All posts in category Films

My favourite weepies

Yesterday I watched Les Miserables for the first time and I SOBBED at the end. Yes, the clue is in the title but I didn’t expect to be left in quite such a blabbing mess after watching it. It got me thinking about other films that have made me cry and the ones I still love to watch even though they make me cry. Sometimes you just want to put one on and let yourself weep.

So here are my favourite weepies – I will reveal why they make me cry so spoiler alert!

A Walk to Remember

Nicholas Sparks sure likes to write stories that wrench your heart out. I’ve watched most of the films based on his books and this one is my favourite. Yes it’s pure cheese but I fall for the romance between good girl Jamie and bad boy Landon every time. There are two scenes that get me – the one where Landon talks to Jamie’s father and the last one where Landon is looking out wistfully and says his love for Jamie is like the wind – he can’t see it but he can feel it. The idea that their romance lives on ever after Jamie pass away always produces a tear in my eye.

Beaches

This story about a friendship between two girls throughout their lives has always left me a wreck. It’s that final scene on the beach with ‘Wind Beneath Your Wings’ playing and the look that Bette Midler gives when she realises her best friend has lost her fight with heart disease. And then she takes care of her friend’s daughter … *sobs*

13 Going on 30

This may be a left field choice for a weepie – no one dies in this film and it has a happy ending so I don’t know why this rom com about a girl who suddenly becomes 30 and finds out all the mistakes she’s made in her life – the worst being she lost contact with her childhood best friend, makes me cry but it does. The ending where she thinks she’s losing Matt at his wedding then she gets transported back to her thirteenth birthday and gets the chance to kiss him resulting in there wedding years later just makes me all misty-eyed and warm-hearted. So cute.

Toy Story 3

Sorry but this one is so MOVING. Seriously when the toys realises they have to let Andy go and move in with a new child and Andy says goodbye to them – pure emotion. Disney has always tugged at my heart-strings but this one made me weep. and I’ve watched it three times since and cried each time. Love it.

Charlie St Cloud

This film stars Zac Efron and is about a guy who refuses to say goodbye to the ghost of his brother until he falls in love and has to rescue the girl from a shipwreck instead of meeting his brother as he does every day. The moment he lets his brother go is really moving. The film is kind of Nicholas Sparks in tone but the sibling relationship really brings a lot of heart to it and the promise of hope and love at the end made me fall hard for it.

Remember Me

I really didn’t see this one coming – it’s a romantic drama starring Robert Pattinson and the film is a enjoyable story about a girl and boy dealing with tragic pasts falling in love but just when everything is working out Robert’s character heads to his father’s office and then you’re told the day – September 11th. Well, I don’t need to tell you what happens. It was such a surprise the first time I saw it, I cried but even now when I know the ending, it still move me and I think the film deserves more success than it got.

The Last Song

Another Sparks story but maybe one of his lesser known ones probably as Miley Cyrus is playing the lead but I actually think she does a great job in this role and her love story plays out against a back drop of her father dealing with cancer. Their passion for music plays a key role and one of the later scenes when she plays the piano at his funeral is really moving. I like how it ends on an uplifting note with her going to music college after having repaired her broken relationship with her father.

The Notebook

I couldn’t leave this one off. I haven’t watched it much because it wrecked me so hard the first time I watched it. The story of a couple from meeting as young adults through to them as an elderly couple struggling with her dementia never fails to move especially the last scenes where the couple die together, their love having overcome all the obstacles life threw at it. You’d have to have a cold heart not to cry at this one

What are your favourite weepies?

Victoria

xoxo

13 Comments

by Victoria-writes on May 20, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Films, My fave things

Tagged films, films that make you cry, my favourite things, weepies

Posted by Victoria-writes on May 20, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/05/20/my-favourite-weepies/

Have YA writers never grown up?

Last weekend I finally got around to watching the film Young Adult. The title of this post is a quote from the film, the context is this:

Mavis: “You can come to the city with me like we always planned.”
Buddy: “Mavis, I’m a married man.”
Mavis: “I know we can beat this thing, together.”

The film is about a ghostwriter of a previously popular YA series that’s now being cancelled (I imagined Sweet Valley High obv) called Mavis who heads back to her hometown convinced she belongs with her high school sweetheart Buddy despite the fact he’s married with a new baby. It’s a dark comedy and I really enjoyed it but be warned Mavis is not a likeable character – selfish and insensitive and likely an alcoholic. She also can’t get high school out of her head.

It got me thinking about us YA writers – we are writing about teenagers for teenagers and I can see how you can get stuck in your past as you remember things that happened to you at that age or write a book about things you wish had happened to you. Mavis as a character is of course extreme and I’m sure no YA writer is that mean (well, I hope not) but watching her lying on the sofa with the Kardashian’s on in the background and her writing not going anywhere, I did catch a little glimpse of myself She also has a little dog that I want …

But for me writing YA is fun. I love reading it. I like writing and reading about the thrill of a first kiss, falling in love for the first time, overcoming bad situations, finding yourself. There are no limits. Thinking about my book I don’t think there is much of my teenage years in there (although it is set in the part of the world I live) but maybe I write the kind of book I would have wanted to read when I was a teenager. And the kind of one I want to read now as an “adult”. More adults read YA than teenagers and maybe it’s because we are all nostalgic for our earlier years, maybe we don’t want to grow up or maybe whatever age you are, you want to fall in love with stories and characters whatever shape and age they come.

And even though us YA writers spend a lot of time in the world of YA, I doubt many of us would actually want to go back to our teen years. For one thing we know what we like now and most importantly we can afford to buy our own books

So I’ll leave you with another quote from the film when someone from Mavis’ high school spots her in a local bar:

Matt: You move back?

Mavis: Of course not… gross.

Do you think YA writers haven’t grown up?

Victoria

xoxo

8 Comments

by Victoria-writes on April 11, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Films, Musings, Writing

Tagged films, musings, writing, young adult

Posted by Victoria-writes on April 11, 2013

http://victoria-writes.com/2013/04/11/i-know-we-can-beat-this-thing-together/

Twilight – it’s all your fault

Yesterday I went to see Breaking Dawn part 2. I really enjoyed the film and thought they adapted it well. There was one part that shocked me (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen it) but I realised what was happening and it all ended up fine.

I have been a fan of the Twilight books for a long time now – I read them before they really took off, just after the final book was released. Then the film came out and it went crazy! Twilight was the first modern YA books I read and I was completely hooked. I totally understand the critics out there but for me they were page turners and I fell hard for them. I have enjoyed the films, they kept the tone of the books even improving some parts so I’ll admit that I felt a little sad that it was all over as I left the cinema.

For me the biggest thing I’ll take away from the Twilight Saga is the love it gave me for both reading and writing young adult stories. After Twilight, I have practically only read YA books and because of the series, I started to wrote my own and would love to make a career out of it. The books have given me something wonderful and I’ll always be grateful for them.

The power of a book to inspire you in any way is why I love reading – and writing – so much.

I shall leave this post and Twilight with my favourite quote from the series:

What books have inspired you?

Victoria

xoxo

18 Comments

by Victoria-writes on November 22, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Books, Films, inspiration, Writing

Tagged books, Breaking Dawn Part 2, films, inspiration, The Twilight Saga, writing

Posted by Victoria-writes on November 22, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/11/22/twilight-its-all-your-fault/

My top ten upcoming YA books to film adaptations

Sometimes when I tell people I write young adult stories or stories for teenagers, I receive a blank stare. Some people think have had not been privy to the delights of YA literature although they most likely have (classics like Little Women, for example) but I don’t think many people can stay ignorant of this category any longer.

After Twilight shook both the book and film worlds, more YA books are being turned into films, movie makers realising there is a wealth of good stuff to find in the YA section. And what I like about this is the films are based on great stories, it doesn’t matter who the target audience was, the stories stand up on their own. Just look at the Hunger Games.

It’s always difficult watching a film based on a book I’ve enjoyed – sometimes it manages to capture the story well, others not but I will still go to see all these adaptations just so I can discover my favourite worlds come to life.

So here’s my top ten film adaptations of YA books coming our way hopefully soon:

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones – based on the book by Cassandra Clare. This is coming next year and here’s the trailer:

The House of Night – based on the vampire series by mother daughter team PC & Kristin Cast. Coming 2014.
Beautiful Creatures – based on the books by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, coming next year. Here’s the trailer:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver. I’ve loved the first two books of this series and can’t wait for the final one. The film is at script stage so it will be a while coming but I can’t wait to see what they do with it.
Divergent based on the books by Veronica Roth. Filming starts next year and it should be out in 2014. These dystopian series has been great read so far and I’m looking forward to the film adaptation.
Heist Society based on the books by Ally Carter – this modern spy story should work well on the big screen. Drew Barrymore is behind the adaptation. Only in early development though so we have a while to wait.
Wings by Aprilynne Pike – this series about fairies has a film in development, Miley Cyrus is supposed to be playing the lead but the clock is ticking on that.
How I Live Now based on the book by Meg Rosoff is currently being filmed with Saoirse Ronan as the lead so possibly will arrive 2014.
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher – this is in development with Selena Gomez attached. This film will be interesting as the book is mostly narration.
And finally it was pitched as an adult book but Stephenie Meyer’s The Host definitely has YA appeal and I’m very excited about it so here’s the trailer:

What YA adaptations are you looking forward to?

