The writer and director Nora Ephron died. She was 71.
I like to think tha the movies which had the biggest impact on my youth and early adulthood were action-packed thrillers like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or "Star Wars." My connection to the James Bond film franchise was built through my father, who always loved the movies.
But the real experience of movies are that they are enjoyed culturally, that you are able to talk about them with other people, make references and others take the cues.
The real cultural film phenomenon of my generation was almost assuredly "When Harry Met Sally," the romantic comedy with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. It came out the year I graduated high school, and here more than 20 years later, you still can't say "I'll have what she's having" without someone immediately saying "When Harry Met Sally" immediately after.
There's a little more than a ten-year age difference between me and Duncan. I don't know if she would categorize it as a generational touchstone, but for her, that movie would be the Ephron-directed movie that came out almost ten years later, "You've Got Mail," starring Tom Hanks and also Meg Ryan. If I'm wrong about that, then it's 1993's "Sleepless in Seattle," another Hanks/Ryan movie Ephron wrote and directed.
The idea of writing for film -- or a play -- has always fascinated me. I've always wanted to try it, but I have no idea where I'd start. It seems like it would be a lot more complicated, a lot more technical (maybe; again, I really don't know). I still love Indiana Jones and Star Wars, but you can bet if I ever try, I'll have the work and life of Nora Ephron on my mind.
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