Movies Blog

MST3K's Giant Gila Monster

2012-08-02T15:00:00Z

The next installment in the Bad Movie Night saga is the 1959, low budget monster movie, The Giant Gila Monster. This Mystery Science Theater version is hilarious from start to finish as a giant lizard is on the loose, terrorizing an entire town of inept residents. This movie has one of my personal favorites, the “knee up” scenes!

Tell all your friends and come join us for fun and laughs on Thursday, August 9 at 6:00 PM in Central Library’s Browning Events Room B.

Bad Movie Night on a Summer's Evening

2012-06-06T18:20:00Z

June Bad Movie Night is right around the corner. This month's feature is MST3K's version of Catalina Caper, a 1967 beach movie about theives who steal a precious scroll and then get found out by their swinging teenage son. The only redeeming element of this movie is an appearance by Little Richard, and the hilarious comments by the Mystery Science crew.

As always, the movie will be shown in Browning Room B at Central Library on Thursday, June 14 at 6:00 PM

Come join us for laughs, refreshments, and prizes!

"Awake" an amazing TV show, cancelled after tonight

2012-05-24T15:48:00Z

I'm not a fan of hyperbole...but Awake is, without a doubt, the best show I've seen on TV in a long time.

However, the bean counters at NBC have already cancelled the show. Tonight's season finale will also be the series finale.

Detective Michael Britten survives a horrific car crash with his wife and son as passengers. Following the accident, Michael finds himself living in two realities: one in which his wife survived but his son didn't, and one where his son survived but his wife didn't.

Michael alternates between the two realities every morning when he wakes. Happenings in one reality become clues for the other.

Definitely an interesting concept. But it's the writing, acting, and emotion that make the show so great. The cinematography is excellent as well, always alerting the viewer to which reality they are currently seeing (except for a few scenes that are intentionally vague).

Is one of the realities a dream? Are both? What is going on? We should find out tonight as the 13th and final episode airs.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this series (if you couldn't tell already), but you must watch them in order. They are available for viewing on Hulu.

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My Favorite Sleep/Dream Related Movies

So all this talk about Awake made me think about movies involving sleep & dreaming. Below are 3 of my favs, and as I previously declared my love for all things Christopher Nolan it should be no surprise that two of these are his.

Inception (2010) - Check our catalog

Ambiguous Plot Description: In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, & Ellen Page.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - Check our catalog

Ambiguous Plot Description: A couple undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with. Starring Jim Carrey & Kate Winslet.

Insomnia (2002) - Check our catalog

Ambiguous Plot Description: Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to an Alaska town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the murder of a local teen. Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, & Hilary Swank.

May Bad Movie Night

2012-05-01T15:01:00Z

It's that time again! This month's Bad Movie will feature the Cinematic Titanic version of Alien Factor (1978). Cinematic Titanic is a live riffing version of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and features the same team from the original television show in front of a live audience.

This pathetic, low budget sci-fi movie comes to life when murderous aliens crash and are set loose in a small town. Alien Factor will entertain you as the CT team poke fun at the amateur acting, technical bloopers, dreadfully slow paced so-called plot.

See what all the excitement is about on Thursday, May10 at 6:00 PM. As always, Bad Movie Night will take place at Central Library's Browning Events Room B.

Come join us. You will not be disappointed.

Another excellent Titanic movie

2012-04-07T21:49:00Z

April 15th, 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the famed ocean liner Titanic and interest in this disaster has never waned. Most of us are familiar with the 1997 epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Long before this movie, however, the excellent British 1959 release "A Night to Remember", based on the well-known book by Walter Lord, presented a meticulously detailed and riveting adaptation. The movie was beautifully filmed in black and white, creating an especially somber tone for the nighttime events. Although it boasts elaborate sets and costumes, and other topnotch production values, it doesn't wallow in the heavy-handed romance, corny dialogue, and seemingly endless special effects of the admittedly enjoyable Cameron epic or the earlier Barbara Stanwyck film from 1953 of the same name. In terms of special effects, it at times takes a" less is more"approach to conveying the dramatic events which I found very effective.

"A Night to Remember" is considered by many to be the best feature film about this historic disaster. See what you think!

April Bad Movie Night

2012-04-06T13:33:00Z

The Mystery Science Theater version of the 1975 movie Mitchell is considered one of the best by a vast majority of MST3K fans. Joe Don Baker plays Mitchell--- a sleazy, alcoholic cop who punches and shoots his way through the plot while trying to solve a murder. From the lame car chases, to the scenes of Mitchell dozing on the job, and his truly unbelievable love scene with Linda Evans, this movie is hilarious from beginning to end.

Come join us and see for yourself how really bad a movie can be!

