DVDs for December

December 2

Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian – Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson, Tilda Swinton

“Prince Caspian” finds the Pevensie siblings back into the land of Narnia where a thousand years have passed since they left. The children are once again enlisted to join the colorful creatures of Narnia in combating an evil villain who prevents the rightful Prince from ruling the land. imdb

also: The Longshots, Step Brothers, Wanted, X Files I want to Believe

December 9

Dark Knight – Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker. imdb

also: Horton Hears a Who

December 16

Mamma Mia – Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Waters, Colin Firth

Set on a colorful Greek island, the plot serves as a background for a wealth of great ABBA songs which are used in remarkably appropriate ways. A young woman about to be married discovers that any one of three men could be her father. She invites all three to the wedding without telling her mother, Donna, who was once the lead singer of Donna and the Dynamos. In the meantime, Donna has invited her backup singers, Rosie and Tanya. imdb

also: The Mummy – The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

December 23

Burn after Reading – George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton

A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it. imdb

also: The Women

An Alternative to Parades and Football

For those who don’t like parades or football, try a Thanksgiving movie:

Alice’s Restaurant (1969) – Arlo Guthrie

Arlo Guthrie’s song is converted into a motion picture. Arlo goes to see Alice for Thanksgivng and as a favor takes her trash to the dump. When the dump is closed, he drops it on top of another pile of garbage at the bottom of a ravine. When the local sheriff finds out a major manhunt begins. Arlo manages to survive the courtroom experience but it haunts him when he is to be inducted into the army via the draft

Home for the Holidays (1995) – Holly Hunter, Anne Bancroft

After losing her job, making out with her soon to be ex-boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson has to face spending the holiday with her family. She wonders if she can survive their crazy antics.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

Peppermint Patty invites herself and her friends over to Charlie Brown’s for Thanksgiving, and with Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock, he attempts to throw together a Thanksgiving dinner.

Pieces of April (2003) – Katie Holmes, Oliver Platt

April Burns (Holmes) invites her family to Thanksgiving dinner at her teeny apartment on New York’s Lower East Side. As they make their way to the city from suburban Pennsylvania, April must endure a comedy of errors – like finding out her oven doesn’t work – in order to pull off the big event.

Ice Storm (1997) – Kevin Kline, Joan Allen

In the weekend after Thanksgiving 1973, the Hoods are skidding out of control. Benjamin Hood reels from drink to drink, trying not to think about his trouble at the office. His wife, Elena, is reading self help books and losing patience with her husband’s lies. Their son, Paul, home for the holidays, escapes to the city to pursue an alluring rich girl from his prep school. And young, budding nymphomaniac, Wendy Hood roams the neighborhood, innocently exploring liquor cabinets and lingerie drawers of her friends’ parents, looking for something new. Then an ice storm hits, the worst in a century and things get bad…

DVDs for October

Coming October 7

The Visitor – Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass

In a world of six billion people, it only takes one to change your life. Richard Jenkins stars as a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City when he discovers two illegal immigrants living in his city apartment.

Sleeping Beauty – 50th Anniversary Edition

Don’t Mess with the Zohan – Adam Sandler

Coming October 14

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom the Crystal Skull – Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchet

Indy’s back and more fun than ever. Set during the Cold War, this time Indy’s nemesis is the Soviet Union and the race is for the ultimate power to control people. Sly references to the first three films, the return of a favorite character and a new sidekick keep things fun and the action lively.

Mongol: the Rise of Genghis Khan

Coming October 21

The Incredible Hulk – Edward Norton, Liv Tyler

Mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner has searched the world for a cure for his affliction, caused by a military experiment gone wrong. Whenever his emotions get the better of him he turns into a raging, green monster – the Hulk. Banner struggles to avoid the pursuit of the military and battles a new and fearsome monster.

DVDs for September

September 16

Made of Honor – Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan

Tom and Hannah have been platonic friends for years. He’s a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn’t found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is starting to think that he is relationship material after all, Hannah gets engaged. When she asks Tom to be her “maid” of honor, he reluctantly agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and woo her.

