Screenplay Collection

Have you ever had that feeling when you find a book and think it was fate brought you together? I was at Booksale last Wednesday just to pass the time and found three amazing books: one about photographer Alfred Stieglitz and his painter wife Georgia O'Keeffe, an encyclopedia of watercolor painting techniques, and a book called Great Graphic Design on a Budget. But I couldn't afford any of those at the time and so headed over to the fiction section. And there it was. The moment I laid my eyes (and hand) on that second title from the far left column, I thought 'it's my book!'. That's what I love about second-hand book shops. You'll never know what easter eggs are hidden. I just found the screenplay of one of my all-time favorite movies: The History Boys!

Clockwise from top left: The Mommy Market, Nil by Mouth (Gary Oldman),
My Own Private Idaho & Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (Gus Van Sant),
The History Boys (Alan Bennett) and Three Screenplays (Ed Burns)

It's starting to look like a collection. That one with the Korean characters is the screenplay for The Mommy Market starring Anna Chlumsky. It came with the VHS tape my father bought in the 90s. This group though is missing my other favorite by writer/director Mike Leigh (right). My friend, who shares this admiration, is its current keeper.

Don't be put off by its title, the movie Naked is heavy and intense, but nonetheless first-rate especially the script and acting. I am in awe of movies that leave you questioning and speechless.

Finally, and as the 'History Teachers' would suggest, I'm ending this post with a 'gobbet.'

"The best moments in reading are when you come across something -- a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things -- which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours."

~ Hector (The History Boys)