THE 2010 MOVIE SERIES
All showings are free and will begin at 7:15 pm in the second floor meeting room of the Socorro Public Library. The library itself will be closed and people should enter the meeting room by the side door off of McCutcheon Street. The following movies will be shown:*
August 5th|
|
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) starring Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Valerie Hobson, and Miles Malleson; directed by Robert Hamer.
Alec Guinness appears in eight cameos as various eccentric members of the D'Ascoyne family who are being "bumped off" by a distant nephew (Dennis Price) trying to inherit the family peerage in a dark comedy which maintains an ironic contrast between outward gentility and brutal murder. It is considered by many to be the masterpiece of Ealing Studios' British crime comedies. Black & white; Rated PG for black humor; 1 hr.46 min. Click here for a scene by scene analysis.
(Ealing Studios/Janus Films) |
|
Out of the Past (1947) starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas and _; directed by Jacques Tourneur.
In classic film noir, the past of a small-town gas station owner (Robert Mitchem) ensnares him in a complicated morass of murder and revenge. Considered by many to be Robert Mitchem's best film. Jane Geer, as the moll, is, in the palance of the time, one hot mama. The dialog sparkles, the atmosphere is appropriately moody, the cinematography of Nicholas Musuraca is superb and the music of Roy Webb manages to be both both foreboding and romantic.
(R.K.O. Pictures - Warner) |
|
TBA (date) starring _ and _; directed by _.
(company) |
Already shown
LIBRARIAN'S CHOICE SUMMER MOVIE SERIES 2006
June 15th
|
Medicine Man (1992) with Sean Connery and Lorraine Bracco, directed by John McTiernan. An eccentric scientist working for a large drug company is seeking a cure for cancer in the Amazon jungle. He sends for a research assistant and a gas chromatograph because he's close to a cure. When the assistant turns out to be a "mere woman," he rejects her help. Meanwhile the bulldozers get closer to the area in which they are conducting research. (Hollywood Pictures) |
|
The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) with Anthony Quinn, Oskar Werner, David Janssen and Vittorio DeSica, directed by Michael Anderson. A foreshadowing of the Pope Jean-Paul II story -- the former Archbishop of Lvov is released from the gulag, and becomes Pope at a time of crisis, testing his faith. The rituals of the conclave process and the pageantry of the coronation ceremony are rendered with remarkable persuasiveness. (Turner Entertainment) |
|
Smoke Signals (1998) starring Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer and Tantoo Cardinal, directed by Chris Eyre.
The Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation in Idaho is poor and ravaged by alcoholism and desperation. A young man goes to retrieve his father's earthly belongings in Arizona, taking along a nerdly acquaitance to help pay for the bus trip. It is an episodic road movie, both of the trip and of their lives.
(Miramax) |
|
Blue Hawaii (1961) with Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman and Angela Lansbury, directed by Norman Taurog.
Rich in quality music, who cares that Chad Gates has just gotten home to Hawaii from the Army, and is happy to be back with his surf-board, beach buddies, and girlfriend; but that parent troubles drive him to become a tour guide. But don't miss Angela Lansbury's outlandish (but sad) parody of Elvis's haughty Georgia belle mother. The song "Can't Help Falling in Love" won an ASCAP award in 1990.
(Paramount Studios) |
|
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) starring William Holden, Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa, directed by David Lean.
At a work camp in Burma, POWs struggle to build a railroad for the Japanese. The ranking British officer (Alec Guiness) stands up to the Japanese commander (Sessue Hayakawa) only to succumb to the lure of finishing the bridge. In a sub plot American William Holden tries to blow up the bridge. It won seven Academy Awards: best picture, best director, best actor (Alec Guinness), best cinematography, best editing, best scoring, and best screenplay (by Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, based on Pierre Boulle's novel. The writers were blacklisted, so Pierre Boulle, who spoke no English - was credited with the script.)
(Columbia Pictures) |
|
Johnny Belinda (1948) with Lew Ayres and Jane Wyman, directed by Jean Negulesco.
Life is hard on MacDonald farm in stony, windswept Nova Scotia - and harder for young Belinda, a deaf mute whose affliction has been confused with mental deficiency. Then the town's new doctor takes an interest in helping her break out of her silent prison. A neighbor, Locky MacCormick, takes quite another interest in her. Jane Wyman won the Oscar for best actress for her portayal of Johnny Belinda.
(MGM/UA) |
|
Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) with Esther Williams, Victor Mature and Walter Pidgeon, choreography by Busby Berkeley and Audrene Brier.
