New this week: (9/21/11)

Bridesmaids
Annie's life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian's maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she'll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far you'll go for someone you love.

The Kennedys
This television miniseries chronicles the lives of the Kennedys during the 1960s, dramatizing the scandal, tragedy, public greatness and private frailty of America's first "royal" family during one of the most momentous decades in history.

Kill the Irishman
Over the summer of 1976, thirty-six bombs detonate in the heart of Cleveland while a turf war rages between Irish mobster Danny Greene and the Italian mafia. This film chronicles Greene's heroic rise from a tough Cleveland neighborhood to become an enforcer in the local mob. Turning the tables on loan shark Shondor Birns and allying himself with gangster John Nardi, Greene stops taking orders from the mafia and pursues his own power.

Meek’s Cutoff
eA wagon train of three families has hired mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a shortcut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants face the scourges of hunger, thirst, and their own lack of faith in each other's instincts for survival. When they encounter a Native American, they must choose between following their guide or an 'enemy.'

Music Never Stopped
From the author of Awakenings comes a heartwarming tale of a father and son, who find a connection through the music that embodied the generation gap of the 1960s. An unforgettable soundtrack features the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills and Nash, and many more.

New last week: 9/14/11

Bill Cunningham New York
Bill Cunningham has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirees for the New York Times Style section in his columns On the Street and Evening Hours for decades. Presented is a delicate, funny, and often poignant portrait of a dedicated artist whose only wealth is his own humanity and unassuming grace.

Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
After a much-publicized departure from hosting NBC's Tonight Show, O'Brien hit the road with a 32-city music and comedy show to exercise his performing chops and exorcise a few demons. An intimate portrait of an artist trained in improvisation, captured at the most improvisational time of his career. It offers a window into the private writers' room and rehearsal halls.

Hanna
A 16-year-old who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.

Henry’s Crime
Released from prison for a crime he didn't commit, an ex-con targets the same bank he was sent away for robbing.

Incendies (French)
After the death of their mother, a set of twins make a life-altering discovery. The pair travels to the Middle East on a mission to uncover the truth about the father they thought was dead who is still very much alive, and the brother they never knew existed. Along the way they will piece together the story of the woman who brought them into the world, discovering a tragic fate as well as the courage of an exceptional woman.

Thor
When the arrogant warrior Thor is banished to Earth from his homeworld of Asgard, he must fight to reclaim his lost powers. Pursued by an invasion force sent to destroy him, the fallen God of Thunder must rise to the battle and learn what it takes to become a true hero.

Winter in Wartime
Nazi-occupied Holland, 1945. In a snow-covered village, thirteen-year-old Michiel ... is drawn into the Resistance when he aids a wounded British paratrooper. Michiel's boyish sense of defiance and adventure soon turns to danger and desperation, as Michiel is forced to act without knowing whom to trust among the adults and townspeople around him. Wartime's harsh reality encroaches on childhood innocence as Michiel confronts good and evil, courage and duplicity, and his own burden of responsibility.

X-Men First Class
Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their superhuman powers for the first time, working together in a desperate attempt to stop the Hellfire Club and a global nuclear war.

New Last Week:

Jane Eyre (2011)
When orphaned governess Jane Eyre arrives at imposing Thornfield Hall, she's intrigued by her brooding, wealthy employer, Rochester. His dark moods and the strange occurrences in the house lead her to discover a terrible secret that he had hoped to hide from her forever.

Harvey (1950)
rvey A pleasant and very polite middle-aged drunk is friends with an imaginary white rabbit. His sister, embarrassed by his behavior, tries to have him committed.

Weight Watchers Get Moving Mix
Five weight loss workouts with success stories and bonus tutorial on activity points values. Fat burning basics -- Cardio dance -- Toning -- Pilates/yoga conditioning -- Abs in 10 -- Activity POINTS values tutorial.

What I’ve been watching:

George Gently
George Gently is a Commander with the Scotland Yard and is about to retire when his wife is killed. In Northumberland for some time off following her death he becomes involved with a local murder investigation. Pairing up with a young, ambitious Sergeant they become an interesting pair of police, with Gently as the teacher and the Sergeant as the sometimes unwilling student. The stories take place in the 1960’s and strongly reflect the era as a time of much social change making for a particularly fascinating British police procedural.

My Dog Tulip
This animated film based on the memoir of J.R. Ackerley was a wonderfully honest yet unsentimental look at a man and his best friend, Tulip the unruly Alsatian. The animation was terrific (I particularly liked when Tulip was in heat she appeared as a girl dog in a dress), the colors beautiful, and the story simply great. Ackerley seemed to understand and to respect dog activities and behavior and it was clear that Tulip was indeed Ackerley’s best friend and the source of the best years of his life.

Queen to Play
I wondered if it was possible to make a movie about chess that would be enjoyable to a non-chess player. The answer is—yes! Helene is a cleaning lady for a hotel and for a local retired American doctor. She becomes interested in learning to play chess and it soon takes over her life. The doctor becomes her chess teacher and soon she is good enough to compete. What is really interesting about this film is that Helene and her husband, who paints boats, are a lower class family while the game of chess is not traditionally a lower class game. Her husband and friends don’t understand her but her daughter, who is a budding feminist, supports her all the way: that it is important for a woman to have something in her life besides being a good wife and mother to make her feel a little bit special. Filmed in Corsica, the scenery was also an armchair travelers’ delight!

New this week: (8/31/11)

The Beaver
Walter, once a successful and happy family man, has hit rock bottom. But, in his darkest hour, he finds a rather unusual savior: a beaver hand-puppet that takes over Walter's life in an attempt to change things for the better.

Everything Must Go
Nick is a career salesman who loses his wife and his job on the worst day of his life. Faced with his life imploding, Nick puts it all on the line, or, rather, on the lawn, as he moves himself and all his possessions to his front yard.

Priest
A priest disobeys church law to track down the vampires who kidnapped his niece.

Soul Surfer
Teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, loses her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcomes all odds to become a champion again through her sheer determination and unwavering faith.

Win Win
Mike Flaherty is a lovable yet long-suffering lawyer and high school wrestling coach. When he comes across a teenage runaway who also happens to be a champion wrestler, Mike's luck turns around in spectacular fashion. But his win-win situation soon becomes more complicated than he ever imagined when the boy's family affairs come into play.

New to the library:

Blitz
A tough cop is dispatched to take down a serial killer who has been targeting police officers. A fast-paced thriller set in contemporary London reflects the challenges faced by a group of police officers working in a modern, multicultural society.

Conspirator
Depicts events in Washington after Abraham Lincoln's assassination as seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, the Vice-President, and the Secretary of State.

Queen to Play
Lovely and quietly intelligent, French chambermaid Hélène ... comes upon a couple ... engaged in an intensely sensual chess match and discovers she has a knack for the game. This obsession, much to the chagrin of her husband and teenage daughter, leads her to seek the clandestine tutelage of a reclusive American doctor ... a liaison that radically transforms both of their lackluster lives.

Something Borrowed
Rachel is a generous and loyal pal to her engaged best friend Darcy. But after celebrating her 30th birthday, perpetual good girl Rachel unexpectedly ends up in the arms of Dex, the guy she's had a crush on since law school, and who happens to be Darcy's fiancé. In the frantic weeks leading up to Darcy's wedding, Rachel finds herself caught between her longtime friendship with Darcy and the prospect of losing the love of her life.