Library Video of the Week, September 10, 2012.

 

The Black Balloon, starring Rhys Wakefield, Gemma Ward, Erik Thomson and Toni Collette. Directed by Elissa Down.  Library Call Number: PN1995.9.H34B53 2010.

          In this Australian film, the odds seemed stacked against Thomas, as he turns 16—his family has just moved to a new town in New South Wales, his dad’s in the army and his mother’s pregnant.  It would be hard enough to find new friends and maybe even a girlfriend, but then there’s the problem of Charlie, his autistic older brother, who is a constant embarrassment every time they’re out in public. 
          When Thomas takes swimming lessons, he meets Jackie and is instantly in love, but when she drops by his house, his brother is there, complicating matters.  How is Thomas ever going to learn how to exist with his brother?
          Movie fans might remember the early Leonardo DiCaprio/Johnny Depp movie, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? And find overtones in this movie, but Black balloon is in no way imitative.
         Director Downs focuses neatly on the problems of adolescence and dealing with a family member with special needs. Her story carries the ring of truth, perhaps because she herself grew up with autistic brothers and co-wrote the script.  Dramatic and funny, this is not a glossed-over look at a challenging family life, but it does leave the viewer with a sense of optimism concerning the human spirit.
          Nominated for 24 awards and winner of 17 in Australia and elsewhere, this is a movie well worth seeing.

Library Video of the Week, April 2, 2012.

Everything is Illuminated starring Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz and Boris Leskin. Directed by Liv Schreiber. 2005.  Library Call Number: PN1995.9.U45 E94 2006.

          Jonathan Safran Foer’s book comes alive on screen with Elijah Wood as the author who finds a mysterious woman in a picture of his grandfather from before World War II.  Anxious to find out more about his family, he journeys to the old country, picks up an eccentric interpreter who doesn’t know English all that well, the interpreter’s grandfather who acts as his chauffeur and the grandfather’s deranged dog in a cross-country odyssey through the new Ukraine.  Little does he know the odd and emotional journey he’s about to undertake in a strange land that somehow seems familiar.

Browsing Area Book of the Week, November 14, 2011

The Last Bridge by Teri Coyne. Library Call Number: PS3603.O975L37 2009.

          "For ten years, Alexandra 'Cat' Rucker has been on the run from her past. With an endless supply of bourbon and a series of meaningless jobs, Cat is struggling to forget her Ohio hometown and the rural farmhouse she once called home. But a sudden call from an old neighbor forces Cat to return to the home and family she never intended to see again. It seems that Cat's mother is dead. What Cat finds at the old farmhouse is disturbing and confusing: a suicide note, written on lilac stationery and neatly sealed in a ziplock bag, that reads: 'Cat, He isn't who you think he is. Mom xxxooo' One note, ten words--one for every year she has been gone--completely turns Cat's world upside down. Seeking to unravel the mystery of her mother's death, Cat must confront her past to discover who 'he' might be: her tyrannical, abusive father, now in a coma after suffering a stroke? Her brother, Jared, named after her mother's true love (who is also her father's best friend)? The town coroner, Andrew Reilly, who seems to have known Cat's mother long before she landed on a slab in his morgue? Or Addison Watkins, Cat's first and only love? The closer Cat gets to the truth, the harder it is for her to repress the memory and the impact of the events that sent her away so many years ago" -- from publisher's web site.

August Videos-Family Matters

(All synopses from Amazon Product descriptions)

Mother and Child, starring Naomi Watts, Annette Bening and Samuel L. Jackson, directed by Rodrigo Garcia. Call Number: PN1995.5.M63M68 2010.

     Three women's lives share a common core of being profoundly affected by adoption. At age fourteen, Karen placed a baby for adoption, and has been haunted ever since by the daughter she never knew. Elizabeth grew up as an adopted child. Even though she is a bright and ambitious lawyer, she is a flinty loner in her personal life. Lucy and her husband are just embarking on the adoption odyssey, hoping for the opportunity to become parents.

  Beeswax, starring Tilly and Maggie Hatcher, directed by Andrew Bujalski.  Call Number: PN1995.9.S55B44 2010.

