Flick Picks 6/24/14: Winter's Tale, Enemy, Masters of Sex

New on DVD at the Library This Week

ENTERTAINMENT: Romantic and fantastical, the film adaptation of Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale arrives this week. Winter's Tale follows thief Colin Farrell through a century of New York as he attempts to save a dying woman with whom he has fallen in love. A fairytale with a love story at its core, Winter's Tale also features Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly and Will Smith. The director of the hard-hitting Prisoners reunites with the film's star Jake Gyllenhaal for Enemy. In Enemy, history professor Gyllenhaal meets his doppelganger (also played by Gyllenhaal) and their lives begin to intersect in strange ways. The follow-up to the Spartan blockbuster 300 is here, and 300: Rise of an Empire uses a similar bloody visual style to tell the story of a general who tries to unite Greece against the invading Persian army.

Clive Owen is a newly released prisoner, Billy Crudup is the upstanding brother who takes him in and James Caan is their father in the drama Blood Ties. Crudup hopes that Owen has cleaned up his act but unfortunately that path is never easy. The wonderful actress Shirley Knight leaves her retirement home to travel 80 miles by foot to attend her daughter's wedding (and see the ocean) in the heartwarming road movie Redwood Highway. Neil LaBute is back with another dark look at the relationship between men and women in Some Velvet Morning. This small film features Stanley Tucci as a man who shows up at the doorway of his mistress (Alice Eve), claiming to have finally left his wife.

The best man decides to make a documentary of everything that happens in the preparation for his brother's wedding in the British romantic comedy The Wedding Video. You will probably not be surprised to hear that nothing goes as planned. Rob the Mob is a crime comedy that features Andy Garcia, Ray Romano and Michael Pitt in the true story of a couple who decide to get rich by stealing from mob social clubs.

Finally, we have two indie picks this week, starting with A Short History of Decay, about a struggling thirtysomething New York writer who moves to Florida to be with his parents and get his life together. Linda Lavin makes a welcome return playing his mother. What Richard Did is a powerful film that tells the story of a privileged Dublin teen who makes a decision that ends up changing his life, as well as his relationships with his friends and family.

SERIES: The explicit, provocative and funny new Showtime series Masters of Sex features Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as sex researchers Dr. William Masters and Dr. Virginia Johnson, as they attempt to bring light to what typically happens behind closed doors. We just recently acquired the Danish series The Bridge and now we've got the American remake (also called The Bridge) for you to compare it with. In the American version body parts are found on the border between America and Mexico and cops from both sides must work together to solve the mystery.

We know that you can't get your fill of Scandinavian thriller series so we've got a couple more this week. From Norway comes a series based on the work of Unni Lindell and featuring a homicide detective in Oslo who must balance his home life with his difficult job. A Swedish series based on the works of Arne Dahl focuses on an elite team of Stockholm detectives trying to solve violent crimes. Finally, we've got season 2 of the adventures of Irish P.I. Jack Taylor.

SUBTITLED: A woman born to a Norwegian soldier and German occupier in World War II (a "war child") living peacefully in Norway comes to terms with her past and the lies of the government when she is asked to testify on behalf of other "war children" in Two Lives. A new Russian take on the story of Faust is a complex visual treat.

DOCUMENTARIES: Afternoon of a Faun looks at ballet dancer Tanaquil Le Clercq, one of the most brilliant dancers of her day who was struck down by polio at the age of 27. Revisit the Anita Hill testimony with Anita: Speaking Truth to Power, featuring new interviews with Hill herself.

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

World Cup Fever

It seems like the Brazil World Cup has taken the nation by storm. But what are we to do when there's not soccer being played? We'll have to watch a soccer film!

