On hiatus

I've been running this blog for eight months. It's helped me with my writing, especially with writer's block, but sadly, it has become sort of a distraction from my other work. Between the novel, three short stories, a few screenplays, a short film, two blogs and scraping money together for either film school or a literature degree, something has to give. Unfortunately I'm making the difficult decision to put Come Back Shane! on hold. It's been a fun eight months and hopefully I will be able to return to this eventually. Thanks to all those who supported the blog.

Vote for the most memorable movie characters of the decade part 4

The third round of voting is over. Thanks to the folks who voted. Here is the list of round three winners:

Most memorable anti-hero of the decade:

• Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) Star Wars Episodes I, II, & III
  
• Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) Chicago
• Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) Chicago

Most memorable spy/secret agent of the decade:

• Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) The Bourne trilogy

Most memorable tough girl of the decade:

• Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy

The final two categories are up on the right side of the page, and you can vote until Monday, August 3 at midnight Pacific time.

Vote for the most memorable movie characters of the decade part 3

Okay, round two is complete. Thanks to the people who voted. I hope even more of you will vote in the new categories. Here is the list of round two winners:

Most memorable sister of the decade:

• Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) Pride and Prejudice
  

Most memorable brother of the decade:

• Jamal Malik (Dev Patel, Tanay Chheda, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar) Slumdog Millionaire

Most memorable teacher of the decade:

• Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) The Harry Potter Series
• Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) Half Nelson

Most memorable student of the decade:

• Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) The Harry Potter Series
• Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) Star Wars Episode II & III

The next four categories are up on the right side of the page, and you can vote until Thursday, July 30 at midnight Pacific time. The next four categories will go up after that.

Vote for the most memorable movie characters of the decade part 2

Okay, round one is done. There was more than one winner in some of the categories which I didn't anticipate. I think it's because a small number of people voted. Hopefully more people will vote in this poll. Here is the list of winners:

Most memorable mom of the decade:

• Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) The Others
• Fiona Brewer (Toni Collette) About a Boy
• The Bride (Uma Thurman) Kill Bill
• Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon) Vanity Fair
• Juno McGuff (Ellen Page) Juno
• Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) Changeling
• Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Most memorable dad of the decade:

• Marlin (Albert Brooks) Finding Nemo

Most memorable daughter of the decade:

• Arwen (Liv Tyler) The Lord of the Rings trilogy
• Christine (Emmy Rossum) The Phantom of the Opera
• Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave) Atonement

Most memorable son of the decade:

• Nemo (Alexander Gould) Finding Nemo
• Peter Llewelyn Davies (Freddie Highmore) Finding Neverland

The next four categories are up on the right side of the page, and you can vote until Monday, July 27 at midnight Pacific time. The next four categories will go up after that.

Vote for the most memorable movie characters of the decade

You might have noticed the polls on the right side of the page. I figured I would devote the second half of the year to looking back at the decade that was. I'll have a giant list of the decade's most memorable characters, but until then, for the next month or so you'll get a chance to vote for the characters you find the most memorable. The first four categories are up and voting closes on Wednesday, July 23 at midnight Pacific time. The next four categories will go up after that. Who knows, some of the winners might make it onto the list.

April means Script Frenzy

If you're a screenwriter or aspiring screenwriter you might be interested in participating in Script Frenzy this year. Here's a little info from the Script Frenzy website to help you get acquainted:

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants take on the challenge of writing 100 pages of scripted material in the month of April. As part of a donation-funded nonprofit, Script Frenzy charges no fee to participate; there are also no valuable prizes awarded or "best" scripts singled out. Every writer who completes the goal of 100 pages is victorious and awe-inspiring and will receive a handsome Script Frenzy Winner's Certificate and web icon proclaiming this fact.

Even those who fall short of the word goal will be applauded for making a heroic attempt. Really, you have nothing to lose—except that nagging feeling that there's a script inside you that may never get out.

I won't be taking part this year, because I'm in the research phase of a novel, but a lot of people have tried it in previous years and loved the experience. There's still time to sign up before April 1. Have fun, and good luck.

About that title...

Come Back Shane! exists because of my mother and my grandmother. When my mother was a young girl in Jamaica, my grandmother took her to the movies all the time. It was always just the two of them, and some movies they watched decades ago are now my favorites.

My grandmother loved Westerns most, Shane being one of the films my mother distinctly remembers. Though my mother can't remember the plot, she has always remembered Shane's ending: a young Joey (Brandon De Wilde) calling after his idol as he rides off into the sunset - “Come back Shane!” Though the quote is actually “Shane! Shane! Come back!” followed by a sad "Bye, Shane", for a little girl to hold on to that quote for 40 years, the movie must have made an impact.

Naturally, with my mother's talk of dark movie theaters (something I grew up without while I lived in West Africa), and my grandmother deciding which summer movies to watch – I became a cinephile. Hence the blog, and its odd title.

The blog will frequently focus on young Hollywood talent (artists and actors not a day over 35), and movies I'm drawn to (mainstream movies, indies, French films, and some of the classics). The title, therefore, has a sort of double meaning based on its focus on young talent. Brandon De Wilde was Oscar nominated for his role in Shane at age 11 and tragically dead at 30. So the blog's spirit will always try to be a youthful one (obsessing over classic movies notwithstanding).

Come Back Shane! is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, who passed away in December, 2008 – movie buff, lifelong Paul Newman fan, and the best film teacher a little (fan)girl could hope for.