Best Love Movies. May we suggest...

May We Suggest
Home Movie Collection
by Suzzane McNab for Main Street Magazine
Feb. Issue

© Copyright 2010, Rain Enterprises/MSM (Main Street Magazine)

February, the month of love. How exciting, old love, new love, love of friends and family, and the sweet chills of romance.

The home movie collection would not be complete without some of the best love stories of all time now would it? Keep in mind these are my personal favourites. You're free to disagree with any or all of them. I encourage you to in fact, email your favourites at movies {@} mainstreetmagazine.net

My first few selections are the classics. Take Note: If you would like your partner swooning, try a classic love story!

Casablanca (1942) directed by Michael Curtiz, is considered to be the most romantic movie of all time. It is the story of how Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), an incredibly cynical night-club owner, discovers that his ex-lover who abandoned him for no good reason (or so he thought) Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), and her new husband Victor, a resistance leader, are staying in his club. Because the Germans are chasing her husband, Ilsa has come to beg Rick for some transent letters that have come into his hands so that she and her husband may escape Casablanca and so that he may continue in his noble fight against fascism. This movie shows the painful truth that no matter how much you love someone, sometimes you have to let them go.

Doctor Zhivago (1965) based on the novel by Boris Pasternak, ( A MUST READ as well!) is the second most romantic movie of all time. It is about the Doctor/Poet Yury Zhivago (Sir Alec Guinness) who during the tumultuous times of the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War that immediately followed, is torn between the love he has for his wife, and love he feels for the woman who inspires his poetry, Lara (Julie Christie). This movie shows a man's life of agony because he must choose between fidelity for the woman he married and built a life with and passion he feels for the woman who inspires him.

Gone With the Wind (1939) is a movie based on a novel by Margaret Mitchell, that takes place during the Civil War and Reconstruction in the deep south. It is a story about the difficult love between a selfish, manipulative woman Scarlet O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and the man that she won't admit that she loves, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). This story ends with her driving away the man the loves and with his delivery of one of the most famous departing lines of a movie, “Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn”.

West Side Story (1961) is a play on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set in the 1950's where two rival gangs, the white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks, fight to keep Tony (ex jet leader played by Richard Beymer) and Maria (younger sister to the current leader of the Sharks, played by Natalie Wood) apart. This musical, set in New York City, is a classic story of the tragedy that can occur when out-siders interfere in the love lives of those they think they are protecting, but who they end up hurting. Before these two lovers can really be together, they are torn apart by bitter rivalry and their love is cut short by a heartbreaking end.

Romeo and Juliet (1968) is Shakespeare's classic tale of tragedy that befalls teenage lovers because of a bitter family war that has been around since before they were born. The Montegues and Capulets attempt to keep the two young lovers apart, but each side ends up suffering from several losses. Only after the young lovers are found at their tragic end do the families realize how petty the age old fighting between the families was. This movie embodies the belief that love is worth any consequence it may bring and it shares the lesson that love brings more good than hate ever could.

In my opinion few modern romances live up to the classics, however, as the saying goes, there is always the exception to the rule!

The Notebook (2004) is the story about an old man (James Garner) who reads a story to an old woman (Gena Rowland) in a nursing home, who cannot remember who she is, about two teenagers (Ryan Gossling, Rachel McAdams) that fall into a love so deep and strong that it can conquer anything and help them endure any and all pain that life can bring them. It is not until the end of the story that the old woman realizes that the story is about her and the man who reads to her everyday. This movie shows that a true love can have a bond that is stronger than any force on earth. It makes me cry each and every time I watch it. The count is 25 I think!

Brokeback Mountain (2005) is the story of two men, a rodeo cowboy and a ranch hand, who forge a 19 year long love affair and bond that is developed in the summer of 1963 when both men are hired as ranch hands to herd sheep on Brokeback Mountain. This unique bond lasts through their marriages, their having children and through society's view on what should and shouldn't be in a testament of the power and endurance of love.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) is a movie that was adapted from a 1920's story by author F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties who gets younger as time goes on. The story also focuses around Daisy's (Cate Blanchett) and Benjamin's (Brad Pitt) relationship as she grows older and he grows younger and how they meet in the middle when in their forties and finally match up. They share a special bond and a special love that lasts their entire lives, though they are going in different directions.

We all have our own romantic style which will reflect our favourite movie collection. For me, no matter whats happening in my life, if I need that warm and tingly sensation all I have to do is reach for one of these gems!

Happy February everyone, and remember, love is never limited to Valentine’s, or your anniversary, let your partner know you care every chance you can!

