Probably best known for his role in Brokeback Mountain and as The Joker in the upcoming Batman: The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger had a career that has spanned the last decade. He has been in such notable films as Monster's Ball and the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.
You can find all of his films available at the Pickering Public Library Here.
Well, there is a trailer for the new Narnia movie:Prince Caspian. You can see it here, as well as read a transcript.
Personally, I am looking forward to what this new movie can teach me about life. The first big screen film (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) taught me many important lessons, which I will sum up in point form:
- Normal Coloured Tigers are good, White Tigers are evil.
- People who look like goats are good, people who look like bulls are evil.
- Santa Claus spends the off season as an arms dealer.
- Turkish Delight is apparently worth selling out your family for.
We have the entire series of Narnia books, as well as books on tape/CD and videos, available in our Catalogue.
Brush up on the series before the new movie. I will warn you though, the book Prince Caspian has some pretty blatant spoilers for the film.
The Beauty Academy of Kabul
Directed by: Liz Mermin
[New York, NY] : Docurama : Distributed by New Video, c2006.
Every culture has a unique perspective on what is beautiful. The Beauty Academy of Kabul tells the story of six teachers, including three Afghan women returning after many years, who start a beauty academy for local women in Kabul. Beauty salons are seen as a way for Afghan women to regain social and economic freedom in post-Taliban Afghanistan, and beauty is recognized as a symbol of returning freedom, self-esteem, and hope for the future. The film includes brief historical clips of the ongoing turbulence in Afghanistan and touches on a number of interconnected issues, such as gender inequalities, arranged marriages, rigid social conventions, and the continual threat of violence. Mermin skillfully balances the good intentions of the academy with the harsh realities of the life of females in Afghanistan. She also successfully incorporates clashes between the American instructors, who can be overly brash and somewhat insensitive to the trauma these women have endured, and the Afghan natives, who don't necessarily believe that the empowerment of women to control their own lives can ever be accomplished. Overall, the film is a testament to perseverance in the face of adversity as Afghan women embrace the chance to gain new skills and further education.
Review from Library Journal
CBC is reporting that Peter Jackson will be helming development of the film adaptation of "The Hobbit".
This is good news for everyone who loved Jackson's take on the Lord of the Rings trilogy and hope that he brings the same level of quality to the prequel. Apparently the book will be spun out over two separate films.
"The Hobbit" films have a tentative release date of 2010 and 2011, so to keep us occupied while we wait, have a look at some of these books and films:
The Hills Have Eyes 2
Written by Jonathan and Wes Craven
Directed by Martin Weisz
Beverly Hills, Calif. : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, c2007
- Staring:
- Michael McMillian
- Jessica Stroup
- Daniella Alonso
- Jacob Vargas
- Lee Thompson Young
- Ben Crowley
- Eric Edelstein
- Flex Alexander
- Reshad Strik
- Michael Bailey Smith
Horror sequels and remakes usually signify one more trip to the well, with a bucket of blood. But while "The Hills Have Eyes 2"--a sequel to a remake--may inhabit familiar geography, screenwriters Wes Craven and son Jonathan have shifted the dramatic landscape: The scene is still the A-bomb test site of Wes Craven's 1977 original, and it includes the mutant cannibals of Alexandre Aja's 2006 remake. This time, though, the victims are National Guardsmen, the issues include training and equipment, and the entire scenario adds up to an unmistakable critique of the war in Iraq.
The politics of "Hills 2" won't enlist any new converts to the horror ranks, but existing fans will be drawn to the combination of visceral tension, violent payoff and the patented Craven gift for innovative gore.
The scene is a 1,300-square-mile patch of New Mexico, where the Carter family of the previous "Hills" pics met their fate at the hands of mutant psycho Quasimodo look-alikes, bio-victims of government nuclear tests. Immediately upon arriving, the "Hills 2's'" National Guard patrol is set upon by the grotesque cave-dwellers, who hit and run with such eerie speed that the Guardsmen--all young and untrained--are immediately unnerved. It doesn't do much for their confidence that the team of scientists and military they were supposed to meet have all vanished.
While nothing is as broadly political as the impalement--via American flag--in the 2006 "Hills Have Eyes," the sentiments are obvious enough. Napoleon (Michael McMillian), the smartest member of the co-ed Guard group that finds itself in a hostile desert, is challenged about his lack of enthusiasm for the war.
"Presidents lie too much," he says. He's given little slack: "The last president who told the truth was Truman," barks his commanding officer, Sarge (Flex Alexander), "and you know what he said? 'The buck stops here!'"
Sarge and Napoleon are never going to get along, but the way things are working out with the natives, it really won't matter.
In their first outing as a screenwriting team, the Cravens don't offer a lot in terms of plot--mostly the imperiled attempt to become unimperiled. But with the exception of a ridiculous "Are you OK?" when the person has been abducted, beaten and raped (and which may have been intended as a "Scream"-style joke line), the dialogue sparks and the humor relieves without intruding on the mood of terror. A scientist offering a cheery "Hi!" to a ghoul lunching on intestines? How can you not laugh?
Helmer Martin Weisz, whose background is largely in music-videos, meets the challenge of creating dread in broad daylight, before the entire cast of soldiers and carnivores heads underground, into the warren of mines and tunnels where the mutants dwell.
Cinematographer Sam McCurdy's work is really fine--the outside world is crisp, creepy and khaki-colored, while his subterranean shooting is in surroundings so deprived of light you're surprised you can make out what's down there. But, oh yes, you can. And you probably won't like what you see.
Review from Variety - John Anderson
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Written by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.
