What Ten Years of Alan Ladd Will Do to Your House

Today is my tenth Alan-iversary!  TENTH!!!!  Wow.

When you have been obsessing over the same actor for ten years, you tend to end up with a lot of stuff about them, all over your house.  At least, that's how it works if you're me :-D  One of these days, I'll do a post with all my John Wayne artwork and signs and posters too.  But today, it's Alan Ladd Day.  I'll give you a bit of a tour of where he shows up in my house.

You can kind of see these posters when you first come in the front door, if you know to look up the staircase to the hallway wall upstairs.  Guy Williams as Zorro, John Wayne on a horse, and Alan Ladd smiling at someone just off-screen.  Oddly enough, all three guys in these posters seem to be looking at something over by my laundry room.  Hmm.

Sorry about how glare-y these photos are.  I snapped them quickly today, and it was pretty sunny.

In our master bedroom, I have a wall that has a couple of half-sized bookcases that contain my unread books (or try to, anyway), and I have a gallery wall above that.  Five of the 11 pictures on it are Alan.  I'll share some closeups down below.

Actually, it's seven out of thirteen, because I have a smaller photo stuck into the frame of each of the bigger photos.  My best friend send me this swoony shot of a very young Alan Ladd.  The smaller photo is just a postcard I bought on RedBubble.

This is a really bad photo because of the reflection -- so sorry!  This is my favorite photo of Alan -- he's smiling his genuine smile in it, not his "I'm supposed to smile now" smile.  I bought it on eBay, and it's a vintage print of a promo photo.  The insert is a little photo of Alan with a horse that I think Eva-Joy sent me a while back.

This is a trio of postcards that were sent to Alan's fan club members at various stages in his career.  They're not actually signed, they just have his signature printed on them, but they ARE authentic fan club cards, so that's pretty cool.

Along another wall in our bedroom, I have a small table that's a combination sewing and writing table.  I have a few photos hung there, and for about ten years, I've been sticking postcards and inspirational writing quotations and such all around those photos.  Kind of an inspiration board for all my writing in general.

It includes a trio of postcards there that I also got from RedBubble when I was writing my first draft of my Hamlet retelling, which I haven't published yet, but do hope to revise and release eventually.  Anyway, I have Joseph Cotten, Alan Ladd, and Victoria Lake all done by the same artist because they're my Horatio, Hamlet, and Ophelia.  It's set in the 1940s, and these are based on their looks from the 1940s, so they're basically perfect!

Down in the living room, I have pictures from two of my favorite Alan Ladd westerns.  (My whole living room has a western movie theme -- I'm sure that comes as a great shock.)  These are from Branded (1950) and Shane (1953), respectively.  They're hanging right above our TV set.

Of course, the living room also contains my collection of Alan Ladd DVDs and Blu-Rays, but those are scattered all over my movie shelves and I simply ran out of time to collect them all up for a photo.

Over in the kitchen, you'll find my two Alan Ladd mugs.  One, you'll notice, has the same artwork as one of my postcards -- again, it's from RedBubble.  The other has a promo image from This Gun for Hire (1942), and I got it on Etsy ten years ago.  One of the first Alan Ladd-related things I bought!

Finally, in the library, you'll find a couple of movie-tie-in books for two of Alan's movies, Two Years Before the Mast (1946) and The Proud Rebel (1958).   I'd love to have the movie tie-in for The Great Gatsby (1949), but those tend to run like $250 each, so... that's out of my league, heh.  Maybe I'll find a deal on one some day.

This concludes our tour of the random Alan Ladd memorabilia that has collected around my house over the past ten years.  I hope you enjoyed it :-)  And, if not, well, the tickets didn't cost much, anyway...

Build Your Own Fairy Tale Game

I've created a game for We Love Fairy Tales Week that allows you to build your own fairy tale based on what you roll with a die (or random number generator) for each question.  

Simply roll a die once for each question, then use that number's answer to build the next part of your fairy tale.  Put all your parts together in the comments, and embellish them a bit if you want to, and we can all enjoy each others' brand-new fairy tales!

