Being Home

This week I moved into my very own house, I have lived with my Dad for near on my whole life so far and so it was a huge step for me to buy my own house and move in.  I have only been in for two days but I have had hoards of friends and family come to visit to make sure I'm not lonely (and get a nosey at the house) and its been great.  Now will be the time where I have to make a house a home, the decorating is all done but I  have to spend the next few weeks find a place for everything I own and getting into a routine (as I have been stuck in a 30 year rut at my previous home!).  Its all very exciting and in honour of this big event, I thought I would list my favourite movies that involve a house or a home quite prominently in the storyline.

I LOVE Goldie Hawn films, particularly the ones from the 80's/90's and this was one of my favourites.  Architect Newton Davies (Steve Martin) designs and builds his fiancée a house in his home town (anyone who has seen this movie will remember the gorgeous white house with the giant red bow).  She freaks out and he gets drunk and spends the night with Gwen (Goldie Hawn) who proceeds to move herself into this house and inform the locals that she is Newton's new love.  You can imagine how the rest of the film goes but its just a great movie with lots of laughs a great cast.  The house is stunning and becomes the centre point of the whole film.

Has anyone even heard of this film?  Two kids are so annoyed with the warring parents that they lock them in the basement of their house until they can sort out their differences!  Other kids in their school hear about this genius idea and bring their parents along to join the basement 'party'  Chaos ensues as the kids try to take care of themselves as well as provide their parents with enough food and water to survive.  Its been a long time since I watched this film I had it on VHS as a kid and I think I wore it out I watched it that much.  Great cast and unique story, definitely worth watching with your kids if you can get hold of a copy!  The 'grown ups' in the basement make the most of a bad situation while the kids realise its not easy being a grown up!

If you don't know the story of Home Alone then you probably shouldn't be reading a movie blog but I will summarise briefly just in case.  Kevin McAllister (MacCaulay Culkin) gets left at home when his family go on vacation for Christmas.  He thinks its the best thing ever until the 'Wet Bandits' try to rob the house thinking it's empty.  Kevin sets up countless traps around the house to thwart the burglars.  Did you know the house used for this film is still around but its been changed so much on the inside that it looks nothing like the 90's wonderland that we all remember.  I don't even need to justify this pick, it is centred around a home but it also throughs in the sentimental notes that a house is not home without family.






*pause for inevitable groans of disappointment* I know everyone hated this film when it came out but that doesn't stop me from loving it!  Kate (Sandra Bullock) buys a lake house, which once belonged to Alex (Keanu Reeves), somehow (I can't remember how) they end up communicating via the mail box outside the house - across time!  They build a relationship via letter and try to work out how they can meet in person.  Its a bizarre set up but ultimately it is a romantic drama and a bit of a weepy and we all know I'm a sucker for those. 

Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) refuse to sell their house even after encouragement from their local realtor.  Unfortunately, on their way home they swerve their car and die, leaving them haunting the house.  Unable to cope with new owners moving in Adam and Barbaa enlist the help of Beetlejuice to scare off the new tenants with hilarious and disastrous consequences.  This film is weird, every time I watch it I find it more weird and spot more strange people/items in the background of the scenes but I love it.  It's my go to Halloween film (because I don't like real horror movies).  Michael Keaton is at his best at Beetlejuice!  Did I hear rumours of a sequel to this recently?! Anyone else heard anything?  I don't know if I want that to happen or not....

Melanie (Reese Witherspoon) is a post clothing designer in New York with a gorgeous man, Andrew (Patrick Dempsey) who rents out the whole of Tiffany's to propose to her, there's only one problem:  She never quite got divorced from her first husband Jake (Josh Lucas).  Melanie has to head back to her home town in Alabama to get him to sign the papers before anyone realises that she has lied about her past.  Typical rom-com about the importance of home and where you come from but the amazing cast from Witherspoon, Dempsey and Lucas to Candice Bergen, Mary Kay Place and Fred Ward give it the edge over other rom-coms.

