Connie Bailey's Top 5 Favorite Directors

Thursday December 21, 2017

I love movies! I love everything about them and the people that make them. I love the writers, the actors, the cinematographers... and of course, the directors who bring it all together. It’s hard to narrow it down to five favorites, but I tried to pick a handful who’ve helmed some of my favorite films. I’d love to hear about your favorite directors in the comments.

1. John Carpenter – I love him for “Starman” and “The Thing,” two movies about alien visitors that couldn’t be more different. He also directed “Halloween,” but to me, it’s more amazing that he wrote the famous theme music.

2. Barry Levinson – I admire him for his closely-observed stories about everyday people in “Diner” and “Rainman,” and for the wonderful whimsy-with-a-point movie “Toys.”

3. Peter Jackson – I adore him for bringing one of my favorite book series to life in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I also love him for the bizarre silliness of “Meet the Feebles,” a twisted Muppets-style musical. Another of his that I love is a wonderful film called “Heavenly Creatures” about two teenage girls and their motivation for murder.

4. Kathryn Bigelow – She makes the list for the down-to-earth vampire film “Near Dark,” which features bloodsuckers driving around Middle America in a van with the windows blacked out. I also love her for the escapist fun and excitement of “Point Break,” which features one of my favorite bromances between Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.

5. Baz Luhrmann – “Strictly Ballroom” is one of my top ten movies. If you haven’t seen this film about competitive dancing, I highly recommend it. It’s got a feel-good triumphant ending as satisfying as “Rocky,” and the romance is very touching. Full of great quirky characters and clever writing, as well as rousing dance numbers.

Song and Key

By Alix Bekins and Connie Bailey

Dreamspun Beyond

$4.99 $3.74

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A Men From GLEN Mission

So-called monsters won’t hold these spies back!

For two secret agents on a mission to a secluded Romanian village, the toughest fight they face may not be against the folktale monsters lurking in the foggy mountains and old ruins, but against their unlikely attraction to each other.

Keller Key is the top operative at the covert Global Law Enforcement Network—and boy does he know it. Sexy half-Ukrainian, half-Korean Sevastyan Song is a close second. When the agents go undercover to investigate an old friend’s suspicious death, it soon becomes clear something sinister is afoot in the ancient forest and decrepit abbey. If an evil organization doesn’t spell the end of them, the angry locals might. But if they’re going to conquer their enemies, they need to keep their hands off each other and their minds on the case, in a rivals-to-lovers paranormal mash-up that gives new meaning to spy-on-spy action.

Table for One

By Connie Bailey

$6.99 $5.24

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Exposing his body for work is no problem, but after his heart’s been broken, putting it out there again won’t be so easy.

Up-and-coming young executives Copeland Shore and William Donnelly have been friends and sometimes more for years. For Cope’s birthday, Will plans a very special dinner—at a nantaimori restaurant where the most enticing thing is the table. Dai—the naked man beneath their sushi—has both their mouths watering, but when it comes to Dai’s heart, there’s only room at the table for one, and Will gets there first.

Will’s everything Dai thinks he wants in a man… until he’s betrayed. The betrayal also ends the friendship between Will and Cope and leaves Dai shaken and unsure if he can put his trust in another man—not even when a second chance for love and happiness rises from the ashes of the broken relationship. Cope wants to tempt Dai to take a risk with him, but the pain of the past is hard for Dai to shake off… and Cope has obstacles of his own to overcome.