is a horrible, horrible disease. It can happen to anyone. As life is problematic and painful as it is, I prefer to use movies as a way of avoiding reality, thank you very much. Sure, great stories are told in dramas: Friendships, families, love stories, tragedies…But again movies that talk about and show cancer….You get my point. But this movie has a plot that hooked me- the moment I heard about who Anna was and what she was trying to do, I knew I had to know the whole story.

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Anna Fitzgerald (Abigail Breslin) is a very smart 11-year-old. She has an older brother and sister, both teens. However she is different from them. Her older sister Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) has had cancer since she was very little. She would need transplants and blood and eventually a kidney from a perfect match. So her parents Sara (Cameron Diaz) and Brian (Jason Patrick) make a tube-baby: genetically engineered to be Kate’s match. So since Anna has been “used” to help her sister since she was born, she decides to draw the line at losing her kidney. She goes to see a lawyer (Alec Baldwin) so that she can make her own medical decisions. Although she loves her sister very much, it doesn’t feel good to have had serious operations from day one. Her mother is furious- and as a former lawyer-she will fight at court, against her daughter and her lawyer to be able to save her other daughter…

The story is told in several point of views: Anna’s, Sara’s, Brian’s, Jesse’s (the brother), Kate’s and the lawyer’s. It is hard to judge everyone when everyone seems to be right in their own right. Sara has let go of her career and everything else so she can take better care of Kate. Anna feels overwhelmed that if her sister hadn’t had cancer, she wouldn’t have been born and feels like her life means less. Jesse also seems to be drifting away…

Yeah, I cried. You have to see the movie to know what I mean. For a drama, it has an original plot and some good twists. The actors are really good. I am used to seeing Cameron more in comedies but she definitely can do an emotinally challenging role. Abigail and Sofia excel as the healthy and sick sisters.I like Alec Baldwin in small roles. Although he does seem to be playing the same person in different movies, I kow his lines are going to be interesting.

So as the credits are rolling and my friend and I are wiping off the tears, a guy comments on what a horrible movie it is. Now I had heard the same guy complain earlier but as the movie struck me completely and hear him comment again, loudly and rudely-all I can think is “What a jerk!What an insensitive jerk!” I also wondered if we had seen the same movie. Of course he has the perfect excuse not to like it. He has read the book. He thinks that a lot has been left out. OK-now, that brings us back to the arguement we all have when a book adaptation comes out to theaters. Most readers will hate it, some will think it is OK and some will actually like it. And the people who haven’t read the book and liked the movie will argue that both art forms should be judged in their own merits. I have been there. I loved Cold Mountain the movie. After I tried to read the book and I was disappointed. I read John Grisham’s Runaway Jury. I absolutely hated the movie. I didn’t like John Cusack as the lead (normally I like him but he just wasn’t the Nick in my head.), I hated the script and the changes and went on about how I should be the one making Grisham adaptations…

So what I am suggesting is- maybe a little unrealistically but only half-jokingly- the people who have read the book should be in a different theater and others in a different one. This will prevent both sides from giving spoilers, fighting over what’s good or bad and so on. Oh, of course the forums will be waiting for the discussions. But at least experience itself- the duration of the movie will be shared by people who have similar expectations. So you won’t have to dry your tears next to someone who is shouting “What a disaster!”….

Stories behind songs

Posted on August 22, 2009 Written by ripitup

I love a song with good lyrics. Vocals and music are incediblty important to me too, but I am not one of those people who don’t pay attention to the lyrics. Because the story is right there. Since I am a rock fan, the songs I listen to are full of different stories. Romantic, funny, passionate, dreamy, hopeless, hopeful…it can go on forever. But sometimes the lycris are not talking about what you thing they are or sometimes the situation is deeper than you think.

Think about the start of this century. Before the downloading mania. New CDs could be expensive so often I would stick to old casettes. And I remember the funny looks on the clerks’ faces when I looked for Poison. God forbid-if you listen to something from the 80s and 90s. Of course some bands remain more popular through the years like Bon Jovi or Metallica. But when you go to a person who is only aware of eithert the current charts or just know the 70 stuff like Zeppelin and Floyd, you are in for a funny reaction. Anyhow, I searched and finally found a Poison album.It was the best of. And the band had thought of including the stories behind the songs.

* “Life goes on” :

I used this song in a story of mine (Yeah, I write stories with dialogues and write the name of the song that I think will go with the scene). The character is slowly coming to terms with her boyfriend’s death. It has been a little over a year. She was madly in love with him and surviving his loss has been an extremely painful process. The lyrics go something like this:

“So I pretend youre here by my side, tonight on this lonely ride…I keep telling myself that :

Life goes on while youre miles away and I need you
Time goes on as night steals the day Theres nothing I can do.”

* ” Something to believe in” :

It has a similar story. It is also about loss, having been written after a loss of band members’ friends:

“I tried all night not to break down and cry
As the tears rolled down my face
I felt so cold and empty
Like a lost soul out of place”

“Every rose has its thorn” :

However, “Every rose has its thorn” has the fun story. The lyrics contain these verses:

“Every rose has its thorn
Just like every night has its dawn
Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song
Every rose has its thorn”

We naturally think the girl is the rose and the thorns are her flaws and/or the difficulties in their relationships.It turns out the girl is thorn and the rose is poison’ s career: the girl dumped bret for a guywwiith more money. then the song becomes a hit and bret becomes more popular than that guy will ever be.It is not a romantic song. It is just mistaken for one.

“You give love a bad name”:

* This Bon Jovi song is rumored to have been written after Diane Lane, with whom Jon Bon Jovi dated before marrying his wife. Watching Diane’ s movies, she just seems so pretty and sweet- well, but I guess she does give love a bad name in the movie “Unfaithful” where she cheats on her husband (played by Richard Gere). I am pretty sure if I was Diane and Jon wrote a song like this about me, I would be pissed. But being a die-hard Bon Jovi fan; all I can say is:the story behind the song doesn’t matter much here. It is fantastic and and an all-time classic:

“Shot through the heart
And youre to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name”

Whose movie is it?

Posted on August 22, 2009 Written by ripitup

I am ashamed to admit it, but until recently I wasn’t all that familiar with the term director’s cut. But I ran into more and more such versions of movies. At first the term sounded a little off. I mean aren’t movies the director’s vision? As a person who writes screenplays, I was a little jealous of the directors. Let me explain:

Screenplay formats advice you not to spend precious lines describing camera angles, suggesting it would make it slower and harder to read and it would ultimately be the director’s decision anyway. Oh, and we-the writers- are not supposed to give too detailed information about the facial expressions of characters and stuff, since it is the actor’s expertise: He will portray the character. Don’t interfere. So the screenwriter needs to produce something to satisfy the agent,and eventually the producer.
So after your baby (this is how most writers see their work: after all it takes such hard labor to come up with something that makes them happy) has been cut and edited, the director and the casting people decide who will play the characters you created. Then the director will direct. But after the movie is finished, the producers will have the final say about the length of the movie, the scenes to be involved and the ending. OK-I know the producers are finding the money and everything but it seems unfair that that the person who wrote it, directed it and acted in it have not much to say in the end. Of course multi-tasking has its benefits here. If you are Edwards Burns and writing/directing/acting/producing at the same time, you are the one in charge in all areas. Often actors produce/or co-produce, directors produce/co-produce and/or write the story. In that sense as hard as it must be, it makes sense to take risks and responsibilities so that you can launch your project and compromise as little as possible. Because movie-making is personal. Story-telling is personal. It is Your Baby. Sure sometimes you can go wrong. Remember Kevin Costner in the Water World? He produced the movie. It cost $175 million and it flopped at the box office. I really didn’t like the movie so I can’t say that I’m surprised but I can only imagine how disappointed he must have been. Yet on the other hand, you have the multiple awarded- Braveheart; it has been directed and co-produced by Mel Gibson. He is the leading actor. As for the producing part, the studio granted a budget of $10,000,000. Braveheart cost $70,000,000. The extra 60 came from his pocke. Wow! He made a movie, had his say about everything and the results were nothing less than glorious.

But it is all very complicated, isn’t it? As an actor, when you are just starting out and going to as many auditions as you can and barely making the rent, you can’t afford to be selective. But after you have made your name and fortune as an actor, you can take risks. You can tell your own story. Kevin Costner did it with Dances of the Wolves. His directing and producing won him two Oscars. He also starred in it. Clint Eastwood did it with Unforgiven. He has kept on directing and I prefer him as a director/actor than only as an actor who plays in other people’s films.

