Writing Quote of the Week

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."
--Ray Bradbury

Writing Quote of the Week

"Don't be a 'writer'.  Be writing."
--William Faulkner

Writing Quote of the Week

"I felt that I had to write.  Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it and experiencing the challenge."
--Gwendolyn Brooks

Photo: Elle Afro 2

Elle Afro 2, a photo by Ran Walker on Flickr.

This is a photograph I took of my wife blowing me a kiss. I used my iPhone 4S and the Simply B&W app.

What Do Vertigo and Boogie Nights Have in Common?

I probably would have never noticed this if I hadn't watched both Boogie Nights and Vertigo recently.  (I know that's an odd combination, like Tuna and peanut butter.)  Still, I felt a little Hollywood chill ease up my spine--as if I might have been getting a decade's old inside joke.

In Vertigo, there is a scene where Midge (who really wants to be with Scottie, although Scottie is smitten with Madeline) paints a portrait of herself as Carlotta Valdes, a deceased woman whose painting hangs in a museum that Madeline frequents and whom Scottie believes might be possessing Madeline.  In other words, Midge paints a picture of herself posing as a person Scottie already has very strange feelings about.

As a result, Scottie leaves Midge's apartment, disgusted with the portrait.  After Scottie leaves, Midge torments herself by saying, "Idiot...stupid! Stupid!  Stupid!"

Now, let's look at Boogie Nights.

We have another scene of unrequited love involving a person with blond hair.  Ironically, the slighted guy's name is Scotty.  (Hmmm.)  Scotty (played by Philip Seymore Hoffman) is wearing a red leather jacket (not unlike Midge's red sweater) when he approaches Dirk (played by Mark Wahlberg) to inform him that he likes him.  This is very much like Midge's efforts to show Scottie that she likes him.  Scotty is rebuffed by Dirk in a scene that results in Scotty beating himself up by calling himself an "idiot"--just like Midge did in Vertigo.

See the scene from Boogie Nights here.

Coincidence?  In Hollywood, where writers and directors sometimes pay homage to other films in their own?  I seriously doubt it.

Boogie Nights and Vertigo?  Who would have thought?

* I googled this topic to see if it had been touched on before.  I didn't come across anything, but if someone else beat me to the punch on this, that's cool.  I was just putting it out there.

Writing Quote of the Week

"Not only is your story worth telling, but it can be told in words so painstakingly eloquent that it becomes a song."
--Gloria Naylor

Writing Quote of the Week

"The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike."
--Ralph Ellison