Wally Lamb, on writing:

I like to be surprised.

The best writing is when it defies me, when it starts going a different way than I had planned.

- Wally Lamb.

On this day in movie history - Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground (1997):

Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground

aka SUBWAYstories,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1997.
Directed by Bob Balaban, Patricia Benoit, Julie Dash, Jonathan Demme, Ted Demme, Abel Ferrara, Alison Maclean, Craig McKay, Lucas Platt, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld.
Written by Adam Brooks, John Guare, Lynn Grossman, Angela Todd, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, Albert Innaurato, Danny Hoch, Julie Dash, Marla Hanson, Joe Viola, Rosie Perez.
Music by Mecca Bodega.

Story segment titles:

Fern's Heart of Darkness
The 5: 24
Honey-Getter
The Listeners
Love on the A Train
Manhattan Miracle
The Red Shoes
Sax Cantor Riff
Subway Car from Hell
Underground

Cast:

Bill Irwin, KRS-One, Tina North, Paul Lazar, Andre B. Blake, Anthony S. Calypso, Robert W. Castle, Marlon Cherry, Carl J. Ferrazza, Daniel Freedman, Marc Mueller, Paul Mueller, Simon Seven, Joe Toutebon, Daniel Wolff, Mari Danzi, Lara McFarlane, Angie Utt, Audrey Meyers, Denis Leary, Christine Lahti, N'Bushe Wright, Kevin Corrigan, Marie Barrientos, O.L. Duke, Ellen Gould, John C. Vennema, Sixto Ramos, Erika Greene, Steve Zahn, Jerry Stiller, Bonnie Hunt, Richard Spore, Mekhi Phifer, José Ramón Rosario, Nancy Ticotin, John Ford Noonan, Lili Taylor, Michael Rapaport, Israel Horovitz, Mercedes Ruehl, Zachary Taylor, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeremy Jordan, Bruce Smolanoff, Rob Clasen, Jay Bailey, Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker, Ajay Naidu, Danny Hoch, Steven Randazzo, Gi Shen, Kenny Garrett, Sam Rockwell, Sol Frieder, Tammi Cubilette, Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier, Bruklin Harris, Taral Hicks, Daniel Rous, Will Hare, Rosie Perez, Michael McGlone, Gretchen Mol, Gregory Hines, Anne Heche, George T. Odom, John D. Bair, John Bryant, Christopher Del Gaudio, Mark Robert Gordon, Stacie Johnsen, Adrian Lee, Bonnie Monaghan, Steve Nuke, Frank Turek, Chris White.

On this day in movie history - 12 Angry Men (1997):

12 Angry Men

directed by William Friedkin,

written by Reginald Rose,

based on the 1954 teleplay Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1997.

Cast:

Courtney B. Vance, Ossie Davis, George C. Scott, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Dorian Harewood, James Gandolfini, Tony Danza, Jack Lemmon, Hume Cronyn, Mykelti Williamson, Edward James Olmos, William Petersen, Mary McDonnell, Tyrees Allen, Douglas Spain.

On this day in movie history - The Exorcist III (movie & novel):

The Exorcist III

directed and written by William Peter Blatty,

based on novel Legion by William Peter Blatty,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1990.
Music by Barry De Vorzon.

Cast:

George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Jason Miller, Scott Wilson, Brad Dourif, Grand L. Bush, Nicol Williamson, Nancy Fish, Tracy Thorne, Barbara Baxley, Harry Carey Jr., George DiCenzo, Tyra Ferrell, Lois Foraker, Don Gordon, Mary Jackson, Zohra Lampert, Ken Lerner, Viveca Lindfors, Lee Richardson, Kevin Corrigan, Demetrios Pappageorge, Jodi Long, Samuel L. Jackson, Amelia Campbell, C. Everett Koop, Larry King, Patrick Ewing, Teresa Wright, Fabio, Colleen Dewhurst, The Lennon Sisters.

Recommended reading:

Legion

By William Peter Blatty.

Published by Tor Books.

First published in 1983.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0765327139

ISBN-13: 978-0765327130

Description:

“Jesus asked the man his name, and he answered, ‘Legion, for we are many.’” – Mark 5:9.

A young boy is found horribly murdered in a mock crucifixion. Is the murderer the elderly woman who witnessed the crime? A neurologist who can no longer bear the pain life inflicts on its victims? A psychiatrist with a macabre sense of humor and a guilty secret? A mysterious mental patient, locked in silent isolation?

Lieutenant Kinderman follows a bewildering trail that links all these people, confronting new enigmas at every turn, even as more murders occur. Why does each victim suffer the same dreadful mutilations? Why are two priests among the dead? Is there a connection between these crimes and another series of murders that took place twelve years ago – one that supposedly ended with the death of the killer?

Legion is a novel of breathtaking energy and suspense. But more than this, it is an extraordinary journey into the uncharted depths of the human mind and the most agonizing questions of the human condition.

The answers are revealed in a climax so stunning that it could only have been written by the author of The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty.

On this day in movie history - Tightrope (1984):

Tightrope

directed and written by Richard Tuggle,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1984.
Music by Lennie Niehaus.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Geneviève Bujold, Dan Hedaya, Alison Eastwood, Jenny Beck, Marco St. John, Rebecca Perle, Regina Richardson, Randi Brooks, Jamie Rose, Margaret Howell, Rebecca Clemons, Janet MacLachlan, Graham Paul, Bill Holliday, John Wilmot, Margie O'Dair, Joy N. Houck Jr., Stuart Baker-Bergen, Donald Barber, Robert Harvey, Ron Gural, Layton Martens, Richard Charles Boyle, Becki Davis, Jonathan Sachar, Valerie Thibodeaux, Lionel Ferbos, Eliott Keener, Cary Wilmot Alden, David Valdes, James Borders, Fritz Manes, Jonathan Shaw, Don Lutenbacher, G. Wood, Kimberly Georgoulis, Glenda Byers, John Schluter, Nick Krieger, Lloyd Nelson, David Dahlgren, Rod Masterson, Glenn Wright, Angela Hill, Ted Saari, Tommy Gotti Coleman.

On this day in movie history - Westworld (1973):

Westworld

directed and written by Michael Crichton,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1973.
Music by Fred Karlin.

Cast:

Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Alan Oppenheimer, Victoria Shaw, Dick Van Patten, Linda Gaye Scott, Steve Franken, Michael Mikler, Terry Wilson, Majel Barrett, Anne Randall, Nora Marlowe, Charles Seel, Robert Patten, Julie Marcus, Chris Holter.

On this day in movie history - Lady on a Train (1945):

Lady on a Train

directed by Charles David,

written by Edmund Beloin and Robert O’Brien,

based on a story by Leslie Charteris,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1945.
Music by Miklós Rózsa.

Cast:

Deanna Durbin, Ralph Bellamy, David Bruce, George Coulouris, Allen Jenkins, Dan Duryea, Edward Everett Horton, Jacqueline deWit, Patricia Morison, Elizabeth Patterson, Maria Palmer, Samuel S. Hinds, William Frawley, Thurston Hall, Kathleen O’Malley, Lash LaRue.