Eragon, the movie based on the book Eragon by Christopher Paolini opened last Friday December 15th to what I understand to be mixed reviews. I am a little surprised that it has not had quite the same success as the book, which along with its sequel, Eldest, is constantly checked out at our library. I was curious if this film experience would be the new Harry Potter in which you are constantly having to move to the right or the left of the wizard hat in front of you just to see the big screen. Apparently this is not the case, as one teen reported that there were empty seats when he went to a showing on Saturday night. This same teen gave a very descriptive review of how the movie "butchered" the book on our Teens Review It @ Your Library blog.

So to answer my original question, "Eragon (the movie), hit or miss?" It sounds like a "miss" but I'll wait for the dvd to find out.

If you're interested in getting a second opinion here are some additional sites for film reviews suggested by our Music Arts and Media librarian...

Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
Rotten Tomatoes
Roger Ebert Reviews
Metacritic
The Onion's A.V. Club: an offspring of the humorous and often outrageous "The Onion". The A.V. Club has serious (and witty) reviews, along with great lists, like "Nine recent attempts to save Romantic Comedy", "Horror Films for Left-wingers", "Horror films for Right-wingers", etc. All of their Film and DVD reviews are searchable.

It's the birthday of the late, great Isaac Asimov. One of the giants of science fiction, Asimov is well-known for works such as the Foundation series. (Movie buffs will remember the 2004 Will Smith film, "I, Robot," based Asimov's ideas on robotics.) But his writing ranged far beyond sci-fi. A search in the library catalog for this author brings up an astounding 190 hits. He wrote detective stories, published in collections such as "The Return of the Black Widowers." He also wrote on a wide variety of nonfiction topics, ranging from history to literature to science.

Asimov backed his science fiction with a strong knowledge of science fact, and many of his nonfiction works cover science topics, such as:

• Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery. (REF 509 A; non-circulating)
• Asimov's New Guide to Science. (Adult Nonfiction 500 A)
• Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space (Adult Nonfiction 520 A)

Among his other books were works on number theory (Asimov on Numbers), history (Rome, Egypt , the Middle East, France, and North America, and others); the human brain (The Human Brain: Its Capacities and Functions), and even a guide to Shakespeare.

Asimov's books for children include several on the planets; an environmental series covering topics such as acid rain, litter, and rainforests; a biography of Christopher Columbus; and many more.

For information about this remarkable and prolific author, try one of Asimov's autobiographies:

• It's Been a Good Life (BIOG As422)
• In Joy Still Felt : the Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978 (BIOG As422)
• In Memory Yet Green : the Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954 (BIOG As422)

Or, search for "Asimov" in the Biography Resource Center database to read what others had to say about Asimov. For more about Asimov's writings, try searching for articles in the Literature Resource Center. Literature Resource Center provides literary criticism of authors' works, lists any pseudonyms they used, shows who their contemporaries were, and may provide links to related web sites.

Explore!

This week the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 2007 Oscar nominations. Did you know that several of the films nominated for awards this year started out as books? As preferred by many movie fans, you may wixh to read the book before you go to see the movie:

Children of Men, from the book titled The Children of Men by P.D. James.

Little Children, from the book titled Little Children by Tom Perrotta.

Notes on a Scandal, from the book titled What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller.

Letters from Iwo Jima, from the Japanese language books titled Picture Letters from Commander in Chief by General Tadamichi Kuribayashi and Sadness in Dying Gracefully by Kumiko Kakehashi. These two books are not yet available in the English language.

You can find a number of books about the Adademy Awards in our Music, Art and Media (MAM) Department. You may wish to try:
The Big Show : High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards by Steve Pond,

The Complete Book of Oscar Fashion : Variety's 75 Years of Glamour on the Red Carpet by Reeve Chace, or

The Oscar Movies by Roy Pickard.

Look here for other books and movies about the Academy Awards.

What is your favorite book-turned-Oscar-winning movie? Enjoy the show!

Well, Tinseltown had its big night on Sunday, and another round of Oscars was handed out. After these award shows are over, I always wonder what I've been missing. It's time to play catch-up! To save you the video rental fees, the Music, Art, and Media Department has three of the five nominees for Best Picture available to borrow (the other two, Letters from Iwo Jima and The Queen, are not yet available on DVD):

The Departed (winner, Best Picture; Achievement in Directing--Martin Scorsese; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Film Editing)
Little Miss Sunshine (winner, Best Original Screenplay; Best Supporting Actor--Alan Arkin)
Babel (winner, Best Original Score)

Helen Mirren won Best Actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen. While you're waiting for The Queen to be released on video, check out Mirren in an earlier role as the first Elizabeth in Elizabeth I. Best Actor went to Forest Whitaker for his role as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, which will be released on video April 17. Jennifer Hudson won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Dreamgirls, which has not been released on video yet. Until it is, we have the soundtrack to the Broadway musical it was based on.

The Music, Art, and Media Department also has the winner for Best Visual Effects (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest). If animation is more your line, we have the nominees for Best Animated Feature Film, Cars and Monster House. Check back at the end of March when the winner, Happy Feet, is due out on video.

For your documentary pleasure, we also have Al Gore's Best Documentary Feature winner, An Inconvenient Truth. Or, if you prefer, read the book.

So stop by for some Oscar gold and get the popcorn ready for a night of award-winning movies!

The Phantom Menace, the first Star Wars movie, was released thirty years ago in May, 1977. The studio, 20th Centuru Fox, was unhappy with Star Wars as a title after negative market testing. A competition was held during shooting for the cast and crew to come up with a better one, but nothing stuck. The film was initially budgeted at $8 million but production problems forced the studio to contribute an additional $3 million. Within three weeks of the film's release, 20th Century Fox's stock price doubled to a record high. Its success spawned a host of other science fiction films using the same newly developed computer-based special-effects technologies that Star Wars had used so effectively. The famous opening title sequence of the Star Wars series was first used in a series called Phantom Creeps (1939).

Star Wars is a classic tale of good against evil. George Lucas has said that his friendship with the director Francis Ford Coppola helped him to develop Hans Solo's (Harrison Ford's) personality. In addition to Hans Solo, the film's cast of characters, including Luke Skywalker, the beautiful Princess Leia, the evil Darth Vader and the venerable Yoda, became part of a saga that would lead to five additional films:

Star Wars. Episode II, Attack of the Clones
Wars. Episode III, Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope
Starn Wars Episode V, Empire Strikes Back
Star Ward, Episode VI, Return of the Jedi

Should we be on the lookout for more Star Wars cinema? Steven Sansweet, the director of Fan Relations for Lucas Films, has said that there are TV projects in work. but the Star Wars movie franchise has been officially closed down. "The enduring appeal of Star Wars," says Tom Brokaw, "is that it's this vastly entertaining piece of cinema that also leaves you ... with the idea that there are some real issues out there that we ought to be thinking about -- good and evil, and right and wrong, and heroism. Generations of people a long time from now will be enthralled by it, just as we are enthralled by the story of Robin Hood or King Arthur's Court or any of the Shakespearean tales." On Monday, May 28 at 8PM, the History Channel will broadcast a two-hour special titled Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed. It claims that Star Wars is not only a high-action adventure in space but a "complex and sophisticated story about power, politics, sin, spirituality and redemption--almost Shakespearean in its power, humor, presentation and influence".

Do you care to find out more? Out library has over 100 items about Star Wars, the most recent of which are:

Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice by Karen Traviss - There is a Civil War as the Galactic Alliance, led by Cal Omas and the Jedi forces of Luke Skywalker, battles a confederation of breakaway planets that rally to the side of rebellious Corellia. Under suspicion for involvement in an assassination plot against Queen Mother Tenel Ka of the Hapes Consortium, Han and Leia Solo are on the run, hunted by their son, Jacen, Jacen 's authoritarian tactics as head of GA security have led Luke and Mara Skywalker to fear that their nephew may be treading perilously close to the dark side;

Star Wars. Allegiance by Timothy Zahn - The destruction of the Death Star was a significant victory for the Rebel Alliance, but the instigators of that action now face their own struggles. As Luke Skywalker comes to terms with his new Jedi talents, Princess Leia takes on more responsibilities within the Alliance, and Han Solo finds himself inextricably drawn toward choosing sides.

Star Wars. Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn - Fifty thousand men, women, and children, accompanied by six Jedi Masters and twelve Jedi Knights, plan to travel into unknown space aboard the huge vessel Outbound Flight. seeking to establish colonies and contact intelligent life

Many things about Star Wars were novel, including how it begat the merchandising industry, changed the face of science-fiction, changed special-effects and changed how we we look at sequels. The film remains one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. As well as six movies, Star Wars has spawned a cottage industry of spin-off television series, books, comics, video games, toys and other merchandise. In 2005, Forbes magazine estimated that the franchise has generated as much as $20 billion in revenues over the past three decades.

