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A note - Flick Picks will be on hiatus (or perhaps vacation) next week. The next posting will occur on May 15, by which time there should be all kinds new video to discuss.
Feature Films
PADDINGTON
Don't let the cute little bear in the floppy red hat fool you. Paddington has been a favorite with critics and audiences alike in this film rendering of the beloved character from children's literature. Follow the furry Paddington and human friends around London for numerous adventures. The very strong human contingent is led by Lord Crawley himself, Hugh Bonneville.
We have multiple copies of Paddington in both regular DVD and Blu-ray.
INHERENT VICE
Speaking of auteurs, master filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, The Master) meets the legendary Thomas Pynchon in this film version of the writer's novel, Inherent Vice. As with The Master, Joaquin Phoenix stars, sporting some serious mutton chops as Larry "Doc" Sportello, sometime private detective, sometime dope enthusiast. Some fans of Pynchon have expressed their approval at Anderson realizing the writer's rich and complex world so successfully, filming a story that most had considered unfilmmable. The ever-reliable Josh Brolin is on hand as Doc's foil, Detective Christian F. "Bigfoot" Bjornsen, providing just some of Inherent Vice's fragrant comic relief. Martin Short is also memorable as the fairly deranged dentist, Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd.
Also new this week: Mark Wahlberg stars in THE GAMBLER.
Foreign Film
Three varied, interesting French language films to choose from this week.GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE
Some say that Jean-Luc Godards's latest is the sort of film for which 3D Blu-ray was invented. Goodbye to Language is his first foray into 3D filming. The content may be as cryptic as ever from Godard, but his restless vitality continues to play out at the age of 84. The library has Goodbye to Language in a Blu-ray edition that includes both 3D and two dimensional versions.
MOMMY
Mommy is the fifth feature from French-Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan, all of 26-years-old. While that sort of precocity is really annoying to those of us who haven't accomplished much in the world, Dolan's work has won increasing acclaim. Challenging though it may be, this "boisterous Oedipal comedy" received a 13-minute standing ovation at Cannes as was Canada's entry as Best Foreign Language Film at the 2015 Academy Awards. A widowed mother struggles to raise her troubled teenage son, until help arrives from a mysterious new neighbor. LE SILENCE DE LA MER
The great Jean-Pierre Melville is perhaps best known for a series of elegant, almost meditative gangster films (Le Samourai, Le Cercle Rouge) from the 1960's and 70's. However, his first feature is quite distinct from that later work. Le Silence de la mer (The Silence of the Sea) is based on a clandestinely-published novel from 1942. The story concerns the relationship between a Frenchman and his niece with a German Lieutenant living with them during the German occupation of France during World War II.
Melville, who served in the French resistance, made two other films that dealt directly or tangentially with the French struggle during the war, both of which are in the library collection: Leon Morin, prete (Leon Morin, Priest) and the classic L'Armee des ombres (Army of Shadows).
Documentary Film and Performing Arts
LAST DAYS IN VIETNEM
Full of amazing footage and nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 Academy Awards, Last Days in Vietnam recounts the sad and chaotic final days in Saigon as American soldiers and diplomats struggle with the White House order to evacuate only American personnel. Directed with assurance by Rory Kennedy (youngest child of Robert).
Last Days in Vietnam is currently available for checkout or reserve, but feel free to join us for a screening in the library on May 18, part of our monthly Monday Night at the Movies series.
BAG IT
Very much a story for our time, Bag It follows Jeb Berrier, "an average American guy - admittedly not a tree hugger," as tries to stop using plastic bags and understand our relationship with plastic the world over. Also new this week: New DVD editions of the the operas, Wozzeck, Le Nozze di Figaro and La Cenerentola
Series
Three new series releases on DVD this week with which you can wile away the hours:
Suits, Season 4, New Tricks, Season 11, Royal Pains, Season 6
Three new series releases on DVD this week with which you can wile away the hours:
Suits, Season 4, New Tricks, Season 11, Royal Pains, Season 6
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