Comic Relief!: Ghost stories…according to books.

Last night I met with a book group (our first meeting) and participated in a lively discussion about the novel we read. Afterwards, as I walked with one of the ladies to my car, the topic finally came up--a topic that inevitably arises whenever book lovers learn I'm a screenwriter. "I hate what filmmakers do to my favorite books!"

I wanted to laugh…maniacally. (Which, by the way, I have a difficult time pronouncing… I want to say mane-ee-ack-ah-lee.) Mwahahahahahaha!!

(For information on how to enjoy a movie based on a book, read Hints for Watching Movie Re-makes.)

Comic Relief: Add a word to a title.

The title for the screenplay I'm working on eludes me.  I have a "working" title for the sake of saving my screenwriting file, but it doesn't grab me.  And the title should grab!

A word can make or break a title.  Which brings me to today's comic relief… Add a Word Ruin a Movie (twitter.com/ruinmoviee).

Some examples from the site:

• Game of Porcelain Thrones 
• The KFC Bucket List
• A Bed Bug's Life
• The Shawshank Tax Exemption

The list goes on.

After reading a few posts, I decided to ruin some titles myself.  They might already be listed on the site (I didn't have time to read them all), but here's what I came up with...

• Gone With the Flatulent Wind
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Smarty Pants
• The Philadelphia Sandwich Experiment.
• How To Potty Train Your Dragon
• The Book Worm Thief
• The Lone Power Ranger
• Crochet Hook
• American Beauty Mark
• Captain Phillips Screwdriver
• Schindler's To-Do List

So…apparently I can ruin ten titles, but can't up with a one intriguing title of my own. 

By adding one word, which movie titles can you ruin?

Comic Relief: Who Needs Dialogue?

When I am around my youngest grandchild, I can't help but laugh at her facial expressions. I've never seen a more expressive face. Calla (named after the calla lily) turned two years old a week ago, and doesn't talk much. She knows how to speak, sure, but doesn't need to… her face says everything.

It makes me think of the famous line from Sunset Boulevard (1950) when the character Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star, exclaims:

We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!

Comic Relief: Answers to Rhetorical Questions

I came across something I saved from Reader's Digest:

Answers to Rhetorical Questions Posed by Movie Titles

by Ethan Ryan, from mcsweeneys.net

• Judge Doom framed Roger Rabbit
• Your car's behind that mail truck, dude.
• Yes, they shoot horses to put them out of their misery.
• Fine, bring Bob.
• The stress of caring for his obese mother and developmentally slow brother is what's eating Gilbert Grape.
• Baby Jane grew up and became an alcoholic.
• I'm afraid of Virginia Woolf.

(Film titles:  Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Dude, Where's My Car?; They Shoot Horses, Don't They?' What About Bob?; What's Eating Giblert Grape; Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)