Loosely based on the life of Annette Kellerman, a famous Australian long distance swimmer, who ended up in silent films after a water ballet career in the New York Hippodrome. Endure the love story and enjoy the finest water ballet ever filmed. The underwater choreography by Audrene Brier is topped only by some spectacular above-water work by Busby Berkeley. Berkeley used more than 100 swimmers, 55-foot-high streams of yellow and red smoke, and ramps upon which the swimmers slid into the water while carrying lit torches.
(MGM/UA) |
THE TONY HILLERMAN MYSTERY SERIES 2006
August 3rd
|
A Thief of Time (2004) starring Gary Farmer, Adam Beach and Ernest Tsosie III, directed by Chris Eyre.
In the four-corners area, an anthropologist, Ellie Friedman-Bernal (Rosalia de Aragon), disappears while being suspected of selling ancient Anasazi pottery on the black market. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) is sent to investigate. Meanwhile Officer Jim Chee (Adam Beach) is looking for a stolen backhoe, and turns up a whole lot more.
(Granada Film Productions) |
|
Coyote Waits (2003) starring Adam Beach, Candice Castello, Wes Studi and Alex Rice, directed by Jan Egleson.
Two Navajo cops, Jim Chee and Lt. Joe Leaphorn, race to unravel a dangerous web of myth, murder, and greed, involving a lost fortune, an historical artifact and a mythical(?) Coyote. The scenery is at once mystical, isolating and all-encompassing. The production values lift it far above "made for tv" status.
(Granada Film Productions) |
|
Skinwalkers (2002) starring Harrison Lowe, Adam Beach, James Dalgam and Wes Studi, directed by Chris Eyre.
When a local medicine man is murdered within the confines of a Navajo reservation, Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) is assigned to investigate, with uniformed officer Jim Chee (Adam Beach) assisting. The murder weapon is an arrowhead made out of human bone, associated with Skinwalkers. The conflict between traditional and western ways of life is a recurring theme, underlying the plot.
(Granada Film Productions) |
THE FALL MOVIE SERIES 2006
September 7th
|
Milagro Beanfield War (1988) starring Rubén Blades, Richard Bradford, Sonia Braga and Julie Carmen, directed by Robert Redford.
A small war threatens to erupt in northern New Mexico when a ruthless troubleshooter (played by Christopher Walken) attempts to enforce state water law against a bean farmer (played by Chick Vennera) who irrigates his land in contravention of a developer's water right.
(Esparza - Universal Pictures) |
|
Field of Dreams (1988) starring Kevin Costner, Gaby Hoffmann, Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta and Timothy Busfield, directed by Phil Alden Robinson.
Field of Dreams is a classic combination of baseball, family, fantasy, faith, reconciliation, and redemption, all set in the heartland. An Iowan farmer (played by Kevin Costner) builds a baseball diamond in the middle of his corn field. He dreams about Shoeless Joe Jackson(played by Ray Liotta) and the 1919 Chicago White Sox. Don't let Ray Liotta fool you, Shoeless Joe was a lefty batter.
(Gordon Company - Universal Pictures) |
|
Babette's Feast (1987) starring Stéphane Audran, Birgitte Federspiel, Bodil Kjer, Jarl Kulle and Jean-Philippe Lafont, directed by Gabriel Axel.
A pair of Protestant religious sisters, carrying out their late father's work, give shelter to a Babette, a refugee from Paris, who goes to work for them as maid/housekeeper/cook. Babette, with gambling winnings, rewards the sisters' kindness by preparing a memorial dinner for the dwindling religious community to celebrate the late vicar's 100th birthday.
(Det Danske Filminstitut - Orion Classics) |
|
Pearl Harbor (2001) starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Jon Voight, directed by Michael Bay.
U.S. Army Air Corps. pilots Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett) are like brothers. They grew up together, learned to fly together, and fought in World War II together. But the horrors of war and their love for the same woman, a Navy nurse named Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale), tears their friendship apart. Richard O. Helmer (special effects) recreates the horrific bombing of Pearl Harbor in this epic romance.
(Touchstone Pictures - Buena Vista) |
THE 2007 MOVIE SERIES
Januray 4th
|
Bull Durham (1988) starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Trey Wilson and Robert Wuhl, directed by Ron Shelton.
