Topic: PLOT TWISTS (Read 16569 times)

bk · « **on:** September 28, 2004, 12:00:04 AM »

Well, you've read the notes, therefore you are aware of the myriad plot twists contained therein, and now it is time for you to post until the plot-twisted cows come home (although, in an amazing plot twist, the cows go to a Motel Six instead of coming home).

Panni · « **Reply #1 on:** September 28, 2004, 12:10:28 AM »

I'm soooo sleepy. An author friend e-mailed me a chapter in his about to be published tome over which he's arguing with his publisher. He needs my opinion ASAP - but I can't keep my eyes open to read it.
Plot twists - the one famous plot twist that I figured out VERY early in the film was the one in THE CRYING GAME.
Favorite plot twists will have to wait until the morning. I'm taking the chapter I'm to read to bed now. Which means I'll probably fall asleep on top of it.

Panni · « **Reply #2 on:** September 28, 2004, 12:11:27 AM »

BTW - The cows going to Motel Six made me laugh out loud.

Charles Pogue · « **Reply #3 on:** September 28, 2004, 12:27:53 AM »

Fredric Brown always has great plot twists for me. He takes you right down to the end and suddenly slams you with something you least expected. But his ending, regardless of its unexpectedness, is always logical and indeed almost inevitable. It ends pretty much the only way it could. And if you go back and check everything is foreshadowed and leading in the direction of the ending. Wonderful writer.

Agatha Christie has never really done it for me. I find her plots either transparent or she doesn't quite play fair with the reader. In the movie Death On The Nile, I not only figured out who was the murder victim, but also the murderer, and the motive before any death had occurred. Same with Murder on the Orient Express. Saw the reveal coming way in advance. I remember also doing this the first time I saw Charade, though I remember nothing about the movie today.

We saw VANITY FAIR tonight...I'd never read the book...and though I wouldn't say it was a piece known for plot twists...the plot never went anywhere I was expecting it to go. It was a pleasant experience. It's a nice film.

S. Woody White · « **Reply #4 on:** September 28, 2004, 12:32:07 AM »

Dear BK:

I did not mean to besmirch your research in any way. By all means, personal recollection has much more value than mere statistical work, such as I've been compiling.

In fact, I find your setting Writer's Block in 1969 to be a wonderfully fertile period. There were so many shows running on Broadway at the time, well written and deserving of their audiences. Was everything worth remembering? Well, no, but this was a time when several shows ran for hundreds of weeks at the same time, something unheard of in the 1950s.

And it all "collapsed" sometime around 1972. The shows with long runs had run their runs, and closed. What was new that was being offered didn't deserve to run as long, and by the end of 1972 the only long running shows were No, No Nanette, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Grease, all fairly new productions.

Things turned around again by the mid-70s. By early '76, the new batch of long-run hits included Grease, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Wiz, Shenandoah, A Chorus Line, and Chicago, and Bubbling Brown Sugar had opened to stay for a while. (Something's Afoot would open in May, but only lasted for a couple of months.) But that's a different era, not the one you're writing about.

Of course, if you wanted to write a sequel....

George · « **Reply #5 on:** September 28, 2004, 12:46:33 AM »

I was errant and truant this evening. I left work at 2:00 p.m. and took my niece to the Seattle Storm playoff game. THEY WON! But there was an extremely surprising twist early in the game! Sue Bird, their point guard (whatever that means) fell down flat on her face and broke her nose! She ran off the court and was not seen from again. As important as she is to the team, they rose to the challange of losing a player and won the game.

As for movie twists: "The Sixth Sense" totally took me by surprise. I wasn't looking for any kind of "twist" and so I wasn't paying attention to see if any was coming. I was completely surprised. However, I was told what the twist was in "The Crying Game," so I wasn't surprised at all by that one...except for how the twist was "revealed!"

Charles, I also love Fredric Brown stories exactly for the reason that wrote.

I'll admit that I haven't read everything...or even a lot...of his works, but what I have read, I've totally loved.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #6 on:** September 28, 2004, 03:42:17 AM »

Plot twists....oh my....hmmmmmmmmm.....

I have written a mystery that twists and turns, but since it will in all likelihood never be performed, I won't count it. So.....

I didn't figure out the twist to The Sixth Sense - the whole thing made me uneasy, but when it was revealed, I found that I had enjoyed it very much.

THE OTHER in book form has a tremendous plot twist that was bungled in the movie version....grrrrrrrrr.....but it was great in the book.

I agree A KISS BEFORE DYING novel and first version...whew!

I will think some more, because I know there are others. Oh the little Roger Corman thriller THE UNDEAD has kind of a twist ending....not as neatly done as a LOT of the Twilight Zone episodes, but clever.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #7 on:** September 28, 2004, 03:59:25 AM »

Miss Allison Hayes
1757 North Orange Grove Av

in her pic of the Week!

Ben · « **Reply #8 on:** September 28, 2004, 04:13:38 AM »

Like Panni, I figured out the twist in Crying Game right away. It seemed a no-brainer (at least to me).

Another vacation photo. Two photos, one right after the other. A lovely shot of Miss Hayes and now me with Snoopy.

Charles Shultz was born in Saint Paul and the city has decided that there should be Peanuts characters all over town. Mostly Snoopy but others as well. There is a Lucy in the lobby of one of the hotels and other characters in odd places. Here I am with Snoopy and Woodstock in front of a local utility.

beckon · « **Reply #9 on:** September 28, 2004, 04:52:21 AM »

Plot Twists:

DEATHTRAP and SLEUTH - Both wonderfully constructed.

THE GIFT OF THE MAGI - A twist that is also very touching.

TEN LITTLE INDIANS/ AND THEN THERE WAS NONE - My favorite mystery by Christie. The twist is not "shocking", but it just feels so right to me.

Out of curiosity, was anyone here surprised at the twist at the end of SWEENEY TODD? Now don't get me wrong. I love SWEENEY. It is one of my all time favorite musicals (if not my all time favorite), but I don't find the twist ending a huge surprise. A minor quibble to be sure, but I would love to hear any opinions.

Your thoughts?

Ben · « **Reply #10 on:** September 28, 2004, 05:01:44 AM »

Hmmm, I never thought of Sweeney as having a twist ending. Maybe that puts me in your frame of mind, not being surprised by the ending.

beckon · « **Reply #11 on:** September 28, 2004, 05:07:31 AM »

DR Ben:

The twist that I mentioned in SWEENEY is the identity of the Beggar Woman. At least, I think it was meant to be a plot twist.

Ben · « **Reply #12 on:** September 28, 2004, 05:21:55 AM »

OK. I understand Still, like you, I wasn't much surprised by the identity. I had a feeling that's where it was going. Maybe I think too much. We must not think too much, people go mad if they think too much

(Robinson Jeffers adaptation of Medea starring Judith Anderson 1947)

Dan-in-Toronto · « **Reply #13 on:** September 28, 2004, 05:30:27 AM »

The plot twist in FEDORA took me by surprise. (I'm talking about the movie - I read the story afterward.) In retrospect, it shouldn't have been so hard to figure out - but there were so many over-the-top performances and deliciously campy bits along the way that it was easy to be distracted.

Jennifer · « **Reply #14 on:** September 28, 2004, 05:59:40 AM »

Good vibes to DR Jose's father. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DR Michael Shayne, I do think that you would be okay travelling to Canada with just a birth certificate and photo id. I know for a while they were very strict. But if you were told that you would be allowed to do it, then I'm quite sure you would be okay.

Also, why would an emergency passport take 4-6 weeks??? A regular one doesn't even take that long here. I think an emergency one can be done in a few days.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #15 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:00:14 AM »

Good morning, all!

DR Jose, I wasn't aware of your father's health until DR Ben mentioned it to me in an email today. I'm so sorry that he's also going through problems, and I hope he's undergoing positive treatment.

Dear Friend BK, I hope you've got some antiseptic on your toe as well as a bandaid. I can't wait to read the new mystery.

Plot twists? I'm the perennial patsy at a mystery; I never see anything coming, whether it's Nancy Drew or Carl Hiaasen, but two big twists I recall are from a movie, THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER, which I would like to see again to see if it holds up, and the novel A SIMPLE PLAN. I read the book when it first came out, and I was reading it on the crosstown bus. When the nartrator killed his brother, I was so shocked I burst into tears! I never saw it coming.

