Recently, I saw a film that I consider intellegent with gifted actors, a wonderful script, and great staging. It is Barney's Vison. Finally a film without pyrotechniques. A film for adults. A powerful film that moves gently through a man's life, exploring his choices and his relationships. Leonard Cohen soundtrack is a perfect compliment. Based on Mordecai Richler's book of the same name, Canadian director, Robert Lantos spent 10 years trying to get it made, discarding script after script, including two by Richler, until it was just right. Barney Panofsky, played by Paul Giamatti, is a 65 year old, hard-drinking, cigar-smoking, foulmouthed, hockey fanatic and Montreal television producer, reflects on his life's successes and failures as his final years come sharply into focus. Gianatti won a best actor Golden Globe for his performaces. The film is not all about Giamatti, additional convincing performances are turned in by Dustin Hoffman, Rosemund Pike and Minnie Driver. If you missed it in the theaters, reserve the DVD by calling the library 860-673-9712.

I am so glad summer is over...the heat, the humidity...and most of it all, not many good films. Fall, in all its brilliant color is here, and at last, so are some decent films. Only two films I saw this summer are worth seeing: The Kids are All Right with Annette Benning, Julianna Moore and Mark Ruffalo and Salt with Angelina Jolie and Liev Schreiber. I liked both; one for its portrait of modern life and the other for its all out unrealistic action and suspense.

Kids was the most talked-about movie at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, and the winner of the Teddy Award for Best Feature Film at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko (High Art, Laurel Canyon) from an original screenplay that she wrote along with Stuart Blumberg (Keeping the Faith). The film is funny and poignant. A richly drawn portrait of a modern family and how bonds of trust and love can be tested.. Benning is outstanding.

Salt, an action adventure film cloaked in mystery and suspense, keeps you guessing nearly to the end. Salt, a victim of another type of family environment, is a CIA agent accused of being a Russian spy . She uses all her skill and training to elude capture and prove her innocence. If you prefer realism this is not for you. If you like action films with implausible plots that only

Hollywood can produce, you'll love it. How could anyone except Jolie withstand such a beating and run away in the end?

If you you missed them in the theater, call in you reserve. I will add them to the collection as soon as they are released. I have seen several cant miss films in September and October which I will write about next time. Hopefully I will be able to post recommendations more regularly as we approach Academy Award season.

.......... ...................... READ IT ........................THEN ...................SEE IT ........................
A Very Private Gentleman, a 1990 cat-and-mouse thriller by British novelist Martin Booth, was recently released as The American starring George Clooney and Violante Placido. Alone among assassins, Jack is the best. When a job ends badly he vows his next assignment will be his last. In a small Italian village tucked away in the countryside, Jack relishes being away from death. He seeks out the friendship of a local priest and pursues romance with a local woman. Put when next assignment comes, he is soon back in the fray. By stepping out of the shadows, will he be tempting fate!


The Romantics based on the novel by Pankaj Mishra will soon be released starring Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin and Josh Duhamel. Seven close friends reunite for the wedding of two of their friends. Problems arise because the bride and the maid of honor have had a long rivalry over the groom. During the course of the raucous night before the wedding, friendships and alliances are tested and the love triangle comes to a head. A love story that examines the camaraderie of youth.

The Town is a film adaption of the prize-winning book by Chuck Hogan Prince of Thieves which won the 2005 Hammett Prize for excellence in crime writing. The film, starring Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner, will be in theaters soon. Men wearing masks with guns drawn make a bank manager open the vault. Their timing and execution is brilliant. It could be the perfect heist. But as the huge sum of cash is stolen, so is one man's heart, and that man is the Prince of Thieves, the brains behind the tough, tight-knit crew of thieves. The girl who has caught his heart has another admirer: FBI agent Adam Frawley, who is investigating the gang determined to bring them to justice.

Never Let Me Go this 2004 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro is adapted into a film starring Keire Knightly, Carey Mullligan and Andrew Garfield. The story is narrated by 31 year-old Kathy who reminisces about her childhood at the sheltered boarding school and her life after leaving the school. An idyllic life in the scenic English countryside where the children were sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe that they were special and that their well-being was crucial not only for themselves but for the society as well. When two of her classmates come back into her life, she stops resisting the pull of memory and the dark secret behind a nurturing facade. With the dawning clarity of hindsight, the three friends are compelled to face the truth about their childhood—and about their lives now. A tale of biomedical science fiction that asks the question "what makes us human."