Victoria

xoxo

21 Comments

by Victoria-writes on November 15, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Books, Films

Tagged books, films, young adult

Posted by Victoria-writes on November 15, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/11/15/my-top-ten-upcoming-ya-books-to-film-adaptations/

Scary Stories

When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with the Point Horror books. Anyone else remember them? They were a horror series of books by different authors and in my early teens seemed very frightening. They were the first really scary stories I had read – before that, Roald Dahl was probably my first dip into anything out of the ordinary. I certainly wasn’t into scary stories like some kids are, maybe I was a wimp – I was freaked out by Michael Jackson’s Thriller video after all

In my later teens, the film franchise Scream started. I mostly avoided horror films. It wasn’t always because I was scared, often I felt like laughing at the clichés included – why would you go into that dark basement alone, after all? Scream was funny as well as scary and I really enjoyed it. I watched I Know What You Did Last Summer but I didn’t get into the genre in a big way.

At college, I did media studies and yes we had to watch films as part of the course. We did a section on horror and I finally watched some of the horror classics like Halloween and Carrie and Psycho. But they still didn’t draw me into horror in any real way – I can appreciate a scary film done well but I don’t feel the need to watch many. I don’t own any horror films and after my childhood obsession with the Point Horror books, I haven’t picked up any more books in the genre.

I love the supernatural though, which is why I’m okay with Halloween. And the genre can often be more scary than hook-handed serial killers. I love vampires, werewolves and witches and my book shelf is crammed with stories of them. My obsession really kicked off after reading Twilight (haters to the left :0) The first novels I wrote were supernatural and I’ll always have a soft spot for them.

Some of my favourite supernatural things are: the Sookie Stackhouse books, Vampire Academy, Twilight, The House of Night, The Body Finder, Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls), Harry Potter , The Mortal Instruments, Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Fringe and Underworld. And the fact that most are aimed at teens means I don’t get too scared by them!

I think I’ll always enjoy being drawn into a fantasy world where the rules are different and there are dark creatures who may or may not be dangerous. The fun is in finding out, especially if they look like Damon from TVD

Do you like scary stories?

Victoria

xoxo

35 Comments

by Victoria-writes on October 31, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Books, Films, My fave things, Special Days, TV

Tagged books, films, Halloween, my favourite things, special days, TV

Posted by Victoria-writes on October 31, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/10/31/scary-stories/

Moments of impact

The moment of impact. The moment of impact proves potential for change. Has ripples effects far beyond what we can predict. Sending some particles crashing together. Making them closer than before. While sending others spinning off into great ventures. Landing them where you’ve never thought you’ve found them. That’s the thing about moments like these. You can’t, no matter how hard you try, controlling how it’s gonna affect you. You just gotta let the colliding part goes where they may. And wait. For the next collision

That line is from the film The Vow, which I watched this weekend. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s about a husband and wife who are in a car crash – when she wakes up she can’t remember the last five years including her husband. It’s inspired by a true story of a woman who lost the memory of her husband but they are still married today and have children after sticking to their wedding vows and falling in love all over again.

Life’s all about moments, of impact and how they changes our lives forever. But what if one day you could no longer remember any of them?

This is also from the film. To me, it’s a powerful thought that moments of your life make up who you are and what you want out of life and love and if you couldn’t remember those moments, how might that change you and your outlook on both? And if you couldn’t remember all the choices you made, would you make them again?

In the film, Paige the woman who loses her memory has lost five important years – years when she walked out on law school, her family and her fiancee, became a bohemian artists, a veggie and fell in love with a man who fit into her new world but not into her old one. So when she forgets all those choices, she slips back into her old life, unable to understand why she threw it all away, and turns her back on her husband Leo.

What I liked about the film was it takes Paige on a journey to remember not the memories she lost, but the person she wants to be. She never regains her memories, like the woman the story is inspired by, but she becomes the person she wanted to be first time round – and arguably, the person she was meant to be. And then goes to find the man she was meant to be with.

First she has to understand who she is before she can find her husband again.

Life is a journey full of choices, decisions and change and it all adds up to making us who we are. I can’t imagine losing years of your life like that but I’m inspired by the thought that you could still be the person you were always meant to be.

