(no subject)

[nonionay]

I've got a file labeled, "my indulgences." It's a list of stuff like, "Good guys and bad guys who have to cooperate," "corsets," "beating up hot boys." I've just added a section for dissecting movies and books I love to find things i want to use. Right now, it's mainly general stuff, since I can't remember the intricacies of plot devices right away. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is the exception, since I just watched it, and it gave me this idea in the first place. I want to do this every time I see a movie/read a book.

I just went over the top shelf of our movie rack, picking movies I'd seen a zillion times or left a really big impact.

Please add to it. What plot structures/devices/general cool stuff can you think of from your favorite stuff?




Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels-- Having the viewer anticipate several horrible things happening to the main character, which then cancel each other out. bad guys blowing each other away, secret identities. grey characters. Have a character fail at something, but the villain, when moving on the failure, moves to the wrong conclusion, thus hurting himself/helping others. Also, having something “negative” happen to a character, which actually works out to a greater moral good (at least from my pov. :-) In this case, material/financial loss which ultimately doesn't hurt a character's lifestyle.

M – the mob going after a child rapist/murderer the cops couldn't catch (bad guys fighting other bad guys)

Mask of Zorro – Secret identities. Teacher/mentor, Old hero/young hero vs old villain/young villain. Hero+villain's child. swashbuckling in black capes and masks. Hero/heroine fighting each other. angsty brother death. people who keep body parts. Cleaning up a filthy hero. Hero/Heroine/Villain love triangle (a really guilty pleasure)

Terminator 2 – former villain as helper/hero. insanely overprotective mom with really hot arms. (let's break that down to people focused to the point of insanity, and kickass mothers) self-determinism over fatalism (which T3 went and fucked up, damn them. T3, however, gets a mention for MC's mother who dies of natural causes, rather than an angsty reason.)

Grosse Pointe Blank – angsty hit men (in black), old life/new life crossing over. Being open about a truth so bizarre no one would believe you anyway. The "normal" people are crazier than the hit-man-in-therapy.

Oscar - razor sharp timing and switcheroos, mistaken identities. Secret children.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off – fearlessly finding joy in life.

Fierce Creatures – surly guys taking care of cute, fuzzy animals.

Batman Begins – people dropping out of everyday life for years on end, to return full of mystery. Secret identities. Playing on people's fears. mentor and student set against each other.

Minority Report – mystic people held by an organization for their own purposes. Bonus points for being in a pool. Hero on the run. (Hero on the run for being falsely accused of a crime has never sat well with me. I prefer my heroes to commit the crimes they're accused of.) having to change identities (eyeball transplant!) stasis prison. Hero's passions used against him. Kidnapping.

Amadeus – narrator who hates the MC. MC (if you can call Mozart the MC, not Salieri) who's dissolute and generally bonkers, who, despite his skill and fame, is kind of a fuck up.

Die Hard – hero in hiding who taunts villains. Hero cut off from outside assistance despite being in contact with them.

Reservoir Dogs – men in black. secret identities, tough guys stripped to their soul, minimal cast in limited setting. Psychopath who manages to fuck up songs for me forever. Climactic event happens at beginning of story.

Red Dwarf – limited cast in limited setting. characters who hate each other. Backstory related through anecdotes.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico – blinded characters (blinded sociopath!), man-whores (with guns... in guitar cases)

Mystery Men – characters screwing up important person and having to do important person's job in their place. cool doodads.