We’ve reached the still-fall of 2007, which proved to be such an enchanting time in the land of movies. We visited a picturesque Christmas Cottage before spending time in an actual Wonder Emporium. A visit to Ireland was bittersweet but the view provided us with the best postcards! With the holidays approaching, we even shared our Wish List with Santa’s brother (who turned out to be no substitute for the real deal).

Ready to deal with a holiday break? Here’s hoping your approaching holidays are a wish come true, no matter where you spend them!

Originally Published in the Sun by the Sea…Holiday Edition 2007 edition

Meg the Movie Buff Goes to Hollywood

The holidays are an Enchanted time of year, both inside a Santa-seeking movie theater and out. Inspired by the beauty of Thomas Kinkade’s The Christmas Cottage, the ready-for-battle Beowulf has called a temporary truce with his enemies, leaving behind the aggression of Lions for Lambs. Even Charlie Wilson’s War is put on hold as film buffs settle in for a long winter’s nap and a good Bee Movie.

Before settling in, please check your local listings for release date changes.

Creating his own Bee Movie (opens Nov. 2^nd), recent college graduate bee Barry B. Benson (voice of Jerry Seinfeld) disheartened by his honey-making career, ventures outside his hive where he forms an unusual bond with a New York City florist (voice of Renee Zellweger) and is startled to discover honey at the local grocery store. He then decides to sue the human race for stealing honey. If only he’d traveled to a breezy, honey-less beach, where bee lawsuits rarely happen.

Trading Lions for Lambs (opens Nov. 9^th); the lives of an ambitious congressman (Tom Cruise), an inquisitive journalist (Meryl Streep), an idealistic professor (Robert Redford) and two injured Army Rangers intertwine. A group desperately in need of a pre-Holiday Spectacular.

To avoid jail time, Santa’s (Paul Giamatti) older, way less jolly brother Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn, opens Nov. 9^th) moves to the North Pole, where he quickly makes a bad addition to the family toy-making business. Fred would make a better addition to the local Fall Roller Hockey League.

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (opens Nov. 16^th) boasts toys inside a store that magically springs to life. When 243-year old Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) decides to retire, he bequeaths the business to his loyal cashier (Natalie Portman). Complications arise when his edgy accountant (Jason Bateman) has trouble believing in the store’s charm. Almost as magical as snow drifting over the ocean.

A fight through time begins with legendary warrior Beowulf (Ray Winston, opens Nov. 16^th) battling the town-terrorizing Grendel (Crispin Glover) then his revenge-seeking mother (Angelina Jolie). Also stars Anthony Hopkins. Fortunately, you don’t even have to leave the island to see it. This battle can be conquered locally at the Sea Theater on Pacific Avenue!

Looking for Love in the Time of Cholera (opens Nov. 16^th), broken-hearted Florentino (Javier Bardem) waits over fifty years for his true love (Giovanna Mezzogiono), stuck in a marriage to the doctor (Benjamin Bratt) whose medicine halts the waves of cholera sweeping the Columbian city. From Nobel-prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel (and next summer’s classic beach read).

Enchanted (opens Nov. 21^st) when reality and animation collide, a princess (Amy Adams) is banished from the animated past into present-day New York by a wicked queen (Susan Sarandon). There she learns about life and love (and the value of beachfront property?) from a jaded divorce lawyer (Patrick Dempsey).

Taking a real-life sketch from Thomas Kinkade’s The Christmas Cottage (opens Nov. 30^th), (which would make a nice backdrop at the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony), a community and an aging artist (Peter O’Toole) help the Kinkade family save their home, inspiring the aforementioned Thomas (Jared Padelecki) to become America’s most admired painter at Christmastime.

A young widow (Hilary Swank) forms a new life (with an ocean view) when messages sent by her late husband (Gerard Butler), always ending with the words, P.S. I Love You (opens Dec. 21^st) start arriving on her 30^th birthday.

It becomes Charlie Wilson’s War (opens Dec. 25^th) when Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), socialite and sometimes-girlfriend Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) and a renegade CIA agent (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) band together, leading history’s most successful covert operation contributing to the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Based on a true story.

May the upcoming holiday season provide you with the best true stories!