Paige: I hope that one day I can love you the way you love me.
Leo: You figured it out once. You’ll do it again.

What moments of impact have changed who you are?

Victoria

xoxo

17 Comments

by Victoria-writes on July 2, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Films, inspiration, Life, Love, Musings, Reviews

Tagged film reviews, inspiration, life, love, musings, The Vow

Posted by Victoria-writes on July 2, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/07/02/moments-of-impact/

I’ll have what she’s having

I think I naturally gravitate to female writers because I’m inspired by their voice and their ability to reap success in an often male dominated field. Nora Ephron was a talented writer who knocked doors open for female screenwriters and wrote films that are firmly embedded in our culture. She also produced and directed films, no mean feet! After her recent death from cancer, I felt the need to acknowledge the inspiring legacy she leaves us with.

For those who have never seen When Harry met Sally, the title of this post comes from that film and that scene when Meg Ryan acts out having an organism for Billy Crystal in a diner. That moment sealed Ms Ephron’s legacy in cinema forever.

Nora Ephron has written, produced and directed some of the most watched and loved romantic comedies that have come out of Hollywood. They are truly iconic – When Harry met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve got Mail are all brilliant examples of the genre and some of my favourite films. And they are all her vision. She brought Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks into our romantic lives and produced films that are warm and witty and have made me long for my own happily ever after.

You’ve got Mail is one of my favourite ever films. It’s hard to explain why. It can be corny and predictable and isn’t really laugh out loud funny but it’s warm and romantic and the perfect film to curl up with when you’re feeling down or sick. I love the setting of New York, the fact that the heroine works in a book shop and her favourite book is Pride and Prejudice and the fact you know who she’s meant to be with from the opening scene.

These quotes are just a sample of her genius wit and show what a character and talent she really was. She wasn’t afraid of having her own voice.

So thank you Ms Ephron for creating films that will remain on my shelves forever. You were truly inspiring.

Are you a fan of Nora Ephron’s films?

Victoria

xoxo

18 Comments

by Victoria-writes on June 28, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Celebrity, Films, inspiration

Tagged celebrity, films, inspiration, Nora Ephron

Posted by Victoria-writes on June 28, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/06/28/ill-have-what-shes-having/

Inspiration from The Help

I love a good inspirational story – especially when I’m feeling down in the dumps. So yesterday when it rained for maybe the twentieth day in a row and I kept thinking about everything that was wrong with my WIP, I was pretty desperate for something inspirational.

And along came The Help.

I read the book a couple of months ago and approached the film like I do every film that adapts a book I enjoyed – nervously. The story if you don’t know it by now is about black maids in 1960′s Mississippi who look after white children. When Miss Skeeter, a young white woman just out of college, decides to tell their story she forms a unique friendship with two of the maids and rocks the town of Jackson and the publishing world. Although the story looks at racism and Civil Rights, it focuses on friendship and the inspirational women who lived in that time and place.

The film captured the heart of the book for me – it was funny, moving and a brilliant character study. The actors were who I imagined the characters would look and sound and act like and the setting was perfect on screen. I had tears in my eyes at the end.

The story of The Help is inspiring in itself but so is the story behind it. The author Kathryn Stockett was rejected by over sixty literary agents but she never gave up, so determined to tell the story. She in turn was inspired by her own black maid growing up. The film also has its own inspiring story – her friend decided to film the story even before she had an agent or a book deal but no studio wanted to back it. Once she got published and the book started selling, the big-wigs read his screenplay and backed him. Again, they could have both given up but they didn’t and they got a best-selling books and Oscar-winning film in the end.

In an interview with the author on the DVD, she says that when anyone tells her she can’t have or do something, it makes her want it even more. If that isn’t inspiring, I don’t know what it is

Did anything inspire you this weekend?

Victoria

xoxo

27 Comments

by Victoria-writes on May 8, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Books, Films, inspiration, Reviews

Tagged books, film reviews, inspiration, The Help

Posted by Victoria-writes on May 8, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/05/08/inspiration-from-the-help/

The Hunger Games vs. Twilight

I went to see The Hunger Games yesterday. I won’t post another review as I’m a long way behind the rest (although I will say I loved it). Instead, in honour of the film and another favourite of mine Twilight, I thought I’d pitch the YA series’ against each other.

Warning: contains spoilers so don’t read if you don’t know how they end!

Let the battle begin:

The world

Twilight is set in present day Forks – a small town in Washington, which gets a lot of rain. Dark, gloomy and green. This world is inhabited by both humans and supernatural creatures namely vampires and werewolves (no witches or faeries as far as we know). And the supernatural’s live in secret mostly; until a girl called Bella comes along and guesses the truth. Some of the supers are good; others are evil and will drink your blood.