• The classic soccer flick Bend it Like Beckham tells the story of an English Sikh girl who goes behind her parents' backs to pursue her soccer passion.
• Closer to home, the comedy Kicking and Screaming features Will Ferrell as a competitive father who decides to coach his kid's soccer team.
• The Israeli film Strangers takes a look at the relationship between an Israeli and a Palestinian in Berlin as the World Cup finals approach.
• Another Israeli film,Vasermil, follows a group of kids of different backgrounds who try to come together as a soccer team.
• A Colombian boy loses his soccer ball in a minefield in The Colors of the Mountain.
• In front of the background of a previous Brazil-hosted World Cup, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation is about a Jewish child in Brazil who is left alone when his parents must evacuate Brazil.

Flick Picks 6/17/14: The Lego Movie, Grand Budapest Hotel, House of Cards season 2

New on DVD at the library this week:

ENTERTAINMENT: EVERYTHING IS AWESOME when it comes to new DVDs at the library this week! The Lego Movie not only succeeds as a clever and entertaining animated film but also takes us in new directions for the last part of the movie. It's a rarity in that it keeps the kids happy while also triggering nostalgia and resonating emotionally with parents. The figures are voiced by Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Liam Neeson and we've got it in DVD and Blu-ray. Also this week, Wes Anderson's newest colorful project The Grand Budapest Hotel is a clever follow-up to his Oscar-nominated hit Moonrise Kingdom, with a cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and many more. The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a hotel concierge's relationship with a boy at a European hotel in the early part of the twentieth century. It's available in DVD and Blu-ray.

Every once in a while Nicolas Cage gets to sink his teeth into a quality role and remind us of what an excellent actor he can be. Director David Gordon Green's Joe is one of these instances. In Joe, Cage plays a Mississippi ex-con who ends up becoming the protector for a troubled 15-year-old boy. Adult World features Emma Roberts as a recent college graduate who wants to become a famous poet, and decides to spend her time hanging with "punk poet" John Cusack and working at an adult bookstore. Toby Stephens stars in the British sci-fi flick The Machine, which shows what happens when the government steals an inventor's artificial intelligence creation and attempts to turn her into a weapon.

French director Arnaud Desplechin's Jimmy P. features Benicio Del Toro as an illness-plagued World War II vet and Native American and familiar French face Mathieu Amalric as an anthropologist who tries to cure him. Finally, if you're already sick of hearing the song Everything is Awesome then instead of The Lego Movie you might want to show the kids Ernest and Celestine, a charming animated family film about the relationship between a bear and a mouse.

SERIES: The hottest series in the library right now is probably House of Cards and season 2 of Kevin Spacey's Washington D.C. adventures arrives this week! We've also got a bunch of new British imports this week starting with The Escape Artist, a miniseries featuring David Tennant as a lawyer who has a skill for freeing high profile clients from tricky legal situations. The lightweight Death in Paradise follows a British cop who is sent to the Caribbean to investigate the murder of a fellow officer. The gritty series DCI Banks is the follows up the premiere Aftermath, focusing on the inspector of the title and his assistant as they try to (surprise!) solve crimes. The professional and personal lives of two very different female constables in Manchester are the focus of Scott & Bailey. Finally, this week also brings us season 10 of the British unsolved crimes show New Tricks.

SUBTITLED: Based on a true story, a successful Korean lawyer takes on the case of a teenager falsely accused of a crime in The Attorney.

DOCUMENTARIES: Fans of the visually stunning Koyaanisqatsi and its sequels will be thrilled to know that director Godfrey Reggio is back with a look at humans' relationship with technology in the dreamlike Visitors.

All of our new and upcoming DVDs can be found in Bibliocommons.

Father's Day Films

Father's Day has passed but you can still celebrate it with these looks at onscreen dads. Some of them are models of fatherhood...and some, not so much.

