"Bond. James Bond." and Other Iconic Movie Lines

Hubby and I were out at dinner the other night, and we started talking about great movie lines. Being a fan of Gone with the Wind, the first one that came out of my mouth was, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” GWTW has a few iconic lines, like “After all, tomorrow is another day,” and “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.”

The romantic movie, Casablanca, starring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, supplied many great one-liners:

• “Here’s looking at you, kid.” 
• “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she comes into mine.” 
• “Round up the usual suspects.” 
• “We’ll always have Paris.” 
• "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

The Wizard of Oz delivered as well with lines like:

• “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
• “There’s no place like home.” 
• “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!”

You know these lines because so many of them have made their way into our daily lexicon. Here’s a list of a few more that come to mind:

• “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” – Vito Corleone, The Godfather
• “Go ahead, make my day.” – Harry Callahan, Sudden Impact
• “E.T. phone home.” – E.T., E.T. the Extraterrestrial
• “May the force be with you.” – Han Solo, Star Wars
• “I’ll be back.” – The Terminator, The Terminator
• “Houston, we have a problem.” – Jim Lovell, Apollo 13

Romantic one-liners:

• “You had me at ‘hello.’” – Dorothy Boyd, Jerry Maguire
• “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” – Jennifer Barrett, Love Story
• “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” – Johnny Castle, Dirty Dancing

Scene stealers:

• “I’ll have what she’s having.” Customer (Rob Reiner’s mother), When Harry Met Sally
• “Here’s Johnny!” – Jack Torrance, The Shining
• “You can’t handle the truth!” – Col. Nathan Jessup, A Few Good Men

What are some of your favorite movie one-liners?

August is Romance Awareness Month

August is Romance Awareness Month – the month to add a little romance back into your life. Whether that means special date nights with your significant other or curling up with a romance novel or romantic movie, set aside some time to focus on romance. I blogged recently about some of my favorite romantic movies, romcons, and classic romantic novels, just to give you a few ideas. 

I thought Urban Dictionary had the best definition of romance: 

True romance is doing something special or unexpected for someone you love, even though you don't have to. Romance isn't a greeting card, it isn't Valentine's Day, it isn't a box of chocolates, and it certainly isn't a dozen roses (unless you like that sort of thing). Real romance is not what modern society has been taught to think it is. Real romance isn't manufactured. It is completely individual. Romance is for showing the person you love that you're thinking about them. It shouldn't feel forced. There are no limits to romance; it can be shown by a handwritten note, by going for a walk, or even by making someone a sandwich. Romance is something simple and sweet that reminds your partner why they fell in love with you in the first place.

So, in that same vein, let's talk about some ways to add a little romance back into your life. Romance authors like writing about creative ways the hero and heroine can show how much they care for each other, and it’s often the little things that count. For instance, actively listening to your significant other is a perfect way to show you care. So are simple gestures. If you’re making yourself a cup of coffee, ask your SO if he’d like one too. And don’t wait for special occasions – stash a greeting card in a drawer or under a pillow for him to find, just because.

In Rescuing Lacey, the heroine shows her attentiveness to the hero’s interests when she gives him a beautiful watercolor set. In return, he shows he’s paying attention to their conversations when he gives her a very meaningful Christmas gift. 

Sometimes showing your love means giving, what looks like to outsiders, to be a very unromantic gift, but the gift means the world to the recipient. A friend once gave his wife a humidifier. Most people laughed it off, but to his wife, who’d been suffering with asthma related to the dry climate where they lived, cried over his thoughtfulness.

But showing how much you care doesn’t always have to involve gifts. During Thanksgiving dinner, in The Promise of Change, the hero notices the heroine is cold, and without prompting, rises from the table to get her a sweater. It’s all about attentiveness and genuine concern.

This month I’ll be blogging about all things romance. So stay tuned. And I love to hear your ideas for showing your significant other that you care.

I'll also be giving away print copies of my books, so check out my Facebook page for weekly giveaways!

Top 5 Most Romantic Movies of All Time

Who doesn't love a great love story, whether we're reading it or watching it? I've been talking about "top five most romantic" lately, from real life couples to fictional couples. Now let's talk romantic movies. Here are my top five in no particular order.