The Hunger Games is set in the future in a country that used to be America and is now called Panem. It’s a pretty bleak place made up of 12 districts ruled over by The Capitol. People in the outer districts are poor and hungry whereas people in The Capitol live in luxury and have really crazy hair. Every year the country watches The Hunger Games – a reality TV show where kids compete to their death.

Verdict: I’d rather live in Twilight’s world – there’s food and the reality TV shows may be depressing but they’re not brutal. Plus I’d have Edward. Just sayin’.

Twilight – 1, HG – 0.

The hero

Bella Swan is a teenage girl who falls for a vampire. She’s’ pretty average looking but pale and uncoordinated. She doesn’t really have a quest – most of her existence is there to be in love with Edward. Then she decides she wants to be immortal so she can love him forever. She finally becomes a vampire, which she is suited to very well.

Katniss Everdeen is a teenage girl who has lived her life fighting for survival. She leads her family, hunting for food and selling it so they can live. She is fiercely protective of her younger sister, volunteering to tale her place in The Hunger Games. Which’s she kicks ass in while staying someone we can root for. Plus she wins.

Verdict: Katniss is scary in the best possible way. I’d probably be the first one to die in the games so I’m pretty impressed by how she handles it.

HG – 1, Twilight – 0.

The love triangle

Bella Swan loves Edward but then he leaves her (it’s for her own good) so she starts hanging out with Jacob, who turns into a werewolf. He loves her a lot but she’s not sure. Then Edward comes back and she runs back into his arms. Jacob kisses her and she decides she loves them both but Edward is her soul mate. Then they have a baby who is Jacob’s soul mate. So everyone is happy.

Katniss Everdeen isn’t sure who she loves. There’s Gale her friend and hunting partner who’s really good looking. And there’s Peeta, her fellow competitor in the HG who says he’s had a crush on her since they were kids. They pretend to be I love for the cameras but I feels quite real. Then Gale comes up with an idea that leads to her sister being killed so she chooses Peeta.

Verdict: For me, I knew who they would both choose in the end but I was more unsure what would happen in The HG so I’ll go with that love triangle. Slightly more believable.

HG- 1, Twilight – 0.

The villains

In Twilight, The Volturi are pretty scary vampires who rule the community and you don’t want to meet them in a dark alley. Like, ever.

In HG, the villain is pinpointed as the President but you could argue the true villain is control. Snow is killed by Katniss in the end and the country takes back some of their freedom.

Verdict: Twilight has a defined group of villains that are creepy and who live on after the books. They’re invincible, which beats Snow who is destroyed.

Twilight – 1, HG – 0.

Final score:

It’s a tie in my battle between Twilight and The Hunger Games.

Who would win for you?

Victoria

xoxo

18 Comments

by Victoria-writes on April 5, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Books, Films, Fun, Pop culture, Reviews

Tagged books, films, fun, pop culture, Reviews, The Hunger Games, Twilight

Posted by Victoria-writes on April 5, 2012

http://victoria-writes.com/2012/04/05/the-hunger-games-vs-twilight/

Back in time

I recently watched Midnight in Paris – a 2011 Woody Allen film about a struggling American writer on holiday in Paris with his fiancée. The lead character Gil wishes in lived in Paris in the 1920′s when everything was far more magical and inspiring for writers and one night his fantasy comes true.

I really enjoyed this film – it’s romantic and funny and magical and if you’re a writer, you will definitely with Gil and his fantasies. It got me wondering if I had the opportunity to go back in time and experience a different era – which would I choose? The answer came pretty quickly. I fell in love with Jane Austen in my early teens and the love affair remains strong to this day. I’d love to get sucked back to her time and be able to live in the world she did.

Reasons why I would love to visit the Regency era of Jane Austen:

1. Courtship appears far more romantic – men are gentlemanly, dating is chaperoned and you fall in love at grand balls and across the table at dinner.

2. You get to wear long dresses and fancy gowns for special occasions made just for you.

3. No cars. Just horse-drawn carriages.

4. There’s no TV or internet so much more time for reading and writing. I’d have to give sewing a miss as I’m useless.

5. You actually have to converse with people and spend time with them. No calling on the phone or texting allowed.

Of course, if I did go back, I’d have to be a wealthy lady. I quite fancy a grand country pile somewhere. And I’d obviously bump into Mr Darcy, because he was real, and he’d sweep me off my feet.