The Social Network, a film starring Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake, is based on Ben Mezrich's nonfiction book The Accidental Billionaires which uncovers the true story behind the founding of Facebook. A high-energy tale about two socially awkward Ivy Leaguers who are trying to increase their chances with the opposite sex end up creating Facebook. Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg were Harvard undergraduates and best friends and clearly on the outside. Getting invited to join one of the Harvard's Finnl Clubs could be their ticket to social acceptance. Mark finds a way to stardom by hacking into the university's computer system, creating a database that rates all the female students on campus. At that moment, in his Harvard dorm room, the framework for Facebook was born revolutionizing the way hundreds of millions of people relate to each other.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the final book in Stieg Larsson's millennium trilogy, follows The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire with this exhilarating conclusion. Lisbeth Salander, the brilliant computer hacker who was shot in the head at the end of Fire, is alive and the prime suspect in three murders in Stockholm. While she convalesces under armed guard, journalist Mikael Blomkvist works to unravel the decades-old coverup surrounding the man who shot Salander: her father, Alexander Zalachenko, a Soviet intelligence defector and longtime secret asset to Sweden's security police. When able Salander will have to prove her innocence, denounce those in authority who allowed the attack on her life and seek revenge against the man who tried to kill her. Once a victim. now she's fighting back.

Check out what's on the August DVD list

According to Greta Hilary Duff, Evan Ross. A rebellious teen is sent to her grandparents for the summer. She soon begins a romance with a young cook who has a criminal past, confronts a tragic family secret, and just may discover the promising young woman hidden beneath her sarcastic shell.

Afghan Star In Afghanistan you risk your life to sing. After thirty years of war and five devastating years of Taliban rule, pop culture is beginning to return to the country.

Alice in Wonderland Anne Hathaway, Johnny Depp. Alice, now 19 years old, returns to the whimsical world she first entered as a child and embarks on a journey to discover her true destiny.

Amreeka Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem. Muna Farah, a Palestinian single mom, struggles to maintain her optimistic spirit in the daily grind of intimidating West Bank checkpoints, the constant nagging of a controlling mother, and the haunting shadows of a failed marriage. Everything changes one day when she receives a letter informing her that her family has been granted a U.S. green card.

The Bounty Hunter Gerard Butler, Jennifer Aniston. Milo, a down-on-his-luck bounty hunter, gets his dream job when he is assigned to track down his bail-jumping ex-wife, reporter Nicole.

The Boys are Back Clive Owen, Emma Booth. After the unexpected death of his wife, a sportswriter finds himself consumed with grief and completely unprepared to raise two boys. Determined to bring joy back into their lives, he takes a 'just say yes' approach to parenting and chaos ensues.

Brooklyn’s Finest Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke. After having endured extremely different career paths, the lives of three disheartened Brooklyn police officers will collide with destiny when they all wind up at the same fatal crime scene.

Disgrace John Malkovich, Jessica Haines. Professor David Lurie is a man whose world is shattered when he is fired for seducing a college student. He finds peace at his estranged daughter's modest farm in South Africa until a horrific incident of terror and violence forces Lurie to confront his beliefs and the disturbing racial complexities of the new South Africa.

Edge of Darkness Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone. After a bullet meant for him kills his daughter instead, Boston cop Thomas Craven's quest for revenge leads him into a shadowy world of political intrigue.

Flow: for the love of water or how did a handful of corporations steal our water? The documentary builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply and pose the question: Can anyone really own water?

Fourth Kind Milla Jovovich, Will Patton. Since the 1960s, Nome, Alaska, has seen a disproportionate number of its population being reported missing every year. Despite multiple FBI investigations of the region, the truth has never been discovered until a psychologist begins videotaping sessions with traumatized patients and unwittingly discovered some of the most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented.

The Good Guy Scott Porter, Alexis Bledel. Ambitious New Yorker Beth wants it all: a good job, good friends, and a good guy to share the city with. But when she falls hard for a handsome young Wall Street hotshot, she discovers that the last one is trickiest of all.

Green Zone Matt Damon, Amy Ryan. During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that inverts the purpose of their mission.

North Face Benno Fürmann, Johanna Wokalek. An adventure drama, based on a true story about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps, the north face of the Eiger.

Phoebe in Wonderland Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson. Phoebe is an imaginative but troubled girl with a desperate longing to be in her school's production of Alice in Wonderland. When she is cast in the lead role her parents believe her unusual behavior is due to her creativity, but soon realize that she is on the brink of falling through the looking glass herself.

The White Ribbon Christian Friedel, Ulrich Tukur, Leonie Benesch. In a north German village prior to the outbreak of World War I, strange events, accidents, and deaths are occurring. The village people are beside themselves with worry and can't figure out what to do. Trying to unravel this mystery, it is discovered that the children of the town may be guilty of the crimes and have formed a secret society with the local pastor's daughter the leader.

With a long weekend ahead, think about borrowing DVDs from the library. The weather will be great, but after a long day outside, you may want to curl up and watch a great film. The new July list is out. Check the library web site for a complete list. Below are some favorable mentions. . . . .

I can recommend The Botany of Desire a PBS special based on the Michael Pollan book that examines the relationship between plants and humans.

Another film I can recommend is

A Single Man. Based on the Christopher Isherwood novel, it is brilliant. Colin Firth is the tortured professor who loses his longtime partner in a terrible accident. Dealing with his grief, he contemplates suicide while he struggles with the age-old question: is life worthwhile. It is an outstanding performance from Colin Firth. The role is a perfect match for his talent: withdrawn, pained, sensual, with sparks of wit and fun. He so perfectly depicts a man who cannot publicly morn because in the 1960s during the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the birth of youth culture, society would not permit him to grieve the death of his gay companion openly. Don't miss this poignant, deeply compassionate portrait.

Also on the list are: From Paris with Love, Invictus, Legion, The Memory Thief, Shutter Island, Valentine's Day and When in Rome. If you missed them in the theater this year, here's your chance.

Four foreign films have been add to the library collection this month

All French, each explores an issue as only the French can. Shall We Kiss?, a comedy about the consequences of intimacy, is an enjoyable, tender and tasteful romantic film. Adult in its appeal, it presents lessons that never grow old with time. Heart in Winter (un Coeur En Hiver) examines the complexities of a love triangle and rebirth. Only the French can create such wonderful characters. Is there anything as beautiful as love and anything as painful as deep sorrow and loneliness of the soul ? The Wedding Song (Le Chant des Mariees), an art house film because of one explicit scene, is set in Tunis on the cusp of World War II. It examines the lives of two 16 year old girls, one a Muslim, and the other a Jew, who struggle to maintain their friendship as politics and families threaten to undermine it. A fine example of contemporary French cinema, Summer Hours (Heure d'Ete) is a story of an estate that must be divided up by three siblings after the death of their mother. The film is understated and gently paced, evoking the changes brought on one family as they are forced to reevaluate heritage vs. their place in the increasingly globalized world.

The June 2010 DVD list has been posted to the library's web page. Check it out and add your holds. Some titles to reserve are: Avatar, Crazy Heart, It's Complicated, and Last Station. All are my favorites except Avatar. But, if you haven't seen it, you should. . . if not for the plot, for the film technique.

It's been awhile since I posted. I've been busy enjoying my yard, planting perennials and planning improvements. Although a very small space, I seem to spend a lot of time fussing, planting and weeding. Having grown up in New York City without a sandbox or dirt to play in, I am relishing my new found love of gardening. This is all well and good because there have been very few films worth seeing. With that in mind, searching the library's DVD racks I found some old favorites.

Ninotchka(1939) with Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas is great. Garbo plays a stern Russian agent sent to Paris on official business and finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest. It was her first full comedy, and demonstrates her great talent. The film, written by Billy Wilder, deliberately criticizes the Soviet Union, depicting it as rigid and gray compared to the free and sunny life in Paris and the west. Much of the marketing surrounding Ninotchka played on Garbo's super-serious image, suggesting she had never laughed or played comedy on film before. Released in 1939 in the United States, the movie was released during WWII in Europe, where it became a great success. It was, however, banned in the Soviet Union and its satellites. Despite this, it went on to make $2,279,000 worldwide.

Woman of the Year (1942) with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy is another. Two newspaper reporters, Tess and Sam, working on the same newspaper take a dislike to one another but eventually find themselves falling in love and marrying. Tess, a very active woman and one of the most famous feminists in the country, is elected "woman of the year." Being busy all the time, she forgets how to really be a woman and Sam begins to feel neglected. The final scene in their kitchen is one of the funniest I've ever seen...no dialog, no music, just perfect timing. This is the first of nine films Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy made together. They met for the first time on this shoot. In the 1993 documentary Katharine Hepburn: All About Me, Hepburn herself recalls she was wearing high heels at their first meeting with Tracy and producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and said "I'm afraid I'm a bit tall for you, Mr. Tracy". Mankiewicz then responded, "Don't worry, Kate, he'll cut you down to size."

The Apartment(1960) with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine should not be missed. They were both so young, so fresh, such bright stars...you just can't keep your eyes of them. Climbing the corporate ladder in an insurance company in New York City is easy particularly if you allow your bosses to use your apartment for extramarital affairs. This arrangement goes terrible wrong when love creeps in. A commercial and critical hit, grossing $25 million at the box office, the film was nominated for ten Academy awards, winning five, including best picture. Some funny tidbits : Wilder generally required his actors to adhere exactly to the script, but allowed Jack Lemmon to improvise in several scenes: in one scene he squirted a bottle of nose drops across the room and in another he sang while making a meal of spaghetti. In another scene where Lemmon was supposed to mime being punched, he failed to move correctly and was accidentally knocked down. Wilder chose to use the shot of the genuine punch in the film. He also caught a cold when one scene on a park bench was filmed in sub-zero weather.