 Things are kind of weird at the moment, right? They're kind of crazy. Um, I hope you guys are all right, I hope you're doing okay. Hope you're staying safe, washing those mitts. Anyway, if you're one of the countless people stuck inside at the moment, you know it's a perfect time to be getting some writing done. Literally almost all other excuses have been yonked away from you. But you're not writing, are you? You're here. Unless be real, there's probably a lot more procrastinating to come. It's with this in mind that I have compiled a list of movies for you. Let's call it research. All of these movies are either about writers or writing has something to do with the story, some more than others. Movie one, Ruby Sparks. Not only does this movie star the queen of rom-coms, Zoe Kazan, but it also stars Paul Danner, the guy you completely forgot about until you saw him in another movie and then you go, ooh, I do like him. He plays a young, famous author that struggles with writer's block and the loneliness that comes with breakout fame. The movie is a romance and one of my absolute favorite writer movies. It fulfills the fantasy that I'm sure every other aspiring author on the planet with crippling loneliness and a persistent fear of dying alone has had. What if you fell in love with a character that you created and then they came alive? It's not as campy or as cheesy as it sounds and it actually touches on the darker aspects of control in a relationship. Everything Kelvin writes about Ruby happens. It becomes real. So where does her free will come in? I could do a whole video essay on this movie alone, but I think Kelvin's struggle between not wanting to be alone and wanting Ruby to be more than just his creation is super compelling. Stranger than fiction. I'm sure if you see a poster for a movie and it's Will Ferrell yelling like he's known to do. I'm gonna make you eat a plate of human shit! Get out! You'd probably think it's a comedy. In a lot of ways it is, but much like Ruby Sparks, this is a story about the line between fiction and reality being drastically blurred. It's not nearly the goofy comedy we're used to seeing from Will and this one isn't really a rom-com, but like the last movie I mentioned, this one sees a struggling author who has inexplicably written a character into existence or perhaps she's somehow unknowingly writing about someone who already existed. Harold controls his life to the second, so this movie is about his identity crisis when that one thing that he values the most is found to be in the hands of someone else, someone who has no idea. One day he starts hearing the author narrating his life and finds out that her plans, they don't bode well for him. Now I'm going to mention the next two movies almost in tandem because they're both psychological horrors and they're both Stephen King adaptations. The man who... He kinda looks like a Dr. Seuss character. You know it's true. The first one is Misery. I'm sure you know the story, it's classic. Famous author Paul Sheldon goes on a getaway, gets into a bit of a crash and wakes up being cared for by the not at all immediately creepy Annie Wilkes. She nurses him back to health, but the poop really hits the fan when she politely asks Paul to hang around for a while and write her something special. There's not a whole lot more to say other than this movie brings a writer's worst fear to life being forced to write. 1408 is to this day my favorite horror film of all time. It's not necessarily the scariest and the short story actually wasn't that great but when you throw John Cusack and Samuel L, mother f***ing Jackson together, magic is bound to happen. Sometimes. 1408 is a fantastic descent into madness. As we watch paranormal skeptic and famous author Mike Ensland stay the night in the infamous room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. It sounds like a normal haunted house movie, sure, but this movie deals with so much more. Mike isn't just scared into madness. He's tormented by visions of his past that I can't really talk about because spoilers. This movie deals with the very real idea of spirituality and existentialism. Mike makes a living busting the idea of the afterlife. He writes stories about haunted places and basically debunks them and a parallel splendidly with a trauma from his past. Watch this movie. PS, the full movie is currently on YouTube somehow. Not that I'd ever tell you to go watch it there, it's just, it's interesting. Now look, I know this movie embellishes a little on the connection between Tolkien's time in the war and the astronomically iconic series he wrote. The movie even flat out ignores his religious influences that were a huge part of his life, but it's still a really fascinating watch. It tells a very compelling story of brotherhood that I think parallels wonderfully with his stories. And I truly think it'll give you a greater appreciation of the man behind the greatest side character of all time, Samwise Gamgee. Plus it has Nicholas Holt. If you're ever watching a Nicholas Holt movie with your boyfriend, just know that he's sitting there thinking, like, I wouldn't not give him a kiss, yeah? Almost famous. I know I'm reaching here. The main character is a journalist and writing takes a massive backseat to pretty much every other theme in this movie, sure. But this movie rocks my fucking bod, so I'm still gonna mention it. Almost famous is basically what I think the book Daisy Jones and the Six tried and failed to be. It's loosely based on a true story and shows the journey of a boy journalist who travels with a 1970s rock band. The movie is both about the music and the people and the bullshit that goes on behind the scenes. It doesn't shy away from the culture of addiction, groupies, and massive ego. Look, the movie is amazing. The soundtrack is even better. If you ever wanted a raw and emotionally engaging look into how different social norms were 50 years ago, this is it. Yeah, 50 years ago wasn't the 50s, it was the 70s. Let that sink in. Finding Forrester. Now, I'd be pretty surprised if you hadn't already at least heard about this one. It has a lot of critical acclaim. Out of all of these movies, this is probably the biggest love letter to writing and literature. Jamal Wallace is accepted into a prestigious private school and obviously comes face to face with some struggles. Prejudice and the general suspicion that he had somehow conned his way into where he is. So Jamal ends up finding a mentor in the reclusive and acclaimed William Forrester. The rest of the movie, I won't really explain. It's better enjoyed yourself, but I think the best thing wasn't just the companionship between these two monumentally different characters, but that they both taught each other something by the end of the movie. If you like Goodwill Hunting, you'll like this one. Anyway, that's it for now, you beautiful sons of... There's obviously others that I haven't mentioned here. You know, dead poet society, the words, but I think I'll save those for a part two. Let me know if there's anything you think I missed. There's always like a little bit of satisfaction when you see a writer in a movie, you know? Even if it's not a big part of the story. Most people are very private about writing being a hobby until they get published. So I don't know, it's just nice to see. As always, thanks for watching. Stay safe guys and good luck with the apocalypse. Catch ya.