Thursday, April 12 at 6:00 PM in Browning Room B at Central Library.

Free refreshments will be served.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

2012-02-29T15:15:00Z

What do you do if you’re a scientist and your girlfriend is decapitated in a car accident? Well, you keep her head alive in a “roasting pan” until you can find her another body, of course!

It’s that time again. This month’s Bad Movie Night will feature Mystery Science Theater’s “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die”.

Come and join us on WEDNESDAY March 7 at 6:00 PM in Central Library’s Browning Room B for a really bad movie which is made hilarious by the gang from Mystery Science Theater.

This is one you will not forget!

Don't Miss Bad Movie Night!

2012-02-01T17:38:00Z

Do you need a good laugh? Are you ready to see just how bad a “Bad Movie” can be? The next movie in the “Bad Movie Night” series is Mystery Science Theater 3000’s “The Skydivers” (1963) -- a gem from Coleman Francis. This film has huge lapses in plot, continuity, and acting ability which make it a favorite.

There will also be a hilarious bonus short called “Why Study Industrial Arts” that sets the mood for the feature film

Come join the fun on Thursday February 9 at 6:00 PM in Central Library’s Browning Events Room B. Refreshments and door prizes will be provided.

Any questions, please call 428-8246.

2012 Bad Movie Night Every Month!

2012-01-04T22:44:00Z

Tell your friends and mark your calendar for the 2012 season of Bad Movie Nights! This year we will have one wacky movie after another to keep you entertained and coming back for more.

January's Bad Movie is another one from the wonderful 1980's. The feature will be Mystery Science Theater 3000's Overdrawn At The Memory Bank. Please join us on Thursday, January 12 at 6:00 PM in Central Library's Browning Events Room B. As always, we will provide popcorn and drinks.

Follow this link to see all Bad Movie dates for 2012.

If you have any questions, please call 428-8246.

See you there!

Bad Movie Night Is Back!

2011-10-10T15:22:00Z

This week's Bad Movie Night will be Mystery Science Theater's Space Mutiny. If you are in the mood to see a really "bad" movie, come and join us for the laughs. The movie will be shown in Central Library's Browning Events Room B at 6:00 PM. As always, there will be refreshments and "bad" door prize drawings--- for those who can make it to the ending credits. Warning--- this movie was filmed in 1988 "spandex" style!

Wacky Wonderful Bad Movie Night!

2011-08-08T14:25:00Z

If you’ve never been to Bad Movie Night, you’ve been missing all the fun. Here’s your opportunity to come and enjoy (on the big screen)some of the wackiest movies ever made. In cool comfortable surroundings at Central Library, you and your friends can sit back with a drink and popcorn --------and it’s all free!

Bad Movie Night this month features The Thing With Two Heads starring Ray Milland and Rosie Grier. The 1972 cult film is being shown in Central’s Browning Events Room this Thursday August 11 at 6:30 PM.

Come and see what the excitement is all about!

Slow Cinema

2011-06-30T22:30:00Z

Tired of the mindless and obnoxious effects laden summer blockbusters inundating the multiplex? Looking for something adventurous and contemplative that forces you to slow down and take in what a director has constructed on screen? Then try a variety of films from all around the world that constitute examples of "slow cinema," and are available through the library. In the past couple of decades directors have emerged from Hungary and Iran to Thailand and Taiwan, who have varying ties to each other artistically and have developed films with long and studious takes meant to be more reflective of reality. While some frame scenes with immobile cameras, others track and follow actors for lengthy periods as they traverse a variety of landscapes.

If you are not accustomed to this style of cinema, then start with Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda whose Still Walking was just acquired by the library. In Still Walking, Kore-eda utilizes a slower pace to portray the mundane activities of an older couple as they work towards a commemoration slowly revealing the history of their lives together. Kore-eda subtle camerawork quietly builds the tension and captures the characters lives with an honesty non-existent in most modern films.

Another director from this category includes the leader of the Taiwanese New Wave film movement, Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Considered by some to be one of the most important filmmakers alive, Hsien's films often contain static shots and understated long takes which gradually allow the narrative to develop, while never overwhelming the viewer with melodramatic portrayals. Often his films revolve around alienated and purposeless Taiwanese youth and underworld figures, or historical films reflective of the changing culture in Taiwan. The most recent film by Hsien to be released in the U.S. is Flight of the Red Balloon, which was inspired by the classic French short film, and tells the story of a young boy living with his mother who is a preoccupied actress.