The Woman Behind the Pen:Interview with Anna Campbell

February 2010 Issue
Main Street Magazine (MSM)

The Woman Behind the Pen: Interview with Anna Campbell

Tilly Rivers

If you are a fan of dark, sexy Regency Historical Romances, than the name “Anna Campbell” author for Avon Romance books is not foreign to you. If you are a virgin……reader- (inserting sly smile here)- you will want to pick up one of Anna’s captivating journeys. After all ladies, don’t we all have secret cravings for “…Something stirred and smouldered in her belly as she stared at him in the electric silence….” {Sentence from Anna Campbell’s novel-Captive Sin}

With the February Issue of MSM focusing on love, I asked Anna if she would be available for an interview, she graciously accepted and what I discovered was an absolute delight- she is charming, funny and I quickly began to understand why she has so many followers: aka- Fans! And yes, for the record, you can consider me one!

Join MSM in getting to know Anna….

“I’m an Aussie who lives on the East Coast by the sea.” Anna told MSM, “I’m a voracious reader, always have been. Otherwise I love music, travel and a good laugh my friends.”

MSM: Where can readers find your books?

AC: All good bookstores, including the Internet sellers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. My books are also available as ebooks in all the major formats. I was really thrilled when CAPTIVE OF SIN, my most recent release, was chosen as one of Publishers Weekly’s best 100 books of 2009, one of only five mass market paperbacks on the list. Otherwise I’m looking forward to the release of my next book, MY RECKLESS SURRENDER, in late May. I’ve also got a short story in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF REGENCY ROMANCE which is out in late June.

MSM: When and why did you begin writing?

AC: I’ve always been captivated by books so it seemed natural to try to write my own. I started my first novel when I was eight, a rip-roaring little number in the style of Enid Blyton about horse napping. I still remember the sheer joy of telling that story although like most of my early efforts, I never actually finished it.

MSM: What inspires you to write “red hot romances?

AC: Hey, I’m a romantic at heart. The “red hot” thing just seems to come naturally.

MSM: How many books have you written?

AC: I wrote for 27 years before I was published and in that time I completed 13 manuscripts and started lots more. MY RECKLESS SURRENDER in June is my fifth historical romance for Avon.


MSM: What are your current projects? Any upcoming events?

AC: I’m currently writing like a lunatic on the first draft of my latest historical romance which will be out in 2011 from Avon. I’m doing the Romance Writers of Australia Roadshow in Adelaide in May which should be fun. I’m really excited that I’m coming to the United States for a month in July. I start the month with RomCon in Denver http://www.romconinc.com/ and finish it with the Romance Writers of America annual conference in Nashville. In August, I’ve got the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Sydney and then the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference in Auckland. With all that travel, you can see why I’m trying so hard to get the book finished ahead of time!

MSM: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

AC: I almost always find first drafts difficult. I have to dig deep and get the bones of the story on the page. The part of the process I really enjoy is polishing the manuscript and getting it to say what I want it to.

MSM: Do you have any advice for other writers?

AC: If you’re starting out, sit down and write the book from the beginning to the end. That will teach you more about writing than anything else you can do. Once you’ve written it, put it under the bed for six months and write another one. Only then go back to polishing the first manuscript. You’ll be amazed at what you see when you’ve got some distance from that first effort and you’ve also got the experience of writing your second manuscript to help you.

MSM: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

AC: Thank you to everyone who has contacted me to say how much you love the books. I can’t say how much those emails and messages have meant to me. I love to hear from readers – my email is anna@annacampbell.info

MSM: What feedback from readers have you received?

AC: Readers seem to really love the emotional, intense tone of the books – and my heroes have struck a chord out there in Romancelandia. I love it when someone develops a crush on one of my guys – I always have a crush on them when I’m writing them!

MSM: What is your favourite book out of all the ones you have written and why?

AC: Oh, no, that’s like asking someone to pick their favorite child. Impossible. I love CLAIMING THE COURTESAN because Verity and Kylemore were so passionate and real to me as I wrote them. Also that was the first book I sold. I love UNTOUCHED because of the way Grace and Matthew fell in love with each other so completely and so unselfishly and I thought Matthew was a gorgeous knight in shining armor. TEMPT THE DEVIL was special to me because Erith and Olivia were older, closer to my age, and they couldn’t just give up the world for love, whatever they felt. CAPTIVE OF SIN features such a tortured, noble hero in Gideon and I loved the way Charis matured into a strong woman through the events of the story. MY RECKLESS SURRENDER features a really strong heroine and my first non-tortured hero who I fell in love with as I wrote him. At least the Earl of Ashcroft is non-tortured until he gets involved with Diana, the heroine! She certainly gives him a run for his money!

MSM: Who is the woman behind the pen?

AC: Anna Campbell is an international woman of mystery who can be seen at the summit of Everest or at Milan Fashion week and is completely chic at either. Multilingual and a skilled tango dancer, Anna Campbell is an ex-member of the Australian Gold Medal equestrian team. She… Oh, you mean, the REAL me! Sorry, got carried away in my fantasy life there. I’m a lifelong dedicated romance reader who can still hardly believe my dream has come true and that I’m writing luscious love stories for a living. You can find out more than you probably ever wanted to know about me on my website: http://www.annacampbell.info/