Library Videos of the Week, May 13, 2013.

 

The Ladykillers, starring Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Alec Guinness and Katie Johnson.  Directed by Alexander MacKendrick. 1955.          Library Call Number:PN1995.9.C55L33 2002

              

          The original English version of this classic movie has five criminals planning a million dollar bank job in the apartment of their leader, Professor Marcus.  Renting a two-room apartment from Mrs. Wilberforce, a sweet old lady, in an isolated house, they pose as a musical quintet in order to use her as cover for their heist.  But when things begin to go wrong, there’s nothing to it but to kill the old lady, a deed easier said than done.

The Ladykillers, starring Tom Hanks, Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons, Irma P. Hall and Diane Delano.  Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.  2004.
Library Call Number: PN1995.9.C55L34 2004.

          The Coen Brothers remake moves the action to Mississippi and the bank becomes a riverboat casino with a buried vault on shore.  Five robbers led by the blowhard Professor Dorr rent Mrs.  Marva Munson’s spare room and ask to use the basement to practice playing classical music.  Instead, while they play orchestral CDs, they dig their way to the money. Not a great success at the box office, but still a very funny movie and film buffs will love comparing the two versions.

Library Video of the Week, March 4, 2013.

Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy, starring Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and Christina Applegate.  Directed by Adam McKay. 2004.  Library Call Number: PN1995.9.C55A64 2004.

 

        Will Ferrell is kind of an ADHD comedian—his movies never seem to gain true focus, running all over the plot line with tangents, diversions and digressions, almost like improv is being slathered over the story line.  Still, he finds the funny spots a lot. 

In Anchorman, Ferrell plays Ron Burgundy, the king of 1970’s San Diego TV news, and the biggest ego west of the Rockies.  His all-male news crew includes Steve Carrell as a chuckleheaded weatherman, Paul Rudd as a reporter and David Koechner as a former jock turned sports anchor.  It’s a comfortable man’s world for Burgundy, with everyone fawning all over him, until his kingdom is threatened by Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), a new reporter with anchor ambitions of her own. 

Applegate is pretty good as the woman who rattles the testosterone cage of the news set and there are enough laughs to justify a viewing. You either like Ferrell or you don’t—if you like him, this is worth a look.

Library Video of the Week, December 10, 2012.

50/50, starring, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick. Directed by Jonathan Levine.  (2011.)  Library Call Number: PN1995.9.C55F54 2012.

 

          From the Amazon Product Description: “Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen team up to beat the odds in a film that Rolling Stone calls achingly hilarious and heartfelt. Diagnosed with spinal cancer, 27 year old Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) navigates the road to recovery with the sometimes overbearing support of his crude best friend (Rogen), his smothering mother (Angelica Huston) and an inexperienced therapist (Anna Kendrick).  Inspired by a true story of writer Will Reiser, 50/50 is an honest yet hysterically funny account of a young man's journey toward healing.”
          Although billed as a comedy, the film is more a serious look at cancer in a young man, with poignantly funny scenes mixed in.  The combination of drama and humor gives the film a more realistic feel and avoids what could have been the usual maudlin, Hollywood fare.

Library Video of the Week, September 24, 2012

Flypaper, Starring Patrick Dempsey, Ashley Judd, Tim Blake Nelson and Mekhi Phifer. Directed by Rob Minkoff. (2011). Library Call Number: PN1995.9.C55F59 2011.

          A strange comedy revolving around a man named Tripp, who walks into a bank to change a bill, only to find himself surrounded by two sets of bank robbers.  One trio of high-tech heist men want to blow open the vault, while a pair of very low-tech bumblers calling themselves Peanut Butter and Jelly are looking to crack open the bank’s ATM machines.  With a group of hostages in the middle, both teams begin their work; Tripp, meanwhile, becomes more and more frantic as his medications begin to wear off. 
          Secretly in love with one of the tellers, Tripp wants to protect her from harm, even as bank robbers and hostages alike suddenly start dying.  Everything is not what it seems in this robbery and it will take a manic mind to figure out what’s going on.
          Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who wrote The Hangover, bring you an extraordinary script that lets the actors act.  PB and J are especially reminiscent of the writers’ first big movie.  Not exactly laugh out loud, but some very funny bits and an original premise make this one to watch.