Your Role

You are the hero/heroine of a new fairy tale!  Your story begins this way:

Once upon a time, there lived a(n) __________________

1. comely maiden/lad

2. tired mother/father

3. curious chameleon

4. wise-cracking hermit

5. excitable dragon

6. perfectly ordinary cat

The Love Interest

Then you met ________________, and the two of you fell in love.

1. a shy prince/princess

2. a wise centaur

3. a jolly baker

4. a lonely king/queen

5. a mischievous mermaid/merman

6. a vain fairy

Your Problem

One day, you ______________

1. lost your favorite slippers

2. accidentally stole the king's carriage

3. dropped your rent money down a well

4. fell off a horse and broke your foot

5. ate poisonous berries and became deathly ill

6. drank a love potion meant for someone else

The Villain

To make matters worse, there suddenly appeared a ____________ who took credit for your misfortune.

1. disgruntled wizard

2. greedy troll

3. killer bunny

4. vengeful unicorn

5. miserly pirate

6. hungry giant

The Escalation

Before you could stop them, that villain _____________________

1. called you a ninnygrimble

2. bit your ankle

3. stole your shoes

4. ate your lunch

5. turned you into a newt

6. bonked your love interest over the head and tried to drag him/her off to their lair

The Showdown Begins

Immediately, you bravely ______________________

1. reported them to the authorities

2. stuck your fingers in your ears, shut your eyes, and blew a raspberry at them

3. chanted their name three times

4. drew your sword and executed a dazzling array of complicated moves with it

5. bonked them over the head with your quarterstaff

6. kicked them in the knee

The Climax

Almost before you knew what was happening, ________________

1. the villain disappeared in a puff of smoke

2. you were transported to the royal palace

3. the royal guard appeared and rescued you

4. you and your one true love both turned invisible

5. a wolf came out of the forest and ate the villain

6. the villain realized the error of their ways, repented, and asked you to forgive them.

The Aftermath

Once the dust had settled, you ____________________

1. were appointed to the royal court as a reward for your brave deeds

2. opened your own business

3. were declared the new king/queen of the realm

4. joined the circus

5. found a purse full of gold coins

6. built your dream home in the forest

The Ending

At long last, you __________________

1. married your one true love and lived reasonably happily ever after.

2. decided you and your significant other would be better off as friends.

3. set off for a distant land to seek another adventure.

4. married your one true love and lived happily to the end of your days.

5. learned the secret to living a happy life.

6. had seventeen children and tickled each of them once a day.

Now, just string those all together into a story in a comment!  I can't wait to see how your new fairy tale turns out :-D

We Love Fairy Tales Week -- Kickoff and Tag

Once upon a time... we spent a whole week celebrating fairy tales!

I'm so excited that you're joining me for this blog party!  All week long, we'll be reveling in fairy tales and fairy tale retellings.  You can join the party any time by sharing posts on your own blog.  Don't forget to add one or more party buttons too -- you can find all of them in this post.  When you're done, come back here and add a link to your post to this widget so others can find it:

You can also participate by copying the official party tag to your blog and answering the questions there.  Here are the tag questions:

1.  What's your favorite fairy tale?

2.  If you could cast any actors and actresses ever in a movie version of that fairy tale, who would you pick?

3.  Do you have a favorite fairy tale movie?

4.  Do you have a favorite book that retells a fairy tale?

5.  If you got to be in a stage or film production of a classic fairy tale, what fairy tale would you want to be in, and who would you like to play?

6.  Do you like fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen or the Grimm Brothers best?  Or someone else's?

7.  What more obscure fairy tale do you think more people should know about?

Come back here from time to time this week to see what people are sharing!  I have a giveaway going already, and I'll be sharing a blog game or two in the next few days, too.

Giveaway for We Love Fairy Tales Week

Are you ready?  Behold the prizes for the We Love Fairy Tales Week giveaway!