Veteran minor-league catcher Crash Davis (Costner) is assigned to the Class A Durham Bulls relegated to the role of educating the team's star rookie, pitcher "Nuke" LaLoosh (Robbins), a "million dollar arm and a five-cent brain". Team groupie Annie Savoy romances both players, creating a comic triangle.
(The Mount Company - Columbia) |
|
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Color, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson and Madeleine Sherwood, directed by Richard Brooks.
Tennessee Williams' searing account of greed and sexual frustration in a prominent Southern family. Big Daddy (Ives) is dying of cancer, though he believes he's in good health. His son Gooper (Carson) and his wife (Sherwood) greedily await their inheritence. Meanwhile, Big Daddy's favourite son Brick (Newman) is a drunken ex-football star whose abusiveness is destroying his marriage to the sensuous Maggie 'the cat' (Taylor). As Maggie fights to win back her husband, the various truths ooze out.
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) |
|
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Color, starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen and José Luis de Villalonga , directed by Blake Edwards.
No film better utilizes Audrey Hepburn's flighty charm and svelte beauty than this romantic adaptation of Truman Capote's 1958 novella. Holly Golightly (Hepburn), a socialite with a sordid past, falls for and inspires Paul Varjan (Peppard), a struggling writer in this 'mod' New York romance.
(Paramount Pictures) |
|
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Black & White, starring Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, and Priscilla Lane, directed by Frank Capra.
Based on Joseph Kesseiring's hit Broadway play, this black comedy/thriller is a blend of the bizarre and the mundane. A mild-mannered drama critic (Cary Grant) learns that Abby and Martha Brewster, his two kindly and loveable aunts, have been poisoning people with elderberry wine. Two murderers (Peter Lorre and Raymond Massey) move into the aunts' house with the idea of adding a few corpses of their own.
(Warner Bros. Pictures) |
|
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) Color, starring Ziyi Zhang, Suzuka Ohgo, Ken Watanabe, Kôji Yakusho, Youki Kudoh, and Li Gong, directed by Rob Marshall.
This sweeping romantic epic sends us through the mysterious and exotic world of the geisha. Impoverished nine-year-old Chiyo is sold to a geisha house and treated cruelly until her stunning beauty is recognized and she is rescued. Chiyo goes on to become the most famous geisha in Japan, entering a society of wealth, privilege and political intrigue until World War II changes the world forever.
(Columbia Pictures) |
|
March of the Penguins (2005) Color, narrated by Morgan Freeman, directed by Luc Jacquet.
This beautiful nature documentary follows the annual journey of emperor penguins to their breeding ground in Antarctica. Rife with obstacles, the film focuses on one cute and steadfast pair as they face birth and death, dating and mating, predators and even love in their fight for survival.
(National Geographic/Bonne Pioche) |
|
Finding Neverland (2004) Color, starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Radha Mitchell, Dustin Hoffman, Freddie Highmore, and Kelly Macdonald, directed by Marc Forster.
Set in London in 1903, this film is a fictional account of the struggle of author James Barrie (Johnny Depp) to bring Peter Pan to the stage. When he meets the next-door neighbors, the four Davies boys and their widowed mother (Kate Winslet), he becomes a friend of the family and Sylvia becomes his muse with her boys the source of inspiration about a magical place where people never have to grow up — his Neverland.
(Miramax Films) |
|
The Last Starfighter (1984) Color, starring Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Dan O'Herlihy, Catherine Mary Stewart, Dan Mason, and Norman Snow, directed by Nick Castle.
Set in rural California in 1983, a videogaming boy (Lance Guest), seemingly doomed to stay at his trailer park home all his life, finds himself recruited as a gunner for an alien defense force, to "defend the galaxy from Xur and the Kodan armada". This was the first film to eschew models and use entirely comupter generated graphics.
(Universal Pictures) |
|
All the King's Men (2006) Color, starring Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet, and Mark Ruffalo, directed by Steven Zaillian.
Based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren, this is a fictionalized account of Lousiana political boss Huey Long. Willie Stark (Sean Penn), undergoes a radical transformation from an idealistic lawyer into a charismatic and extraordinarily powerful Southern-state governor. In finding his way toward success in politics, Stark comes to embrace various forms of corruption in order to accomplish his vision and centralize enormous power within his office. The 1949 black & white movie version starred Broderick Crawford as Willie Stark.
(Columbia Pictures) |
|
The Great Dictator (1940) Black & White, starring Charlie Chaplinm, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, and Henry Daniell; written and directed by Charles Chaplin.
