Blog Post
Get into the Holiday Spirit at the State Theater
by lola
Take a break from holiday shopping and take advantage of the Twisted Christmas series at the State Theater. Every Sunday in December at 3:30 PM, starting December 2, relax with popcorn while watching Christmas classics and not-so Christmas classics.
The twisted line-up includes:
December 2 How the Grinch Stole Christmas
December 9 Die Hard
December 16 Bad Santa
December 23 Scrooged
For more traditional Christmas cheer, visit the Michigan Theater on December 9 and take part in the Christmas Sing-Along and watch A Muppet Christmas Carol.
Stop by the library on your way downtown and pick up good reading material. We've got a great holiday collection in the Downtown Youth Department that will get you in the mood for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
Blog Post
Knuffle Bunny Schmuffle Bunny
by Sarah T
Good news! Mo Willems’ 2007 Carnegie Medal winner, Knuffle Bunny, is coming out on DVD. The word on the street is that it has a jazzy soundtrack, has some narration by Calista Flockhart and Mo Willems himself, and, most importantly, does the picture book proud. It’s not too often that you see a children’s DVD that skips all the bells and whistles and stays true to the original story.
So while you get yourself on the hold list for Knuffle Bunny, check out the rest of the Scholastic Video Collection which adapts award-winning children’s picture books including stories such as William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Doreen Cronin’s Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type, and Kevin Henkes’ Chrysanthemum and Owen.
Blog Post
The Graduate
by Robb
Wow ! Can you believe it... 40 years ? The much heralded 40th Anniversary issue of this classic movie was featured on Fresh Air on 11-23-07. You can still listen to that radio show.
In addition the 40th Anniversary issue of the movie is available via the Library.
It's been said this movie really defined the mid 60's generation.
Here's to you Mrs. Robinson. Still topical as ever.
Check it out. You'll like it. Mikey did.
Blog Post
DVD Bits - Think "Music"
by ryanikoglu
Culture by way of music ... What a way to experience! The following films are great ethno-music journeys. Take a musical journey with Rom People as they migrate from Rajastan through Europe in Latcho Drom. Visit Cuba with Ry Cooder as he works with musicians who were "Hot" in pre-Castro Cuba Buena Vista Social Club.
Blog Post
Trigun
by joy k
Those of you who have been enjoying the manga Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow will be happy to hear we’ve added the first three discs of the anime adaptation to our dvd collection. It's the story of Vash the Stampede, a notorious gunman who tends to leave destruction in his wake. But as two insurance investigators on his trail quickly find out, Vash isn’t exactly a hardened criminal. Check it out for the action and humor--and for some very memorable supporting characters.
Blog Post
Happy Birthday, Alistair and Dick
by Maxine
November 20 is the birthday of two unlikely bedfellows, Alistair Cooke and Chester Gould. Cooke, broadcast journalist and author, was born in 1908 in Salford, England but moved to the U.S. in the 1930's. His program, "Letter from America" on BBC radio was broadcast in more than fifty countries. He is perhaps best known to Americans for his eloquence as a host of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre.
Chester Gould's name may not ring a bell but his comic strip, Dick Tracy was read by thousands. Gould was born in Pawnee, OK, and later moved to Chicago. His square-jawed, clean-cut Tracy was the epitome of a no nonsense detective. The strip first appeared Oct.4, 1941 in the "Detroit Daily Mirror" and went on to be syndicated in nearly 1,000 newspapers. Who could forget lovely Tess Trueheart and bad guys named Mole and Pruneface?
Blog Post
Don’t Worry. Help Is On The Way!
by John J. Madonna
Help! never gets a fair shake. As a Beatle movie, A Hard Day's Night completely outshines it. While undoubtedly the inferior film, Help! certainly has merit. As a Beatle record, Help! finds itself eclipsed over by 1965’s Rubber Soul, with critics pointing to Soul as The Beatles’ turning point to more artistic endeavors, overlooking Beatles For Sale in ’64 and Help! earlier ’65, both featuring darker lyrics and more diverse musical influences. The movie, though, has only been available on VHS until last week, when Apple Corps released a brand new DVD package. Basically I could not be more excited.
As I said, A Hard Day's Night, Help! is not. The comedy doesn’t always click; the very British plot (read: plot is borderline offensive to non-Western cultures) would basically cause a huge moral outcry if released today, but the music makes the movie. Honestly, Help! beats out Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper's as my favorite Beatles record. On the unimpeachable first side, all movie songs, Lennon contributes “Help,” “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” “You’re Going To Lose That Girl,” three songs about loneliness and heartache; George records “I Need You,” his first composition since ’63 and a wonderful torch song as good as anything else on the record; “The Night Before” features Paul’s most forceful vocals since “Long Tall Sally.” “Ticket To Ride” finishes the first half. On the flip side, we have another great George composition, Ringo’s misunderstood and charming country cover of “Act Naturally,” two amazing folk songs by Paul, “Yesterday” and “I’ve Just Seen A Face”—the best two minutes The Beatles ever waxed—before the rocking Larry Williams closer, “Dizzy Miss Lizzy.”
I can’t believe that Help! actually was criticized for featuring non-original songs. From 1963-1964 the band released four albums, two feature length movies, an EP, and fourteen non-album tracks, all between their constant touring and TV spots. In ’65, they released a fourteen track LP with two covers on it, and the critics wanted more. Today, bands or artists usually wait years between album releases, never release non-album singles, and only tour to support albums. In a conversation with one of the gentleman at PJ’s Records, an admitted Deadhead, he told me his outlook on bands—I’m paraphrasing/removing profanity—“If you’re not going to tour until you drop dead what good are you?”
Please note, though, that the entire album is a ripoff of the Rutle album Ouch! from the same year.
Blog Post
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
by RiponGood
Have you ever noticed that most movies based on a book just aren't as good as the book themselves? Here's an exception, Blade Runner. The movie is loosely based on a story called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, originally published in 1968. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter, who "retires" androids, who have escaped to Earth from the Mars colony. In the movie he's played by Harrison Ford. People who have left the radioactive dust of our partially destroyed Earth are given androids as servants. Each android has a life expectancy of about 4 years and are treated as slaves. They are made entirely of organic materials, making them almost indistinguishable from normal humans. It's Rick's job to find the most recently escaped androids that are loose in the city.
Blog Post
Transformers, Robots in Disguise
by anonymous
According to my older sister, my childhood was seriously lacking because I was too young to understand and appreciate Transformers. I wondered if she was actually right for a change when I saw the latest movie. The new live action film was funny and interesting enough to warrant placing a request for 20th anniversary edition of the 1986 animated Transformers film. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by characters voiced by Robert Stack, Leonard Nimoy, and Orson Welles? In the animated movie, the autobots must stop Unicron, a planet eating robot, from stealing the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Optimus Prime will always be cool, but after seeing the movie, I know there is a lot of Transformers history I could catch up on to understand it better. If you grew up with it and are feeling nostalgic, check it out!
Blog Post
C-H-E-E-S-E-A-N-D-O-N-I-O-N-S Oh No!
by John J. Madonna
Forget John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I’ll take Ron, Dirk, Stig, and Barry any day of the week (even the eighth one.) The Rutles, scousers as well, made it just as big as those other four guys. Maybe even bigger. Maybe even smaller. They almost definitely “made it” a larger, smaller or equal amount as The Beatles. Unfortunately, like so many of those great bands from the sixties (e.g. The Turtles or The Beau Brummels,) problems with their label have doomed The Rutles’ back catalogue lost to history except for a greatest hits and Archeology, a collection of rare and unreleased songs. AADL fortunately has both records as well as a Rutles documentary.