How many times will I find an excuse to write about this film?!  In fact I nearly tried to throw the Goonies in there because their whole jaunt was to save their homes!! Anyway, back to it!  You all know the story by now Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) meet as teenagers and fall in love but are torn apart by her fancy shmancy parents.  They reconnect years later only to discover nothing has really changed.  Noah builds Allie the house she dreams of living in, he builds it even though he believes he will never live there with her.  It turns out the house brings them back together when the work he has done features in a newspaper and Allie sees it.  Its such a lovely sentiment and still my favourite romantic movie ever.

One of my favourite Christmas movies - how it didn't feature in the 12 days of Christmas, I don't know! Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) decide to swap houses over the Christmas holidays after both suffer relationship disasters.  Over the opposite sides of the Atlantic, Iris and  Kate forge a friendship and find love in the most unexpected places.  (I should write movie blurbs for a living!!)  An opposing tale about how the grass is sometimes a little bit greener on the other side!  I would love to live in both the houses featured in this but the US house was just amazing - I need those blinds in my life!

10 Things I Love About The Notebook

This is one of my all time favourite films (and I think I might have mentioned The Goonies too much already) so I decided to blog about the 10 top things I LOVE about The Notebook.

1.  Chemistry
The chemistry between Ryan Gosling's Noah and Rachel McAdam's Allie was amazing, they work so well together.  As much as I love both of these actors, I've not seen them have the same chemistry with anyone else in other film (except maybe with Bianca in Lars and the Real Girl?!).  You really believe they are in love (they actually started dating in real life not long after this film was released)

2. Nicholas Sparks
I love Nicholas Sparks and his writing, I have read all his books to date and I am always excited to see a new one coming out or a film adaptation in the works.  His books have a fantasy element about them, I just get lost in the story and usually finish his books within a day or two.  In my personal opinion, this is the best adaptation of one of his books and by far the closest any of the films have come to being what my imagination decided it would be when I read the book.

3. Soundtrack
I love the soundtrack to this film, especially Billie Holiday's I'll be seeing you that becomes Noah and Allie's song.  The soundtrack provides the perfect background for this story from the slow romantic main title score by Aaron Zigman to the upbeat jazz number that backs Allie and Noah's love montage - I love it all!!

4. The heartbreak *SPOILER ALERT*
No matter how many times I watch this film, my heart breaks every time.  Alzheimer's is a horrific disease that traumatises both the patient and their loved ones.  To realise that the children and grandchildren are Allie's but she has no idea has me an emotional wreck everytime.  She is learning about her life as if it's someone else's and Noah does nothing but try to help her remember that it's her.  Assume fetal position. Try not to cry. Cry a lot!

5. Allie's mother's confession
This was the moment in the film where you were supposed to realise that Allie's mother wasn't a bad person she just did what she thought was right.  However, when I saw this scene I fist pumped the air and shouted 'Ah-ha' at the tele.  Feeling very smug that the Mother may have made the wrong decision and that Allie was right all along.  Not sure that's how Sparks wanted it to be viewed but that was my version AND I still don't like Allie's Mother (before you say anything Allie I don't mean your mother!! How rude! She happens to love you!)

6. Sam Shepherd
Who doesn't love Sam Shepherd, he is truly awesome and brings a real charm to this role.  I wanted more of him and that is one place this film didn't deliver for me.

7. Allie's charm
This is a combination of the character written by Sparks and Rachel McAdams who brings her to life.  She is everything I expected from the book including selfish and hot headed which I love about the character, she's not some whingey romantic she gets angry and she does hurt people.  This makes her more real than the other female leads in Nicholas Sparks movies. 

8. The Quotes

9. The follow-up *SPOILER ALERT*

If you read the books you will know what i'm talking about, if you don't wait a few years and i'm sure the film adaptation of The Wedding will be on the horizon.  This is the story of Wilson and his wife Jane who have to admit that the romance is gone from their marriage.  In desperation, Wilson turns to his Father-in-Law for advice, who just happens to be Noah Calhoun.  The Notebook book actually has a different ending to the film, in that Allie passes away and Noah is left alone. In this book, he genuinely believes that Allie's soul is in a swan that swims on the lake, which is romantic in itself but also heart breaking (again!).  Anyway, this book touches on the history of The Notebook while Noah tries to help Wilson become the romantic husband that he wants to be.

10.  Ryan Gosling

No words needed: