Flick Picks 11/25/2014: The Expendables 3, The November Man, The Giver

New on DVD at the Library This Week

ENTERTAINMENT: What action superstars can be found in The Expendables 3? It's probably easier to count the ones who AREN'T in The Expendables 3. You don't even have to see the full names to get a taste of what The Expendables films are all about - Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Gibson, Snipes, Lundgren, Banderas and Statham are all on board showing off their big guns. Even Harrison Ford got roped into this one. Anyway, the plot involves arms dealers and wisecracks, and you know you want to see it. A little more low-key but still exciting is the Pierce Brosnan offering The November Man, about an ex-CIA agent who is brought out of retirement for a final job and soon discovers that he can trust no one.

Lois Lowry's popular young adult novel The Giver, about a futuristic perfect world where a young man learns about sorrow and pain, is given a filmic adaptation starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep. Daniel Radcliffe continues to shed his Hogwarts uniform in the comedy What If, in which he plays a one of a pair of friends who must decide whether to test their friendship by becoming romantically involved. The late Robin Williams co-stars with Joel McHale in A Merry Friggin' Christmas, in which the duo plays a father and son who hit the road in order to rescue some forgotten presents. Finally, The Discoverers is a warm, goofy comedy about a history professor (Griffin Dunne) who reconnects with his family on a road trip.

SERIES: Inspector Morse spin-off Inspector Lewis is acquiring its own pedigree, hitting series 7 this week.

SUBTITLED: An Iranian author and former political prisoner attempts to protect his memoirs from being destroyed by authorities in Manuscripts Don't Burn. Set in former Soviet Union republic Georgia following its independence, In Bloom is the story of two teenage girls trying to find peace in chaos. A strong international cast that includes Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich and Isabelle Huppert are along to help Lines of Wellington tell the true story of a decisive victory by Portuguese/English forces over the French in 1810. Finally, Isabelle Huppert is a filmmaker who suffers a stroke and falls for a con man while trying to get her next movie made in Abuse of Weakness.

DOCUMENTARIES: Alive Inside features Bobby McFerrin and Oliver Sacks as it explores the possibility of music having a positive effect on Alzheimer's patients. The gripping Master of the Universe profiles former investment banker Rainer Voss as it explores the psychology behind the 2008 financial crisis.

Find all of our new and upcoming films in Enterprise.

Have You Tried Hoopla?
Looking for something to watch without having to leave your home? Hoopla is our great new service for watching movies on your iPad or other tablet computer or your home computer. It has a large selection of new and classic films as well as TV shows, exercise videos and more! It also offers audiobooks and new music. Give Hoopla a try!

Thanksgiving Films

Here are some titles that you might want to try on this Thanksgiving, including some that you probably forgot were set on the holiday!

• The Band's farewell concert (which included guests like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young) was filmed on Thanksgiving of 1976 for The Last Waltz.
• A quirky young woman tries to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family in Pieces of April.
• Thanksgiving dinner provides an important scene for the characters in the first of Sam Raimi's Spider-man series.
• Thanksgiving provides various settings for both Rocky and Rocky II, with the sequel's fight falling on the holiday.
• Home For Purim sounds too Jewish? Why not rename the film Home For Thanksgiving? For Your Consideration provides such typical Christopher Guest hilarity.
• Two turkeys try to go back in time to change their fates in the animated Free Birds.
• Revisit Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy and the gang with the classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
• Finally, if you haven't planned your meal yet then pick up Jacques Pepin's Thanksgiving Celebration for some good ideas.

Flick Picks 11/18/2014: 22 Jump Street, And So It Goes, A Dame to Kill For

What's New on DVD at the Library?

