Batman Begins -- let's hope it keeps going!

In case you didn't the drift from the title -- I loved the new Batman movie. It's the best movie I've seen in a while. Bruce Wayne/Batman as played by Christian Bale was a multi-dimensional character. The art direction was fabulous as was the direction. Then, I think Chris Nolan (Memento) is brilliant. The script was solid -- it all made sense and the ends all tied up nicely.

One of the fun things about the movie was the use of bats. Bruce's fear of them. Real bats. Lots and lots of them. He chooses the bat as his symbol to show he can overcome his fear. And the fight scenes -- rather than showing every punch and trick, they're up-close, a blur of shadow and movement. Quite different than anything we've seen.

If there is one thing that could have been better it would be adult Bruce's relationship with Rachel. Then, again, they would have needed a more interesting actress. Katie Holmes is cute but this wasn't a part that called for cute.

I think what made the movie for me was Bruce/Batman's internal conflict -- his need for vengeance after seeing his parents brutally murdered. I guess that's the romance writer in me -- I really get into angsty heroes.

Run, don't walk, to your nearest theater to see Batman Begins.

Patricia Rosemoor
GHOST HORSE, Harlequin Intrigue, available now

War of the Worlds -- well done but least entertaining

I suppose after Schindler's list and Saving Private Ryan I shouldn't be surprised that Spielberg chose to make a serious movie out of a piece of SF/horror. It was extremely well-done in every aspect but one. I wasn't entertained. I pretty much left the theater depressed by Spielberg's choice to make the movie an all out war for real. IMO, this is his reaction to recent events -- showing the utter horror and non-stop violence of war.

It seems war has become Spielberg's obsession. Coming up: he's producing a Civil War movie about Abe Lincoln, a series called The Pacific War and another movie about the Ukrainian Holocaust.

Personally, I'll wait for Indiana Jones 4 . . .

Patricia

Mr & Mrs Smith -- could have been better

I've just seen three of the top action/suspense movies of the summer, so I'm interested in knowing what you all thought about them.

The first is Mr. & Mrs. Smith -- talk about DANGEROUS LOVE! -- two undercover assassins happen to be married to each other & are assigned to kill each other (not exactly, but that's the way the trailer sold it.)

I've read comments by other authors who actually thought Mr. & Mrs. Smith was a really good movie. I thought it was okay. Act I dragged, but once it got going, it had its moments. We were talking about really wow premises in the last blog -- well this movie had one, or so I thought. I won't reveal the exact ending for those of you who haven't seen it, but the why everything happened the way it did stunk. It had no impact. It didn't make sense. And so between that and the yawn of a first act, this was the least well-executed of the movies.

What did you think of it?

Patricia

Being wowed by a story premise

People always ask me where I get my ideas. I used to say from everywhere. Things on tv, in the newspaper, conversations with my friends. After writing 75 books, I'm a little older so the brain doesn't work that fast any more. And I'm definitely pickier. I want to be wowed by a story premise. And it just so happens I'm writing a new Harlequin Intrigue Eclipse called INSTANT REPLAY with a premise that was incredibly fascinating.

I was asked to do a second Eclipse and I didn't have a premise. I'd recently gone to Biltmore House in North Carolina, however, and wanted to model my gothic house in that tradition. I wanted my heroine to be found by a PI and told she has this wealthy family she didn't know about & maybe there were dark secrets and a murder in the past. Then some friends and I were talking about something else and "genetic memory" came up. Meaning, the heroine has memories passed down to her through her genes. My ears perked up -- I could use this. I started working on a storyline & quickly had a twenty page synopsis.

I need to be wowed by the story premise. What about you? Is it the story that important? Or is it simply the actual characters and the romance. What story premise can you think of that wowed you lately?

Patricia

Variations on Romantic Suspense

One of the nice things about writing for different Harlequin/Silhouette lines is that I get to write something a little different for each ot them. Harlequin Intrigues are the most traditional in the romantic suspense area -- they're often hero-centric and while the heroines are smart and maybe even tough, often they're saved by their heroes. Which is also true of the RS I write for Blaze. The difference here is that the relationship heats up and gets more detailed, while the suspense elements get less detailed (no blood or gore). And when I write for Silhouette Bombshell, the romance takes a real back seat to a subplot, while the heroine steps up as center of the suspense story.

So if you like Romantic Suspense, would you be drawn to try all of the above possibilities? Are you ready to mix it up a bit or do you like your RS to be more traditional?

Patricia Rosemoor

Romantic Suspense

Hi, Patricia Rosemoor here. I thought I would try a "blog engine" to gather comments by readers. I'm new at this, but hopefully I'll get the hang of it.

I write romantic suspense for Harlequin Intrigue and Blaze and for Silhouette Bombshell. I'm assuming if you're here, you read romantic suspense. If you care to comment, I would be interested in knowing what kind of romantic suspense stories you like.

Patricia Rosemoor
GHOST HORSE, a July Eclipse

Patricia Rosemoor