 Well shakin, my name's Ken, welcome back to another video. So I might not know you, but I'm about to make a prediction. I'm going to guess something about you, and I'm willing to bet that I'm right. Okay. I can tell that you like to procrastinate. Of course you do. That's why you're here. That's why you're watching me and my enormous forehead instead of writing. And you know what? That's cool. I'm no snitch. It can be our little secret. If you are going to procrastinate though, why not do it the smart way? If you're going to watch movies instead of writing, why don't you watch movies about writing? I know, big brain. That's why my head is so big. Shh, I've got you covered. Don't worry. In fact, this is the second video I'm doing on movies for writers. I will leave a card up here for the first one. And the first few movies that I'm going to mention in this video are actually from comments on the first video. So if there's any writer movies that I don't mention here that you think I should, leave a comment. I'll do my best to get that into a future follow up. So sit back, relax, and let Papa Cam tell you about some great films that just might get those juice, those creative juices flowing. I'd never heard of Authors Anonymous until I got this comment on the first video. And I have to say, after checking it out, it's a pretty fun movie. You have a pretty solid cast though, while not being A-listers do come with enough cred to keep you intrigued, including Penny from Big Bang Theory, Hickey from Community. You've got Ozzy from American Pie. Authors Anonymous is a movie from 2014 about a writer's group full of people who are all dealing with the pressures of rejection and insecurity. They end up inviting a writer named Hannah into their ranks, and almost immediately, she skyrockets to success. There's obviously a romantic angle to this film, but what I loved most was how much it sunk its teeth into the jealousy of the other writers in the group. Sensing a little jealousy? Not the sign. Fear of rejection and being insecure about our own writing is a super relatable thing to see on the screen. But another much uglier and equally familiar feeling is envy. Jealousy and envy is something that's usually only treated as villainous though. It's usually something that only the bad guy will experience in a movie. So I do like that it was dealt with with a bit more empathy this time. Of course, we can be very supportive of other writers that we know, and we can cheer on their success, but that sting of why not me? It's very human. This isn't really a game changer as far as movies go, but it is fun, it's cozy, and it's a decent watch if you're having a quiet night in. So Freedom Riders is obviously about a whole lot more than just writing, but what you'll find is that the writing is still a pretty important element in the story. So this was a movie from 2007 about a teacher who finds herself with a class of young at-risk students. Kids who come from different parts and different groups of their neighborhood, which happens to be seeing an alarming rate of gang violence and teen deaths. Everyone in the class has a lot of animosity for each other because of the groups that they belong to. So the teacher does her best to bring them together and encourages them to use writing as an outlet. Obviously this one is a very emotional and theme heavy watch touching on the failures of the government to provide proper education and social outreach programs in what they consider lower class suburbs. What's really interesting though is that this is actually based on a true story. I think this movie tells a great story for many reasons, just one of which being that it shows how writing isn't just good for telling a story, but rather telling your story. Writing can be so much more than just trying to make a finished book or a fictional art piece. The actual act of writing can be therapeutic and healing simply because it gives you a safe way of expressing yourself and telling your story the way that you want to. Stand on the line if you've lost a friend to gang violence. Much like Finding Forester or Dead Poets Society, Freedom Writers is one of those really confronting but really important movies that you should watch at least once in your life. I finally get to talk about a writer movie that strays into a bit of a darker genre. Secret Window is a 2004 movie starring Johnny Depp and is based off of one of the countless stories by Stephen King involving a writer. It's a psychological thriller and to be honest, it is one of my favorite performances from Johnny. A troubled and down on his life writer named Mort is dealing with a messy divorce, so he takes a trip to his isolated lake house to get some much needed solitude. Unfortunately, before too long, he gets a visitor, a not so successful writer who claims that Mort stole his story, specifically his perfect ending. While that might sound like a tense but tame plotline, I can assure you that before you can blink, things will go from bad to worse and spiral downward ever quicker. Things get dark, real dark. You're going to be wondering how Mort could possibly get out of the situation or if that's even possible. What I love about this movie is that like