Charlie Chaplin has a dual role in this film, his first "talkie". He plays a sweet-natured Jewish barber and a murderous Hitler-type dictator (Hynkel). Famous scenes include Hynkel's "pas de deux" with a globe, a barber-chair race, and a cream cake fight between Hynkel and Napoloni (Jack Oakie), the dictator of Bacteria. It was a controversial film at the time, with political satire that is still sharp today. Although some may find the satire heavy-handed, there is plenty of slapstick, with the mood remaining light-hearted, and even a bit schmaltzy at times.
(United Artists) |
|
Last of the Dogmen (1995) Color, starring Tom Berenger, Barbara Hershey, Kurtwood Smith and Steve Reevis, narrated by Wilford Brimley, written and directed by Tab Murphy.
Set in Montana (filmed in British Columbia) with great cinematography, classic sets by Trevor Williams, impressive music by David Arnold, it is a serious movie. The inherent drama of the plot is its star. The romantic tension between Berenger and Hershey underlies much of the movie, but is not allowed to detract from the sense of community that is established. While the dialogue is not snappy repartee, and perhaps too characteristic, it adequately carries the film's message. Roger Ebert called it "a robust movie with a lot of energy and heart." Reevis is impressive as Yellow Wolf, there is a great dog, a nice mystery, and beautiful scenery. Lewis Gates (Tom Berenger), a tracker in Montana, comes upon the bodies of several escaped convicts along with a mysterious Cheyenne arrow. Lillian Sloan (Barbara Hershey), an anthropologist, tells him it is similar to the kind used by Cheyenne "dogmen" warriors. Could their descendants still be alive in the wilderness?
(Savoy Pictures - HBO) |
THE 2008 MOVIE SERIES
January 3rd
|
Libeled Lady (1936) Black & White, starring Spencer Tracy, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow; directed by Jack Conway.
This is fast-paced, pre-Hays code, comedy about attempts to convince a society woman to drop a lawsuit against a newspaper. In its 1936 review, the New York Times called it, "A sardonic comedy, with slapstick smudges and a liberal bedaubing of farce." The clever screenplay by George Oppenheimer, Howard Emmet Rogers, and Maurine Watkins provides good, snappy dialogue, and the consummate actors enjoy a remarkable sense of comic timing. Like most 30's screwball comedies the convoluted plot is not as important as the interplay between the characters, and the actors obviously enjoy taking it to the limit. One critic said that Harlow steals all her scenes, but William Powell and Myra Loy chisel at each other with true sprit. Spencer Tracy is a scream in his role as newspaper editor Warren Haggerty who has been engaged to Gladys (Jean Harlow) for some time, but whose work at the newspaper keeps getting in the way of their relationshipand marriage. When an heiress, Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy), files a 5 million dollar libel suit against the newspaper for having printed that she is a marriage-breaker, Haggaerty puts ex-reporter and don Juan Bill Chandler (William Powell) on the case, hoping that by photographing them together, he can convince Loy to drop the suit. But it will only work if Chandler is a married man, so Haggerty has to convince Gladys to marry Chandler. In supporting roles we get to see some of the best actors of the time: Cora Witherspoon, William Connolly, Charlie Grapevine, William Benedict, and Bunny Beatty. More romantic and less hammy than Twentieth Century (1934) and more screwball and less earnest than The Philadelphia Story (1940), Libeled Lady is the essence of 1930's escapism.
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) Photos at The Mave.com and DVD Beaver |
|
Redwood Curtain (1995) starring Jeff Daniels, Lea Salonga, Debra Monk, Catherine Hicks, and John Lithgow; directed by John Korty.
Redwood Curtain is a thoughtful film that addresses the issues of adoption, emotional pairing, personal development and the maturing process. The death of a caring adoptive father (John Lithgow) precipitates his daughter's search for the truth about her Vietnamese mother and the American serviceman father who were forced to give her up at the fall of Saigon. Ths is a well crafted and performed movie where even the small roles are done well, whether in a lumbar yard, a vet's clinic or in the cemetery.
(Hallmark Hall of Fame) |
|
In the Time of the Butterflies (2001) starring Salma Hayek, Edward James Olmos, Mìa Maestro, Demiàn Bichir, Pilar Padilla, Lumi Cavazos, and Marc Anthony; directed by Mariano Barroso.