Casablanca (1942) – This romantic drama, set during World War II, tells the story of embittered ex-patriot, Rick Blaine, and his former lover, Ilsa Lund. Rick, who owns an upscale club in Casablanca, finds his life is turned upside down when Ilsa and her husband Victor Laszlo, a renowned fugitive Czech Resistance leader walk into his club.

Laszlo and Ilsa are trying to escape to America so he can continue his work against the German occupation.

Rick and Ilsa rekindle their love affair, and Rick promises to help Laszlo escape while leading Ilsa to believe that she will stay behind with him. Rick finds he must choose between love and honor. In the end, Rick makes Ilsa escape with her husband, telling her she will regret it someday if she doesn’t, “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergmann’s performance brings tears to my eyes every time I see it. No wonder it’s the American Film Institute’s (AFI) number one most passionate film of all time.

Shakespeare in Love (1998) – This delightful romantic comedy depicts a fictional love story

between the great playwright, William Shakespeare, played by Joseph Fiennes, and his muse, Viola de Lesseps, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Rich with references to Shakespeare’s works, the film is amusing and the screenplay witty. Shakespeare is writing Romeo and Juliet at the time, but is suffering from writer’s block. Once he meets Viola, the words flow, the imagination soars and he finishes the play. Clearly, their secret love affair serves as the inspiration for Romeo and Juliet, especially since the lovers know their future is doomed. Shakespeare is married, and Viola is being sold off by her father to marry Lord Wessex (played by the yummy Colin Firth).

Viola marries Wessex, and Viola and Shakespeare part, resigned to their fates. The film ends with Shakespeare drafting the beginnings of Twelfth Night, Viola still his muse, as he imagines her washed up on the beach of a foreign land following a shipwreck, "For she will be my heroine for all time, and her name will be ... Viola.”

Pride and Prejudice (1995 BBC Production) – Of course you knew this had to make the list, since Elizabeth and Darcy is my number one most romantic couple of all times. With the 200th Anniversary of Pride and Prejudice last month, I celebrated the momentous occasion by watching for the umpteenth time my DVD of the mini-series. Jennifer Ehl and Colin Firth will, in my mind, always be the Elizabeth and Darcy.

Emma (1996) – This is my favorite depiction of Jane Austen’s sparkling romantic comedy destined

some 150 years later for the silver screen. The cast is marvelous, including the snotty Mr. Elton, played with perfection by Alan Cumming. Gwyneth Paltrow plays a vivacious, sharp-witted Emma to Jeremy Northam’s gentle Mr. Knightley.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) – One of my mother’s favorite movies, I saw this the first time when I was a young girl, and have loved it ever since. A young widow, Lucy Muir, played by Gene Tierney, and her daughter, move into Gull Cottage, reputedly haunted by its former owner, sea captain Daniel Gregg, played by Rex Harrison. Gregg appears to her on her first night in the cottage. Lucy is not afraid of him and finds him handsome, in a harmlessly roguish sort of way. After Lucy’s income dries up, Gregg offers to dictate his life story to her for a book. Their connection grows during this time, and the ribald memoir becomes a bestseller.

In the meantime, she meets a real live man, Miles, and falls in love. After he proposes to her, Gregg decides to leave her to her life, telling her in her sleep that he was only a dream. She later learns that Miles is already married. She lives out her long life in peace in the cottage.

**Spoiler Alert** At the moment of her death, Captain Gregg appears. Reaching out, he lifts her young spirit free of her body and the two walk arm-in-arm out the front door and into the fog to spend all of eternity together. Gets me every time.

The Young Victoria (2009) ­– This beautifully crafted film starring Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend,

depicts the story of Queen Victoria, before she ascends the throne, through her early years as Queen, and her courtship and marriage of Prince Albert. If you read my June 11th blog post, you know the story of their great love affair, which is one of enduring passion, deep commitment, and touching remembrance.

Other romantic movies that deserve recognition include An Affair to Remember, Out of Africa, and Gone with the Wind.

Your turn. What are your favorite romantic movies?

Hollywood's Hottest Kisses

What can be more romantic than a kiss? As a romance writer, that is one of my favorite scenes to write, especially the first kiss. This started me wondering what makes for a memorable kiss? Is it a full-on, face-grabbing, lip-smashing passionate kiss? Or is it the sweet, lip-brushing kiss that turns startlingly hot? Or maybe it’s the anticipatory kiss, the kind where the hero and heroine stop a half-inch away, hesitating, before diving in?

