“Many dreams, all useless,” says Leopold to the mysterious intruder in his quarters turning the pages in a sketchbook that is a collection of present dreams to one, of historical importance to the other.

Kate and Leopold is a fun romantic comedy, ten years old. Another twist to the ‘out of their element’ stories, this one is on a temporal level. Is it better to be in the current century with its fast pace, intense technology and ‘modern conveniences’ or is it better to be in an early time where things were slower and less complicated yet striving for progress still existed?

Dreams help in sorting out the madness of the day or find solutions to challenges faced tomorrow. They help sort out events in our past or set goals for the future.

True, George Bailey’s dream is more an experience of alternative realities, bringing to light the fact that the smallest things we do can have large impacts on others. Or they can be a collection of nightmares needing to be untangled to sort the chains of the past before venturing into an unknown future – think Logan’s troubles in X-Men United.

Then again, there is the curious question of what is reality, what is fantasy and when is it time to move away from one world to the next? A curious double-feature to try (or triple, if one includes Topper) would be Anthony Minghella’s Truly, Madly, Deeply, followed by Burr Steer’s Charlie St. Cloud. While similar in theme to Kate and Leopold in terms of ‘trapped in other worlds’ – these two films look at the steps of grief and the challenge of holding on versus moving on. Are they dreams that are useless or the stepping-stones needed to find our own rhythm and pace in life, in knowing which way to go?