True story of courage and sisterhood during the rise of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Minerva Mirabal (Salma Hayek ) and her two sisters (Mìa Maestro & Lumi Cavazos) --collectively known as Las Mariposas (The Butterflies ) plot to overthrow the government with tragic consequences. Dramatic and intense, with some superlative acting, this film is ultimately ennobling.
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) |
|
Singin' in the Rain (1952) starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen; directed by Stanley Donen
and Gene Kelly.
Musical comedy about the difficulties in moving from silent film to talkies, Pauline Kael called it "Just about the best Hollywood musical of all time." Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a swashbuckling star of the silent film with a leading lady (Jean Hagen) whose voice rivals a chalkboard. Somehow they have to turn The Duelling Cavalier into a talkie while the leading lady spars with the ingenue (Debbie Reynolds). James Berardinelli called watching it "an exuberant, magical experience -- a journey deep into the heart of feel-good territory."
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) |
|
The Trouble with Harry (1955) starring Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Mildred Natwick, and Shirley MacLaine; directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
This black comedy about a perambulating corpse (Harry) and the guilty feelings of a small New England community is curiously whimsical. Each of various parties feels responsibility for the death, or the disposal, of Harry. No one seems terribly shaken up about Harry's apparent murder, some don't even notice Harry's dead. Throughout the film Hitchcock develops his characters, almost on the sly, and produces beautifully subtle suspense in the final scenes. The score by Bernard Herrmann hits exactly the right note. Jerry Mathers (The Beav) plays the young Arnie Rogers.
(Paramount Pictures - DVD released by Universal Studios) |
|
Them! (1954) B&W, starring James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness, and Onslow Stevens; directed by Gordon Douglas.
Nuclear tests in the New Mexico desert produce gigantic mutant ants who terrorize American cities. The US army tries to find a way to keep the menacing ants from spreading. The tight screen play is complemented by a genuinely inspired sound track guaranteed to raise the heebie jeebies.
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Special Effects, and originally intended to be in color, it was the last black and white big studio science fiction film. Filmed in Palmdale, CA.
"This science-fiction shocker has a well-plotted story, expertly directed and acted in a matter-of-fact style." -Variety.
"One of the best creature features of the early atomic age." -RottenTomatoes.com. Them! is an oft-credited influence for Alien and countless other "big bug" movies.
(Warner Brothers) |
|
Forbidden Planet (1956) starring Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Jack Kelly and Robby the Robot; directed by Fred McLeod Wilcox.
An interstellar expedition to planet Altair-4 looks for survivors from an earlier voyage, to find only Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter Altaira (Anne Francis). Commander Adams (Leslie Nielsen) is quite taken by Altaira, leaving the crew to raise mischief. Inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest, it is a love story and an exploration of the heights and depths of the human mind.
Forbidden Planet was the debut of Robby the Robot.
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) |
|
Algiers (1938) B&W, starring Charles Boyer, Hedy Lamarr, Gene Lockhart, Sigrid Gurie and Joseph Calleia; directed by John Cromwell.
A French jewel thief, Pepe le Moko (Boyer), feels stifled hiding out in the Casbah (native market) of Algiers. But adventure soon follows. Pepe is watched by Inspector Slimane (Calleia) as he romances French tourist Gabrielle (Lamarr) and avoids his mistress, Ines (Gurie). The inherent tension between Pepe and the police is not as central to the film as is the characterization of Pepe, and the mixed loyalties in the Casbah.
(United Artists) |
|
They Came to Cordura (1959) starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Richard Conte and Dick York; directed by Robert Rossen.
U.S. Cavalry Major Thomas Thorn (Gary Cooper), branded as a coward, leads four Medal of Honor winners, and a traitorous woman (Rita Hayworth) across the desert back to Cordura, Texas, during Pershing's 1916 American incursion into Mexico after Pancho Villa. The film is a soul-searching exploration of human nature. The excellent performances enliven the extensive dialog that otherwise might have slowed the pace of the film.
(Columbia Pictures) |
|
From Here To Eternity (1953) B&W, starring Donna Reed, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra and Ernest Borgnine; directed by Fred Zinnemann.
Set in Hawaii just before the Japanese attack, From Here To Eternity details the isolation and boredom of the military personnel stationed there. Its male machismo and chauvinism accurately reflect the time period. Private Prewitt (Clift) is being hazed for not boxing for the unit, and finds solace with 'Lorene' (Reed). Meanwhile, Sargeant Warden (Lancaster) puts the make on Capt. Holmes's wife (Kerr) and bigoted Sargeant "Fatso" Judson (Borgnine) takes his insecurities out on Private Maggio (Sinatra). The film, often intense, and famous for its not-so-risqué beach scene, won 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Donna Reed's portrayal of a cynical prostitute who is transformed into a fiancée and bereaved victim, is exquisite. This is said to be this formidable actress's best movie.
