Friday, February 26, 2010

Review: My One and Only

My One and Only

I watched this film as I was flying home and enjoyed it tremendously. Based on the childhood memories of George Hamilton, it's the story of a charming southern belle who decides to leave her philandering husband, taking her two teenage sons along on a drive across country to find a new life. Convinced that her beauty and charm will land her a new husband, Ann Devereaux (Renée Zellweger) is optimistic and determined while her sons are more realistic and resigned. This is an engaging story of disappointment and hope with a happy ending.
I really have to seek out these planes with the individual screens more often!

From guest reviewer Judie Harren

Thursday, February 25, 2010

What I've been watching:

Amreeka
This story of a Palestinian mother and son who move to small-town Illinois chronicles their difficulties in finding work, fitting in, and making a new life for themselves in America at the time of the Iraqi invasion. It is touching, engaging and uplifting.

Lorna’s Silence
This is a very quiet Belgian/French film where little is explained—you must watch as the story unfolds. Lorna is a Rumanian woman who has married a Belgian to enable her to become a citizen so that she can divorce him and marry a Russian mobster, thereby allowing him to become a citizen. It’s all very shady and demands a total lack of feeling for all involved. Unfortunately for Lorna, she cares too much. It takes patience to watch this film but it is definitely intriguing.

In the Loop
When a British minister says in an interview that war in the future is “unforeseeable” he sets off a crisis of international proportion. Peter Capaldi carries the film with his foul-mouthed but very funny performance. With James Gandolfini as a peace-loving general. Funny…but a little hard to follow.

A Serious Man
This is a quiet little movie by the Coen brothers about being Jewish in the upper Midwest during the 60’s. The hero of the story is the dad for whom everything that could go wrong, does. I liked it.

The Cartoonist
This is a documentary film about Jeff Smith of Bone fame who believes in the ability of comics to tell an epic story. It took him 15 years, but he finally did just this. An inspiring story about a likable guy.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

New to the Library:

Aliens in the Attic
It's summer vacation, but the Pearson family kids are stuck at a boring lake house with their nerdy parents. That is until feisty, little, green aliens crash-land on the roof, with plans to conquer the house and Earth! Using only their wits, courage and video game-playing skills, the youngsters must band together to defeat the aliens and save the world, but the toughest part might be keeping the whole thing a secret from their parents!

The Damned United
When Brian Clough takes over as coach of the championship soccer team Leeds United, he finds himself struggling with players and owners to be able to do things his own way.

The Informant!
The U.S. government decides to go after an agri-business giant with a price-fixing accusation based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president turned informant Mark Whitacre. The FBI needs evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire and carry a hidden tape recorder in his briefcase, imagining himself as a kind of de facto secret agent.

Jennifer’s Body
Needy is a reserved bookworm. Her best friend is Jennifer, a conceited cheerleader. The two share little in common. They share even less in common when Jennifer mysteriously gains an appetite for human blood after a disastrous fire at a local bar. Soon, Needy's male classmates are steadily killed off in gruesome attacks and she must uncover the truth behind her friend's transformation and find a way to stop the bloodthirsty rampage before it reaches her own boyfriend.

Founding Brothers
An analysis of the intertwined careers of the founders of the American republic documents the lives of John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.

Founding Fathers
They were the most legendary and respected politicians, statesmen and warriors of history's first republic since the days of ancient Rome. They were also traitors and smugglers, rabble rousers and hot-heads, unfaithful husbands and prodigious drinkers. Our "Founding Fathers" were, in fact, human beings. Gain a fascinating glimpse behind the images on the marble busts and faces on our dollar bills and pocket change

Friday, February 19, 2010

Academy Awards

On Sunday night, March 7, many of us will be in front of our TVs watching the Academy Awards. I know I try every year to see as many of the nominated films as I can but it’s hard, especially since many of the films aren’t released nationwide until the last few months before the awards. It’s always a challenge.
There are a few nominated films that came out early in the year and are now out on DVD. Those titles are:
District 9
Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up

You may have to put your name on the request list but we do have them here for checkout at the library.
If you want to go back and see some Oscar winners from previous years, we have quite a few of those titles.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Gone with the Wind
Ben-Hur
The Apartment
West Side Story
In the Heat of the Night
Sound of Music
The Godfather
Kramer vs. Kramer
Ordinary People
Gandhi
Terms of Endearment
Platoon
Unforgiven
Gladiator
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Million Dollar Baby
Crash
No Country for Old Men
Slumdog Millionaire

So make yourself a bowl of popcorn, stick the DVD in your player and watch a great movie!

New to the library:

Law Abiding Citizen
Clyde Shelton is a brilliant planner and inventor. One night two robbers invade his Philadelphia home and brutally kill his wife and daughter, almost killing him. When the killers are caught, Assistant DA Nick Rice is assigned the case. Nick makes a deal with one of the killers to testify against his partner for a 10 year plea bargain prison sentence. Clyde doesn't want Nick to make the deal, but Nick says the deal is done. The other killer gets the death penalty. After 10 years, the other killer is released from prison, and he soon ends up dead. Clyde is arrested and vaguely admits to Nick that he did it. Clyde is put in jail, and he warns Nick that he must fix the broken justice system that failed him and his family or else anyone connected to his case will soon die. Even from jail, Clyde's threats become a reality, and Nick must stop Clyde before his family is next.

