EMMETT Of The Unblinking Eye

TOP 10 MOVIES ABOUT BOOKS AND AUTHORS
OF ALL TIME!!!

July 30, 2004

In case you didn't know -- and if you listen to the show at all, I can't see how you couldn't know -- Mr. Hewitt has written a new book, just in time for election season. So to further enhance the subject, here are the Top 10 Movies About Books and Authors ever -- not movies based on books mind you, but movies actually depicting books, the creation of books, or authors in general. Oh, by the way, did I mention that Hugh has written a new book?.

	10.	Notting Hill (1999): Okay, so it wasn't on my original list -- but it almost was. And after careful consideration, I determined that this movie about a man, his travel book store and the movie star he falls in love with deserves to be on it. If you haven't seen it, do. If nothing else, the "change of seasons" scene is one of the best "time passes" scenes ever filmed.
	9.	Romancing the Stone (1984): "Joan Wilder? The Joan Wilder? I read your books! I read all your books!" Grand movie about a repressed author (Kathleen Turner) finding freedom and love with a jungle hunter. Twenty years hasn't lessened its charm.
	8	Bridget Jones's Diary (2001): Well, maybe a diary isn't a book, but it's close enough for me when the movie's this good.
	7	Finding Forrester (2000): What can be better than books and basketball? Sean Connery stars as a reclusive author brought back from despair by a young and talented writer (Rob Brown in a truly remarkable performance for someone with no acting experience).
	6	Ball of Fire (1941): Gary Cooper leads a group of lexicographers (dictionary drafters, for those of you who, like Mr. Hewitt, have absolutely no idea what "lexicographer" means) who decide that they need to learn how the common people speak. And who can be more common that Katherine "Sugarpuss" O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck)? A very, very funny movie.
	5	Field Of Dreams (1989): What, again? Although it has recently been on many of my lists, it's just because it's one of the finest movies ever made. And no one is more reclusive-authorish than James Earl Jones in the "we-know-it's-not-J.D.-Salinger-but-it-really-is-wink-wink" role.
	4	As Good As It Gets (1997): Jack Nicholson stars as a misanthropic author [Receptionist: How do you write women so well? Melvin Udall: Easy. I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.] whose obsessive-compulsive disorder gets in the way of his romance with Helen Hunt.
	3	Misery (1990): Kathy Bates won an Oscar© for her role as author James Caan's "Number 1 fan!" Sledgehammers will never be looked at the same
	2	The Princess Bride (1987): A wonderful movie of a grandfather (Peter Falk) reading a story to his sick grandson (Fred Savage).
	1	84 Charing Cross Road (1987): A beautiful film about two people (Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins) who live an ocean away from each other but are joined by their love of books.

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