• The relationship between widower Atticus Finch and his daughter Scout is the centerpiece of the classic To Kill a Mockingbird.
• Kevin Costner gets one last chance to play catch with his departed father in Field of Dreams.
• Will Smith is a salesman who struggles with homelessness while raising a son in The Pursuit of Happyness.
• In Pixar's animated Finding Nemo, a father desperately searches for his son who is stolen from the ocean and imprisoned in a fish tank.
• Would you be willing to wear a dress in order to spend time with your kids? Robin Williams is, in the classic comedy Mrs. Doubtfire.
• Spencer Tracy is the Father of the Bride of the title who nervously awaits his daughter's wedding, while trying to pay for it as well.
• OK, Homer Simpson might not be the ideal father but his relationship with his kids is the center of the long-running series The Simpsons. The Simpsons Movie follows Homer's attempt to save the town of Springfield from the Environmental Protection Agency, which seeks to destroy it.

Flick Picks 6/10/14: Non-Stop, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, True Detective

New on DVD at the Library This Week

ENTERTAINMENT: Someday perhaps the bad guys will learn to stop messing with Liam Neeson. Until then, we can be content knowing that movies like the action-packed Non-Stop are going to keep coming out and pushing us to the edge of our seats. In this film, the bad guys are going to start knocking off passengers unless Air Marshall Neeson can get them $150 million transferred. They obviously do not know who they're messing with.

If that doesn't provide enough action for you, you'll want to check out the latest in Tom Clancy's popular character's films, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. This film takes us to the dawn of Ryan's career as he becomes a CIA agent under handler Kevin Costner and uncovers a financial terror plot. Kenneth Branagh directed this baby and we've got it on Blu-ray and DVD.

Many of you are probably familiar with British actor Steve Coogan from his work in the film Philomena and man others. He finally brings his most famous character - pompous television broadcaster Alan Partridge - to the United States in the film bearing his character's name.

SERIES: The dark and violent but very compelling HBO series True Detective brought critical acclaim to its two leads, as Matthew McConaughey continues his career resurgences and Woody Harrelson returns to television. They play a couple of couple of troubled detectives who try to solve a serial killing that happened many years earlier. Another well-reviewed new series is Showtime's Ray Donovan, featuring Liev Schreiber as a "fixer" for wealthy clients, who faces his own personal life dilemmas. You may not have heard of Klondike, which is The Discovery Channel's first scripted miniseries, and which two adventurers who travel to the Yukon during the Gold Rush. This week also brings us season 4 of Rizzoli & Isles, season 2 of Major Crimes and season 3 of the AMC drama The Killing.

SUBTITLED: A Palestinian baker becomes a informant for the Israelis in the tense drama Omar. Also this week, famed director Costa-Gavras brings us the financial thriller Capital, about a young, newly appointed French bank CEO who must deal with various challenges, including a hostile takeover attempt by an American hedge fund (led by Gabriel Byrne).

DOCUMENTARIES: Neil deGrasse Tyson brings up an updated version of Carl Sagan's groundbreaking series in the critically acclaimed Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Monty Python funnyman and world traveller Michael Palin takes us to South America in Brazil With Michael Palin.

All of our new and upcoming films are available in Bibliocommons.

Monday Night at the Movies
We will be screening Still Mine at 1:00 and 7:00 on Monday, June 16 at the Glencoe Woman's Club at 325 Tudor Court. Based on an actual events, Still Mine is both a love story and a tale of one man stubbornly determined to build a new home for he and his increasingly infirm wife over the objections of his children and the local bureaucracy. James Crowell is moving and commanding as the fiercely independent husband while Genevieve Bujold makes a very welcome return to American film screens as Crowell’s ailing wife. The film is 102 minutes long and is rated PG-13. All of our film screenings are free of cost and open to everybody.

Theatre on Screen

Did you catch the Tony Awards on Sunday? Perhaps that whet your appetite for live theater. The good news is that you don't have to leave your living room and pay exorbitant prices to see some of the best theatrical performances! We've got a great performing arts collection that's available for free!

