Movies & TV
-
Movie Mondays: Don’t Judge a Romance by most Rom-Coms
2013 was a year of great debates – about health care, gay marriage, recreational marijuana….and whether Love Actually is a good or a bad movie. It seems that for every person who defends its poignant charm, there is someone to deride it for its treacly sentimentality. In an effort… Continue reading
-
Movie Mondays: A Chaplin Centennial
One hundred years ago this week, cinema’s most iconic and enduring character, Charlie Chaplin’s the Little Tramp, was born. On February 7, 1914 theatregoers were given their first taste of the lovable, laughable vagabond as he wrought havoc in Kid Auto Races in Venice. Two days later saw the release of Mabel’s Strange Predicament, a… Continue reading
-
Movie Mondays: Happy Birthday, David Lynch!
Director, artist, musician and all around good guy David Lynch turns 68 today. Lynch is indisputably one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary cinema, a man whose style has often been aped but never replicated. No other director can so often scare the pants off me and wow me with intense beauty, often in the same… Continue reading
-
Movie Mondays: Why so Blue?
Is there another color that has figured so prominently in a movie title? Possibly, but I can’t remember the last time three good movies with the same color in the name came out at the same time. Continue reading
-
Romantic Wednesdays: Movies for the New Year
Check out these romantic movies that feature the classic combination of true love and a new year. When Harry Met Sally Continue reading
-
Movie Mondays: While you’re waiting…
While you’re waiting for Nebraska, check out director Alexander Payne’s first feature, Citizen Ruth (1996). Laura Dern is Ruth Stoops, an irresponsible gas-huffer who finds herself pregnant for the fifth time – and at the center of a tug-of-war between pro-life and pro-choice groups when a judge (Kurtwood Smith) orders her to get an abortion. This wicked… Continue reading
-
Movie: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Join us on Friday, December 20 at 4:00 pm at the Central Library for a screening of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” Perks of attending: Free snacks, a trivia contest and a drawing to win the movie DVD and book. Continue reading
-
Movie Mondays: Doppelgänger Movies
Many people remember Philip Seymour Hoffman’s tour-de-force performance as Truman Capote in the biopic Capote, which earned him an Academy Award. Less well known is the fact that another movie was released shortly thereafter which covers almost exactly the same ground: Infamous. Both films are about Capote’s efforts to research and write his landmark book… Continue reading
-
Movie Mondays: Albert Brooks, “West Coast Woody Allen”
Let’s take a look at the underappreciated Albert Brooks – director, actor and author. You’ll recognize his face from supporting roles in Taxi Driver, Broadcast News , Out of Sight and Drive, and as the voice of Marlin in Finding Nemo. He’s the author of the novel 2030. However, it’s his work as a director… Continue reading
-
Science Fiction Fridays: Happy 50th Anniversary Doctor Who!
Doctor Who is a British science-fiction show about a humanoid alien who travels through space and time with a companion (or two, hi Rory!) looking for adventure. On the eve of the show’s fiftieth anniversary it has never been more popular, especially in the United States. However, some of the show’s most ardent fans have… Continue reading
-
Movie Mondays: Kings of Comedy
This fall we saw the publication of books about two comedy giants – the biography Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him by Henry David and the autobiography Still Foolin’ Em: Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going, and Where the Hell are My Keys? by Billy Crystal. The following films, some of their finest and funniest, are… Continue reading
-
Movie Mondays: HBO Original Films
Although you won’t see them in theaters, HBO produces original films that are on par with theatrical releases. Here are five original films produced by HBO in 2013. Behind the Candelabra is the most notable of HBO’s original films this year. Based on the memoir by Scott Thorson, it tells the story of Thorson (Matt Damon) and… Continue reading
-
Movie Mondays: The “Three Flavours Cornetto” Trilogy
Never heard of the “Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy? How about the “Blood and Ice Cream” trilogy? If not, you’re likely familiar with the quirky, genre-bending British films starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and directed by Edgar Wright, rather than the Cornetto ice cream flavors that appear in each film.… Continue reading