Saturday, April 20, 2013

The Magic Touch Giveaway Hop



Call me silly, but my favorite "magic" movie is Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.


It stars Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Jason Bateman.

Molly Mahoney, or simply Mahoney, is an employee at "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium", a magical toy shop run by the eccentric 243 year old Mr. Edward Magorium. Eric is a boy who comes to the toy store and regularly interacts with the adults and volunteers at the store.

The toy shop is magical and the toys have a life of their own. An over-sized book, known as the Big Book, can magically materialize any toy on command, and a doorknob, when rotated, can change the interior of a magic room. The shop is also prone to temper tantrums.

Mahoney tells Mr. Magorium that she feels "stuck", he gives her the Congreve Cube, a big block of wood, and tells her it will guide her to a new life and adventure if she has faith in it. She has no clue what to do with the cube. She wants to become a composer and concert pianist, because she was a musical child prodigy. She even went to school for music, but hasn't been able to write any music since graduation.

Mr. Magorium suddenly announces that he intends to "leave" and is giving the shop to Mahoney so that she can become "unstuck". Because Mahoney is upset and doubts about her ability to run the store, the store throws a tantrum, causing all the toys and its inner workings to go haywire, ambushing customers of all ages. In preparation for his departure, Mr. Magorium hires an accountant, Henry, to organize the shop's paperwork and determine the value of the store. Henry doesn't believe that the toy store is magical at all.

Mahoney finally realizes that Mr. Magorium isn't leaving to retire but because he is going to die. Desperate to stop this, Mahoney rushes him to a mental hospital where after a little mischief, he is discharged the next day because there is "nothing physically wrong with him."

After leaving the hospital, Mr. Magorium asks Mahoney how she is doing with the Congreve Cube. She says there are a million things she could do with a block of wood but she doesn't have a clue how to unlock the cube's secret. Mr. Magorium then tells her that there are a million things one could do with a block of wood, but what if someone just believed in the cube? She doesn't understand but tries to stop Mr. Magorium from leaving by showing him the joys of life. But he has lived a full life and it's time for his story to end. He uses the stage notes of Shakespeare's King Lear to make the point about the importance of having a full life, and the importance of death, noting that the last lines of one of the most important pieces of literature are simply "He dies." Mahoney, Eric and all the children have a funeral for him.

Believing herself to be unworthy of owning a magical store, Mahoney puts it up for sale with Henry's firm overseeing the sale. The store grieves and loses its magic. All the toys, walls, and even the furniture lose their color, becoming varying shades of gray and black. Eric tries to reason with Mahoney over her decision to sell the store when he sees her at a restaurant playing background music.

Henry meets Mahoney at the store to draw up the sale papers, where he sees the Congreve Cube and asks her about it. When Mahoney confesses her complete faith in the store and the Congreve Cube's magical ability, the block suddenly springs to life, and flies around the store. Henry faints with shock. When he awakes and questions Mahoney, she tells him that it must have been a dream as she went home the previous night, leaving him to finalize the paperwork for the sale.

Henry is not deterred -- he knows Molly made the cube fly and though she does not believe she can do magical and wonderful things, he believes in her. Henry realizes Mahoney is the Congreve Cube. The block of wood that can be anything she desires if she can somehow believe in herself. Henry's whole hearted belief in Mahoney ignites a tiny spark in her and for a second she believes. The store responds to her spark of belief and continues to respond as her confidence builds until the entire store magnificently transforms. The magic and color return as Mahoney's symphony comes into existence.

Hoffman, Portman, and Bateman are all three amazing - I can't imagine it being cast any other way. The movie it as much about Bateman's character finding magic as Portman's character finding her believe in herself. It's a truly touching story.

For my prize today, I'm offering up a DVD copy of the movie, as well as a sock monkey - one of the featured toys in the movie. 

To enter to win, just leave a comment below with your favorite magical movie. GOOD LUCK!!

****PLEASE BE AWARE:  I write GLBTQ romance. GLBTQ stands for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer. This means my works feature same sex relationships AND same sex sexual acts. If being associated with that kind of a blog isn't your cup of tea, kindly pass on to the next blog in the hop and leave the spot open for someone else. Thank you.****





This Hop is hosted by author Kallysten and book blog Riverina Romantics. In
addition to individual prizes provided on each blog, we are offering
assorted swag to the first 100 participants who simply tell us they want
some! See all details and sign up here.































18 comments:

  1. I love magic and I love GLBTQ.
    debby236 at gmail dot com

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  2. Count me in, can't resist a good sock monkey. BTW enjoying your letter a day postings.

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  3. My favorite magical movies are probably The Lord of the Rings movies (The Return of the King) or the Harry Potter movies.
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

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  4. My favorite magical movie is Stardust. Robert De Niro's character was hilarious.
    kumquat8 at hotmail dot com

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  5. You cannot think magical movies and not mention the Harry Potter series or Lord of the Rings, I also love Practical Magic this is always top of my list. Thank you for your generous participation in this fun hop. I must admit I have not watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, although I do recall seeing the trailers and thinking it looked gloriously beautiful.
    dz59001 at gmail dot com

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  6. One of my favorites is Stardust.

    susanmplatt AT Hotmail DOT com

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  7. I love magic and I love GLBTQ.

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  8. I love magic in my stories. Thanks for being in the blog hop!

    roya-clan@sbcglobal.net

    Keep writing so I can keep reading.

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  9. Hocus Pocus! Love that movie!
    This is an awesome blog hop! I'm a big fan of supernatural books especially romantic ones. I love magic and I love that you never know what people's abilities are going to be. It leaves so much more open to guessing because the world that the author builds all of a sudden does NOT follow our world's rules. I love when people can listen to thoughts or move things with their minds. I also think being able to control other's emotions would be a handy gift. Probably my favorite books involving people with magic are 'Beautiful Creatures' and 'Poison Study.' It must be hard to be responsible for such power. I love when Lena from 'Beautiful Creatures' is trying to harness all she has. It's something akin to the awkwardness we all go through in middle school in which we are trying to figure out who we are.
    Thanks for the giveaway and I'm gonna keep on hopping!
    mestith at gmail dot com

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  10. my very first magical movies i ever watched was the wizard of oz and cinderella with lesley ann warren. now that i'm grown up, it would have to be the harry potter series. the sorcerer's apprentice with nicholas cage is kinda fun too. thank you for sharing in the hop. :)

    jukyjoauka at aol dot com

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  11. I loved that movie! My favorite has to be Beauty and the Beast. I love the music and Belle is my favorite, most relatable princess. Count me in for this giveaway- I collect sock monkeys!

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    jillynann(at)gmail(dot)com

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  12. What an unusual prize. I have not seen that movie.

    Hmm, I'd probably say the Lord of the Rings movies (to me they're just one long movie).

    acm05atjuno.com

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  13. you have great site and then i lov eto blog on thinds i get and the wininngs

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  14. favorite magical movie would have to be practical magic :) qtksjkmommy at gmail dot com

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  15. I love your books first of all so thank you for that and honestly I have to say I love lovee loveee Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium that movie was my go to when I needed it. My other fav magical movie that I watch all the time us hocus pocus t for the chance

    mortalsinn @ yahoo Dot com

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  16. Harry Potter movies were great and I loved Hocus Pocus it was such a funny movie at times.
    sstrode at scrtc dot com

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  17. Lord of the Rings
    vhubler77 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete