Win Triple Movie Box Sets

15 December 2009

Done all your Christmas gift shopping? Bought the perishables? Or would you rather ignore Christmas shopping and lock yourself in your bedroom with a jar of Nutella and some fantastic films? We hear you! One of you lucky Female First ladies could win a fantastic selction of popular films in our 'triple' film box set competition.

And take a second look at what we are offering in our first box set: 'Bridget Jones's Diary' and 'Bridget Jones: the Edge of Reason'. Who can't identify with these films, big pants and all! Loosely based on Pride and Prejudice, Helen Fielding's novels are vividly and amusingly brought to life here with aplomb- with not one but two hotties in the shape of Hugh Grant and Colin Firth!

And joining these two classics is the feel good film 'The Holiday' starring Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black. The film is love story with all the Christmas trimmings. In the capable hands of writer-director Nancy Meyers (making her first romantic comedy since Something's Gotta Give), it all begins when two successful yet unhappy women connect through a home-swapping website, and decide to trade houses for the Christmas holiday in a mutual effort to forget their man troubles. And through this, they find their true soul mates.

In our second box set we wander through real-life historical intrigue and espionage with 'Elizabeth' and its sequel, 'Elizabeth - The Golden Age'. 'Elizabeth' is set in England, it's 1554 and Princess Elizabeth remains in grave danger from a dying Queen Mary, a Catholic, who has weakened England financially and religiously.

On her death Elizabeth is made Queen and sets about wiping out all opposition to her leadership. With her rule being publicly challenged by Spanish king Phillip II, Elizabeth - The Golden Age sees Queen Elizabeth I up against great turmoil, both politically and in her personal life.

'The Other Boleyn Girl' on the other hand uses historical facts as window dressing for this work of fiction that is entertaining, if not wholly believable. Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman) is the innocent faced vixen ordered by her power-hungry uncle to bewitch King Henry VIII (Eric Bana).

Her shy sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson) has always been in Anne's shadow; Anne is prettier, more accomplished, and desired by many men. So when the King picks Mary (aka the "other Boleyn girl") -as his mistress, Anne turns on her sister and schemes to become not only the King's consort, but his new queen.

In our final box set, Keira Knightley stars in two faithful literary adaptations : 'Atonement', based on the Ian McEwan novel, and Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. Set on a sultry summer day in 1935, 'Atonement' begins as an upper-class British family prepares for a dinner party at their country estate. The participants include Briony Tallis, her older sister Cecilia, Robbie Turner, who carries a torch for Cecilia; and various visitors and family members.

A series of misperceptions, fuelled by the summer heat and Briony's childish hurts and fevered imagination, lead to a dramatic false accusation that lands Robbie in jail. We meet all three characters five years later in the thick of World War II, as foot soldier Robbie prepares for the Dunkirk evacuation and the two estranged sisters train as nurses in London.

Whereas the infamous 'Pride and Prejudice' follows the five Bennet sisters as they deal with suitors and love, as their mother desperately schemes to marry them off advantageously. This box set is complimented by the addition of 'Sense & Sensibility' starring Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson. Thompson is amazing as Elinor Dashwood (the one with "sense") she also wrote the witty, wise screenplay.

Austen's tale of 19th-century manners and morals provides a large cast with a feast of possibilities, notably Kate Winslet, as Thompson's deeply romantic sister, Marianne (the one with "sensibility"). Winslet attracts the wooing of shy Alan Rickman and dashing Greg Wise, while Thompson must endure an incredibly roundabout courtship with Hugh Grant, here in fine and funny form.

To win all of these films, just answer this question correctly:

Who was the naughty suitor, played by Hugh Grant, in Bridget Jones's Diary?

A] Daniel O' Donnell
B] Daniel Cleaver
C] Daniel Bedingfield

Closing Date: 2010-01-15