IMPENDING FILM ADDITIONS

The Main Library will soon be adding some new and noteworthy titles to our DVD collection. I thought I would share some of them on the blog...

ENTERTAINMENT TITLES

Deception

Starring Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman, this thriller follows mousy, Barnaby-the-Scriveneresque Jonathan McQuarry (McGregor), an accountant. He meets suave, uber-cool attorney Wyatt Bose (Jackman) and abruptly becomes hopelessly entwined with Bose's seamy secret life when their cell phones become exchanged by accident (or is it...?). Characters aren't who they appear to be and the pacing is assuredly speedy in this implausible but rollicking who's-duping-whom adventure.

Fanny Hill

Based on the novel of the same name written by John Cleland in 1748, this film adaptation aired on the BBC in October 2007. Fanny (played by Rebecca Night) is a newly-orphaned farmgirl who is forced into homelessness, shortly after which she is hoodwinked into working at a house of ill repute. She becomes involved with Charles Standing, a nobleman's son, with whom she sustains a relationship (of sorts) throughout her career as a prostitute. Cheerfully unrepentant in the face of her life choices, Fanny Hill was a tremendously controversial character at the novel's debut since she refused repentance or regret in the face of her actions, which were hardly fictitious for disenfranchised Englishwomen of the times.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Jules Verne's fantastical, deep-terrestrial saga is vivdly brought to the big screen in this high-powered, computer-generated-effects spectacle starring Brendan Fraser. According to several reviews I have read, very free license was taken with regard to Verne's original storyline...this production serves best as a vehicle for supercool special effects (think of the Jurassic Park movies, or the Jack Black version of King Kong) rather than a literary adaptation. Still, Fraser has legions of die-hard fans, and his penchant for action flicks (he starred in the latest installment of the Mummy franchise this past summer, when J.T.t.C.o.t.E was also released) has earned him an ineradicable position in Hollywood.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Released in 1985 (yet available on DVD only this year!) this movie stars William Hurt and Raul Julia as two cellmates consigned to permanent incarceration in a Brazilian jail. Valentin Arregui (Julia) is a passionate political activist whose activities against the dictatorship regime have landed him in jail; Luis Molina (Hurt) is a gay man who has been convicted of statutory rape charges. Unlikely as the duo is, they become friends under the harshest of conditions; their relational progress is an intent exercise in character development, and it does not leave the viewer wanting. The Spider Woman of the title is a creation of their combined imagination who serves as a ministering angel of sorts in their mutual misery. Hurt won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Luis, and the film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay (the original plot is based on the eponymous 1976 novel by Manuel Puig). In 1993, a popular musical version of the same story made its first run on Broadway.

Willard

Willard Stiles is a socially inept bachlor played with eerie intensity by Crispin Glover. He lives with his tyrannical mother, Henrietta, and daily reports to work in a vast, impersonal office, where he is perpetually hectored and demeaned by his boss, Mr. Martin. Willard's existence is worn nearly transparent between these two overwhelmingly smothering forces...until he discovers Socrates. And not the ancient Greek philosopher, either: Socrates is the name Willard gives to a rat he takes as a pet. Socrates is soon aggressively displaced by Ben, a much larger (and nastier) rat, who creeps up from the rotting basement of the Stiles' sepulchral residence. Plus Ben brings friends. Suffice it to say the flesh-eating, vengeful shenanigans Willard directs his horde of rodent rascals to undertake will make for very atmospheric viewing as Halloween approaches. Originally released in 2003.


DOCUMENTARIES

Great American Authors Since 1650

This four-DVD set, hosted by actress Jane Kaczmarek (best known, perhaps, as the harridan mother from Malcolm in the Middle), explores three centuries of notable writers native to the United States. Described as "the college literature course you always wanted to take but didn't", it's a great instrument for both those who want to learn more about our country's most prominent authors, or for lovers of literature who would enjoy an audio-visual experience of their favorite wordsmith. I am anxious to see what treasures this highly-lauded series has to offer.

Haunted Houses

A & E, whose titles are among the best non-Hollywood DVD releases on the market, first aired this program in 1996. It presents an array of American domiciles that are supposedly possessed by restless spirits. Watch as uninhabited rooms pulse with dreary groans and inexplicable bumps transpire in the dead of night! A wickedly appropriate acquisition for the Halloween season, check it out...if you're not easily spooked. BOO!

Olympics: Highlights as well as Olympics: The Opening Ceremony

For anyone who either missed some or all of the grandiose opening ceremony in Bejing, or the most memorable moments in any of the individual events, here's your chance to catch them on two discrete DVDs.

Raise the Song: The History of Penn State

Whether due to its football prowess or its sheer size (the main campus has its own ZIP code), Pennsylvania State University is one of the Commonwealth's most renowned institutions of higher learning. This documentary follows Penn State's history, from lowly beginnings in the 1850s as a local farmers' college to its international contemporary reputation. This is a particularly relevant addition since Berks County has a Penn State campus just outside of Reading. GO PENN STATE! :-)

White House Pets

Martha Washington kept a parrot. Thomas Jefferson had bears on the White House's grounds. Andrew Johnson harbored domesticated mice. James Buchanan received elephants as a gift from the King of Siam, and John Quincy Adams was devoted to raising silkworms. While in an earlier post I held forth on presidential mothers, this wonderful documentary focuses on the vast panorama of fauna that have inhabted the White House (only a handful of presidents--Pierce, Arthur, and Fillmore--had no pets of any kind).

These titles were ordered just a few days ago, so please allow several weeks until they are received and processed. Then--happy viewing!