ENTERTAINMENT: The recent reboot of 21 Jump Street was a surprisingly smart and entertaining hit and its sequel 22 Jump Street amazes in that it's just as enjoyable as its predecessor! This time, cops Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill go undercover at a college to bust a local drug supplier. But can their friendship survive? Writers/Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller also gave us The Lego Movie this year so they are clearly comedic minds to be reckoned with. We've got 22 Jump Street on DVD and Blu-ray. Next, Rob Reiner's And So It Goes is a comedy/drama about a man (Michael Douglas) who enlists the help of neighbor Diane Keaton when his young granddaughter appears at his door.

The visually striking hit Sin City gets a long overdue sequel with A Dame to Kill For. This neo-noir comic book hybrid features Josh Brolin, Mickey Rourke, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson in some brutal intersecting stories. The teen melodrama If I Stay features Chloe Grace Moretz as a promising young musician who must decide whether to live following a car accident. Finally, animation great Hayao Miyazaki offers up his final film The Wind Rises, which tells the true story of a young man who became an innovative airplane designer.

SERIES: The much anticipated new Worricker series, returning Bill Nighy to the role of the MI5 agent of the title that he played in Page Eight, hits these shores with Salting the Battlefield and Turks and Caicos. Also this week brings us season 2 of The Paradise, which tells the story of the first English department store.

You can find all of our new and upcoming DVDs in Enterprise.

Elementary, My Dear Watson...

There are very few characters who have been adapted in as many different filmic situations as Sherlock Holmes. From classic to contemporary, we've got many versions of the great detective for you to try!

• Basil Rathbone portrayed Holmes in a number of movies between 1939 and 1944, collected on DVD.
• Jeremy Brett is often considered one of the best Sherlocks, and made a number of series for British television.
• Classic film director Billy Wilder took an unusual look at Holmes and his relationship with Watson in 1970's Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.
• Another interesting take on Sherlock Holmes is 1976's The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, which envisions Holmes meeting Sigmund Freud.
• Robert Downey Jr. is the highest profile Sherlock Holmes in some years in his two films.
• Two well-reviewed contemporary versions are available on TV with the British Sherlock and the CBS show Elementary.

Flick Picks 11/11/2014: Jersey Boys, Tammy, How to Train Your Dragon 2

New on DVD at the Library This Week

ENTERTAINMENT: Clint Eastwood once again shows off the breadth of his directing skills in choosing to adapt the hit musical Jersey Boys for the big screen. The film tells the story of four young guys who form the musical group The Four Seasons and while there's plenty of drama you know you want to see it for the music. The Four Seasons are played by four unknowns while Christopher Walken is the cast's big name. We've got it on DVD and Blu-ray. Tammy is Melissa McCarthy's latest attempt to rule the world of comedy film. In this film, she tries to escape her troubled life with her grandmother (Susan Sarandon) by roadtripping to Niagara Falls.

The second installment of the hit DreamWorks franchise comes to the small screen this week with How to Train Your Dragon 2, a sequel that captures the same highs as its predecessor. It's available on DVD and Blu-ray. The best-selling novel Mr. Pip sees itself adapted this week in a film starring Hugh Laurie as an Englishman on a Pacific island that is being torn apart by civil war. Finally, indie director Joe Swanberg is back again with Happy Christmas, starring Anna Kendrick as a woman who moves in with Melanie Lynskey and family and proceeds to shake up their life.

SERIES: Based on the British series of the same name, HBO's dark comedy Getting On follows nurses at an extended care facility, as well as a doctor played by Roseanne's Laurie Metcalf. This week also brings us the newest installment of the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse and her supernatural friends with season 7 of True Blood.

DOCUMENTARIES: Apparently Titanic director James Cameron loves spending time in the ocean and in Deepsea Challenge he films a  breathtaking solo submarine journey that he took deep into the Mariana Trench.

You can find all of our new and upcoming DVDs in Enterprise.

Monday Night at the Movies
Our next Monday Night at the Movies screening is the Indian romantic drama The Lunchbox, which we will show at 1:00 and 7:00 on November 17th. Ila attempts to spice up her marriage by preparing a special lunchbox for her indifferent husband.  When the lunchbox is mistakenly delivered to another man, an unexpected relationship develops between the two strangers through a series of notes and further lunchboxes. The film will be shown in the library's Hammond Room. All of our films are free and are open to everyone. Please note that this film has been changed from the one originally announced in Excerpts.