Hollywood certainly has its fair share of memorable kisses, so I’ve listed just a few of Hollywood’s hottest kisses, in no particular order, along with some videos to whet your appetite:

From Here to Eternity (1953) boasts one of the most famous Hollywood kiss scenes. Often imitated, never duplicated, it’s often a favorite for parody. You can refresh your memory by checking out the video.

Ah, Casablanca, the American Film Institute’s (AFI) number one most romantic movie of all time. Ill-fated Rick and Ilsa, played by Bogart and Bergman, share a kiss of passion and longing and desperation, when Ilsa tells Rick she still loves him.

Number two on AFI’s list of the most romantic movies of all time, Gone with the Wind, has many memorable kiss scenes, but the one on the bridge just before Rhett leaves to enlist in the defeated Confederate Army, earns him a stinging slap at the end.

Here’s a soldier of the South who loves you, Scarlett. Wants to feel your arms around him, wants to carry the memory of your kisses into battle with him. Never mind about loving me, you’re a woman sending a soldier to his death with a beautiful memory. Scarlett! Kiss me! Kiss me … once … [he kisses her]. Sigh.

One of my favorite movies is the Thomas Crown Affair (1999) with Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan. You could cut the sexual tension between the two with a putty knife. At the Black and White Ball, Russo, in a sheer (and I mean sheer) black sheath, and sexy Brosnan, heat up the dance floor with a super-sizzling tango. The kiss at the end could combust the polar ice cap. And the following scene … holy hot flash … need I say more?

Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief wins the prize for the two-most-beautiful-people-who-share-a-kiss scene. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Could it get any more beautiful than that? I love this scene. It’s rife with innuendo, without sinking to campy, as only Hitchcock could achieve.

You can’t talk about romantic kiss scenes without talking about the famous kiss in the rain from The Notebook. Noah tells Allie that he wrote her every day for a year.

It isn’t over. It still isn’t over.

Then he grabs her and pulls her to him, the rain pouring over them. Sigh. And what happens next could steam the wrinkles out of a shar pei.

Bogie and Bacall — the classic Hollywood couple — give a memorable performance in To Have and Have Not.  They met and fell in love on this film, which also gave us the unforgettable lines:

You know how to whistle don’t you Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.

Another Hitchcock film, Notorious, with the suave, sexy Cary Grant (again) and breathtaking Ingrid Bergman (again), has one long two-and-a-half minute kiss, filled with tasty nibbles and tender caresses. It was the longest kiss scenes of its time. Leave it to Hitchcock to push the envelope.

When talking about Hollywood’s hottest kisses, I can’t leave out Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, winners of MTV’s 2009 Award for Best Kiss in Twilight. Their first kiss in Bella’s bedroom starts out hesitant, Pattinson stopping just an inch shy of her lips, heightening the anticipation of the kiss, before it flares to an all-out passion-fest. That scene melted many a woman’s heart, young and old. It deserved to win.

While not a lip-lock, the final scene in Twilight, where Edward presses his vampire lips to the pulse in Bella’s throat, ranks right up there with other wickedly delicious kisses.

Other memorable kiss scenes include:

Titanic (1997), when Jack and Rose kiss on the bow of the doomed ocean-liner. Of course most people remember the steamier scene in the backseat of the car, when in the throes of passion, Kate Winslet’s hand slides down the fogged-up window.

The Proposal, with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds (cutie-pie), when they kiss at the very end. He drops his jacket, cradles her face, and they kiss in front of the entire office. Now that’s a happy ending.

In Witness, when John Book and Rachel Lapp (played by Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis) finally give in to their passion. You know when Rachel removes her bonnet what’s going to happen next.

The rain-soaked, lightning-storm kiss on the beach from Sweet Home Alabama with Josh Lucas and Reese Witherspoon.

Who can forget the gorgeous Hugh Jackman in Australia? Yum. Oh, I guess there was a gorgeous Nicole Kidman in that scene as well. Lady Sarah and Drover kiss in the rain surrounded by a crowd of people who may as well not exist.

Finally, how about when Demi Moore and the late Patrick Swayze make out over the potter’s wheel in Ghost with the Righteous Brothers’ "Unchained Melody" for background music? Be still my heart.

So many memorable Hollywood kisses, so little time. What’s your favorite Hollywood kiss?