Somewhere in Time (1980)

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Starring: Christopher Reeve (Richard Collier), Jane Seymour (Elise McKenna)

I finally watched Somewhere in Time (1980). My God sister told me about it after we had another discussion regarding my favourite film - Titanic. I love romance and films that emphasise an element of destiny and fate so she told me about this film that had the same effect on her as Titanic has on me.

Last night we sat down (no phones allowed being the rule, as my God sister insisted I watch it with my full attention, when I broke this rule I was snapped back into my place with a quick 'this part is important!' LOL) and I got to grips with this time travelling romance film that mind f*@ked me to the extreme!

Firstly I was struck by the beginning of the film, an elderly woman approached Richard (Christopher Reeve) at his opening night of his play and she hauntingly captured the rooms attention. She took his hand and put an old pocket watch in it, she closed his hand and whispered 'Come back to me'. It honestly sent a chill down my spine (even though my God sister had re-enacted this scene for me previously with much passion) and was a great way to set the scene and get the questions running through your mind.

Richard is a playwright and had his opening night of his play at the theatre near the Grand Hotel where he visited some eight years after this encounter with the old woman. He was drawn to this place and later he found out why. He comes across an old photo hanging in the Hall of History and is mesmerised by the woman in the photo. Her beauty is apparent but he is not sure why he is so obsessed with her.

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Eventually he discovers that the old woman that gave him the pocket watch was in fact the woman in this photo, Elise McKenna who was a famous actress and had stayed at that hotel in 1912. He became engrossed in the notion that he had known this woman on a deeper level and researched her life and came across a book regarding time travelling from his college professor in her belongings.

He then tries to do the impossible by attempting to travel back in time to 1912 when he discovered he had signed in to the visitor's log book at the exact same hotel almost 60 years earlier.

The poignant thing in this film is the fact that he does meet this woman and they have a whirlwind romance but he inevitably has to return to the future, where he came from. The trick was not to remember the future and to completely immerse himself in the past in order to stay with Elise, his true love. They both fell for each other which is why they were heartbroken when Richard disappeared after finding a 1979 coin in the pocket of his suit, reminding him of the future and dragging him back against his will.

The trip back to the future completely drained him, he was heartbroken at the fact that in his future, Elise was now dead but in her past, he was not able to stay because he was reminded of his future (confusing I know). The point is, they were in love and meant to be but living in two different eras and only able to be together through the form of time travel, star crossed lovers if you will.

The film really does boggle the mind as you think to yourself, did he try and go into the past originally to find her because she gave him the watch? He must of given her the watch before in order for her to find him in the future to give it back to him. He then went back to find her again but she could not warn him of what would make him remember his future as she did not know he would have forgotten the modern coin in his pocket.

Now I understand, this is one complicated explanation of a film and trust me, I am having a hard time getting my words right to explain this film but that is the beauty of it. The viewer has to build up their own perception of how Richard's time travelling idea came about in the first place and why he could never go back to her again. It is a very subjective film that leaves many debates and opinions open for discussion.

The fact is, they both died of a broken heart, they were both born in the wrong era destined to be with each other but fate was too cruel to enable them to be with each other. They experienced a short-lived romance that lasted them a life-time and that to me is the greatest love story.

This is a must see just for the sake of trying to figure out my review of this film LOL. I hope I have been as clear as possible but it truly is a worthwhile film for any hopeless romantics out there! The acting is fantastic and Christopher Reeve really is a likable character and easy to watch on screen for the entirety of the film while Jane Seymour is as captivating and beautiful as ever.

Rating: 8.5

Trailers Galore!

I have been to the cinema lately and noticed some good films are coming out! However I doubt I will be able to see all of them, I thought I would post the trailers to see what my readers think. If you have seen any of them yet, please comment below and let me know what you recommend!

Knowing me, I will still make the time to see them on the big screen but just in case, I would love some feedback and thought the trailers would be a nice edition to my blog to prep for my reviews.

So in case you haven't had the chance to check out the previews at the cinema, here are some trailers to get you in the film mood:

The Pact (15) - I went to see this film and will be reviewing that soon!
Release Date: 8th June

Fast Girls (12A) - In line with the Olympics London 2012
Release Date: 15th June

Red Lights (15) - All star cast, Robert Di Nero, Cillian Murphey and Sigourney Weaver

Release Date: 15th June

The Amazing Spider-Man (12A) - Toby is replaced! Finally! I'm loving the new edition who you may recognise from The Social Network (12A) (Eduardo) - Andrew Garfield

Release Date: 3rd July

I am excited to get to see all of these films and I will be posting reviews very soon!

Watch this space!

Cast Away (2000)

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Director: Robert Zemeckis

Cast: Tom Hanks (Chuck), Helen Hunt (Kelly)

I decided to stick on a film, one that would satisfy my urge to be intrigued, to laugh and to cry. I chose a film I had seen previously because I know what I am getting myself into - Cast Away.