It's summer, its warm and sunny, who wants to be inside on a Friday night? Not me. I'm guessing there might be a few others like me that would like to have a nice relaxing outdoor activity to wind down from a busy work week.

Well I've found something that fits this criteria, the Plaza Pics series run by the Nashua Public Library which shows family films every Friday night at Greely Park.

If the outdoor factor alone doesn't sell you then think about this; at a park (especially such a well maintained one) kids can run around expending just enough energy so that by the time you roll back into your driveway they are out like a light. Second, if you attend Plaza Pics, you're getting more for your money because each film is accompanied by a family-friendly pre-show event. Finally, and to many the most important selling point, it's FREE!

So bring your blanket or lawn chairs, popcorn and a drink, and come to Nashua's only outdoor movie theater.

Download the Nashua Public Library's summer events flyer or check below for showings and pre-show activities.

Plaza Pics are shown on Friday nights at dusk with a pre-show event starting at 7 or 7:30.

July 13th
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (rated PG)
Pre-show event at 7:30 pm: Scary stories with Simon Brooks

July 20th
Arthur and the Invisibles (rated PG)
Pre-show at 7:30 pm: Peter Boie, magician for nonbelievers

July 27th
Happy Feet (rated PG)
Pre-show at 7:30 pm: The Academy of Movement presents tap dancing and more

August 3rd
Charlotte's Web (rated G)
Pre-show at 7:00 pm: Barnyard stories with Mrs. Susan

August 10th
Curious George (rated G)
Pre-show at 7:00 pm: Children's singer Steve Blunt

"Arrrr matey, today be not just another day!" Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day according to Chases 2007 Calendar of Events and an email received by a coworker from an excited friend. If you have ever wanted to be like Johnny Depp or longed to be Captain Jack Sparrow, today is your day!

Pirates, always an easy choice for a Halloween costume and for carrying off the heroine of a romance novel, have achieved a new level of popularity thanks in part to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Surprisingly, International Talk Like a Pirate Day got its start in the 1990s. They have an official website which will give you an idea of how into this people can get! There is a dictionary associated with this website which will help you to impress people with your pirate lingo and help you figure out what other people are saying to you.

Talk Like a Pirate Day gained even more popularity in 2002 when humorist Dave Barry wrote a column about it in the Miami Herald. He discussed the very beginning of the observation of the day. He also profiled its two creators , "Ol Chumbucket" and "Capn Slappy"; two otherwise normal people who decided to dress and talk like pirates one day a year. Thanks in part to this column and the dedication of John Baur and Mark Summers, people in more and more countries around the globe are beginning to be very excited about eyepatches and words like "avast" and "me hearties", at least one day a year.

If you have ever wanted to know more about pirates, the real pirates I mean, the library has some books which you might want to take a look at.

The republic of pirates by Colin Woodard : a new book all about the pirates of the Caribbean
The sack of Panama by Peter Earle : Capn Morgan did more than advertise rum
A history of pirates : blood and thunder on the high seas by Nigel Cawthorne
The book of pirate songs compiled by Stuart M Frank : If you'd rather sing like a pirate than talk like one
Under the black flag: the romance and reality of life among the pirates by David Cordingly : Just in case you are curious about what life was really like.

Of course if you'd rather just look at Johnny Depp (aka Capn Jack Sparrow), we do have Pirates of the Caribbean : the curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest

So if you missed it today, enjoy your grog, round up your parrot and your eyepatch and just wait for next year! Arrrrr!

Before the World Series and the ALCS, Fall 2007's first TV viewing marathon came to us from New Hampshire’s award-winning documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns. His latest effort, aptly titled “The War”, chronicles the American experience of World War II through the eyes of those who endured it. The 20th century’s greatest conflict was also perhaps the most visually documented. Combat photographers captured the action and horror of combat and its consequences in both still and moving images. Heavily censored images were packaged into newsreels to support the war effort, and film was used for training, propaganda, and entertainment throughout the war.

Hollywood jumped into the war effort with both feet, producing war films for American audiences soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Here are some examples of feature films released during the war to audiences hungry for any visual representation they could find of what was happening overseas. Now you can find these on DVD at the library.

