Month: November 2011

Monday…er…I Mean Thursday at the Movies

DoriLeave a comment

Well, my plans for a Monday Movie blog have gone astray after only one week and I can only blame it on one thing: Halloween! I took the day off to celebrate, so now I’m a wee bit behind, but…not to worry, I’m here to catch up. And since we’re talking schedules, the movie postings are making a permanent move to Tuesdays. And if that’s as clear as mud, not to worry, it’ll all make more sense next week.

Now onto the fun stuff! This week’s new DVD releases at RRPL will please a variety of fans:

Cars 2 – for the kid in all of us.
Water for Elephants – based on Sara Gruen’s book of the same name. I know there are a ton of fans of the book, but I haven’t heard too many positive things about the film – I’d love to hear your opinion. 
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – another movie  based on a well-loved book. This one was a joint Chinese-American effort, so it’s in both languages.
An Invisible Sign – Jessica Alba stars in this indie film as a math teacher. Believable?
The Last Mountain – a documentary about the fight between a coal mining company and a local community.
Tabloid – another documentary and Errol Morris’ latest is the strange tale a former Miss Wyoming who is charged with abducting and imprisoning a young Mormon Missionary.
How the States Got Their Shapes, Season 1 – a series from the History Channel which follows correspondent Brian Unger as he travels the U.S. making irreverent observations about how people think, speak, and act, and discovering their surprising connections to geography.
Californication, Season 4 – I’ve never watched this series, but I’ve heard good things.

This is also a good time to let you know about a new Warner Home Video policy which will affect when RRPL is able to loan Warner films:

Warner Home Video will no longer distribute theatrical releases to libraries or home video rental stores until 28 days after they release the movies for sale at retailers.

For example, the DVD Crazy Stupid Love is due out at retail stores this week, but the library will be unable to release it for loan until November 28th. This policy will also affect the forthcoming films Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 as well as The Hangover, Part II.  Questions? Please give us a call and we’ll do our best to explain.

Happy Watching.

~ Dori

My Football Hero

RosemaryLeave a comment

Some of my favorite movies are sports movies; I love Hoosiers, Rudy, and Breaking Away. I recently watched The Blind Side, which is based on the life of Michael Oher, an offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. Michael’s life from birth to his early high school years was one of hardship and poverty in Memphis. His mother was addicted to crack, and he never knew his father. These are the facts that could have made Michael just another statistic. How did he lift himself out of the life that seemed destined for him? The Blind Side was so inspiring that I wanted to know more about this young man; so I turned to his memoir, I Beat the Odds from Homelessness to the Blind Side, and Beyond. What impressed me throughout the memoir was that no matter what life threw at him, Michael was determined to succeed. When he was about eight or nine, he realized that sports could be his way out of poverty. He assumed it would be through basketball, but once he was accepted at Briarcrest Christian School, he started playing football and playing it very well.

 Michael loves and respects the Tuohy family who took him in and helped him achieve his dreams, but it was his own courage, personal responsibility, and perseverance that brought him to a successful life.

 Other books you might want to read are In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy and The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis.

You can read more about other books and movie connections in Dori’s post and Megan’s post.

 ~Rosemary

Traffic Made Tolerable

JulieLeave a comment

Once again, a traffic jam led me to a musical happy place – nothing like inching along on the highway for concentrating on new music. When we came to a standstill on I480, I put in the latest by Ian Moore and The Lossy Coils. I “listened” to it once but this time I really heard it and I really like it! Some of the lyrics that caught me were, “I’ve got a lazy eye but an activated mind” from the first track, Secondhand Store. (Unfortunately, I think most people have their eyes going but the mind, not so much.)  And from The Levees:

These days go by/ but most days we’re just barely getting by/Maybe we will be different/maybe we will be different today

I liked every song, but I especially loved the last track, Sad Affair, a little bit of Bowie, a little more of Elvis Costello, but definitely his own.   I can’t describe the album better than the writer for Jam Magazine, Tim Taylor: “(El Sonido Nuevo is) a guitar-fueled, energetic record with beautiful melodies, intelligent lyrics, and exceptional vocal harmonies.” The CD is El Sonido Nuevo, check it out!!

—Julie