For the past few weeks, the box set of choice for my daughter and I has been Gossip Girl, which has led me to explain on numerous occasions the relevance of storylines borrowed from Hollywood's Golden Age of cinema (those of you aware of Blair Waldorf's dream-scenes will understand!).

So in honour of upcoming Valentine's Day celebrations, I compiled a list of "must-watch" classic romance movies, one for every day of the week. From an ill-fated rendezvous at the top of the Empire State Building to a ??????, these are films which have inspired sentimental cinema for decades thereafter. We hope you may enjoy watching along with us!

Monday: Casablanca (1942)

Considered one of the greatest movies of all time, Casablanca presents the story of Rick Blane (Humphrey Bogart): a world-weary expatriate who runs a club in the titled city. Despite pressure from the authorities, his club has become a haven for refugees seeking help to escape to America. When Rick's former lover, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) shows up with her husband, he has a tough decision to make. "Play it once, Sam. For old time's sake."

Tuesday: The Swan (1956)

Prince Albert (Alec Guinness), who is scouring Europe for a wife, arrives in a tiny town to visit a banished family of nobles. Their matriarch, Beatrix wants her daughter, Alexandra (Grace Kelly), to marry Albert so that her family will be welcomed back into the kingdom. In order to rouse Albert's attention, Alexandra flirts with her attractive tutor, Dr. Agi ; however, Alexandra's plan hits a snag when she develops genuine feelings for Dr. Agi.

The movie takes on a much deeper meaning when we realise that Grace Kelley was, while filming this role, being courted by a real-life prince of her own!

Wednesday: My Fair Lady (1964)

Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) is a pompous professor who makes a wager that he can transform any "lowly" woman to pass for a cultured member of high society. His subject is Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn): a flower girl with a cockney accent, who agrees to Henry's lessons in order to improve her job prospects. The pair develop an unlikely bond, but this becomes threatened when an aristocrat falls in love with Eliza.

Based on Pygmalion, this adorable musical is the ideal antidote to any hump-day blues!

Thursday: How to Marry a Millionairre (1953)

Schatze Page, Loco Dempsey and Pola Debevoise (Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe) are three women on a mission: They all want to marry a millionaire. To accomplish this task, they move into a fancy New York City apartment and begin courting the city's elite. They have no problem meeting rich men, but unfortunately most of them turn out to be creeps or cons. Eventually they must decide: Is a life of luxury more important to them than finding true love?

Friday: It Happened One Night (1934)

This critically acclaimed romantic comedy is often cited as the "original" rom-com from which all others are inspired.  Spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) impetuously marries the scheming King Westley, leading her tycoon father to spirit her away on his yacht. After jumping ship, Ellie falls in with cynical newspaper reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who offers to help her reunite with her new husband in exchange for an exclusive story. But during their travels, the reporter finds himself falling for the feisty young heiress.

Saturday: An Affair to Remember (1957)

When Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) and Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) first meet, they are both involved with other people, but after spending a few days together, they realise they have fallen in love. Since they both need to settle affairs before they can be together, they agree to meet again in six months time on top of the Empire State building. Unfortunately, fate intervenes resulting in a misunderstanding, bitterness and heartbreak. Will they reunite, or has destiny passed them by?

If you enjoyed Sleepless in Seattle, you'll truly appreciate the movie which influenced it so greatly.

Sunday: Breakfast at Tiffany's

I saved my favourite for last: what better time to spend on a lazy Sunday afternoon than watching Audrey Hepburn in what is arguably her best role?

Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepbyrn) is a quirky New York socialite who appreciates money for her cab fare and the powder room in exchange for her companionship. Then Paul Varjak (George Preppard), a "kept" writer in a creative rut, moves into the building and the two develop a friendship. After a day "on the town", Paul realises he is falling in love with Holly, but she is determined to marry the wealthy Jose. Will she reciprocate Paul's genuine feelings, or follow her self-destructive ambitions to marry a rich man?

Did your favourite Golden Age romance feature in this list? We'd love more recommendations to add to our watch list, so please comment with your suggestions below.

Image credit (top of post): Jessica Wilson, via Flickr.

Snuggling up on the sofa to watch a DVD together is a wonderful experience, but there's only so many times a parent can watch Disney Princess films with their daughter!

Luckily Princess shares my love of film, and has learned to trust my judgement when I suggest we watch movies she may not have chosen for herself. The ideal recipe seems to include romance, drama, and of course a happy ending - preferably with a female lead and a touch of morality thrown in for good measure.

Here are our top ten favourite films for parents to watch with their daughters, all of which feature storylines and characters for you both to enjoy.

Family outings to the cinema can be very expensive affairs! The cost of tickets alone can mount to around £30 for a family of four, possibly even more if you're watching a movie in 3d!

This post features 25 of my favourite fairytale films to watch when the children are in bed. Far from pleasant bedtime stories, these films present adult themes, grim situations and a healthy dose of horror more akin to the gruesome tales of the original Brothers Grimm.

