The Elevator: A 21st Century Romance Erotica (Part 2/3)

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She was at her peak in the early 60s, young enough to be sexually compelling, but wise enough to be a tragic witch. Along with its less famous sequel, Two English Girls, this is Truffaut at his best. Few collaborations are so distinctive that the names of those involved come to denote a genre, rather than just a credit. A Room With a View, the first of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant's EM Forster adaptations, was shot before the term Merchant-Ivory had become an insult; watch it today and you'll blush to have ever smirked at the cliche.

This is incredibly fresh and arresting film-making: Through a series of bloody physical confrontations and, worse yet, sticky etiquette breaches, Lucy's desire for emotional freedom starts to bubble, coming to the boil when George kisses her in a cornfield. But Charlotte witnessed the snog, so Lucy is whisked back to Surrey, where she gets engaged to the horribly priggish Cecil Vyse Daniel Day-Lewis , to the polite distaste of her family, and the Rev Beebe Simon Callow, uncharacteristically subtle.

Then the Emersons reappear …. What might have been starched and talky in other hands comes out of the wash alive with spring and spirit. The botched embrace between Lucy and Cecil, and the heartbreaking moment when he, after being rejected, puts his boots back on, are once seen, never forgotten. Smith's Charlotte — so funny as a curmudgeonly drag "The ground will do for me," she says, as cushions are assigned on a picnic, "I haven't had rheumatism for years.

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And if I do feel a twinge, I shall stand up" — is just tragic alone, as Lucy might well have been, had her story not had such a happy ending. The final scene, a ravishing in a room, with a view, as the bells of Florence chime out, would leave only a stone unmoved. They fall in love. Girl gets fed up with boy. Girl erases all memories of boy from her mind in a dubious brain-zapping procedure. Boy finds out and does the same. This is a romantic movie, Charlie Kaufman-style. It takes its title from a poem by Alexander Pope and charts the side of love that movies usually try to ignore: Love Actually, it ain't.

As you would expect from the writer of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, this is not the story of a doomed relationship told in a straightforward fashion. Joel Barish is a withdrawn, greyish man, played with uncharacteristic restraint by Jim Carrey. Clementine Kruczynski a brilliant Kate Winslet is free-spirited, reckless and prone to dying her hair blue. When they meet on a train travelling through wintry Long Island in the film's opening scenes, it's as if they've never met before — but of course they have. The strange attraction that draws them together is down to the fact that, until very recently, they were lovers.

Their forgetting is the work of Lacuna Inc, a shady New York company that liberates its clients from unwanted memories. Eternal Sunshine was Kaufman's second collaboration with Michel Gondry. The resourceful French director proved the perfect match to Kaufman's freewheeling script, which puts us inside Joel's memories as they are being stripped away. The film's concept — that a couple can delete each other after a painful break-up so they can live on in blissful ignorance — seems at first a pessimistic take on love. But chinks of light begin to shine through as Joel's memories of Clementine are systematically sought out and zapped.

He recalls that, before the unhappiness set in, there were genuinely happy moments too and he recaptures too late? In spite of all its pitfalls, Kaufman still makes love seem like the most precious thing in the world. The film shuffles interconnecting storylines concerning three Manhattan sisters: As an affair begins between the two, Lee's own relationship with the tormented artist Frederick Max von Sydow comes under strain, and light is brought to an otherwise dark canvas by Hannah's ex-husband, fussbudget TV producer Mickey Allen , who becomes involved with Hannah's other sister, the jittery Holly Dianne Wiest.

So what was it about Hannah that made it so successful? The balance of comedy and drama is deftly maintained, and there's a palatable, soapy aspect to Elliot and Lee's affair. The film, with its chapter headings, aspires to a novelistic structure, each part favouring a different character or storyline.

And the performances are uniformly subtle, especially from Caine who won the Oscar for best supporting actor and the underrated Farrow, who was then an Allen regular as well as his off-screen partner. Indeed, Farrow brings genuine mystery to a nurturing figure who may not be as saintly as she seems.

Typically, the perfectionist director was far from pleased with the movie. It was the relatively happy ending that was to blame: Two perfect comedies in a row: The germ of the idea for The Apartment had actually sat in Wilder's notebook for many years, ever since he watched Brief Encounter and scribbled down the words "Movie about the guy who climbs into the warm bed left by two lovers.

CC "Bud" Baxter Lemmon is the poor sap in question. He's rising fast at work, one promotion after another, but the secret of his success is that he loans out his apartment to the company executives for their trysts, one minute slot at a time. It's a sleazy little set-up, and Wilder keeps the movie galloping along so briskly that we can overlook the unpleasantness at first. But then reality starts to creep in as Baxter realises that the woman he longs to bring home in his arms — chirpy elevator assistant Fran Kubelik Shirley MacLaine — has already been to his apartment, in the company of his boss Fred MacMurray.

