Let’s go out to the movies.
There are some movies that I have loved and will always love. They changed my vocabulary, my outlook on life and made me remember why I love writing in the first place. These are some of my favorite movies:
Raiders of the Lost Ark. I first saw this movie when it came out in theaters, the summer of 1981, with a few friends. To say that I was blown away is an understatement (please forgive the cliché). I walked out of the theater dazed. I already loved Harrison Ford for being Hans Solo and the cowboy in The Frisco Kid. One of my friends said, “And that music, it was so good!” I looked at him, baffled. “There was music?” I was too caught up in the action to even notice. I can now quote the entire movie (but unless I’m watching it alone, I don’t). The name has been changed to Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Whatever. I own this movie (one of a handful of movies I actually own that’s not a children’s movie) and re-watch it at least once a year. And after every watching, I always have the same thought — I wish I wrote this movie. It has everything — adventure, romance, mysticism, a heroin who can drink everyone under the table, a charming and handsome archeologist and Nazis who get their comeuppance in the end. Remember when Indy was challenged to a sword fight and he was tired so he just shot the guy? That was brilliant.