Casablanca (1942) with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
Mrs. Miniver (1942) with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon.
Action in the North Atlantic (1943) with Humphey Bogart and Raymond Massey.
Destination Tokyo (1943) with Cary Grant and John Garfield.
The Fighting Sullivans (1944) starring Anne Baxter and Ward Bond.
Passage to Marseille (1944) with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre.
To Have and Have Not (1944) with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
Objective, Burma! (1945) with Errol Flynn.
They Were Expendable (1945) with John Wayne and Donna Reed.

Hollywood also produced some spectacular propaganda films during the same period such as:

Walt Disney On the Front Lines: The War Years (1941-1945) - 2-DVD collection of Disney’s animated contributions to the cause.
Why We Fight (1943-1945) – 4-DVD series of 7 propaganda films produced by Frank Capra and shown to American GIs during World War II.

Some of the very best films about the war, however, were produced during the postwar period. Here are some award-winning classics that you’ll find on DVD at the library:

Comedies

Operation Petticoat (1959) with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis.
Father Goose (1964) with Cary Grant and Leslie Caron.
Catch-22 (1970) with Alan Arkin, Buck Henry, and Paula Prentiss.

Documentaries

Victory at Sea (1952) produced by NBC with original music by Richard Rodgers.
The War (2007) produced for PBS by Ken Burns.

Dramas

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) with Dana Andrews, Frederic March and Myrna Loy.
Twelve O’Clock High (1949) with Gregory Peck and Dean Jagger.
From Here to Eternity (1953) with Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, and Frank Sinatra.
Stalag 17 (1953) with William Holden.
The Caine Mutiny (1954) with Humphrey Bogart and Fred MacMurray.
Mister Roberts (1955) with Henry Fonda and Jack Lemmon.
The Bridge over the River Kwai (1957) with Alec Guinness and William Holden.
The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen.
In Harm’s Way (1965) with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas.
Von Ryan's Express (1965) with Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard.
The Dirty Dozen (1967) with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, and Charles Bronson.
Patton (1970) with George C. Scott and Karl Malden.
The Winds of War (1983) 6-DVD miniseries with Robert Mitchum, Ali McGraw, and Jan-Michael Vincent
War and Remembrance (1988) 6-DVD miniseries with Robert Mitchum, Jane Seymour, and John Gielgud.
Schindler’s List (1993) directed by Steven Spielberg with Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes.
Saving Private Ryan (1998) with Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, and Matt Damon.
Band of Brothers (2001) 6-DVD miniseries produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
The Pianist (2002) produced by Roman Polanski with Adrien Brody.
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) and Flags of Our Fathers (2007) produced by Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg.

and a Musical

South Pacific (1958) with Mitzi Gaynor and Rosanno Brazzi; music by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Looking for more titles? Try Wikipedia's List of World War II films or visit the Internet Movie Database and enter keyword "WWII".

When was the last time you made a bowl or two of popcorn and sat down with your WHOLE family to watch a movie? Granted that Disney and Dreamworks have made some great films in recent years that both children and adults can enjoy, but for the most part Hollywood targets films to specific audiences, often leaving some members of your family looking for something else to do for the evening.

Boston Globe movie critic Ty Burr has given this problem some thought, and after watching Mulan one too many times, decided that, for him, the old classic movies were the answer. So Ty sat down and wrote a book about watching classic films with modern children called The best old movies for families : A guide to watching together (Anchor Books, 2007, MAM 791.4375 B). In it he selects films that mom, dad, and the kids can watch and enjoy together and discuss afterwards. The actors are talented, the storylines are fresh, and black and white ain’t so bad once you get used to it. Best of all you’ll find no explicit sex, graphic violence, raw language, or marketing tie-ins with Coke, Hasbro, or Burger King. Perfect!