Hailing from Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul has started gaining worldwide recognition after winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival for Uncle Boonmee Recalls His Past Lives. Currently Uncle Boonmee is on order from the library, but you can still check out Syndromes and a Century, which tells the story of the director's parents who were doctors, with one story set in a rural Thai hospital, and the other set in a modern Bangkok medical center. The film has a free flowing narrative consisting of vignettes which possess a dream-like quality focused on capturing genuinely simple and humane moments.

A film which actually challenges our modern lifestyle and methods of communication comes from the Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami. In Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us, a small village is visited by a filmmaker attempting to film the village's mourning rituals as an old woman dies. However, the woman does not die and the man finds himself dealing with life in the village as he waits for her death. The film provides several humorous moments in this poetic and transcendental work, which seemingly anticipated narrative developments in world cinema for the coming decade.

Although some of these films may not be easily digestible at first, they provide a wide variety of simple reflections which illuminate the world around us in ways summer blockbusters never will. Hopefully you will find the experience rewarding.

Blow Out

2011-05-14T18:01:00Z

The Criterion Company continues its amazing track record of preserving classic works of film with the recent addition of Brian De Palma's 1981 masterpiece Blow Out. Early in his career Brian De Palma distinguished himself as a maverick independent filmmaker whose work was heavily influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, which is conspicuously evident in such works as Sisters, which includes a score from Hitchcock's famous collaborative composer Bernard Hermann, and Dressed to Kill. These exemplary efforts differ from his larger studio efforts such as the indulgent Scarface, but before Scarface, De Palma brought together John Travolta and Nancy Allen together in Blow Out; a twisted and dark post-Watergate era film steeped in the political paranoia of the late 70's, the Chappaquiddick incident, and Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up. Blow Out's story revolves around John Travolta who plays a sound effects editor on B grade exploitation films and one evening when recording in a park he hears what appears to be a gunshot shooting out the tire of a car that drives off a bridge into a nearby river. Travolta jumps into the water and manages to save Sally, played by Nancy Allen, but leaves the driver who is dead. After taking Sally to the emergency room, Travolta finds out that the other person in the car was the Governor of Pennsylvania, who was planning on running for President. Also Travolta is told to keep quiet about Sally since the Governor was married and his aid wants to save the Governor's family from embarrassment. This sets off Travolta's character with a reluctant Sally to prove what he saw was a murder, and not an accident, despite everyone's doubts. De Palma's tour de force consists of his most mesmerizing and dizzying camerawork from his trademark split screen and slow motion sequences, to a variety of dolly and tracking shots to emphasize emotion and build narrative connections. All of the camera tricks coalesce into a luminously shot but disturbing finale set during the fireworks display of the fictional "Liberty Day" parade. What could have been a derivative exercise in suspense or topical film a la All the President's Men comes off as a unique political thriller enlivened by the personal performance of Travolta and the combined camerawork of Brian De Palma and the famous Vilmos Zsigmond. Also look for one of De Palma's most notable tracking shots which occurs in the sequence following the murder of a young girl and continues following a character into a seedy motel.

Celebrate National Poetry Month with Howl

2011-04-15T16:22:00Z

Celebrating National Poetry Month normally begins by reading or listening to poetry, but one recent film which distills the vivid imagery conjured by poetry into a distinct and celebratory narrative is the film Howl. Howl tells the story of the famous poem created by Allen Ginsberg and the following obscenity trial which was brought against the poem's publisher. In the film James Franco, from 127 Hours and Pineapple Express, plays the famous poet Allen Ginsberg who recounts his inspiration for the poem while the movie cuts back and forth between an animated sequence, which illustrates the narrative of the poem, and the obscenity trial brought against City Lights publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Every word in the film was taken from actual interviews and court transcripts, and provides Mad Men's Jon Hamm with enough rousing dialogue as the publisher's defense attorney, to communicate the importance of Ginsberg's use of language in the poem. While the animation feels unnecessary due to the potency of the poem's language, the film still provides an important testament to the power of poetry. You can check out the original Allen Ginsberg poem from our library here, along with a reading of the poem by Ginsberg, or see if the film is available here.

MediaBank DVD Dispenser now available at Central

2010-11-16T14:51:00Z

The MediaBank DVD Dispenser is now available at Central Library's Popular Materials Center! The dispenser can be accessed during Central's regular business hours: Monday through Thursday 9am - 9pm, Friday & Saturday 9am - 6pm, and Sunday from 1pm - 5pm.

Access the MediaBank Catalog at http://media.evpl.org to browse the collection, and place up to three reserves on Bestseller Express DVDs that are currently available in the dispenser. You then have 4 hours to bring your library card to the MediaBank DVD Dispenser and check out your DVDs before your reserve expires, making the titles available to other customers.

Questions? Take a look at the MediaBank FAQ, visit Central Library, or call us at (812) 428-8246.