Flick Picks 2/25/14: Thor: The Dark World, Gravity, Nebraska

New on DVD at the Library This Week

ENTERTAINMENT: The man with the hammer (Chris Hemsworth) revisits Earth and - *spoiler alert* - saves humanity in Thor: The Dark World, the latest in the Marvel Comics string of superhero hits. The imprisoned Loki also has a hand in this film's hijinks while the one woman who can bring Thor down to Earth is again portrayed by Natalie Portman. We've got Thor: The Dark World on DVD and Blu-ray. Turn out the lights and find the biggest tv screen you can for Gravity, the Alfonso Cuaron-directed story of an astronaut trying to make her way back to Earth when her space shuttle is destroyed. This beautiful film received ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress (Sandra Bullock) and Best Director (Alfonso Cuaron) and we've got it on DVD and Blu-ray. Glencoe native Bruce Dern plays crotchety, as he takes his son (Will Forte) on a road trip to claim a million dollar prize in Alexander Payne's family drama Nebraska. Finally, the visually stimulating futuristic Mr. Nobody introduces us to the title character (played by Jared Leto) who seems to be have traveled down multiple life paths at once.

SERIES: The newest foreign language series to hit our shelves is the tough Braquo, about violent cops in Paris whose lives are turned upside down when a colleague commits suicide after being falsely accused. Season 3 of the French cop series Spiral also arrives this week, as does season 3 of the British Above Suspicion and season 4 of the family sitcom The Middle.

SUBTITLED: Two young women in France become romantically involved in the controversial, erotic and well-reviewed Blue is the Warmest Color. You Will Be My Son is a drama about a French wine estate owner who wants to leave his vineyard to the hardworking progeny of his estate manager rather than his own good-for-nothing son.

DOCUMENTARIES: A star-studded group of interviewees (and a soulful soundtrack) help celebrate the famous Muscle Shoals studio where music was recorded by the likes of Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones and Lynyrd Skynyrd. If your taste for snow sports was whetted during the Olympics then you'll want to catch Crash Reel, about professional snowboarder Kevin Pearce's return from a brain-injury.

You can find all of our current and upcoming DVDs in Bibliocommons.

Talking Pictures
Our next Talking Pictures film (hosted by Susan Benjamin) will be Bee Season and will be screened on March 3rd at 1:00 in the library's Hammond Room. Bee Season stars Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche in the story of a young girl in a troubled family who is heading for a spelling bee. Our Talking Pictures programs are open to everyone and are free.

Harold Ramis

Harold Ramis' death at 69 was such a blow to our community and to comedy film lovers everywhere. Ramis had been part of Second City and wrote for and appeared on SCTV before moving to feature films. He wrote or co-wrote the comedy classics Caddyshack, Analyze That, Groundhog Day, Stripes and Ghostbusters I and II, while appearing in the latter three films as well as directing Groundhog Day, Caddyshack and more. More recently he appeared in a small role in Knocked Up. Also worth catching is The Ice Harvest, a little seen noir film that shows that he could direct something other than comedy. Chances are good that you've loved one of his films and can quote from one of his screenplays. His passing is another huge loss for Hollywood.