• The Phantom of the Opera never gets old and we've got the 25th anniversary version filmed at the Royal Albert Hall. We also have its sequel Love Never Dies.
• Maybe it was inevitable that Shrek would be adapted as a musical. See how it translates!
• There's no shortage of filmed Shakespeare plays but the series filmed at the Globe Theater are particularly unique. Titles include Much Ado About Nothing and All's Well That Ends Well.
• The hit musical Memphis is a rocking look at the early days of rock and roll.
• Take another look at some of the classics, including Pippin, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Into the Woods and The Fantasticks!
• Opera fans have plenty to choose from, including the filmed-for-the big-screen Metropolitan Opera HD Live DVDs.
• We've also got a documentary about the history of the Great White Way in Broadway, the American Musical.

Flick Picks 6/3/14: Lone Survivor, Robocop

New on DVD at the Library This Week:

ENTERTAINMENT: It's based on a bestselling book, is helmed by Friday Night Lights director Peter Berg and features a great cast of Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and Eric Bana, so there's no reason not to see Lone Survivor! Lone Survivor tells the true story of a Navy SEALs who are ambushed in Afghanistan while hunting down a high-ranking member of the Taliban. The title of the film serves as a bit of a spoiler alert. Also this week, he's part human, part robot and all cop! And when he's not helping kids cross the street Robocop is fighting crime in Detroit. Like the original Paul Verhoeven Robocop, this film raises all kinds of ethical issues.

We've also got a number of quality indie picks this week, starting with The Motel Life, which features Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff as brothers in rural California who drift from motel to motel and eventually become reacquainted with old girlfriend Dakota Fanning following a car accident. The Trouble With the Truth is a relationship drama starring John Shea and Lea Thompson as a divorced couple who reassess their past after their daughter announces her engagement. Breaking Bad's Dean Norris and Law and Order: SVU's Christopher Meloni are the familiar faces in Small Time, about a teenager who debates selling used cars at his father's lot rather than attending college.

SERIES: We've hit season 6 of the HBO vampire, werewolf, fairy...you name it! drama True Blood. Also this week we've received season 3 of TNT's well-reviewed alien invasion show Falling Skies

SUBTITLED: A father's decision of what name to give his son spurs controversy and dredges up the past among a group of his friends in the funny French blockbuster What's in a Name?

DOCUMENTARIES: George Plimpton, the man who defined participatory journalism, gets his own documentary in Plimpton! Also this week, Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction looks at the actor who has acted in over 200 movies during his career and features interviews with Kris Kristofferson, Sam Shepard and more.

All of our new and upcoming DVDs can be found in Bibliocommons.

Movies on the Green
Enjoy the beautiful weather by watching a movie with the family on Wyman Green! This Friday at dusk will feature Frozen, so be ready for a mass Let it Go singalong. In case of inclement weather, it will be shown 8 pm in the Council Chambers of Village Hall.

Hot DVD Fun in the Summertime!

Summer doesn't officially begin for a few weeks but we all know that the REAL beginning of summer is when the kids get out of school and the library's Summer Reading Club begins (this Saturday). Here are some summer-themed films to get you in that outdoor mood!

• Jesse Eisenberg is a college grad who is forced to get a summer job at an amusement park, where he hooks up with Kristen Stewart, in Adventureland.
• Two inner-city kids are forced to spend a summer alone in the charming and moving The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete. If you haven't seen this gem then be sure to check it out - you won't believe the performances by the two lead kids!
• Three teens spend the summer living off the land in the fun indie flick The Kings of Summer.
• OK, we're cheating a bit here since Summer is actually the name of the lead character in 500 Days of Summer, who becomes involved with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's greeting card writer.
• Colin Firth is a widower looking for a fresh start in Italy after his wife dies in A Summer in Genoa.
• You know the theme, now see the movie! Richard Egan, Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue get soapie in A Summer Place.
• Con man Paul Newman heats things up for Joanne Woodward in The Long, Hot Summer.
• Summers in Sweden are still relatively chilly compared to our 90 degree days but Ingmar Bergman still makes a good summer flick! Summer With Monika is an early one that follows a young couple who must become more responsible after they have a child.