I have seven prizes for you this year.  Read on to learn more about each prize and then find out how to enter!

Prize One: A Noble Companion gift set!  I made these for a couple of in-person author events in December, and I didn't sell quite all of them, so I'm giving one away to one lucky winner this week!  The gift set includes a paperback copy of my Ugly Duckling retelling, A Noble Companion, plus multiple fun gifts to open as you read.  Each gift is labeled with what page it corresponds to, so you can open them as you read... or open them all at once, if you would rather.  Your choice!  

A Noble Companion is historical-esque, non-magical fantasy with talking animals and dragons living alongside humans in a fairy tale world based on 1800s Spanish California.  It's Christian YA with some mild western violence, no cussing, and a few lightly described kisses.

Prize Two:  a used DVD copy of Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), a fun fantasy adventure starring Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, and Eleanor Tomlinson.  It's rated PG-13 for "intense scenes of fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief language."  It has some kissing, quite a bit of fantasy violence, and several cuss words (including the F word once).  I didn't show it to my kids until they were all at least 13.  It's a really fun movie, but definitely not intended for little kids.

Prize Three: four bookmarks (set one) depicting classic fairy tales

Prize Four:  four bookmarks (set two) with a princessy fairy tale theme

Prize Five: five stickers (set one) depicting castles and dragons coming out of books

Prize Six: five stickers (set two) depicting cottage-core fairy tale elements coming out of books

Prize Seven: five stickers (set three) depicting underwater fantasy scenes coming out of books

This giveaway is open worldwide!  It ends at 11:59pm EST on Friday, February 13.  I will have a random number generator pick seven winners that weekend, one for each prize, then alert the winners by email and announce them on my blog.  Winners have one week to reply to my email.  If they do not reply within one week, they forfeit their prize.

How to Enter

The giveaway widget I used to use is not longer operational, so this year, you will enter by leaving comments on this post.  I'll assign a number to each comment at the end of the week and use a random number generator to pick winning numbers.

You must leave a comment on this same post telling me what email address to contact you at if you win.  I have put all comments on "moderation," so those comments will NOT be shared here on my blog.  I will keep them private, and delete them after this giveaway has ended.  I will not use them for any purpose besides contacting winners of this giveaway.  Anyone who does not complete this step will not be eligible for a prize.  

You must leave a comment on this same post telling me what your top three prize choices are!  I do my best to match prizes with winners based on the order the random number generator chooses the winners in.  I cannot guarantee that winners will receive their top choice of prize.  Anyone who does not complete this step will not be eligible for a prize.  You may enter this way only one time.

You may leave a comment with a link to the blog post you contributed to the We Love Fairy Tales Week celebration.  You may enter this way more than once, and each will count as one entry for each blog post you contribute to the party.  Please leave each link in a separate comment.

You may leave a comment telling me you have visited my Instagram profile and scrolled through my page a bit, and tell me something you like about my photos.  You may enter this way only one time.

You may leave a comment telling me you have visited my Goodreads profile and marked at least one of my books as "to read."  You may enter this way only one time.

You may leave a comment telling me you have visited my author website, and tell me which page you found most interesting.  You may enter this way only one time.

You may leave a comment telling me you have signed up for my author newsletter.  New sign-ups and existing subscriptions both count!  You may enter this way only one time.

Each of those will earn you one entry into the giveaway!

If you are posting anonymous comments, please add a name or nickname to them so I know who you are -- and use the same name or nickname for each comment.  Any unsigned, unidentifiable comments will be disqualified.

No purchase necessary.  Void where prohibited.  Must be 18+ or have permission from parent/guardian to provide a mailing address if you win.  I will not share mailing or email addresses with any third party OR use them for any purpose except what is stated in this giveaway post. All prizes were purchased by me for the purpose of this giveaway and will be shipped via USPS.  Once I mail them off, they are out of my hands and I am not responsible for whether or not they reach the winners.

Be sure to visit my kick-off post to find all the cool contributions for We Love Fairy Tales Week, and to leave links for your own!