My One and Only
Ann Devereaux has just left her philandering husband Dan, a society bandleader, and taken to the road with her teenage sons, George and Robbie, in search of a suitable new mate. But it's 1953, years past Ann's courting days. Now it seems that the losers and playboys outnumber the eligible and willing bachelors.

Of Time and the City
Terence Davies lifts viewers up into the world of fantasy and collective emotion as he presents popular and classical music, voices, radio clips, and a powerful poignant voiceover of his birthplace Liverpool. Includes themes such as Catholicism, homosexuality, violence, death, loss, the glory of cinema, outsiderness, and childhood.

Paranormal Activity
Katie and Micah are a young middle class couple who are engaged to be married. After moving into a suburban 'starter' house in San Diego, California, they begin hearing noises while trying to sleep. Not knowing if the presence is demonic or not, they attempt communicating through a Ouija board, angering the spirit further. Now they may never sleep again, or they may never wake up!

Brazilian Carnival Dance Workout
A blend of non-stop fitness movement and dance instruction.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

New to the library:

Bright Star
Nineteenth century poet John Keats and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, started out as unlikely lovers who were totally at odds with each other. However, when Brawne offers to help Keats nurse his seriously ill brother, the two soon became involved in an unstoppable romance that only his untimely death at age 25 could bring to a shattering end.

A Serious Man
This is a film about one ordinary man's quest to become a serious man. Physics professor Larry Gopnik can't believe his life: his wife is leaving him for his best friend; his unemployed brother won't move off the couch; someone is threatening his career; his kids are a mystery; and his neighbor is tormenting him by sunbathing nude. Struggling to make sense of it all, Larry consults three different rabbis and their answers lead him on a twisted journey of faith, family, delinquent behavior, and mortality.

Surrogates
People are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates - sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves. It's an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don't exist. When the first murder in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Greer discovers a vast conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery.

The Time Traveler’s Wife
Clare has been in love with Henry her entire life. She believes they are destined to be together, even though she never knows when they will be separated: Henry is a time traveler, cursed with a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life on a shifting timeline, skipping back and forth through his lifespan with no control. Despite the fact that Henry's travels force them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries to build a life with her one true love.

Woman in Berlin
Women become the victims of the Red Army invasion in Berlin in 1945. One of them, Anonyma, an educated woman, decides to look for an officer who can protect her. A complex symbiotic relationship develops between her and Russian Officer Andrej that will force them to remain enemies until the bitter end.

You, the Living
Hypnotic and darkly humorous, Roy Andersson's You, the Living is a uniquely Scandinavian take on the absurdities of life. Expertly shot and whimsically written it traces a series of bizarre, deadpan and comic vignettes which wryly address the meaning (or lack thereof) of life. Visually striking, strangely hilarious, utterly surreal and fantastical in its execution, You, the Living is sure to be an instant cult classic.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

New this week:

Big Fan
A diehard New York Giants fan meets his favorite team member with disastrous results that impact his entire life and those around him.

Boys are Back
After the unexpected death of his wife, a sportswriter finds himself consumed with grief and completely unprepared to raise two boys. Determined to bring joy back into their lives, he takes a 'just say yes' approach to parenting. And as freedom reigns, chaos ensues.

Little Ashes
Young Salvador Dalí enters university and strikes up intense relationships with poet Federico García Lorca and filmmaker Luis Buñuel.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It
This film goes behind the scenes of rehearsals from April to June 2009 for Michael Jackson's sold-out concerts at London's 02 Arena.

New York, I Love You
In the city that never sleeps, love is always on the mind. Those passions come together as they create a kaleidoscope of the spontaneous, surprising, electrifying human connections that pump the city's heartbeat. Sexy, funny, haunting and revealing encounters unfold beneath the Manhattan skyline. From Tribeca to Central Park to Brooklyn, the story weaves a tale of love as diverse as the very fabric of New York itself. A collection of 10 different love stories.

Zombieland
In a world that has become overrun with zombies, two men must figure out how to survive. Wimpy Columbus is afraid of his own shadow, while Tallahassee is the biggest, baddest, gun-toting zombie-slayer who ever lived. When they meet two sisters, Wichita and Little Rock, the four strike out for an amusement park that is said to be zombie-free. This mismatched group will have to rely on each other to survive, which could be worse than surrendering to the zombies.

Bollywood Booty
Join fitness star and yogini Hemalayaa for vibrant, liberating Indian dance moves set to infectious Bollywood beats. These four quick dance workouts will help you get fit, firm, and flirty in no time. But more than that, these moves are a perfect way to release inhibitions, embrace your body, and fall in love with your back side. A unique approach to slimming and shaping the lower body. Viewers can choose from four short dance workouts to lift and firm the backside while burning calories and having a blast.

Bollywood Burn
Instructor Hemalayaa demonstrates aerobic dance moves from Bollywood films.

Bollywood Dance Workout
An exercise routine consisting of cardio, sculpting, and stretching elements, incorporating dance moves from the Bollywood film tradition and set to bhangra music.

Samba Reggae Workout
Presents a longer medium-intensity cardio workout and a shorter high-intensity cardio workout. Incorporates samba steps and reggae music.