Reconstructing Jackson by Hollie Bush: Tens List, Spotlight: PUYB Tour Stop

 

 

 

 

What are your top 10 favorite movies?

 

 

Movies are a big deal in my house! There’s nothing we enjoy more than going to the movies or curling up on the couch for a new one or an old favorite. And we’ve had lots of ‘top ten movie’ conversations around the dinner table. So it’s natural to do a top ten list of my favorite movies. Here it is!

1. Ang Lee’s 1995 Sense and Sensibility is my all-time favorite. From the
music to the casting to the costumes to the script. The acting was superb
as was the cinematography. Is there a more nuanced depiction of love and
love’s foes, money and power, ever told? Emma Thompson’s screenplay
triumphs.

2. A&E’s 1995 Pride and Prejudice originally aired as a six part television
series on the BBC. Wonderful casting and a story line faithful to Jane
Austen’s original. And I realize this was never a movie, a real movie,
shown in a theatre – don’t care! It’s a favorite!

3. To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 is the only movie that I liked as much as the
book. Gregory Peck’s subtle strength showed and didn’t tell and Scout’s
narration still makes me feel like she was talking directly to me. This is an
American classic.

4. Parenthood 1989. I know. This is a real curveball. But rarely do you see
such a raw and funny depiction of a family – all their warts and all the joys
when families merge and grow, inevitable when introducing unknowns to
a closed group with a single uniting strand of love.

5. It’s a Wonderful Life 1946. This Christmas classic reminds us that doing
the right thing, even in a trivial circumstance or setting, are the bricks
that build our character. No one could have portrayed the value of the
Everyman like Jimmy Stewart.

6. Godfather 1972. Brutal film examining the relationships of power
showcasing performances by arguably one the best casts ever assembled,
including Brando, Pacino, Caan and Duvall.

7. Annie Hall 1977. I can’t remove this movie from my list even knowing the
creep level of Woody Allen. Brilliant and hysterical adult dialogue with a
sprinkling of the absurd.

8. Million Dollar Baby 2004. Eastwood’s piece de résistance of a long career.
While Gran Torino and Unforgiven were perfect vehicles for Eastwood’s
personal brand of heroic isolation, MDB is all about Eastwood and
Swank’s relationship and their love for each other. I can honestly say that
no movie has ever made me cry as hard or as long as this one.

9. Gone with the Wind 1939. What more is there to be said? Could there be a
more conniving, mean-spirited heroine than Scarlett O’Hara? Vivian Leigh
managed to make us admire and root for this survivor, quite a feat. And
seriously folks, Clark Gable was flat-out gorgeous.

10. Open Range 2003. I’ve always been a sucker for a good western and they
are so rarely made. Settlers in the West were depicted realistically as
independent and inter-dependent. Costner’s no Pacino but he delivers a
subtle performance with the help of Benning and Duvall.

Interestingly enough, Robert Duvall is in three of my top ten movies. To Kill a
Mockingbird, The Godfather and Open Range.

 

 

 

 

 

 Holly Bush was born in western Pennsylvania to two avid readers. There was not a room in her home that did not hold a full bookcase. She worked in the hospitality industry, owning a restaurant for twenty years and recently worked as the sales and marketing director in the hospitality/tourism industry and is credited with building traffic to capacity for a local farm tour, bringing guests from twenty-two states, booked two years out. Holly has been a marketing consultant to start-up businesses and has done public speaking on the subject.


 Holly has been writing all of her life and is a voracious reader of a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction, particularly political and historical works. She has written four romance novels, all set in the U.S. West in the mid 1800’s. She frequently attends writing conferences, and has always been a member of a writer’s group.


 Holly is a gardener, a news junkie, and was the vice-president of her local library board for years. She loves to spend time near the ocean and is the proud mother of two daughters and the wife of a man more than a few years her junior. You can visit Holly’s website at www.hollybushbooks.com

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS 

 

1867 . . . Southern lawyer and Civil War veteran, Reed Jackson, returns to his family’s plantation in a wheelchair. His father deems him unfit, and deeds the Jackson holdings, including his intended bride, to a younger brother. Angry and bitter, Reed moves west to Fenton, Missouri, home to a cousin with a successful business, intending to start over.


Belle Richards, a dirt poor farm girl aching to learn how to read, cleans, cooks and holds together her family’s meager property. A violent brother and a drunken father plot to marry her off, and gain a new horse in the bargain. But Belle’s got other plans, and risks her life to reach them.


Reed is captivated by Belle from their first meeting, but wheelchair bound, is unable to protect her from violence. Bleak times will challenge Reed and Belle’s courage and dreams as they forge a new beginning from the ashes of war and ignorance.

Purchase the book at:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | ITUNES

 

 

 

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Next Stops  

 

Tuesday, January 22

Interview at Divine Caroline

Wednesday, January 23

Book Review & Interview at Melina’s Book Blog

Interview at Examiner

Thursday, January 24

Book Review at Musings by Maureen

Friday, January 25

Book Review at The Self-Taught Cook

Book Spotlight at Tiffany Talks Books

Saturday, January 26

Interviewed LIVE on Barry Eva’s A Book and a Chat (tune in 11 a.m. eastern)