About SWEENEY TODD's Beggar Woman surprise, Steve certainly lets you know she's Lucy through the musical underscoring and Anthony's line, "Tell me, mother . . ." When I saw the show the first time in June 1979, I remember being appalled when Sweeney got Joanna in the barber's chair. I think half the audience screamed with me.

Ben · « **Reply #16 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:04:41 AM »

Donald, as always a great radio show! What a good sounding CD. I will look for it. I really liked the Music Man track. Nice work.

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #17 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:05:15 AM »

(Meanwhile, in an office in a city on the eastern seaboard...)

I love me a good juicy plot twist!

Some of my favorite plot twists come from the novels of Charles Dickens. Great Expectations, Bleak House and Hard Times all contain terrific twists. And I was totally blown away by the major revelation in Nicholas Nickelby, of which I saw the televised RSC production before I read the novel.

When I was in eighth grade I read my first Agatha Christie--Hall'ween Party--and I was hooked for years on her books. I was very much taken by surprise by the solutions to both Murder on the Orient Express and Murder of Roger Ackroyd, along with a number of her other mysteries.

Because I rarely run out and see movies when they first open, the ones with the interesting twists tend to get spoiled for me. It was weeks before I had seen The Crying Game and though I had heard only hints of the big surprise, as soon as a certain character appeared on the screen I knew what it was about.

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #18 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:23:03 AM »

Oops! (or Spoo!) I accidently clicked on the post button while composing my last post. Now what was going to be just one long dull post will now be two short dull posts.

*ahem!*--plot twists!

One night when I was at my mom's house, a trailer for The Sixth Sense came on TV. My mom asked me if I had seen it yet and I told her no. She said, "You know what I think? I think--" and she proceded to tell me her theory about the movie and wouldn't you know that when I finally did go to see it she was spot on.

I spoiled Shyamalan's recent The Village, myself when, during the movie, I began to try to speculate what the big shock ending could be and I figured it out.

Other movies with great plot twists: The Third Man, Sleuth (having not seen the play), The Empire Strikes Back (yes, that was a shock to me), and The Manchurian Candidate (which should be more of a shocker than it's allowed to be--unfortunately, the revelation is pretty much blurbed all over the place.)

In the theatah, I'll admit that Deathtrap did it for me, too. And the revelation about the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd was a surprise when I first heard it on the cast recording.

William E. Lurie · « **Reply #19 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:26:36 AM »

Since I saw it before the ending was common knowledge, I'd have to say PSYCHO.

Last night I attended the Broadway Unplugged concert at Town Hall and I wish that every producer who claims that audiences won't sit through shows that aren't amplified would have attended and realized how wrong they are. From Stephanie J.Block's opening with "Don't Rain On My Parade" to Alix Korey's closing with "Everything's Coming Up Roses", this was an evening of highlights and to mention them all I'd have to type in the whole songlist. What a delight to hear the glory of the human voice (and the musical instruments as well) as they actually sound... when a singer moved from one side of the stage to the other, the sound moved with him or her. The singer --- not the sound mixer --- controlled the volume. I recently saw MEET JOHN DOE at the NY Musicals Festival and as much as I enjoyed it, the show was heavily miked in a 199 seat theatre and thus sounded awful. When I saw OF THEE I SING at Papermill, the sound quality was so bad that when a person entered stage left singing the sound came out of speakers stage right. Broadway Unplugged showed that it doesn't have to be that way. In addition to being a great concert of showtunes from a period of over sixty years sung by many of today's best voices, this was also an example of how much better many of today's musicals would be if they got rid of the body mics and soundboards.

Jennifer · « **Reply #20 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:29:16 AM »

Welcome back DR Elmore!

Yes BK I remember you telling me the Alias plot twist in Season Two.

For those who are trying to remember Alias Season Three, there is a very good guide at: http://www.alias-tv.com/episodes.html

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #21 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:35:21 AM »

I forgot to include an author who I think is incredibly adept at plot twists--Dashiell Hammett. The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, The Thin Man and The Dain Curse--all wonderful books that keep the reader guessing until the last pages.