Also coming out September 16

Another Cinderella Story

Speed Racer

September 23

The Leatherheads – George Clooney, Rene Zellweger

A romantic comedy set against the backdrop of America’s start-up pro-football league in 1925. Dodge Connolly, a charming, brash football hero, is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. Carter Rutherford, a golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. Lexie Littleton is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in Carter’s war story. As the new game of pro-football becomes less like the freewheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge must both fight to keep his guys together and to get the girl of his dreams.

Also coming out September 23

Deception

Sex and the City

September 30

Iron Man – Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Palthrow

Tony Stark is the complete playboy who also happens to be an engineering genius. While in Afghanistan demonstrating a new missile, he’s captured and wounded. His captors want him to assemble a missile for them but instead he creates an armored suit which uses to escape. Back in the U.S. he announces his company will cease making weapons and he begins work on an updated armored suit only to find that his second in command at Stark Industries has been selling weapons to the insurgents. Tony must use his new suit to return to Afghanistan in an attempt to destroy the arms and to stop Stane from misusing his research.

Also coming out September 30

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Taxi to the Dark Side

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Beautiful, epic, sweeping, mystical, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a revelation to many when it was released in 2000. Starring Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, it is also the story of unrequited love set against the grand sweep of China’s landscape.

A magical, powerful sword is stolen by a notorious thief and two renowned warriors go in pursuit to return it to its rightful owner. A series of breathtaking, fluid fight sequences follow (including one particularly memorable one taking place in windblown treetops) as the protagonists square off against each other. In addition, the stories of two contrasting love affairs unfold and the bonds of duty, honor, sacrifice and loyalty are tested.

Visually stunning, at turns melancholy, soaring, wistful and spiritual, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won four Academy Awards including Best Foreign Language film.

New DVDs for August

August 5

Nim’s Island – Starring Abigail Breslin, Gerald Butler, and Jodie Foster.

Nim’s Island is the story of a girl named Nim who lives on a beautiful uncharted island with her father Jack, a research scientist. Nim spends her days exploring the beautiful island and reading. When her father is lost at sea after a storm, Nim contacts her favorite writer of adventure stories, Alex Rover, convinced he will know what to do. What Nim doesn’t realize is that “Alex” is really Alexandra, a woman who is afraid to leave her house. Will Jack survive? Will Alexandra find the courage to come out of her shell? An adventure story about the courage in each of us, Nim’s Island will delight the whole family.

August 12

Smart People – starring Thomas Haden Church, Christie Lahti, Ellen Page, Sarah Jessica Parker and Dennis Quaid

Dennis Quaid stars as a bitter, washed out widower in Smart People, a film that tackles the lives of several seriously unhappy people in surprisingly funny and touching ways. A hated literature professor at Carnegie Mellon, Lawrence Wetherhold has been earning the scorn of his students, colleagues, and family since the death of his wife several years ago. A health scare, an unexpected visit from his adopted brother, and a new romantic interest shake things up and stir Lawrence from his constant misery. Fine performances and a sharp script make this a must-see movie.

August 19th

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Starring Amy Adams and Frances McDormand

In 1939 London, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew is a middle-aged governess who finds herself once again unfairly dismissed from her job. Without so much as severance pay, Miss Pettigrew realizes that she must seize the day and intercepts an employment assignment for a social secretary. Arriving at a penthouse apartment for the interview, Miss Pettigrew is catapulted into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse. This funny and delightful movie proves that following your heart is right thing to do.