(Columbia Pictures) |
|
The Razor's Edge (1946) starring Tyrone Powers, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Clifton Webb and Anne Baxter; directed by Edmund Goulding.
Based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham, the film follows the journey of a rich young man, Larry Darrell (Tyrone Powers), to find himself. He leaves his socialite fiancee, Isabel (Gene Tierney), and finds wisdom of a sort in the East. In Paris, as he returns, his attempts to do good seem foiled by the jealousy and pettiness of the society he left behind. The supporting cast includes Clifton Webb exquisitely playing an decadent snob and social tyrant; while Anne Baxter's portrayal of a "lost in drink" bereaved and bereft widow won an Oscar and a Golden Globe award.
(Twentieth Century Fox) |
|
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) starring James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan, and William Tracy; directed by Ernst Lubitsch.
Mr. Kralik (Jimmy Stewart), a strict manager in a Budapest boutique, carries on an anonymous intellectual romance by mail. At the same time he is quite unhappy with the new shopgirl (Meg Sullavan) that Mr. Matuschek (the owner) has hired. The dynamic tension produces delicious frissons as the leads gradually come to realize their full identities. The story was remade a number of times as In the Good Old Summertime (1949), She Loves Me (1978), a musical, and You've Got Mail (1998), but Lubitsch's version manages to remain the most charming, and exquisitely delightful.
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)) |
THE 2009 MOVIE SERIES
January 8th
|
The House in the Square (1951) aka I'll Never Forget You starring Tyrone Power, Ann Blyth, Michael Rennie, Dennis Price and Irene Browne; directed by Roy Ward Baker.
Peter Standish (Tyrone Power), an American physicist, lives in an 18th Century apartment in London. He is obsessed with the past and believes he can travel back through time. A lightening strike sends him back to 1784, but things are disturbingly different from what he expected.
(Twentieth Century-Fox) |
|
Sullivan's Travels (1941) starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, and William Demarest; written and directed by Preston Sturges.
(Paramount Pictures) |
|
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) starring Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, William Demerest and Raymond Walburn; written and directed by Preston Sturges.
A 4-F milktoast bows to the teasing of his army buddies, and impersonates a war hero. Sturges takes a savage swipe at some of America's most sacred cows in a classic comedy containing some of his most sustained satire.
(Paramount Pictures) |
|
Dersu Uzala (1975) starring Maksim Munzuk and Yuri Solomin; directed by Akira Kurosawa.
This is a visual delight and the profound story of mutual respect and trust that develops between Imperial Russian Army Captain Vladimir Arseniev (Yuri Solomin) and Dersu Uzala (Maksim Munzuk), his native guide to the wilderness of Russia's Far East. It received the Grand Prix at the Moscow Film Festival and the 1976 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
(MosFilm) |
|
Movie canceled due to temporary closure of the library, the movie was shown in June.
|
|
|
A Touch of Zen (Xia nu) (1969) starring Chun Shih, Feng Hsu, Ying Bai and Roy Chiao; written and directed by King Hu.
This is the movie that inspired Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). It is a classic of the Taiwan cinema, and won the Grand Prix de Technique Superieur at Cannes in 1975. In one sense it is a wu xia (martial arts) film, but it doesn't have enough fight scenes to please a Shaw Brothers addict. The cinematography is superb and it has been praised for its dialog, acting and direction. As one reviewer put it, "It is ambitious, complex, epic, personal, and spiritual: and all at the same time." The basic plot revolves around a scholar who falls for a fugitive girl, who is hiding in a small town hoping to escape death threats from a warload. She happens to be an expert in martial arts who had been taught by some powerful monks. Because of its length it is being shown in two parts, the first part on June 4th and the second on June 11th.
(International Film Company - Union Film Company) |
|
Lust for Life (1956) starring Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald and Pamela Brown; directed by Vincente Minnelli.
Visually colorful, Lust for Life is the tragic but inspiring portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh based upon the novel by Irving Stone. Kirk Douglas, as the firey Van Gogh, gives one of the best performances of his career. The film traces Van Gogh from his failure as a missionary to Belgium coal miners through his commercial failure as an artist, all the while supported by his brother Theo (James Donald). Anthony Quinn, as Gauguin, gives a splendid vignette as a disordered creative man, who befriends but ultimately aleinates Van Gogh. This was called director Minnelli's most visually evocative and most personal film.