Ty’s book begins with “Starter Kits” – the first old movies to watch with your children. He breaks these down by age. For toddlers (ages 3-6) he suggests fast-paced stories that are simple without being dumbed down such as:

Bringing Up Baby (B&W; 1938) with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant
Meet Me in St. Louis (Color; 1944) with Judy Garland
Singin’ in the Rain (Color; 1952) with Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor
Stagecoach (B&W; 1939) with John Wayne

For tweeners (ages 7-12) he suggests “killer stories” such as:

The African Queen (Color; 1951) with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn
The Day the Earth Stood Still (B&W; 1951) with Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal
North by Northwest (Color; 1959) directed by Alfred Hitchcock with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint
Ohayo/Good Morning (Color; 1959) directed by Yasujiro Ozu
Some Like It Hot (B&W; 1959) with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe

And for teenagers (ages 13+) he suggests some of the classics that contemporary films that teens love are based upon such as:

Metropolis (B&W; 1927) directed by Fritz Lang
Psycho (B&W; 1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock with Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh
The Seven Samurai (B&W; 1954) directed by Akira Kurosawa

In all, his book reviews over 100 of the old classics by genre: Comedy, Drama, Action, Horror, and Foreign, with an index that organizes the best old movies by age group. Each film review includes recommended ages, "The sell" to kids, a plot outline, "Pause-button explanations" regarding questions your child might have, and suggestions for what to watch next. Ty recommends that the first old movie you watch with your child should be a comedy. He also renders advice on old movies NOT to watch with your children and why.

The Nashua Public Library maintains a large collection of classic films many of which have been remastered, and we’re pleased to report that we own most of the titles Ty recommends. Here's a sampling of more of Ty's suggestions that you'll find at the library:

For ages 3 and up

The Court Jester (Color; 1956) with Danny Kaye
Safety Last (B&W; 1923) with Harold Lloyd

For ages 8 and up

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Color; 1953) with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell
High Noon (B&W; 1952) with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly
It Happened One Night (B&W; 1934) with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert
Roman Holiday (B&W; 1953) with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck

For ages 12 and up

Breakfast at Tiffany's (Color; 1961) with Audrey Hepburn and Mickey Rooney
On the Waterfront (B&W; 1954) with Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Steiger and Karl Malden
The Searchers (Color; 1956) with John Wayne and Natalie Wood
Sunset Blvd. (B&W; 1950) with Gloria Swanson and William Holden
The Third Man (B&W; 1949) with Orson Welles

Not a fan of Black & White or Classic films? The Nashua Public Library has sections of films on both VHS and DVD designated for family viewing in the Music, Art & Media Department. These films are generally rated no higher than PG. We also carry other guide books listing family-friendly films such as:

The New York Times essential library : Children's movies : A critic's guide to the best films available on video and DVD (Times Books, 2003, MAM 791.4375 N) and
What can we watch tonight? A family guide to movies (Zondervan, 2003, MAM 791.4375 N)

or, just check our Family Friendly Film Guide for web sites to help with your selections. Happy viewing!

I voted in my first New Hampshire Primary in 1984 and haven’t missed a primary since. I make an effort to be an informed voter, but for a while I was passive observer of the process. It wasn’t until the 2000 election that I started attending events and “meeting” the candidates. You don’t have to go far to discover what a candidate is like up close and personal, and for me, that interaction trumps what I read or hear about a candidate. I try to meet candidates that interest me from both parties. I appreciate the time and attention they give our state and I like to return the favor by taking some care to discern who I think is the best candidate to lead this nation into the future.

The Nashua Public Library is very serious about keeping the city informed about both the Presidential candidates and the issues we face. You’ll find a trove of books and articles about the entire process in the library, including a fairly large collection of films and documentaries that we hope will satisfy your political interests. Here are some DVDs to prime you for the Primary:

About the candidates

Giuliani Time: The Man Who Would Be King (2006) – a critical view of Rudy Giuliani’s term as mayor of New York.

The Hunting of the President (2004) – a film about efforts to defeat and discredit Bill Clinton from Arkansas to the White House.

The Mormons (2007) – a PBS documentary of the Mormons in America, from Joseph Smith to today’s church.

About domestic issues

A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (2007) – a film that makes the case for an upcoming decline of the world’s oil supply.

End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream (2004) – our suburbs were built upon the availability of cheap oil, and how oil shortages will change the suburban way of life.

Farmingville (2004) – a film examining how suburban Farmingville, NY deals with the influx of Mexican workers.

An Inconvenient Truth (2006) – Al Gore’s argument that global warming is occurring and the world must address the problem.

Oil on Ice (2004) – explores the issues of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Sicko (2007) – Michael Moore’s latest aims at the inequitities and inefficiencies of our health care system.

Tying the Knot: The Union that’s Dividing America (2004) – explores the issue of gay marriage in America.

Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) – the electric car was once a viable transportation option in America but certain forces allied against its success. Here's a look at what happened and what we can hope for in the future regarding energy efficient transportation solutions.