From contemporary re-workings of "Red Riding Hood" and "Beauty and the Beast" through to suggestions of Pied Pipers and a futuristic Pinocchio, these films speak of a darker side to the fairytale genre we grew to love as children.

Having grown up reading Hans Christian Anderson while discovering the allure of Disney, I'm quite the fan of the fairytale genre. I particularly love watching modern fairy-tale films with my children and (thus far) have not experienced a poor reception of the movies I suggest we watch together.

Here are 25 of our favourite modern day fairy tales to share with your family in which I hope to suggest a few movies you may have yet to enjoy.

For the next two weeks, the independent cinema, Showroom in Sheffield will be host to Showcomotion - a film festival for young people.



As a film lover myself, I'm quite excited to know this is happening in my home town and am grateful that local kids will have the opportunity to see and learn about film. And with tickets at only £2.00 each, my kids are looking forward to a few cinema trips!

I love going to the cinema, but with the high prices for tickets a family trip to see the latest releases can become an expensive affair.

Luckily, for the past few weeks we have been able to see a Saturday matinee at Cineworld for just £1 a ticket! Even when our whole family attend, the total cost is less than a single full priced child ticket, making this a cheap and cheerful outing we can afford on a weekly basis.

Cineworld's Movies For Juniors show each Saturday at participating cinemas. Usually there are three films on offer (a new film is selected each week), all of which start at 10am. These films tend to be older releases, and are movies most suitable for children.

This week, for example, we can choose from Madagascar 2, Hotel for Dogs and Bee Movie. We've previously seen Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Bedtime Stories, both of which were films the kids really enjoyed on the big screen.

To find out more about what's showing in the Movies for Juniors selection, take a look at this page of the Cineworld website.

In order to buy your tickets for £1, you will need to book/buy tickets in person from your local Cineworld cinema. It is possible to book online or by telephone, but a 60p charge for each ticket will apply! Tickets can be sold out quite quickly, so if you're worried you may not get in for the film of your choice, drop in to your cinema earlier in the week and buy in advance.

I only wish popcorn was as cheap for these showings (as our local cinema disapproves of people taking their own snacks into the cinema). However, if you specifically ask for a "Juniors Munch Box", you can get a kids sized box filled with the popcorn of your choice, a Capri Sun juice drink and a small packet of sweets for just over £3 (this may be different depending on the prices at your local Cineworld).

Hope you enjoy taking the kids to the cinema for less!

You might also enjoy this updated post: Cheap family outings to the cinema

Image credit: Atomicjeep

Over the weekend I took my children to see Coraline (in 3d) at our local cinema. Now as anyone who's read Glamumous for some time would understand, I don't usually review films on this blog (books yes, but never movies). However, we were all so blown away by Coraline that I simply had to write about this here for any other mums who've been hesitant about seeing this amazing film which I believe is truly best experienced in 3d.

Based on the novel by the British author, Neil Gaiman, Coraline is the story of a young girl who stumbles upon a magical, parallel and seemingly perfect world where everything she wishes from life becomes a reality. Whereas her real parents barely have time to talk (let alone play) as she explores her new home in the Pink Palace, in the other world, her "other mother" spends time baking cookies and delicious meals to entice her, while her "other father" lets the piano play him (no kidding) and takes rides on a magical mantis in their living breathing garden.

However, all is not as it seems. When her other mother wants to keep Coraline in the other world, Coraline is set to battle with all her wits (and the aid of a wise talking cat) to save her soul and free the ghosts of children trapped in this realm.

I don't want to give the story away since this is a film you really must make the time to see, or rent on DVD as soon as it's released!

Despite being marketed as a kids movie, Coraline is rather sinister and I doubt it's suitable for young or sensitive children as some scenes offer the potential for nightmare material in little minds. Having said that, my four year old daughter positively adores this film. I was a little apprehensive (having seen some of the trailers for Coraline) and at times she was a little edgy, but the sheer magic of this wonderful film won her over.

To summarize, Coraline is "handmade" - the attention to detail is exquisite, and once you realize that the sweaters and those mittens from the clothes shop are actually knitted in miniature by a real person, you'll understand even more what makes this film so special.

I'd certainly recommend this, and believe this is definitely the best family film of the year (if not the past five years). If you loved The Nightmare Before Christmas or James and the Giant Peach, this will truly be a film you and your family will love. Just be sure not to take very young children, and if in doubt, visit the official website to get a glimpse of what Coraline has to offer.

For those who do stay to the end of the film (as I always do!), you may well wonder what "Jerk Wad" means to "those in the know"... I sincerely doubt Henry Selik intended the meaning offered by The Urban Dictionary for this phrase! Instead, this was a password which could be used in Coraline's room on the official website to enter a competition for a pair of Nike trainers. Sadly the competition is now closed, and as far as I can tell there is nowhere else on the site to enter this curious phrase, but if you were burning with curiosity at least you now know what it means.

Here's one of the best trailers I've found for Coraline, in fact, the one which made me book tickets so we could see this film the very same night. Enjoy, and if you do watch in cinema 3d, be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think too.