Happy Halloween 2012

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween! Have fun! I am going to watch Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas tonight! :) xx

 

 

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

 



 

Baldwin, a Chicago architect, loses his wife Maggie to cancer. He and his young son Jonah start new lives in Seattle, but Sam still grieves.

 

 

18 months later, on Christmas Eve 1992, Jonah—who wants his father to find a new wife—calls into a talk radio show. Jonah persuades Sam to go on the air to talk about how much he misses Maggie. Hundreds of women from around the country hear the program, and touched by the story, write to Sam.

One of the listeners is Annie Reed, a Baltimore Sun reporter. She is engaged to Walter but feels there is something missing from their relationship. After watching the film An Affair to Remember, Annie impulsively writes a letter suggesting that Sam meet her on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. She does not intend to mail it, but her friend and editor Becky does it for her and agrees to send Annie to Seattle to "look into doing a story on those radio shows."

Sam begins dating a coworker, Victoria, whom Jonah dislikes. Jonah, a baseball fan, reads Annie's letter and likes that it mentions the Baltimore Orioles but fails to convince his father to go to New York to meet Annie. On the advice of his friend Jessica, Jonah replies to Annie agreeing to the New York meeting.

While dropping Victoria off at the airport for a flight, Sam sees Annie exiting from her plane and is taken by her, although he has no idea who she is. Annie watches Sam and Jonah playing on the beach together but mistakes Sam's sister Suzy for his girlfriend. He recognizes her from the airport and says "Hello", but Annie can only respond with another "hello" before fleeing. She decides she is being foolish and goes to New York to meet Walter for Valentine's Day.

With Jessica's help, Jonah flies to New York without his father's permission, and goes to the Empire State Building in search of Annie. Jonah goes to observation deck and asks every unattached woman if she is Annie. Sam, distraught, follows Jonah and finds him on the observation deck. Meanwhile, Annie has seen the skyscraper from the Rainbow Room where she is dining with Walter and confesses her doubts to him. They amicably end their engagement. She rushes to the Empire State Building but the observation deck has closed. Annie convinces the guard to allow her to go to observation deck (An Affair to Remember is the guard's wife's favourite movie) and arrives just moments after the doors to the down elevator close with Sam and Jonah inside.

In spite of the observation deck being deserted, Annie convinces the elevator operator to let her take a quick look around. She discovers a backpack that Jonah has left behind. As she pulls out Jonah's teddy bear from the backpack, Sam and Jonah emerge from the elevator, and the three meet for the first time. Annie asks Jonah if the teddy bear is his, and he says it is. "Are you Annie?" Jonah asks. She nods yes, and Jonah smiles. "You're Annie," says a stunned Sam. The elevator operator clears his throat. Sam indicates they should go, momentarily making it unclear what his intentions are, until he says "Shall we?", offers his hand to Annie, and the three go down the elevator together.

 

 



You've Got Mail (1998)

 

Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) is involved with Frank Navasky (Greg Kinnear), a leftist postmodernist newspaper writer for the New York Observer who's always in search of an opportunity to root for the underdog. While Frank is devoted to his typewriter, Kathleen prefers her laptop and logging into her AOL e-mail account. There, using the screen name 'Shopgirl', she reads an e-mail from "NY152", the screen name of Joe Fox (Tom Hanks). In her reading of the e-mail, she reveals the boundaries of the online relationship; no specifics, including no names, career or class information, or family connections. Joe belongs to the Fox family which runs Fox Books — a chain of "mega" bookstores. Kathleen, on the other hand, runs the independent bookstore The Shop Around The Corner, that her mother ran before her. The two then pass each other on their respective ways to work, where it is revealed that they frequent the same neighbourhoods in upper west Manhattan. Joe arrives at work, overseeing the opening of a new Fox Books in New York with the help of his friend, branch manager Kevin (Dave Chappelle). Meanwhile, Kathleen and her three store assistants, George (Steve Zahn), Birdie (Jean Stapleton), and Christina (Heather Burns) open up shop for the day.