About the war on terror

Here are a few of the many films that have been produced about 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq:

Aftermath: Unanswered Questions from 9/11 (2003) - an examination of 9/11 events 2 years after this horrific event.

Alive Day Memories : Home from Iraq (2007) - a documentary about soldiers wounded in Iraq.

The Blood of My Brother (2005) - the insurgency from an Iraqi point of view.

Fahrenheit 9/11 - Michael Moore's much talked about documentary.

Gunner Palace (2004) - a film about a American unit operating out of one of Saddam's former palaces.

Inside 9/11 - a well-done National Geographic documentary chronicling events surrounding 9/11.

Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006) - a look at the monetary cost of the war and the misuse of funds intended for reconstruction.

My Country, My Country (2006) - a film about the war's toll on Iraqi civilians.

No End in Sight (2007) – an insightful look at how the Iraq war careened out of control, told by Bush administration insiders.

Rush to war: between Iraq and a hard place (2004) - a critical appraisal of our rationale to go to war.

Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War (2004) - a view from the opposition as moveon.org and others interview government officials in an effort to discern the roots of the decision to invade Iraq.

Voices of Iraq (2004) - the people of Iraq speak about the war.

The War Tapes (2007) - NH National Guardsman are given cameras to film their year in Iraq. This is the result.

Why We Fight (2005) - not the Frank Capra WW II classic but a revealing film that begins with President Eisenhower's admonition to beware of the military-industrial complex and chronicles how we have failed to heed his warning.

WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception (2004) - based on Danny Schechter's book: "Embedded - Weapons of Mass Deception: How the Media Failed to Cover the War in Iraq".

Documentaries

Feed: A comedy about running for president (1992) - a documentary on the news feeds that 1992 Presidential candidates didn't want you to see.

Primary: the landmark film that took on the road to the Kennedy White House (1960)

RFK Must Die (2007) - a recent documentary on the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968.

Run Granny Run (2007) - while not related to the primary, Doris "Granny D" Haddock's political activism in her 90th decade is legendary. This film documents her 2004 run for US Senate.

Feature films

Bobby (Drama; 2006) – a film chronicling the 1968 assassination of presidential candidate Robert Kennedy.

The Manchurian Candidate (Drama; 1962) - the original classic with Frank Sinatra!

The Manchurian Candidate (Drama; 2004) - the remake with Denzel Washington.

Nashville (Drama; 1975) - a Robert Altman film.

Primary Colors (Comedy; 1998) - a thinly veiled fictional film about a southern governor running for president.

Wag the Dog (Comedy; 1997) - a dark political comedy.

A word about fair and balanced. Your point of view may not be represented in some of these films, and if not, we encourage your recommendations. Above all we encourage you to examine the issues from others' points of view and vote on January 8th. That's the New Hampshire way!

The 80th annual Academy Award nominations were announced yesterday.

Nominees for Best Motion Picture of the Year were Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood.

No Country for Old Men, a film by brothers Ethan and Joel Coen, had 8 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem. If you're interested in seeing more of the Coen brothers' movies, Fargo and The Big Lebowski are just two of the titles you'll find here at the library. Or, you might like to read Cormac McCarthy's book, on which the film is based.

There Will Be Blood also received 8 nominations, including Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis. According to the handy, searchable database on the Academy Awards web site, Oscar.com, Daniel Day-Lewis has already won for his role in "My Left Foot." He was also nominated for Best Actor for his roles in Gangs of New York and In the Name of the Father.

Michael Clayton came in with 7 nominations, including a Best Actor nomination for George Clooney.

Also taking 7 nominations was Atonement, which was based on Ian McEwan's book by the same name. We have several copies of the book, if you'd like to add your name to the waiting list.

Check back with the library as these titles are released on DVD. We have many award-winners in our collection!

The complete list of Academy Award nominations is available from the official Oscar web site, at http://www.oscar.com/nominees/.

On a recent trip to Maine, I took a short detour to Bucksport to drop off some 35mm films that the Nashua Public Library has been storing for some time. These films cover significant events in Nashua and throughout New Hampshire from the 1930s through the 1950s. We no longer show 35mm films, but we were concerned about preserving these films and making their content available on another format, but more about them in a later entry.