Repeating the Past: "Dead Again" (1991)

Film noir movies love to explore the question of just how much hold the past has over us. Can a person ever outrun their past? Can they atone for past actions? Are we doomed to repeat our mistakes, or even the mistakes of others? Or can a person make new choices, a new life? Can someone put the past to rest, leaving them free to begin anew? 

Most noir stories lean toward the fatalistic, pessimistic side of these questions. From Out of the Past (1947) to Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) to L.A. Confidential (1997), often a person’s past will catch up with them and mess up whatever they’re trying to do with their lives now, for good or evil. The 1991 film Dead Again plays with those same questions. A neo-noir with two mysteries and two romances, it boasts the best use of scissors as a weapon since Dial ‘M’ for Murder. And it explores the idea of two people trying to figure out if they’re doomed to repeat the past, or if they’re free to create new lives for themselves. 

Although I don’t believe in reincarnation myself, I find it a fun concept to explore in fiction. Dead Again begins when an amnesiac (Emma Thompson) appears at the gate of a charitable home for kids. The nuns who run the home take her in for a day or two, but she has terrifying nightmares, refuses to eat, and can’t talk. The nuns realize they can’t care for her and try to find someone who can. 

They turn to Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh), a private investigator who specializes in tracking down missing persons. They hope he can reverse his usual methods and find out where this missing woman belongs. She has nowhere to go, so he lets her stay at his apartment while he runs an ad with her picture in the paper and tries to find clues to who she might be. 

The first night she stays at his place, she has her terrifying nightmare again — a man leering over her and exclaiming, “These are for you!” while preparing to stab her with a pair of scissors. The man in her dream looks like Mike Church, only with a goatee. A hypnotist (Derek Jacobi) tries to help this unknown woman by putting her in contact with her memories so she can figure out who she is. Only instead of accessing memories of her forgotten past, she remembers a husband and wife named Roman and Margaret Strauss (also Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson) whose 1940s love story ended in bloody tragedy. 

The woman becomes convinced she’s remembering things that happened, that she used to be Margaret Strauss back in the 1940s. They find pictures of the Strausses, and sure enough, she looks like Margaret, and Mike looks like Roman. From newspaper clippings, they learn that a jury convicted and executed Roman for killing his wife with a pair of scissors. Mike is initially skeptical, but an ex-psychiatrist (Robin Williams) convinces him to take the idea seriously. So he tries to track down a newspaper reporter (Andy Garcia) who did a lot of articles on the mystery fifty years earlier, hoping to find a reason why the woman he’s falling in love with thinks he murdered her in a past life and might do it again. 

When I say I have never seen another film like Dead Again, I am not being hyperbolic. And not just because married-at-the-time co-stars Branagh and Thompson play multiple roles. Or because they’re British actors doing such good non-British accents I forget they’re not Americans (or random Europeans). I’ve just never seen a noir film that used such a literal theme of the-past-will-haunt you. And I’ve never seen one focused on that theme that ended quite this way either. 

I don’t want to ruin the ending, so I’ll just say it wraps up in a way that's much more optimistic than I expected. Even if Mike Church and the amnesiac woman he loves can’t outrun the past, they can put it to rest once and for all.

(This post originally appeared in Femnista magazine on November 25, 2017.)

"You've Got Mail" (1998)

I first saw You've Got Mail (1998) in the theater when I was home on Christmas Break during my freshman year of college.  I went to see it with my high school bestie, and I knew it was going to be a long-time favorite by the time we finished that first viewing.  

As soon as it hit the video rental stores, my college friends and I rented it.  And then rented it again.  Because I was a poor college student, buying a movie on VHS as soon as it got released was like the ultimate honor I could pay to it.  And this was one of those rare movies I just had to buy right away and have as my very own to watch whenever I wanted to, and who cares if it cost more than it would in a few months.  