Talking Pictures
We will be screening Nebraska as part of Susan Benjamin's Talking Pictures program on Thursday November 13th at 1:00. The film will be shown in the library's Hammond Room and will be followed by a discussion. All of our films are free and are open to everyone.

Veteran's Day Films

Pay tribute to those who have fought for our country with an appropriate viewing choice.

• Saving Private Ryan is Steven Spielberg's brutal look at a World War II Army division's attempt to rescue a soldier.
• The classic Patton takes a look at the divisive World War II general in combat.
• In the moving The Messenger, two soldiers are charged with letting families know that their children have died in battle.
• Flags of Our Fathers was Clint Eastwood's film of the lives of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima.
• The Hurt Locker brings us the intensity of the work of the bomb disposal units in during the Iraq War, eventually showing us the difficulty in returning to civilian life.
• Michael Cimino's classic The Deer Hunter follows three men from a steel town who head to Vietnam, including their eventual return.
• The Best Years of Our Lives remains one of the greats in its portrayal of World War II veterans returning home.
• It's a miniseries rather than a movie but the Band of Brothers story of an Army division in World War II is well worth revisiting.

Flick Picks 11/4/2014: Maleficent, Hercules, A Most Wanted Man

New on DVD This Week at the Library

ENTERTAINMENT: Have you ever wondered just what would cause a perfectly normal fairy to become evil? Maleficent offers the back story behind Sleeping Beauty and it turns out that there was a good reason for the title character's black heart. Angelina Jolie eats up the scenery as Maleficent herself while Elle Fanning is the coma-cursed beauty. We've got it on DVD and Blu-ray. Next, we've got another new look at an iconic tale as one of Hollywood's biggest (in size and name) stars, Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock), labors through the tale of Hercules. Action expert Brett Ratner directs while Ian McShane and John Hurt costar. Philip Seymour Hoffman's final lead role is in the well-reviewed adaptation of John Le Carre's espionage thriller A Most Wanted Man, in which Germans and Americans race to discover the true identity of a Chechen/Russian immigrant.

The newest entry in Disney's hit Planes series arrives this week in Planes. Fire and Rescue, the gripping story of a racing plane that makes a career shift into firefighting. Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss is starting to carve out an interesting film career while Mark Duplass continues his quest to appear in every single independent film. The One I Love stars both of them in a strange little film about a couple that goes on vacation in an attempt to save their marriage, after which things start to get weird... Exhibition is also a very different film but in a much quieter way. A couple decides to sell their beautiful modernist London house and the movie brings us their shared history, with the house featured as a third character.

SERIES: The second season of HBO's The Newsroom arrives this week, as Jeff Daniels tries to deliver all the news that's fit to view. Also available this week is season 5 of FBI con man show White Collar.

You can find all of our new and upcoming DVDs in Enterprise.

Let's Get Political!

How did your candidates do this week? Did they win big? Celebrate with a political film! Did they get sent home? Drown your sorrows with a film about politics!

• Henry Fonda stars in Advise and Consent, a classic detailed look at a man's nomination to the post of Secretary of State.
• The tale of the investigation that led to Richard Nixon's downfall unfolds in All the President's Men.
• You think you had bad candidates to choose from? At least you didn't have The Manchurian Candidate on your ballot!
• How do you succeed in life? Surround yourself with different personalities who have different goals, as Lincoln did.
• Small-town innocent James Stewart gets elected U.S. Senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
• Oscar winner for best picture All the King's Men tells the story of the political rise of self-made southern lawyer Willie Stark, 
• In the Loop takes a profane look at English and U.S. politics, and is a spinoff of the British series The Thick of It.
• Don't forget the great political TV series that are now available like House of Cards and Veep!