For starters, what other actor can you sit and watch for the majority of a film, alone on an island? Ninety percent of the film is of Tom Hanks himself and boy, does he know how to hold a film. He makes me laugh when he is discovering how to survive on the island and can make me cry when expressing his loss of his ex-lover Kelly for the second time.

The film itself touches upon human behaviour, survival instinct, love, determination and adaptability. It has so many factors it is hard to find a flaw in this film.

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My favourite aspect of the film is Chuck's yearning for a companion when he is stranded on the island. The fact is, it is human nature to set up home, a comfortable setting that puts you at ease and it is that same nature that requires us to stay sane by finding a way to communicate, even on an inhabitable island. Wilson (the ball with the blood hand-print for a face) is Chuck's sanity and companionship. It is his reason for surviving four years and his escape from the island. Wilson is his best friend.

The scene where Chuck has to choose between his raft and Wilson is painstaking as you feel his anguish in making this decision. Wilson helped him in so many ways but he knew what he had to do to ensure his survival.

Another great scene from the film is when Kelly runs back to Chuck and tells him he is the love of her life. However she chooses her husband and child over Chuck. This scene makes me cry so much because Chuck waited four years to see Kelly and in that time he used her as a reason to carry on living and breathing. She was his hope mechanism that ensured his survival (along with the enigmatic Wilson). She had moved on and he had lost her all over again.

You really want her to just ditch her new life and run away with Chuck but as an adult she made a painful but mature decision. I am a romantic and would say 'screw that' and take my child and run but hey, that's just me! I like to follow my heart and hate smart decisions!

''I've lost her all over again. I'm so sad that I don't have Kelly. But I'm so grateful that she was with me on that island. And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?''

Beautiful film with everything you could want. I can watch this film hundreds of times and still feel the same about it. Tom Hanks is a truly great actor and worthy of my Top 10 Actors of all time, especially thanks to this film. He dedicated himself to the role by gaining weight to film the first half of the film and then taking a year to grow his hair and beard and lose weight to add authenticity to the role. He went back to looking like a young Tom Hanks in Big (1988). 

This film will always get a thumbs up from me and although this is not a new release I will rate it an 9/10. Great viewing, over and over again!

Obsessions, ramblings and other (most probably) irrelevant news from my life!

Lately I have been slacking in the film department. I haven't made the time to follow up on my film obsessions to see films such as The Avengers Assemble (12A), What to Expect When You're Expecting (12A) or Prometheus (15). I have been wanting to see a number of films but I have also been trying to read up on some classics and get in touch with my poetry!

I have been writing for a poetry blogspot - FluidLanguage -for a few months now and I have realised I have not read enough poetry to help inspire me for future work. So I have been reading the likes of Emily Bronte, Sappho and Homer as well as some classic books I purchased in a quaint antique store in Weymouth.

PHOTO: Property of Patricia Hilton

I have also been focusing on building my loving collection of DVDs. My main aim is to collect every film that stars Leonardo DiCaprio because as most people who know me, they know I am a massive fan of his work. So far I have 11 of his films:

PHOTO: Property of Patricia Hilton

But the last remaining ones that I need are as follows:

• The Quick and the Dead
• Total Eclipse
• Marvin's Room
• Don's Plum
• Gangs of New York
• The Departed
• Body of Lies
• Revolutionary Road
• J.Edgar
• And eventually The Great Gatsby

Now for me, films are a memory of my childhood where I sat up late with my Dad being allowed to watch films my friends probably didn't even know about. I allow myself to escape from the real world by watching them and I like to learn about them and collect them. This is the same for my writing and poetry. I like to read up and learn more so that I can improve.

I have neglected my blog in the last month or so but in that time I have read some amazing books and poems. One of my favourite's is by Sappho:

He is more than a hero

He is more than a hero
he is a god in my eyes--
the man who is allowed
to sit beside you -- he

who listens intimately
to the sweet murmur of
your voice, the enticing

laughter that makes my own
heart beat fast. If I meet
you suddenly, I can'

speak -- my tongue is broken;
a thin flame runs under
my skin; seeing nothing,

hearing only my own ears
drumming, I drip with sweat;
trembling shakes my body

and I turn paler than
dry grass. At such times
death isn't far from me

However I do miss the cinema! I have missed out on some films I really need to see so I will be making a few necessary trips to catch up!

Hope the rambling's put all my readers in the mood to stick on a film! I watched To Wong Foo (1995), Con Air (1997) and Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010) last night in a movie marathon and I realised how much I missed sitting and watching movies on the sofa with friends and popcorn. The Bank Holiday was the perfect excuse but I need to start doing this more often, it saves me money but also allows me to brush up on my movie knowledge for the film game a twitter pal @Ant_Wright_ and I came up with called #NameThatFilm.

Follow me on @Trishaaa_ if you are interested in testing your movie quote knowledge! Hit me up with a quote and I have to guess which film it is and vice versa! Remember to hash tag me with #ntf.

Love a bit of movie fun!

Enjoy the rest of what is left of the Bank Holiday!