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer — MGM) |
|
Twilight (2008) starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene, Billy Burke, Christian Serratos and Rachelle Lefèvre; directed by Catherine Hardwicke.
From the best-selling book by Stephanie Meyer, a kind hearted teenager, Bella (Kristen Stewart), and her vampire boy friend, Edward (Robert Pattinson), face the disapproval of both their worlds. Can Edward save Bella from a blood-thirsty feral vampire? Can Bella's love withstand human distrust and hate? Soap as youâve never seen it! Twilight won the 2009 MTV Movie Awards for Best Movie, Best Kiss, Best Fight, Best Female Performance (Kristen Stewart), and Breakthrough Performance, Male (Robert Pattinson). Christian Serratos won the 2009 Young Artist Award for Best Supporting Young Actress.
(Maverick Films and Summit Entertainment ) |
|
Mother Night (1996) starring Nick Nolte, Alan Arkin, Sheryl Lee, Bernard Behrens and Anna Berger; directed by Keith Gordon.
Based on Kurt Vonnegut's novel, director Gordon's version captures the ambivalence in humanity's struggle with guilt and responsibility. Critics uniformly praised Nick Nolte for his characterization of Howard Campbell, an American spy who seemingly worked for the Nazis in World War II as a propagandist, and is now in an Israeli jailcell. The exposition is through a series of flashbacks, mostly of Campbell's life in New York where he was hidden after the war.While the film is in color, flashbacks to WWII are in black and white. Like much of Vonnegut's work this is not mere satire or dark comedy and the ending does not deliver a conventional emotional payoff.
(New Line Cinema) |
|
The Emigrants (1971) starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann and Eddie Axberg; directed by Jan Troell.
This joint Swedish-American production, also known as Utvandrarna, traces a family from rural Sweden in the 1850s to the wilds of Minnesota. It is based on the novels of Vilhelm Moberg and received Oscar nominations for best foreign-language and best picture, as well as best actress and best director. The acting has been called superb, and the portrayal "harsh", as well as "pictorially romantic." The film was released in a number of versions, the dubbed in English version being shown runs 2.5 hours (151 minutes).
(Svensk Filmindustri - Warner Brothers) |
|
Topaz (1969) starring Frederick Stafford, John Forsythe, Dany Robin, Michel Piccoli, and Philippe Noiret; directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Hitchcock took Leon Urisâs Cuban missile crisis novel which delineates the deadly consequences of a Russian diplomat's defection to the West, and created a complex thriller of betrayal. C.I.A. agent (John Forsythe) helps a KGB agent defect and in the process learns of missiles in Cuba. He is posted to assist French intelligence operative (Frederick Stafford) in attempting to learn the nature and source of the missiles and then to break up the arms dealing ring that is supplying the missiles with the help of high-ranking French officials. It is one of Hitchcock's most demanding and provocative films. Many critics in 1969 couldnât handle the notable coldness of the protagonist nor the abruptness of the ending.
(Universal Pictures) |
|
The Fifth Element (1997) starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm and Milla Jovovich; directed by Luc Besson.
In this wildly imaginative glimpse into a non-apocalyptic future, a cab driver (Bruce Willis) becomes an unlikely hero when he is swept up in a battle between good and the ultimate evil. A timeless story about love and survival, heroes and villains, good and evil. Rated PG-13. Runs 2 hours, 7 minutes.
(Gaumont/Columbia) |
|
Movie canceled due to icy roads, The Four Feathers (1939) was shown March 4, 2010.
|
THE 2010 MOVIE SERIES
January 7th
|
The Wild Geese (1978) starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Krüger; directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.
Based on Daniel Carney's book, The Thin White Line, this is not your typical war movie. Aging mercenaries attempt a daring rescue of a deposed Central African dictator. The pluses and minuses of age and the nature of prejudice form an undercurrent that carries the film through to its climactic final action sequence. The lead roles are played broadly, but the brutal nature of the operation keeps the effect well away from the comic. Sam Jordison called it unusually thoughtful for an action flick. The film is full of gritty firefights and never-say-die heroics and was originally rated "R" for violence, since downgraded to PG-13; 1 hour, 34 minutes.
(Allied Artists) |
|
Friendly Persuasion (1956) starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton and Phyllis Love; directed by William Wyler.