 

 

Following a day on the town with his eleven-year-old aunt Annabel (Hallee Hirsh) and four-year-old brother Matthew (Jeffrey Scaperrotta) (the children of his frequently divorced grandfather and father, respectively), Joe enters Kathleen's store to let his younger relatives experience storytime. Joe and Kathleen have a friendly conversation that reveals Kathleen's fears about the Fox Books store opening around the corner, shocking Joe. He introduces himself as "Joe. Just call me Joe," omitting his last name, and makes an abrupt exit with the children. However, at a publishing party later in the week, Joe and Kathleen meet again, both of them being in the New York book business, where Kathleen discovers Joe's true identity.

Following suggestions from Frank and Joe via "NY152" Kathleen begins a media war, including both a boycott of Fox Books and an interview on the local news. All the while, "NY152" and "Shopgirl" continue their courtship, to the point where "NY152" asks "Shopgirl" to meet. Too embarrassed to go alone, Joe brings Kevin along for moral support. He insists that "Shopgirl" may be the love of his life. Meanwhile Kevin, looking in a cafe window at the behest of Joe, discovers the true identity of "Shopgirl." When Joe discovers that it is actually Kathleen behind the name, he confronts her as Joe (concealing his "NY152" alter ego – and feelings). The two exchange some bitter words and Joe leaves the cafe hurt, Kathleen returns home puzzled why NY152 might have stood her up.

 

 

Despite all efforts, The Shop Around the Corner slowly goes under. In a somber moment Kathleen enters Fox Books to discover the true nature of the store is one of friendliness and relaxation, yet without the same dedication to children's books as her independent shop.

Eventually, her employees move on to other jobs; as Christina goes job hunting, George gets a job at the children's department at a Fox Books store (Joe later compares George's knowledge of the contents of the department to a PhD) and Birdie, who is already wealthy from investments, retires.

 

 

 

 

 

Allowing time for their electronic relationship to convalesce, Joe visits Kathleen while she is sick, and for the first time makes a favorable impression. Joe discovers that Kathleen has broken up with Frank, who has moved in with a talk show host who interviewed him (Jane Adams). This was predated one week by Joe and his uptight girlfriend, Patricia (Parker Posey), who broke up in their apartment building while stuck in the elevator. Kathleen and Joe develop a tentative friendship that blossoms over the course of a few weeks and they begin to spend more time with one another.

 

 

During this time, Joe as "NY152" mysteriously postpones meeting Kathleen. Finally, "NY152" and "Shopgirl" agree to meet for the first time since "NY152" apparently stood her up. Joe and his dog Brinkley (the topic of numerous e-mails) meet Kathleen at Riverside Park. Kathleen admits that she had wanted "NY152" to be Joe so badly, and the two kiss.

 

 

This is a nice film to curl up with at any time of the year, but especially when you are ill or fed up.  This film will cheer you up! :) xx

Corpse Bride (2005)

 

 

 

Corpse Bride, often referred as Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, is a 2005 stop-motion-animated fantasy musical film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton. It is set in a fictional Victorian era village in Europe. Johnny Depp led an all-star cast as the voice of Victor, while Helena Bonham Carter voiced Emily, the title character.

 

In an unnamed Victorian Era European village, Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp), the son of nouveau riche fish merchants, and Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson), the neglected daughter of hateful aristocrats, are getting prepared for their arranged marriage, which will raise the social class of Victor's parents and restore the wealth of Victoria's penniless family. Both have concerns about marrying someone they do not know, but they fall instantly in love when they first meet. After the shy, clumsy Victor ruins the wedding rehearsal and is scolded by Pastor Galswells (Christopher Lee), he flees and practices his wedding vows in the nearby forest, placing the wedding ring on a nearby upturned tree root.

