The Eye
Sydney Wells is an accomplished, independent, Los Angeles-based concert violinist. She is also blind, and has been so since a childhood tragedy. Sydney undergoes a double corneal transplant, a surgery she has waited her whole life to have, and her sight is restored. After the surgery, neural ophthalmologist Dr. Paul Faulkner helps Sydney with the difficult adjustment, and with the support of her older sister Helen, Sydney learns to see again. But Sydney's happiness is short-lived as unexplainable shadowy and frightening images start to haunt her. Are they a passing aftermath of her surgery, Sydney's mind adjusting to sight, a product of her imagination, or something horrifyingly real? As Sydney's family and friends begin to doubt her sanity, Sydney is soon convinced that her anonymous eye donor has somehow opened the door to a terrifying world only she can now see.

If you’re looking for a creepy horror flick with lots of special effects but little plot, this film’s for you.

Definitely, Maybe
Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) is a 30-something Manhattan dad in the midst of a divorce when his 10-year-old daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin), starts to question him about his life before marriage. Maya wants to know absolutely everything about how her parents met and fell in love. Will's story begins in 1992, as an aspiring politician who moves to New York to work on the presidential campaign. Will hopelessly attempts a gentler version of his story for his daughter and changes the names so Maya has to guess which woman her father finally married. As Maya puts together the pieces of her dad's romantic puzzle, she begins to understand that love is not simple. And as Will tells her his tale, Maya helps him to understand that it's never too late to go back...and maybe even find a happy ending.

This is not your run-of-the-mill chick-flick. It’s a sweet story that warms your heart but there’s also plenty of zesty dialogue and intriguing characters.

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
In this charming, timeless classic adapted from a Hungarian tale, James Stewart is Alfred Kralik, head clerk of a fine leather goods shop in 1930s Budapest. He is conducting a love affair by letter with a woman he has never met while taking an instant dislike to the sweetly neurotic Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) who starts to work there. No prizes for guessing that his loved one and his annoying new colleague are one and the same.

Meanwhile, shop owner Mr. Matuschek (Frank Morgan) suspects that his wife is carrying on with another man, possibly one of his own employees, and hires a private investigator. His suspicion falls on Alfred, whom he loves like a son, and things go downhill rapidly from there. In the little world that Berlin-born Director Ernst Lubitsch has created, the upstanding Alfred is the one who must set things right, discover the identity of his letter-writing lady, help the boss through his crisis, and bring everything together somehow for a merry Christmas in the shop around the corner.


Must Read |

My Favourite Wife-Tony Parsons
This is a sizzling Shanghai tale of romantic struggles and second wives from the bestselling author of Man and Boy.

Ambitious lawyer Bill Holden and his beautiful blond wife Becca move with their four-year-old daughter to the booming city of Shanghai. This is a place fortunes are made and foreign marriages fall apart in dramatic fashion. When they arrive in the city, Bill's law firm place the Holden family in Paradise Mansions, a luxury apartment block full of expat families and 'second wives' of wealthy businessmen. Women like the gorgeous JinJin Li. When Becca uses the excuse of her father’s failing health to return to London with their daughter, Bill and JinJin are thrown together. He is then left wondering if it was the right thing to let his family leave.

Parsons observations of the inequality, deprivation and extraordinary greed fuelling the Chinese economy are riveting, set against this sad love story it makes an entertaining and compelling read.

A Partisan’s Daughter- Louis De Bernière
Louis De Berniere’s new novel,
A Partisans Daughter, tells the story of a Yugoslav illegal immigrant

living in 1970’s London. Rosa spends her days drinking coffee, smoking and telling tales of dubious veracity to a 40-something travelling salesman called Chris. When they met he mistook her for a prostitute, and this forms the framework of the entire narrative, with repressed love and lust simmering as their friendship builds. The stories she tells grow increasingly outlandish and by her own admission she is afraid of Chris's interest waning. He remains fascinated, but his obsession is almost entirely sexual.

This novel is a retrospective lament for all that could have been, it’s also a story about the power of storytelling. Chris remains haunted by Roza, though he never learns whether any of her stories were true, or her name real.

As good as this novel is it does not have the power to captivate to the same degree as de Bernières's earlier triumphs.

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Adele-19
19 is the debut album from this year’s hottest star, British singer-songwriter Adele.
In a vocal style that has drawn comparisons to Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Alison Moyet and fellow BRIT school graduate Amy Winehouse, this is an album that easily justifies the comparisons. Smoky, lingering, rich vocals lament tales of lost love and heartbreak whilst retaining a positive charm.

Her melodies exude warmth and her singing is occasionally stunning and the dramatic debut single Hometown Glory has earned her rave reviews. The opening track of the album Daydreamer is a sleepy affair set against an acoustic guitar and the epic single Chasing Pavements is about Adele having her heart broken for the first time. The spiky, sassy Cold Shoulder made with producer Mark Ronson (which is unexpectedly reminiscent of Shara Nelson-era Massive Attack) and the cover of Bob Dylan’s Make You Feel My Love makes other acts Lily Allen and Kate Nash sound every bit as ordinary as they are.

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
The Goldfrapp duo are back with their new album, Seventh Tree. Their last album, Supernature was a soundtrack to neon-lit nightclubs, this one finds its home in the English countryside among the animals, the birds, under the sun and the stars. The opening track Clowns captures both the eerie stillness and magic of nature; it’s an idyllic retreat from the dance floor, meanwhile A&E is one of the best singles the band has ever released.

As is usual with Goldfrapp albums, Seventh Tree was recorded in the wilds of Wiltshire, the title coming to lead singer Alison Goldfrapp in a dream and this time the surroundings suit the sounds more than ever before. Four widely varying but consistently good albums into their careers, it seems there’s plenty of life in their creative partnership. In 2001 Goldfrapp were nominated for a Mercury Prize for their hauntingly beautiful debut album Felt Mountain, don’t bet against them going all the way this time for the sensual delights of Seventh Tree.