Library Video of the Week, May 17, 2012.

10 Things I Hate About You, starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Larisa Oleynik.  Library Call Number: PN1995.9.M28 T46 2010.

    From the container notes: In this loose, loose adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Cameron is the new kid in school who becomes smitten with the beautiful Bianca. But Bianca's overprotective and domineering father forbids Bianca to date unless her older sister Kat, a surly and hostile senior, does. In a bid to get Kat a boyfriend, Cameron sets up a plan to have the school stud, Joey Donnar, bribe Patrick Verona, an outcast senior with a rumor-filled past, to take Kat out on dates so he can go to the school's homecoming dance with Bianca. However, neither Patrick nor Kat expect their relationship to lead to something so much more. As Patrick Verons, this was Heath Ledger's American movie debut.  Julia Stiles, who played Kat, went on to co-star in the Bourne trilogy.

Library Video of the Week, November 28, 2011

Being John Malkovich starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and John Malkovich, directed by Spike Jonze.(1999.) Library Call Number: PN1995.9.S85B44 2003.

         In this truly weird movie from the great director Spike Jonze, Cusack plays Craig Schwartz, a struggling puppeteer forced to take a day job as a filing clerk in a nondescript doctor’s office.  His desk and the files are on the 7½ floor and it’s just that—half a floor, about four feet high.  Craig spends his time hitting on bored but attractive coworker, Maxine, even though he’s a married man, and no one on the floor seems to mind they’re spending all day in a crouch. That would be weird enough, but then Cusack finds a hidden door; go through it and you end up inside John Malkovich’s head for fifteen minutes, after which you’re ejected into a ditch along the New Jersey Turnpike.  In no time at all, Craig has turned it into a business, offering people the chance to be Malkovich for $200 a turn.
          Things quickly get complicated, however, when Craig’s wife tries the door, has a date with Maxine, and ends up in bed with her—as Malkovich.  There is also a small problem with the actor, who is becoming increasingly paranoid as he feels all these strange people and voices in his head.
          Probably the most unpredictable movie you’ll ever see, Being John Malkovich is an original.

Library Video of the Week, October 3, 2011.

Annie Hall, Starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. Directed by Woody Allen. (Released 1977.) Library Call Number: PN1995.9.C55A55 1998.

        Woody Allen had made several previous, funny, but uneven movies before Annie Hall came along and gave him his groove. Winner of three Academy Awards—for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress—the movie follows Allen’s semiautobiographical character, comedian Alvy Singer, and his relationship with Annie Hall, played by Keaton.  Full of asides, small, interesting vignettes, and awkward but poignant moments, their romance from beginning to end illustrates a point in time in the decade of the 1970’s, New York, and the personae of two people who don’t quite fit the time and place in which they find themselves.  Along with Manhattan, this is one of Allen’s best early films, rated #140 on the IMDB’s list of all-time great movies.

It is often referred to as a film that captured the difficulties of love in the 70’s and apparently did strike a chord worldwide—it won best Foreign Film that year in Germany, Spain and Denmark, and was nominated for best Foreign Film in France.

Library Video of the Week, April 4, 2011.

The Fabulous Baker Boys, starring Michelle, Pfeiffer, Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges, a Mirage production ; produced by Paula Weinstein and Mark Rosenberg ; written and directed by Steve Kloves. (1989).
Library Call Number: PN1995.9.M86F83 2006.
          For over fifteen years, Frank and Jack Baker have played duo pianos in a small lounge act. For awhile life was good, now, the venues are getting smaller and the bookings harder. Down to bowling alleys and tired clubs, they decide to hire a female singer, maybe turn their prospects around and avoid having to get a day job. They interview a number of women, but it’s only when they’ve given up and are ready to call it quits, that hard-edged Susie Diamond shows up with a bad attitude and a honeyed voice. Jack wants to hire her; Frank has his doubts. What neither of them know is their lives are about to get way more complicated, even as their act starts rising to the top once more.