 



 

The root turns out to be the finger of a dead girl clad in a tattered bridal gown, who rises from the grave claiming that she is now Victor's wife. Spirited away to the surprisingly festive Land of the Dead, the bewildered Victor learns the story of Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), his new "bride," murdered years ago on the night of her secret elopement. Emily, as a wedding gift, reunites Victor with his long-dead dog, Scraps. Meanwhile, Victoria's parents hear that Victor has been seen in another woman's arms, and become suspicious.

 

Wanting to reunite with Victoria, Victor tricks Emily into taking him back to the Land of the Living by pretending he wants her to meet his parents. She agrees to this and takes him to see Elder Gutknecht (Michael Gough), the kindly ruler of the underworld, to send him and Emily temporarily to the Land of the Living. Once back home, Victor asks Emily to wait in the forest while he rushes off to see Victoria and confess his wish to marry her as soon as possible, to which she gladly returns his feelings. Emily soon arrives and sees the two of them together and, feeling betrayed and hurt, drags Victor back to the Land of the Dead. Victoria tells her parents that Victor has been forcibly wed to a dead woman, but they believe she has lost her mind and lock her up in her bedroom. She escapes her room by window and rushes to Galswells to find a way helping Victor, but fails. With Victor gone, Victoria's parents decide to marry her off to a presumably wealthy newcomer in town named Lord Barkis Bittern (Richard E. Grant), who appeared at the wedding rehearsal, against her will.

Emily is heartbroken by Victor's deception. Victor, however, apologizes for lying to her, and the two reconcile while playing the piano together. Shortly after, Victor's family coachman appears in the afterlife (having recently died) and informs Victor of Victoria's impending marriage to Lord Barkis. At the same time, Emily learns from Elder Gutknecht that because marriage vows are only binding until "death do you part" and death already parts them, her supposed marriage to Victor was never valid. In order for their marriage to become valid, Victor must repeat his vows in the Land of the Living and willingly drink poison - thus joining her in death. Overhearing this, and fretting about having lost his chance with Victoria, Victor agrees to die for Emily. All of the dead go "upstairs" to the Land of the Living to perform the wedding ceremony for Victor and Emily. Upon their arrival, the town erupts into a temporary panic until every living person recognizes each other's loved ones from the dead and they have a joyous reunion under the bizarre circumstances.

 

 

 

After a quarrel with Lord Barkis - and realizing he was only after her supposed money - Victoria follows the procession of dead to the church. As Victor prepares to drink the cup of poison to kill himself, Emily notices Victoria and has second thoughts, realizing that she is denying Victoria her chance at happiness the same way it was stolen from her. Lord Barkis interrupts them, and Emily recognizes him as her former fiance - who is revealed to be the one who murdered her for her dowry. Lord Barkis tries to kidnap Victoria at sword point, but Victor stops him and the two men duel. Emily intercedes to save Victor, and Lord Barkis mockingly proposes a toast to Emily claiming she's "always the bridesmaid, never the bride!", accidentally drinking the cup of poison. The dead (now able to intercede as he's dead) drag the "new arrival" away for punishment.

Emily sets Victor free of his vow to marry her, giving the wedding ring back to Victor and her wedding bouquet to Victoria before exiting the church. As she steps into the moonlight, she transforms into hundreds of butterflies, presumably finding her eternal rest, as Victor and Victoria look on.

 

 

 

I love this, it's great fun to watch! :) xx

 

 







My cosy reading for Autumn (2012)

 

 

 

I love reading.   I think there is nothing better than sitting by a coal fire or lying in bed with a favourite comfort read when the leaves are falling from the trees and it is cold outside.

 

 

Here are the books I am going to reading this Autumn snuggled up in bed all warm and cosy:

 

I am currertly reading this and will review it soon.
 

 

I read this a few years ago but I can't remember the story so I am looking forward to reading it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I have only read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe so I'll jumping into the complete magical world of Narina for the very first time ever!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I love this story! It's my second favourite Bronte book.












My favourite book! I always love to revisit Thornfield and fall in love with Edward and Jane. A great romance!

















Have a lovely Autumn with your favourite book! :) xx