Consider this: Christopher Guest + Documentaries = Funny
by manz
Forget your average documentaries. Documentaries + funny = mockumentaries. Christopher Guest has directed and co-written his way to perfecting the mockumentary. His latesty knee-slapper is For Your Consideration. The movie is about an indie movie that is being filmed and a buzz begins about one of the performers as a possible Oscar nominee. The film revolves around how the Oscar buzz effects the other members of the cast and production crew. More mockumentaries from Guest's hands, and also available at the library, are Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and Waiting For Guffman. For extra fun, check out This Is Spinal Tap. Guaranteed laughs!
"It Happened One Night" over and over
by Maxine
On February 22, 1934, Frank Capra's film, "It Happened One Night"
was released. This screwball comedy starring Claudette Colbert as a spoiled heiress and Clark Gable as a cocky reporter was the first film to sweep the the Academy Awards which, by the way, are presented this Sunday, February 25 at 8 p.m. on ABC. The movie became a standard for other romantic comedies of the period like "Bringing Up Baby" with Katherine Hepburn and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith with Carole Lombard. And Capra became known as a master of the comedy genre.
American Anime Awards
by joy k
The winners of the first American Anime Awards will be announced this weekend at the New York Comic-Con. The nominees for the best long series include Fullmetal Alchemist, Inuyasha, Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin, and Samurai Champloo. Who was overlooked? Who shouldn’t have been included? You can find the full list of finalists in all categories here.
Eloise!
by fletch
Do you remember that great character Eloise by Kay Thompson? There are some new Eloise cartoons that have come out recently, using the voices of Tim Curry, Lynn Redgrave, Matthew Lillard, and others! Come in and check out Eloise. Little Miss Christmas or Me, Eloise.
Marie Antoinette, on DVD, again
by manz
New to DVD, and on order at the library, is the latest film adaptation of the life of child queen Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette, written and directed by Sofia Coppola, is more on the quiet side, yet is teeming with lush music, which allows you to absorb the soft visual palette of the film. The film’s soundtrack is currently available at the AADL. If you are looking for more films by Coppola, check out The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. Chances are, if you like one, you’ll like them all.
DVD Top sellers on Amazon.com
by jillean
Here are the latest Amazon.com Top Sellers available in our collection. The cast of The Departed looks pretty impressive, although a role for Robert DeNiro would have been icing on the cake. But I guess he can't be in every Martin Scorsese film. Drat! Speaking of which, maybe Scorsese will finally take the Oscar for Best Director home this year at the 2007 Academy Awards, which are scheduled to air next Sunday, February 25th. Who are you rooting for?
The Departed
Flags of our Fathers
An Inconvenient Truth
Little Miss Sunshine
The Illusionist
Marie Antoinette
Babel
The Guardian
The Prestige
Happy Birthday, Mr. Groening!
by anned
Matt Groening, cartoonist and creator of The Simpsons, turns 53 today.
He began drawing and self-publishing the comic strip Life in Hell in 1977. This got the attention of Producer James L. Brooks, and led to the creation of the television series The Simpsons, which debuted as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987. Futurama began airing in 1999 (and was co-created by Groening and David X. Cohen).
The Simpsons Movie is due out this July.
Sancho's Scene: Community Events that Wander off the Path
by Sancho Panza
Little miss…Washtenaw? Fans of the super-popular film, Little Miss Sunshine, and pageants alike can check out the real thing this weekend. Tweens and teens will compete for the Little Miss Washtenaw title this Saturday in a performance open to the public. Winners go on to compete in the state pageant, a part of the Miss America competition. Pick up a Zoom Lends copy of the film and make a day of it!
Little Miss Sunshine
by Robb
Directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, and writer Michael Arndt appeared on Fresh Air on February 5th, 2007 to discuss their film Little Miss Sunshine.
I really enjoyed this bittersweet film which could be an Oscar winner this month. Nominated for 4 Oscars, Best Writing, Original Screenplay, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and biggest of all Best Motion Picture of the Year. I think it’s down to this film or The Queen for best picture award.
The Library has in addition to its regular collection of copies of this film a number of copies of the movie that are rented by the week for only $1.00 on a first come basis. Each branch Library has a rental collection of extremely popular books and DVD's known as Zoom Lends.
It's an enjoyable film, serious yet quite funny at times. Although the movie is about a little girl’s quest to win a beauty contest the movie is rated R and not appropriate for children.
"You're a good man, sister."
by Maxine
Who else could have said this if not tough guy, Sam Spade, the no frills detective of The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. On February 14, 1930, The Maltese Falcon was published by Alfred A. Knopf in New York. It was originally published as a story in the pulp crime magazine, Black Mask and later became the famous film starring Humphrey Bogart as Spade. Hammett drew on his work as a Pinkerton detective to create the rough characters in his novels. His gritty stories that were set in the dark corners of the city became a precedent for what later was called the "hard boiled detective novel." Hammett later became a screen writer and was active in defending writers during the McCarthy hearings.
Other writers of the "hard boiled genre" are:
Raymond Chandler
James M. Cain
Ian Rankin
Dan Simmons and
Jim Fusilli.