My destination was Northeast Historic Film. Excluding the state of Rhode Island, NHF is New England’s repository for motion picture films. Housed behind the Alamo Theatre in Bucksport which regularly shows old films, of course, you’ll find a state-of-the-art preservation and duplication laboratory, a video lending library for NHF members, and a small store selling DVDs and videos of one-of-a kind films about New England life long-ago. Perhaps most impressive of all is a windowless, 3-story, futuristic structure connected to the back of NHF’s offices called “The Cube.” This 13,000 cubic foot media storage vault keeps old films (and some videotapes) at a constant 45 degrees F and 25% relative humidity. These conditions slow the chemical processes by which film and tape degrades, safely storing them for duplication for up to 99 years. A separate floor with temperatures maintained below freezing is designated for films that already show signs of distress.

Here are some interesting facts about visual media and archival quality:

• Film (“safety” film, that is, developed in the 1920s) has strong archival qualities. Prior to safety film, film stock was cellulose nitrate-based which is extremely combustible. NHF will not accept nitrate films for preservation or storage.

• Videotape has a much shorter lifetime. VHS in particular can begin to experience “drop outs” within 10-20 years. Beta is a more stable format but rarely seen these days.

• Burned DVDs, if well cared for, should last 100 years or more depending on the format. Early reports of “DVD rot” have not come to pass, but DVDs require care in handling and storage in order to retain their longevity. See Fred R. Byers’ Care and handling of CDs and DVDs: A guide for librarians and archivists for more on DVD and CD life expectancy.

NHF is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving films documenting New England’s past. In addition to accepting film archives from major institutions, they will also inspect, clean, and transfer home movies for a fee to the video format of your choice. Their first advice to home movie owners is to not project your films. Film gets brittle with age and running them through a projector could cause further damage. Contact their Technical Services department for help or more information.

NHF also participates in Home Movie Day an annual worldwide celebration of amateur film, occurring this year on Saturday, October 18, 2008, when participants can bring their home movies to be inspected and shown.

Want to learn more about film preservation? Visit Film Forever: The Home Film Preservation Guide sponsored by the Association of Moving Image Archivists.

Of course local film and video transfer services abound. Check your Yellow Pages for “Video – Duplication Service” or “Video Production” or just Google keywords “video (or VHS or film),” “transfer (or duplication)” and "Nashua”. There are also many options for do-it-yourselfers, where a trip to Circuit City or RadioShack might be a first step. Just remember that your 8mm films and VHS tapes aren't improving with age like fine wine, so there's no time like the present to transfer them to a newer format.

Mark your calendars, November 21st is the big day. At least it is if you are a fan of the Twilight book series written by Stephenie Meyer. It's the day words come to life, the release of the movie based on the first book in the series. This series now in its 64th week on the NY Times Bestseller list has a cult like following amongst teens and even some adults I know. While many attribute this series to an increase in the popularity of vampire fiction, it seems to be the love triangle that has grabbed the attention of many readers. You may have seen someone you know sporting a "Team Jacob" or "Team Edward" t-shirt. While I don't have a t-shirt to show it, I will proudly state that I side with "Team Jacob".

I'm anticipating this day because I am interested to hear the movie reviews from the die hard Twilight fans that have been keeping me on my toes as the movie production progresses. Already I have heard more than one person question the actors that were cast to portray certain characters. It seems this is often a consequence of watching the movie and seeing someone else's interpretation of the story after having read it oneself. I'm trying to remain open minded until I see the film myself on November 21st. However, I will not be surprised if there are a few disappointed readers after the film's debut.

I'd like to invite you to return to this entry after you view the movie and share your review in the comments section.

If you are interested in other movies based on young adult books here's a list created by Mid-Continental Public Library: http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/movies/movie.cfm

My favorite local video store recently closed its doors after 25 long years of excellent service, unable to compete with the raging success of Netflix. According to some predictions, Blockbuster is doomed to fall likewise, and sometime soon.

Meanwhile DVDs continue to fly off the shelves at the Nashua Public Library. (You can't beat our prices, after all.) From July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 customers borrowed over 182,000 DVDs, on average 530 a day. Last fiscal year the figure was about 160,000 (470/day) -- a lot to begin with, and an increase in turn over the previous year.

As retail goes under, public service skyrockets, especially during a recession. This isn't to imply that a poor economy hurts rental stores while helping libraries. It actually helps both, since when times are hard, people stay home for entertainment either way. As Peter Hobbins points out in the Telegraph article, it was Netflix which drove him out of business, not the recession. Netflix not only offers innovative customer service (mail delivery being the most obvious), but a wide selection of titles, including indie dramas, foreign films, and obscure hard-to-find videos.