Misery and the last video, Secret Window dips its toes into some of the deepest fears that an aspiring writer could have, except that instead of an obsessed fan, this time it's the complete opposite. It's a nemesis, another writer who thinks you've burned them and now they want to get even. Moral of the story, if you're a writer and you happen to make it big time, if you manage to find success, stop buying remote cabins. Stop it, don't, don't do it. It doesn't end well. Just get yourself a metropolitan apartment and be miserable like the rest of us. The movie The Words isn't a psychological thriller but this movie also deals with a more overt example of plagiarism. It is a 2012 movie starring Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana. So if you wanted to see Rocket Raccoon and Gamora knock boots, you're welcome. No, no, no, no. It's about a wannabe author who is becoming more and more hopeless pursuing his dream of becoming a successful writer. He's facing rejection after rejection until he finds an old bag with a story inside. A story that someone had written about their own life a long time ago. He's fascinated and decides to copy it down. Boom, instant success. The book blows up and now he has to deal with the guilt and the consequences of his stolen words. I think The Words is such a beautiful movie because on the surface it's about someone stealing someone else's story. But if you dig just a little bit deeper, it's about so much more. It's about desperation and the crushing fear that the thing you want more than anything else in the world, your one dream in life might just be out of reach. And if you were given an opportunity to boost you up towards it, would you do it? I also think it's pretty amazing how the story that he ends up stealing, the life story is cinematically paralleled against his own life and his relationship. As a whole, this movie is a fantastic reflection on just how crushing the reality of chasing your dreams can be. So it was great to see writing specifically taking center stage here. It also sends an important message. Ambition can be dangerous. Okay, so admittedly this one is barely a movie about writers or writing. Stuck in Love is a movie about a dysfunctional family of authors. And there are actually three different stories happening in this movie. The recently single dad is a successful author still hung up on his wife and her new boy toy. The son is a wannabe Stephen King trying to support his deeply troubled girlfriend. And the daughter is a promiscuous free spirit who finds her cynical notions of love being challenged by five-time white boy of the month, Logan Lemon. Oh my God. Stuck in Love is first and foremost a rom-com as the name suggests, but there's still some interesting parallels between the character's romantic lives and the stories that they're trying to tell. I should say though that this isn't much of a family movie. Aside from the... There's also some pretty dark themes centering around the subplot that involves the son and his girlfriend. Midnight in Paris is a movie that's sure to make you say, wow, yes, I made that joke. Let's get on with it. Owen Wilson is an aspiring author working on his debut novel and he's on vacation with his fiance in some city that you've probably never heard of. It's actually called Paris. It's the same city from that Rugrats movie. They ended up making it a real thing. I think that's pretty cool. He goes for a walk around the city and inexplicably finds himself transported to the roaring 20s. He ends up meeting a lot of prolific artists from history, including but not limited to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Salvador Dali, and this ends up being a great help in making him feel inspired. Obviously though, these late night trips are starting to make Owen's fiance and her family quite suspicious. I had a private detective follow-up. And what happened? I don't know. The detective agency says the detective is missing. Midnight in Paris is, at the end of the day, a really light but charming watch. If you really wanted to read into it, I guess you could say that there are themes of ambitious passion versus romantic passion. But to be honest, I feel like it's not meant to be that deep. If you're after a movie to throw on while you eat dinner that still makes you feel a little bit inspired to get riding, Midnight in Paris might be the one for you. So this video was a part two. If you wanna see some more writer movie recommendations, like I said, I'll leave a card. Otherwise, you'll find a link in the description below. I said this in the first video as well, but I think it's just fun to reiterate that it's really satisfying to see writers in feature films. Writing is such a private and intimate hobby slash profession. And most writers won't even tell their friends and family that they are one until they have a book on the shelves. It's just nice to see that intimate hobby up on the screen if only for a little bit. If there's any writer movies that you would like to see me mention in a part three, make sure you leave a comment and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it. Hey, thanks for watching the video. I really appreciate it. Have a nice day. Catch ya.