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A friend of mine Facebooked a question of what movies to show to her teenage daughter. You often see these requests on social media.
It is an interesting exercise to see what you value. In previous writing exercises, I have suggested assembling a list of childhood favorite books to see what common threads draw you into a story and a review of things you have written to see what your personal writing style is, specifically what skills you use and what you need to work on.
Movies are a different medium than writing on several levels: (1) Writing usually involves one person (not counting the editor); (2) Dialogue can be nuanced with the voice in movies; (3) Visual really makes a difference. But at the heart, both books and movies are still about story and characters.
WRITING & READING EXERCISE: Assemble a list of movies which you have watched and would recommend to others for enjoyment, not educational purposes. What are their common themes? Do these match fictional books you enjoy and/or your personal writing style? What would you like to take from them to enhance your writing? How is your movie watching and your reading different?
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My initial recommendation to my friend: Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Bugsy Malone (1976), and Johnny Dangerously (1984). What do all these have in common? They created new and consistent worlds, had amazing characters and even more amazing dialogue, and solid humor based on just being alive.
Johnny Dangerously had some meanness to it. Another Michael Keaton movie also is humorous, character-driven, and crazy-worldbuilding, but the meanness crosses the line and I never really enjoyed it. You may have a different opinion about Beetlejuice, but I would not recommend the movie. Comparing these two movies side-by-side you can see where my personal line of “meanness in humor” is.
After my initial recommendation, I had a long drive and come up with several more selections:
GENERAL MOVIE: Beverly Hill Cop I & II (1984, 1987), Ferris Bueler’s Day Off (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Cool Runnings (1993)
FANTASY/SCI-FI: Star Wars: A New Hope & Empire Strikes Back (1977, 1980), Indian Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Dark Crystal (1982)
MUSICAL: Sound of Music (1965), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Grouped together, the world building screams out. While I have seen several character-driven movies, I need world-building before character building kicks it into the next level. On the other hand, having an amazing world is not enough – if the characters and humor don’t work, for example, The Matrix is an amazing world but the characters and humor are lacking. As always creating a writer’s exercise has taught me a lot about what I value – upbeat, hopeful, smiles, and a working world.
Happy holidays, everyone.
Interesting and thoughtful insights. Thanks for sharing.