Jennifer · « **Reply #22 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:38:27 AM »

BK, I won't say anything about your Alias prediction. But I would like to hear your comments when you you get further in Season Three.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #23 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:45:21 AM »

Heigh Ho Heigh ho, it's off to work I go; I have to go work on TAN MANHATTAN for the November Chicago Humanities Festival presentation, but I wanted to mention a book. I don't recall much on the site about reading much beyond the wonderful Kritzer trilogy; we're more caught up in tv, dvd, and cd.

However, during my absent period, I've liesurely been reading A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith, and it's the most moving biographical novel I've ever read. I had known the musical and the film, but this memoir of Brooklyn poverty from 1901-1918 is one of the most moving books I've ever read.

DR Charles Pogue, I read VANITY FAIR in college while hospitalized for a week with the flu. There's nothing like a really long novel when you're cooped up! I'm a bit alarmed by the publicity about this new film's Becky Sharp being a "woman ahead of her time." In the novel, which is quite funny, Becky's the villan, a sharp angry young schemer determined to climb and claw her way into society, over her friend Amelia's body and relations. No one ever remarks over the fact that VANITY FAIR is Margaret Mitchell's uncredited source for GONE WITH THE WIND:

Becky = Scarlett
Amelia = Melanie
Battle of Waterloo = Burning of Atlanta

It's been too long since I read either Thackeray or Mitchell, but there are more points of similarity as well; don't both Becky and Scarlett marry Amelia/Melanie's brother at one point?

Jennifer · « **Reply #24 on:** September 28, 2004, 06:48:37 AM »

Oh and one last Alias comment. When you get to episode 22 (the last episode in Season 3), maybe you can tell us all what the heck happens?!?!?

Stuart · « **Reply #25 on:** September 28, 2004, 07:10:29 AM »

No one has mentioned it yet, so I will:

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

"You mean (puff) all these years, (puff) we coulda been (puff) friends?"

Noel · « **Reply #26 on:** September 28, 2004, 07:14:52 AM »

Briefly, in the 1950's, my mother dated Ira Levin. I've always wondered whether she might have been the inspiration for A Kiss Before Dying. On further thought, The Stepford Wives is a possibility, too.

Matt H. · « **Reply #27 on:** September 28, 2004, 07:38:14 AM »

Count me as another fanatical admirer of Agatha Christie who I feel always plays fair in her books. Though I did guess the identities of the murderers in ROGER ACKROYD and HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS and SLEEPING MURDER, I don't think I ever guessed it correctly in any of the others. As far as the Christie films, I guessed the identity of the murderer in THE MIRROR CRACK'D but not in any of the others. And I LOVE seeing the films again to see the clues right there in front of my eyes and not catching on the first time around.

As for others that weren't surprises, neither THE SIXTH SENSE nor THE CRYING GAME was a surprise at the time of the big revelation, but THE USUAL SUSPECTS definitely was and is probably my favorite mystery of the 1990s. I did guess the identity of the bad guy in L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

I definitely think the identity of the Beggar Woman was meant to be a surprise. Sondheim has said that he unscored her scenes with music that an astute listener would be able to pinpoint who she was from an earlier scene in the musical. I heard the cast recording before I saw the piece, so, of course, her identity wasn't any surprise when viewing it for the first time, but I was certainly surprised the first time I listened to that astonishing score.

Matt H. · « **Reply #28 on:** September 28, 2004, 07:41:55 AM »

I guess the worst of Hurricane Jeanne has passed by. We had 2-3 inches of rain which was another disaster for those in the NC mountains who have already been deluged with rain this late summer and early fall, but I can't see any fatal consequences for us in the Piedmont region. Hopefully, this will be the last one that affects us.

Matt H. · « **Reply #29 on:** September 28, 2004, 07:44:52 AM »

DR RLP, sorry to read that your therapy for your arm is still so painful. That must have been the worst break imaginable. Not ever having broken any bones, it's hard for me to quite "feel your pain," but I do sympathize that the road to recovery has been so torturous.

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Author Topic: PLOT TWISTS (Read 16569 times)

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