The question of how Baxter finds out allows Wilder and Diamond to demonstrate their knack for succinct storytelling: They're unbeatable at turning out these "moments" — witness also Baxter's classic straining-spaghetti-through-a-tennis-racket scene, born out of Diamond's realisation that "Women love seeing a man trying to cook in the kitchen. Want to Read saving….

Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Secrets by Angela Knight. Volume 6 Secrets Volume 6 by Angela Knight ,. Alice Gaines Goodreads Author. MaryJanice Davidson Goodreads Author.

Trapped in an elevator, Jeannie Lawrence experienced unwilling rapture at Michael Windham's hands. She never expected the devilishly handsome man to show back up in her life or turn out to be a werewolf! Will she accept her destiny to be his mate? She wants her story but Gabriel Archer wants something more from her than just sex and blood. Felicity Wells wants to be sure she'll satisfy her soon-to-be husband but she needs a teacher. Marcus Slade, an experienced lover, agrees to take her on as a student, but can he stop short of taking her completely?

Flint's Fuse by Sandy Fraser: Dana Madison's father has her "kidnapped" for her own safety. Flint, the tall, dark and dangerous mercenary, is hired for the job. Paperback , pages. Secrets Volume 6 , Wyndham Werewolf 1. United States of America. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Secrets , please sign up.

Lists with This Book. Fans of werewolf stories who don't mind forced seduction. Neither had anal in it, so I was okay. The hero is the alpha of the Wyndham pack, Michael. He gets trapped in an elevator with a woman who is ovulating, and it's near a full moon. He cannot resist the urge to mate with her. It was the first story I read with this theme and I was blown away. He felt bad about what he did, but biological urges took over. A month or so later, he tracks down this woman who is his mate, and she's pregnant, so he kidnaps her to go live with the pack. From there it gets even less PC as he makes her go naked until she submits.

Secrets: Volume 6

There's another forced encounter because as alpha, Michael has to show dominance or lose the respect of the pack. He felt awful and she felt awful, and she stops eating. Michael comes to realize that he has to make sure his mate's emotional needs are met. Even with the questionable events, I still enjoyed this story.

It was very well done, and it showed the animal nature of werewolves, which often overrides human feelings, although Michael comes to realize that his very human mate needs tenderness and understanding. I'd like to get a copy of this one, one day. View all 9 comments. Nov 07, Julie rated it did not like it. This is just for the Wyndham Werewolf story. It wasn't just the elevator scene; I did get past that.

It was the continual refusal of the "hero" to see how he was traumatizing the heroine and the complicity of everyone around them I realize that this was supposed to be part of werewolf culture and thus, the hero, Michael, had This is just for the Wyndham Werewolf story. I realize that this was supposed to be part of werewolf culture and thus, the hero, Michael, had a hard time understanding the heroine's Jeannie's feelings, but this story just did not work for me.

The hero "can't control himself" around the heroine. I could work with that. Just barely, but I did it. However, then we got to where Michael kidnaps Jeannie with the help of his pack. Okay, it's for her safety and the safety of her pregnancy. Yeah, not only does he rape her; she's pregnant. Then we get to the truly squicky part.

Michael threatens and then later uses rape as a punishment for Jeannie's attempt to escape. Not all the excuses that "it was his culture and that's why X happened" saved that scene. For me, "No" doesn't mean "I'm really aroused by you, so that makes ignoring my non-consent okay. Sure, this could still have worked; just not as a romance. No way is that kind of thing romantic for me. The end of the story was kind of a WTF. Michael repeatedly violated Jeannie, held her in captivity, impregnated her and presumably would have denied her access to an abortion if she had wanted one.

Somehow, though, Jeannie realizes that she's madly in love with Michael And after that, there's this scene where she figures that she can get over her fear of his raping her if she's the aggressor during sex. The cables holding the Golden Gate Bridge could not have held my suspension of disbelief for that one. I'm seeing more than a little Stockholm Syndrome at work in this story. It didn't feel like love triumphing despite the odds; it felt more like love developing out of a horrifically abusive situation.

Nov 06, Holly rated it really liked it Shelves: Her father is working on a big corporate deal and he receives intel that his daughter might get caught in the crossfire. So her father has a mercenary named Flint steal into her bedroom and drag her off into the desert for her own protection.

His to Possess

Hey, I like a Stockholm Syndrome type story as much as the next girl, but this was just baaad. How can you fall in love with someone who doesn't even talk to you? And can a woman really get so horny that she will make herself practically delirious and so desperate that she will throw herself at her kidnaper in a state of mindless lust? I read this novella thinking the whole thing was a joke and kept waiting for the punchline. I continued flipping through the pages only to find the author's mini biography where I discovered that this author is deceased.

Joke was actually on me, because now I feel bad. Now she's trapped during a power outage and she's not alone.

Not only is being trapped in an elevator every person's worst nightmare, but how about being trapped with a shape shifting werewolf who is fighting his change while fighting the irresistibly alluring scent of his mate. I read this anthology for this novella alone. It wasn't as fantastic as I thought it would be nor was this as scandalous as I was led to believe.

I thought it was a tried and true forced seduction scene where Jeannie is at first resistant, but is soon screaming out her enjoyment. There is another forced seduction scene that I thought was much worse, yet I don't believe I ever heard anyone mention that scene as shocking. It was a punishment type sex scene that left me cold, but I accepted it as part of the werewolf culture.

Besides that, this was an interesting and fun story. The scene in the elevator was certainly titillating but I wish MaryJanice Davidson could have made this into a full length novel because then I really, really would have enjoyed it. This had action and humor and best of all, some hot werewolf lovin.

The Education of Miss Felicity by Alicia Gaines Felicity watched her father flaunt his affairs before her mother's horrified and humiliated eyes so when it becomes her duty to marry, she decides the best way to make sure her husband-to-be never strays is to have instruction in the art of love making. Who better than Dr. Marcus Slade to give her tutelage in the art of sex?

Not as bad as Flint's Fuse but certainly not great. While I was reading this I swear I felt my eyes start to cross. Purple prose alert and prepare to worship at the altar of Priapus. As soon as I finished this novella all I wanted to do was forget about it. A Candidate for the Kiss by Angela Knight Small town reporter Dana is hiding in a tree as she covers the story of the century.

She's tape recording a bunch of white supremacists as they discuss their plans to assassinate the president of the United States when the hired assassin turns out to be an undercover agent who also happens to be a vampire. Gabriel knows Dana is hiding in that tree but what he doesn't realize is that he's found a candidate for the Kiss.

I knew Angela Knight wouldn't let me down. This was alot of fun and very sexy. It also has one of my husband's favorite sayings in regards to me. Nov 14, Anyuita rated it did not like it. Kind of disturbed right now. Why the hell are y'all calling it "forced seduction", exactly? Literally, the hero rapes the heroine. At first because he apparently can't help himself - as that's werewolf nature, folks! Then to ostensibly keep her from running to a dangerous enemy. But you know what, fuck it, guys, plenty of people get off on rape fantasi Only read MaryJanice Davidson's "Love's Prisoner" 'cause I'm reading through the Betsy series.

But you know what, fuck it, guys, plenty of people get off on rape fantasies. Nothing wrong with that.

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But this isn't presented as fantasy - it's written as a literal Stockholm syndrome. Also, all rape aside, who the fuck falls in love in 48 hours? Continued sounds of disgust inserted here. Dec 31, Hanna rated it did not like it Shelves: I had seen the Wyndam characters in Davidson's other stories and was curious about their origins. Wrap it up however you like, Davidson has romanticized rape and kidnapping. I am so disappointed. Jun 22, Kenterol rated it did not like it. It was rape and I can't condone it.

Rating is for Love's Prisoner. Oct 25, P. Glisson rated it it was amazing. Okay, so this is my very first review of a compilation of short stories, but I had to let everyone know what a fantastic book this is, especially since my husband found it lying in the middle of the highway and picked it up for me. Flint's Fuse by Sandy Fraser is the yummy story of a rich influential man's daughter and the man he hired to kidnap her.

Yes, her father had her kidnapped, for her own good. Evidently there are some very bad men who might use her as a pawn and knowing that his daughte Okay, so this is my very first review of a compilation of short stories, but I had to let everyone know what a fantastic book this is, especially since my husband found it lying in the middle of the highway and picked it up for me.

Evidently there are some very bad men who might use her as a pawn and knowing that his daughter Dana Madison, fiesty and stubborn wouldn't go willingly, he hired Flint to get her out of the way. The story is set mostly in the log cabin he has taken her to and she stays tied up most of the time, but that doesn't keep the sparks from flying as she does everything she can to seduce her way out of her situation. Love's Prisoner by Maryjanice Davidson is a really cool werewolf love story with plenty of action that starts out with Jeannie and Michael stuck in an elevator together.

No light and no electricity, but outside the moon is rising and with no way out, Michael has no choice but to change in front of Jeannie. As he feels the change coming, his animal instincts tell him that Jeannie is destined to be his mate and he takes her in the elevator. Afterward, mortified and pretty sure she'd just been raped, Jeannie and can't get away from him fast enough.

He helps her escape through the top hatch and just as he's about to climb out, the cable breaks and he falls to his death, or so she thinks. Has grown a bit bigger than I anticipated. Then Hard Rock Improv should come out in late December. In the meantime, because of the Rock Star Romance boxed set, this happened: Will post some RtW teasers later tonight or tomorrow. Popularity Popularity Featured Price: Low to High Price: High to Low Avg. Available for download now.

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