The Greatest Game Ever Played by Mark Frost

With Tiger Woods winning the 2008 U.S. Open and the John Deere Classic nearing, I was reminded of my favorite book and movie about golf, The Greatest Game Ever Played by Mark Frost. It is the story of the 1913 U.S. Open held at the Country Club in Brookline Massachusetts. Frost has interwoven the biographies of Harry Vardon and Francis Ouimet, slowly building to the dramatic finish. Born on the Channel Island of Jersey in 1870, Vardon had won five British Open titles by 1913. On this side of the Atlantic, 20-year-old Ouimet was the Massachusetts state amateur champion and had been a caddie at the Country Club; his invitation to the Open was unexpected. The long, wonderful second portion of the story dramatizes the exciting week in September when Vardon, Ouimet, and others battled for the coveted title. Frost paints a lively supporting cast. Ouimet’s mother, brother, and sister were supportive, but his father had no truck with the silly game. Englishman Bernard Darwin, the scientist’s grandson, found his niche as a first-generation golf journalist. Ted Ray, a big bear of a man, punched out a fellow English golfer before joining friend Varner and Ouimet in a three-man playoff. Ten-year-old caddie Eddie Lowery almost stole the show with his pugnacious confidence and sage advice for Francis. It is a wonderful book about the beginning of the sport of golf in the United States.

The book was published in 2002; in 2005 the movie of the same name was released. Starring Stephen Dillane and Shia Labeouf as Harry Verdon and Francis Ouimet were wonderful. The best minor character was Eddie Lowery played by Josh Flitter. The movie puts pictures to Mark Frost’s words. It is a beautiful film.

Be sure to catch exciting professional golf action at our own golf tournament, the John Deere Classic, July 7-13. Because you never know when the next sports hero will emerge.

New DVD’s for June at the Library

Bucket List – Corprate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers have nothing in common except for their terminal illnesses. While sharing a hospital room together, they decide to leave it and do all the things they have ever wanted to do before they die according to their bucket list. In the process, both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find the joy in life. IMDB

The Other Boleyn Girl – A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family’s blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII. IMDB

New DVDs for May at the Library

May 2nd

P.S. I LOVE YOU

Holly Kennedy ( Hilary Swank) is beautiful, smart and married to the love of her life – a passionate, funny, and impetuous Irishman named Gerry Kennedy ( Gerard Butler) . So when Gerry’s life is taken by an illness, it takes the life out of Holly. Before he died, Gerry wrote Holly a series of letters that will guide her, not only through her grief, but in rediscovering herself. The first message arrives on Holly’s 30th birthday in the form of a cake and a tape recording from Gerry, who proceeds to tell her to get out and “celebrate herself”. In the weeks and months that follow, more letters from Gerry are delivered in surprising ways, each sending her on a new adventure and each signing off in the same way; P.S. I Love You. With Gerry’s words as her guide, Holly embarks on a journey of rediscovery in a story about marriage, friendship and how a love so strong can turn the finality of death into a new beginning for life. … IMDb

May 13th

THE GREAT DEBATERS

“The Great Debaters” is a fictionalized account of a true story. In the early 1930s, in the Jim Crow South, a small, all black school in Marshall, Texas, called Wiley College produced a debate team of such skill and renown, they were invited to compete against the white college champions, an unprecedented event in its day. Mel Tolson (Denzel Washington) is the professor at Wiley College Texas who wants to encourage his students to have big dreams.

” The Great Debaters” is a story of self actualization, self-reliances and the triumph of the underdog. This is one of the year’s best films.” – Roger Ebert

May 20th

NATIONAL TREASURE 2 – BOOK OF SECRETS

National Treasure 2 is the follow up to the box-office hit National Treasure. Treasure hunter Ben Gates (Nicolas Gage) and his fellow treasure hunters (Justin Bartha and Diane Kruger) along with his parents ( Jon Voight and Helen Mirren) set forth to prove his great-great grandfather’s innocence. Ben’s ancestor has been implicated as a key conspirator in Abraham Lincoln’s death. Ben follows an international chain of clues that takes him on a chase from Paris to London and ultimately back to America and leads to the President of United States and the world’s most treasured secrets.

I found this movie fun. One and a half hours of action and suspense.

Into Great Silence

Into Great SilenceInto Great Silence is a compelling film that chronicles the lives of the ascetic monks of the Grande Chartreuse in the picturesque French Alps. This is a unique movie in that there is no voice over and few subtitles. The tolling of the immense church bells calling the monks to prayer provides us with a rare glimpse of the rhythm of daily life for the men who live outside of the hustle and bustle of our modern time. This stark yet beautiful documentary introduces viewers to the symbols, rituals, and traditions that the Carthusian monks have followed since the founding of this hermit order in the eleventh century.