Of course, this was back when a movie finally was available to buy on VHS several months after it was available to rent (and it arrived at the rental shops six months or so after it was in the theater -- this is how we learned patience).  So we'd been able to rent it quite a few times before I was able to own my own copy.

My roommates and I proceeded to watch my copy over and over and over.  Friends frequently borrowed it.  One friend had to buy her own copy at the end of the school year so she could watch it.  

And why were we so obsessed with You've Got Mail?  

We were all young women in our late teens or early twenties, and most of us were hoping to meet a nice guy at college and fall in love and get married.  And I think that was a huge part of this movie's appeal: Tom Hanks can play really nice guys.  Approachable guys.  Guys who don't seem like they're out of the realm of possibility for an average girl to get together with.  My friends and I were realistic about our chances of attracting a guy who looked like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt (never happening), but Tom Hanks was just enough of an average joe that we would have a chance with him.

And who doesn't want to have someone fall in love with who you really are?  Someone you can share your most whimsical, quirky, oddball, funky thoughts with?  Someone who takes the time to understand you?

That's what You've Got Mail is all about.

And, for book nerds like me, all the bookish goodness was a total perk.

Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) runs a children's book store in New York City called Shop Around the Corner.  She's warm and bubbly and quirky and feisty and complicated.  She's been online pen pals with a stranger for months.  They met in a chat room, bonded over loving NYC, and started exchanging their thoughts on various subjects, just for fun.

Kathleen's livelihood is threatened by the impending opening of a Fox Books mega bookstore nearby.  Her boyfriend, an opinionated newspaper columnist (Greg Kinnear), helps her organize a protest campaign to block the "big box" Fox Books from opening and ruining the indie-stores-only vibe of the neighborhood.

Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) is the third-generation businessman running the family company, Fox Books.  He's snarky and witty and sharp and kind and complicated.  And about halfway through the movie, he discovers that the awful woman who is throwing roadblocks in his bookstore's way and mocking him in public and generally being a pain in his neck... is also the lovely woman he's been corresponding with for months and might be falling in love with.

And then things get complicated :-)

You've Got Mail is a remake of The Shop Around the Corner (1940).  And I like it better than the original, mostly because both Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are playing such approachable, nice people.  The main characters in The Shop Around the Corner are both... kind of unlikeable.  I know one of them is played by Jimmy Stewart, but this is cranky Jimmy Stewart, not cuddly Jimmy Stewart.  I enjoy the movie, but I just don't love it like I love You've Got Mail.

Is this movie family friendly?  Um, fine for older teens?  Tom Hanks's character is living with his girlfriend.  A minor female side character leaves her husband for a woman.  There's some mild cussing and innuendo in dialog.  No violence, no nekkid people, not bedroom scenes.

This has been my contribution to the Film. Release. Repeat. Blogathon hosted by myself and The Midnite Drive-In all weekend!

The Film. Release. Repeat. Blogathon has arrived!

Welcome to the Film. Release. Repeat. Blogathon, hosted by myself and Jim (Quiggy) over at The Midnite Drive-In!

All weekend long, we're celebrating movie remakes and sequels!  Check back here for updates to the list of entries, as I'll be updating it periodically.

Review of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) [sequel]

at The Midnite Drive-In

Review of Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) [sequel]

at RealWeegieMidget Reviews

Review of A Star is Born (1976) and its predecessors [remake]

at Angelman's Place

Reviews of The End of the Affair (1955) and The End of the Affair (1999) [remake]

at Classic Film and TV Corner

Review of You Can't Run Away from It (1956) [remake]

at Nitrate Glow

Review of Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)

at Critica Retro

Reviews of The Mummy (1932) and The Mummy (1999)

at Hoofers and Honeys

Top Ten Favorite Movie Sequels

at Movies Meet Their Match

Review of The Thing (1982) [remake]

at The Midnite Drive-in

Overview of the Blondie series (1938-1950) [sequels]

at Silver Screenings

Review of You've Got Mail (1998) [remake]

at Hamlette's Soliloquy

Review of Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part Two (1978) [sequel]

at 18 Cinema Lane