So does the Nashua Public Library. We have over 8500 DVDs in our collection: 2900 feature films, 750 family films, 770 foreign films, 800 comedies, 310 musicals, 400 children's, 1160 TV series, and 1480 non-fiction. Between 40-50% of this entire collection is checked out at any given time. We aim to please (and are evidently successful), and always open to suggestions for new titles. Be sure to visit the library this summer for accessible video entertainment.

Merriam-Webster defines the word criterion as "a standard on which a judgment or decision may be based." Mention the same word to a film buff and The Criterion Collection comes to mind. The Criterion Collection is indeed the standard; the gold standard, or “king of the hill, top of the heap” as Sinatra would say, for the very best classic and contemporary films distributed for home viewing.

The Criterion Collection company came to be in 1984, spawned from the Voyager Company, a laserdisc pioneer, and Janus Films, a respected world cinema distributor. Originally distributing on the laserdisc format, Criterion films are now available on DVD, Blu-ray, and online. In addition to the Criterion Collection, the company also distributes the Eclipse series (packaged film collections by a single director), and the Essential Art House (classic films, reasonably priced) collections.

Criterion films clearly are the standard for film collectors and devotees. The company offers films from more than 150 renowned directors such as Jean Renoir, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, and Akira Kurosawa. The films are meticulously restored and remastered frame by frame from the best available prints and in accordance with the director’s intentions; original and uncut, with the same aspect ratio (screen dimensions) utilized in the film's theatrical release. Extras, lots of them, are added: deleted scenes, commentaries, documentaries, script material and more. The final product retails for about twice the cost of a typical DVD but it is a viewer’s delight.

The Criterion catalog now exceeds more than 500 films; half of which are available for loan from the Nashua Public Library. To locate our Criterion films, enter the keywords criterion video* into our catalog, or add your favorite actor/director to this search string if you like. Many, but not all of our Criterion films are subtitled foreign language films. Some are forgotten British and American classics, and a few are films released in theaters just a few years back. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you may find in the Criterion catalog.

The Nashua Public Library continues to add new Criterion films as they are released, so the next time you check out a couple of DVDs, look for the tilted "C" on the DVD case and take home a Criterion title. You'll be watching the best cinema in the world for the price of a free lunch!

Americans eventually get around to recognizing and preserving our heritage. It took a bequest from British scientist John Smithson to create the Smithsonian in 1846. Congress created our National Park System in 1916 to preserve sites of historical and natural significance, a visionary effort beautifully documented in Ken Burns’ magnificent new 6 DVD documentary "The National Parks: America’s Best Idea", along with the companion book by Dayton Duncan. The National Archives was created in 1934 by Congress to preserve documents of importance, and not that long ago in 1989, Congress established the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress for the preservation of “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films.” A year later the National Film Registry was created to designate and preserve films of “enduring importance to American culture.”

The selection process to the National Film Registry is quite different from the Academy Awards or Golden Globes. Hollywood egos and marketing hype are removed from the equation, replaced instead by a rigorous nomination process that includes public input. Nominees must be at least ten years old and do not have to be feature films, and at the end of each December only 25 films are selected by the Librarian of Congress for inclusion.

The films named to the 2009 National Film Registry of the Library of Congress include Al Pacino’s "Dog Day Afternoon", Tyron Power’s "The Mark of Zorro", "The Muppet Movie", Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" video, 1967's "The Jungle", shot by teen gang members in Philadelphia, Doris Day and Rock Hudson's "Pillow Talk," and "Hot Dogs for Gauguin," a 1972 student film featuring Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman in her debut role. The 525 films in the Registry include films from animations ("Steamboat Willie"), shorts ("Duck and Cover" and the "Zapruder Film" of the Kennedy Assassination) and recognized classics ("Singing in the Rain" and "The Godfather"). The oldest film in the Registry in 1893's "Blacksmithing Scene" and the newest is 1996's "Fargo".

Daniel Eagan’s recently published "America’s Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, 2010", covers them all through 2008.

You’ll find most of these films in DVD in the Music, Art and Media department, and along with many other best films lists. And if you're a fan of film, don't forget to vote for 2010 nominees to the Registry.