Leopard will not load

So I downloaded random updates through Software Update for my MacBook last night and chose to restart the system later after the download was complete. Later last night I shut it down and closed the lid and a few minutes later noticed that the "sleep" light was on. Then I thought "oops--I forgot to install the updates" so I opened the lid back up, but the screen never came on. I pressed a few random keys to try and get the screen to come on, but all I got was the "donk" sound you get when you try and type but can't. So I just pressed down the power button to shut it down, I was tired and figured I would wait and deal with it tomorrow (now today). I tried to turn my MacBook on this morning and the screen came on, it made the gong sound, the logo appeared and the loading symbol started spinning. It's been doing that for about 15 minutes now and Leopard still isn't loading. Any help?

Well, nothing I tried fixed the problem. Went through all the "permisions" crap with no luck. So I just reformatted it and reinstalled Leopard. Luckily, however, I was able to access my MacBook via AirPort on my iMac and get all my files off of it. 🙂