And as a screenwriter, you have to prepare yourself for rejection. Even when you establish your name, you will have the studios to deal with. Yet, it is no reason to give up trying. After all, if you have put your sweat and blood and tears into it, it is YOUR MOVIE.

The Crow: Buildings burn, people die. But an amazing movie is forever.

Posted on August 19, 2009 Written by ripitup

-” Buildings burn, people die but real love is forever…”

Above is the real quote that inspired the title from. It is from the 1994 movie The Crow. If you haven’t seen it, please do yourselves a favor and do. Not the lame sequels but the real thing. The one with Brandon Lee.

crow_ver2 — Brandon Lee as Eric Draven in The Crow. So do you? Believe in angels?

It has supernatural elements, of course. The myth is that sometimes a soul can not rest and a crow will guide him back to this world, till he can do whatever he needs to do to find peace. So a year after rocker Eric Draven was killed and his fiancé was raped and tortured to death, Eric rises from his grave. Confused and clueless, he follows the crow. As he finds his way back into his old apartment, he remembers everything. This is where the movie really starts.

Revenge:

Of course we have seen lots of movies about avengers- people avenging their loved ones, people taking justice into their own hands. We like to see the good guy win. So we pretend it is plausible that a guy can finish off tens of men by himself and gets away with it. But the best part of Eric is, he is already dead. So it is much more satisfactory watching the bad guys try to kill him ; in vain, and go nuts in the process. The poetic justice is that he kills everyone in their own “specialty/interest”- so if a guy is good with knives…..or if the guy is a junkie…….You get the point. And he always leaves a crow shaped- signature…His revenge, our satisfaction.

Love:

There are actually two love stories here: One is the romantic one, the heart of the story. Then there is the love Sarah-our storyteller- has for her two great friends. Sarah is about 12 or so and has a drug addict mom dating one of the gang members. So when Eric and Shelly are gone, Sarah is left all alone. Sarah is delighted to have Eric back, but Eric has one thing in mind- to avenge Shelly as soon as possible, so he can be dead with her…

Eric and Shelly’s relationship are shown through flashbacks and you just see how strong and lovely it is. It is pure and intense. It is fun and passionate. They are best friends and lovers. A combination we all want to have and well, seems impossible to find…

Action:

Where there is revenge,….I mentioned Eric doesn’t die. So bullets fly around, swords are swung and Eric just has a laugh. You can send 40 people after him and it just makes his day. Of course things will get complicated. Even Eric has a weak point. But hey, every scene with Eric fighting is worth watching.

It is definitely in my top 3 of best movies ever. There is something magical about this movie. It is dark, gloomy, romantic,has kick-ass action, the best avenging scenes and brilliant dialogue. I have seen it for about 10 times and I can recite the lines before the characters do. If you haven’t seen it, trust me you are missing a lot!

The rock and the goth:

No, I am not talking about Marilyn Manson or EMOs. No. I am talking about this dark, rainy,gloomy background in the film. Eric’s tight black costume that he wore on his quest- a costume he probably wore on stage. The hard-rock sountrack. The way Eric takes a guitar and plays a wonderful electric solo on the roof of a house…

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The popularity:

The movie is a cult. Alex Proyas, the director, is considered to be a director with a distinct style and I am not sure many knew his name before this movie.

Brandon Lee is the Crow. The Crow is Brandon Lee. I don’t even know how people can stand the sequels. This is not Lethal Weapon or Die Hard. I know the movie is a comic book adaptation but when something gets so big- and comes with a tragedy-, the following stuff will just be crushed under it.

I think it is a sick joke of life to die while portraying a dead guy but there is nothing we can do about it. About 8 days or so were left for the movie to be completed and Lee died on the set. An accident,as some call it. Some have interesting theories that involve his father Bruce Lee. But Brandon Lee had only played in not so good action movies before and The Crow just showed what a great and talented actor he was. Brandon was 29 when he died. Whether it was truly a set accident with the guns or someone wanted Lee dead, The Crow owes a part of its mysterious aura to his death.

I think I saw this movie 10 times. I can recite lines. I own the soundtrack. Because long after the credits role, the movie stays with you…