A marvelous film from Andrew Bujalski, Beeswax revolves around the personal and professional lives of twin sisters Jeannie and Lauren.  Jeannie co-owns a vintage clothing store with Amanda, a semi-estranged friend who may be ending their partnership. Lauren leads a looser, less tethered existence and is thinking of getting out of the country altogether. When Amanda threatens Jeannie with a lawsuit, she calls her law student ex-boyfriend for help. Eager for distraction from his own problems, he begins helping the sisters with theirs. Imbued with an innate charm, the film is a story about family, friends and lovers and those awkward moments that bring all of them together.

Eat, Pray, Love, starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem, dir. by Ryan Murphy. Call Number: PN1995.9.T728 E38 2010.

   Out of a bad marriage, and seeing her affair with an actor going comfortable, Liz Gilbert steps outside the zone and books passage to Italy, where she learns the joy of food while she experiences the unusual sense of being alone; India, where she learns the joys of meditation and prayer; and Bali, where she adds peace and the balance of love to her experiences. Along the way, she discovers she’s built a family of friends.

Library Video of the Week, May 2, 2011.

The Blind Side, starring Quentin Aaron, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw and Kathy Bates. Directed by John Lee Hancock. 2009. Library Call Number: PN1995.9.S67 B55 2010.
          Tip-toeing through what could be saccharine/maudlin territory, and managing to mostly avoid it, The Blind Side is based on the true story of Michael Oher, an abandoned, shy and gentle teen-aged boy who is literally plucked off the streets by the Touhys, a white Republican, Evangelical family, and taken in to their Nashville home. Mother Leigh Anne Touhy takes an interest in the teen and begins to nurture him, helping him in school and on the football field—he’s never before touched a football. Oher, in turn, blossoms, becomes an All-American left guard, wins a scholarship to the University of Mississippi and eventually becomes a professional football player.
          Wesley Morris, film critic for the Boston Globe, points out an interesting sub-text in this film: though it’s actually Michael Oher’s story, it’s told primarily from the point of view of Leigh Anne Touhy. This makes it, he says, a more comfortable, Hollywood view of race in America, where no one wonders why the city schools seem all black and the private schools except for their athletes, are primarily white. Still, this is a smart film, worth watching; the main characters are pitch perfect and Bullock won an Oscar for her role.

Browsing Area Book of the Week, April 18, 2011.

Half-Broke Horses: A true-life novel by Jeannette Walls.
Library Call Number: PS3623.A3644 H35 2009.
          Author Walls introduces us to her grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, by way of an autobiographical/fictional rendition of her life. Growing up in the early 20th century on a ranch in Texas, Lily’s first home was a dugout in the bank of a creek, with a sod roof browsing goats occasionally stepped through and walls that gophers, snakes and scorpions would regularly pierce. Helping her father break horses by the age of six, Lily fought for the education that led her to become a schoolteacher, grew up during the Great Depression and eventually settled on an Arizona ranch. Replete with real-life drama and tragedy, the stories of Lily and her family provide a wonderful and evocative glimpse into western America in the early to mid-20th century and illuminate much of the self-reliance and self-discipline necessary to survive in that era. From the flash flood in the opening chapter to the tragedies of her later years, this is a modest American woman worthy of great respect.

Library Video of the Week, February 21, 2011

Daughters of the Dust, starring Alva Rogers, Barbara O. Jones and Cora Lee Day. Directed by Julie Dash. Library Call Number: PN1995.9.N4D29 1999.

          An independent film recently named to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, Daughters of the Dust traces the history of the Gullah people, former slaves who lived an isolated existence on the barrier islands of Georgia. With a distinct dialect and cultural heritage stretching back to Africa, the story tells the tale of onf family's migration north in 1902, searching for a better life, the problems of assimilation and the proud heritage they refuse to leave behind.
          When the film was released in 1999, Siskel and Ebert gave it “Two Thumbs Up! A haunting film rich in visual beauty. A mystical examination of what it means to honor and cherish family."