Flick Picks 5/27/14: The Bridge season 1, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries season 2

New on DVD at the Library This Week

ENTERTAINMENT: Colin Firth recruits Cameron Diaz to help steal a valuable statue from Alan Rickman in this comedic remake of the 1966 crime flick Gambit. You may or may not be surprised to hear that it does not all proceed smoothly. The film is also a rarity in that it was scripted but not directed by the Coen Brothers. A coming-of-age film is viewed through a birder's binoculars in A Birder's Guide to Everything, in which a group of teenage friends hunt for a rare bird on the eve of one of their father's remarriage. Ben Kingsley shows up as their birder mentor. Former SNL'er Will Forte made a big impression in Nebraska and he's back in another semi-serious role in Run and Jump. Forte plays a neurologist who becomes involved with a family while studying the father's frustrating recovery from frontal lobe damage.

SERIES: The eagerly anticipated Danish series The Bridge finally arrives, following Danish and Swedish police who must work together to track a killer who has left a single corpse composed of two separate body halves. Another popular Scandinavian thriller arrives this week in the third season of Wallander (not the English language Kenneth Branagh version), which is composed of six episodes featuring Henning Mankell's veteran detective.

We also have imports from Australia in season 2 of the noirish Guy Pearce series Jack Irish and season 2 of the charming Jazz Age Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. The USA (both country and network) is also represented with season 4 of spy thriller Covert Affairs and season 3 of snappy lawyer show Suits.

SUBTITLED: An affluent Budapest architect will go to all lengths to keep her no good son out of prison in the naturalistic thriller Child's Pose.

You can find all of our new and upcoming DVD releases in Bibliocommons.

Talking Pictures
Mads Mikkelson gives a powerful performance as a teacher who is wrongfully accused in the Danish drama The Hunt. We will be screening this film, followed by a discussion, as part of our Monday, June 2nd Talking Pictures program. Talking Pictures is hosted by Susan Benjamin and screenings take place in the Hammond Room of the library. All of our film screenings are free and open to everyone.

Experience the Criterion Collection

If you're looking for quality films then the Criterion Collection is a good place to start! The Criterion Collection releases important historical and recent films with restored film transfers, multiple commentaries and myriad bonus materials and range from Oscar winners like the recent Italian import The Great Beauty to classic silent films such as The Passion of Joan of Arc. Most of our Criterion holdings can be found in the Subtitled and Classics sections. Here are some of the must-see Criterion releases:

• Pina is director Wim Wenders' thrilling look at dance choreographer Pina Bausch, presenting some of her most notable works.
• If you enjoy Lena Dunham's tv show Girls then you should definitely check out her early award-winning film Tiny Furniture.
• Monsieur Verdoux is one of Charlie Chaplin's later works, and while it had been hard to see for many years, many people now consider it to be a dark masterpiece.
• Director Jean-Pierre Melville's classic drama about the French Resistance, Army of Shadows, is a must-see.
• Ingmar Bergman is well represented on Criterion, which released a 3-disc version of his Scenes From a Marriage that contains the complete version made for Swedish television.
• The Italian The Leopard looks at a changing Italy and features a marvelous lead performance by Burt Lancaster.
• There are many excellent early Hollywood comedies such as the Preston Sturges classic Unfaithfully Yours , starring Rex Harrison.