The sensitive direction of Jessamyn West's novel provides rich insights into Quaker belief. It follows a happy, warm-hearted Quaker family in southern Indiana, committed by faith to non-violence, but caught up in a Confederate invasion during the Civil War. The film is set in 1862, as this family is confronted with individual decisions requiring them to balance their principles and pacifism with their belief in the need to preserve the Union. Glenn Erickson called it "an immensely entertaining and thoughtful movie that finds an ideological middle ground, a rarity in any decade." Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, but received none. Color. Equivalent to PG-13; 2 hour, 17 minutes.
(Allied Artists) |
|
|
The Four Feathers (1939) starring John Clements, Ralph Richardson, June Duprez, C. Aubrey Smith and Allan Jeayes; directed by Zoltan Korda.
Many consider this 1939 film version of A.E.W. Mason’s 1902 novel The Four Feathers to be the best. It was first filmed as a movie in 1915, and about every ten years ever since. The basic story is of an honorable gentleman whose duty requires him to appear to be a cad, and his ultimate redemption. Set in England, Egypt and the Sudan during the Madi war, this swashbuckling tale has the superb cinematography of Jack Cardiff, Georges Périnal and Osmond Borradaile, a rousing score by Miklós Rózsa, and direction that is done with flair and imagination. It is considered Zoltan Korda’s greatest cinematic accomplishment. Equivalent to PG-13; 2 hours, 9 minutes.
(London Film/United Artists/MGM) |
|
Berlin Express (1948) starring Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan, Charles Korvin, Paul Lukas and Reinhold Schünzel; directed by Jacques Tourneur. B&W.
A post-war Nazi assassination plot bestirs a multinational group on an express train from Paris to Berlin. The admittedly thin plot dumps them in bombed-out Frankfurt for a thilling search-against-time for a missing UN negotiator. Actual footage of Germany after the war, including shots inside the I.G. Farben building in Frankfurt, gives this film an added historical edge. Tourneur has gotten some extraordinary performances out the studio cast, which with the excellent cinematography (by Lucien Ballard), lighting and chiaroscuro effects makes this film noir worth watching. Please pardon Merle Oberon's French accent. Equivalent to PG, 1 hour 26 min.
(RKO Radio Pictures/Warner Brothers) |
|
Torn Curtain (1966) starring Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, Lila Kedrova and David Opatoshu; directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
An American physicist (Paul Newman) defects to East Berlin, where his bewildered fiance (Julie Andrews) follows him to find a complicated game of scientific intrigue. This thiller remains a sophisticated statement on American Cold War attitudes. The frequently sterile settings, John Addison's sprightly, often driving, score, and Hitchcock's cinemagraphic style produce a background of tension that runs throughtout the film. There is some superb supporting acting. Equivalent to PG-13 for the scene where the hero murders an East German security officer. 2 hr. 8 min.
(Universal Pictures) |
|
Pan's Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno, 2006) starring Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú and Doug Jones; directed by Guillermo del Toro.
In 1944, when Nacionales forces are still "cleaning up" after Franco's victory, a young girl, Ofelia, travels with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband in a rural area in northern Spain. Ofelia's stepfather is classically cruel, and her mother is ill. Ofelia escapes into the world of Pan, an earth spirit in faun form, who presents her with three tasks that will save her world and his. Visually stunning, the interplay between her stepfather's world and Pan's world create a disturbing, but wonderfully integrated reality. The ending is "both heartbreakingly sad and yet cushioned with a sense of peace." In Spanish, with English subtitles. Rated R for violence and death. NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN. 1 hr 59 mins
(Telecinco/Warner Brothers) |
|
The Madness of King George (1994) starring Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Amanda Donohoe,
Rupert Everett, Ian Holm, and Julian Wadham; directed by Nicholas Hytner.
Nigel Hawthorne as George III and Helen Mirren as Queen Charlotte brilliantly portray the increasingly irrational and ill-behaved king and the devotion of his wife. There is intrigue, pure pathos with wry wit, unfortunate lasciviousness, and incredible sets in Alan Bennett’s adaptation of his 1991 play. Despite great acting, intriguing plot points and Academy Award winning art direction, some critics felt something ineffable was missing, maybe the king's mind. Rated R for salacious content. NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN. 1 hr 50 mins
(The Samuel Goldwyn Company) |
* The library has purchased public performance rights to these films.
Return to: Socorro Public Library main page
Socorro Public Library