In addition to reading a book a week, I am also participating in the 50/50 Challenge to read 50 books and watch 50 movies by the end of the year. The books should be no problem if I stay on task with my reading goals. The movies however… those could be a real challenge. I don’t watch many movies (heck, I don’t watch much TV) so I will have to plan my viewing each week.
The purpose (for me) is to watch the films with a critical eye toward plot development and glean at least one lesson learned from each film that I can apply toward my writing.
I will update this viewing log every week:
Wk Movie Title (lesson learned)
- Casino Jack (Captures our interest by starting the movie near the ending, with Abramoff going to jail, then flashes back to beginning)
- Tron Legacy (Shows that even gaping plot holes can be overlooked if a movie takes a viewer back to their childhood.)
- Rio (A competent villain is a dangerous villain. Nigel the bird was a legitimate threat because he was actually good at his job.)
- Holes (A good villain is one you sympathize with. I totally felt Sigourney Weaver’s pain when she begged to see what was inside the just-uncovered box that she had been searching for all her life.)
- Four Lions (Did an excellent job of making the audience feel pity for several bumbling terrorists who wanted to blow people up.)
- Bubble Boy (Low brow comedy is still funny, even when you hate yourself for laughing.)
- Midnight Run (The Duke character is a case study on how to write the perfect foil for your protagonist.)
- Water for Elephants (Laying the groundwork for a unique character trait early on, eg, Rosie’s special talent for removing her stake, sets the stage for a potentially shocking twist during the finale.)
- Hunger Games (Movie will never be as good as the book.)
- Unstoppable (If your story involves a lot of technical jargon, include a translator character to explain wtf is happening to the audience.