Directed by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam
Culver City, Calif. : Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, c2003.
A comedic take on the adventures of King Arthur and his knights in their attempt to find the Holy Grail, this movie is a touchstone of geek culture. I watched when I was in Junior High School and have watched it every year or so since then. I still find it hilarious.
While connected by an overarching plot (finding the grail) the movie plays out very much like a sketch comedy show, with each scene being one elaborate joke that may or may not advance the plot. These scenes usally have a catch phrase or idiom that you or your children will repeat, well, repeatedly.
A fun movie to watch, especially your first time, and the humour has not dulled even after 30 years. Some of the scenes are a little racy, (especially the castle Anthrax bit) but nothing that can't be seen on modern Television shows such as Gray's Anatomy or Desperate Housewives. But you might want to keep your youngest children from seeing it.
Mr. Brooks
Screenplay by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon.
Directed by Bruce A. Evans.
Beverly Hills, Calif. : MGM Home Entertainment ; Montreal : Distributed by Alliance Atlantis, c2007.
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner
- Demi Moore
- Dane Cook
If you've seen the trailer for the Kevin-Costner-is-a-killer movie "Mr. Brooks," you might fear that the entire plot has been given away. The good news: there are many twists, turns, subplots and surprises that the coming attractions don't even hint at. The bad news: these twists and turns are so preposterous, or so irrelevant, that they undermine the movie they're meant to tart up.
The title character, played by Costner, is a pillar of the Portland, Ore., community, a happily married husband and father who has an unfortunate addiction to murder. He even goes to AA meetings to deal with his problem, though he's understandably reticent about sharing. His only confidant is--himself: Mr. Brooks has a devilish alter ego who goads him on in his life of crime, and this evil id-dude is played, very cannily, by William Hurt. As the bickering sides of Mr. Brooks's twisted psyche, Costner and Hurt have a delicious chemistry, but it doesn't bode well for a movie when the only two compelling characters are the same person, talking to himself.
Their testy, complicitous bond is far more interesting than Mr. Brooks's relationship with his wife , his troubled daughter , who has abruptly dropped out of college, the driven cop (Demi Moore) who is hot on his trail or the amateur photographer (Dane Cook) who happened to catch on film Mr. Brooks's latest killing--a couple in the act of making love. It's not giving too much away to reveal that this creepy fellow is no conventional blackmailer; instead of money, he wants the chance to accompany Mr. Brooks on his next killing.
This sicko is barely credible (an actor more experienced than Cook might have helped), but Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon's script has far more rank improbabilities ahead, the most egregious involving Mr. Brooks's lovely daughter. As if there weren't enough to hold our interest, they give us an escaped convict pursuing Moore for sending him up the river. (These scenes seem to have been borrowed from another movie entirely.) Did I mention that Moore's cop character is also a millionaire? Don't ask.
For its first half, "Mr. Brooks," directed by Evans, is pretty engaging trash. Costner is usually most fun when he's subverting his nice-guy persona ("No Way Out"), and here he gets to play both a paragon and a villain. The basic premise has real potential: think what Claude Chabrol could do with it. But Evans and Gideon aren't seriously interested in the psychology of their characters. They're so worried about holding our attention they overload their tale with bombshells, byways and bogus suspense. The movie becomes a crazy quilt of competing stories, none of them properly developed. You could cut half the major characters out of "Mr. Brooks" and never miss them.
Review from Newsweek (June 11, 2007) - David Ansen.
Nightwatch (Nochnoi Dozor)
English screenplay by Timur Bekmambetov and Laeta Kalogridis. Based on the novel by Sergei Lukyanenko.
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov.
Beverly Hills, CA : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, c2006.
- Starring:
- Konstantin Khabensky
- Vladimir Menshov
- Mariya Poroshina
- Galina Tyunina
- Viktor Verzhbitsky
This movie is an adaptation of the first story in the book Night Watch. I read the book before I saw the movie, and in my opinion the book is much better.
The story follows Anton Gorodetsky and his introduction to the world of the Others, people with extraordinary magical abilities. He joins the Night Watch, those responsible for watching over the activities of the "Dark" Others. He hunts down vampires and tries to prevent a magical curse from destroying Moscow.
The problem with this movie is that unless you have read the book, there are a lot of things that would be confusing or almost nonsensical. The "Gloom" or "twilight" is not very well explained at all in the movie for example, but is a cornerstone of the world of Night Watch.
A decent film, but I would recommend reading the book first.
Music and Lyrics
Written by Marc Lawrence.
Directed by Marc Lawrence.
Burbank, Calif. : Warner Home Video, c2007 .
- Starring:
- Hugh Grant
- Drew Barrymore
- Brad Garrett
- Haley Bennett
- Matthew Morrison
- Aasif Mandvi
- Scott Porter
As Hugh Grant ages, something is becoming clear: The actor's most compelling attribute is not his floppy forelock but the vein of charming self-loathing that has always been pulsing under his masterfully mussed-up hair. The posh stuttering, the artful dishevelment, the way his characters blink and back away (from women, certainly, but also from men as chums or colleagues) are all gestures of a very cultivated, very British embarrassment. Oh, dear God, am I really an Oxford graduate mucking about as a movie star? his pouting mouth pleads, while magazine editors put him on Sexiest Man lists. How can you stand me when I'm such a delightfully horrid, selfish man? his characters flirt.
Grant is game for a new level of meta-ha-ha, joke's-on-me in Music and Lyrics. But with Drew Barrymore as his costar, this bland, light romantic comedy insists on keeping the commentary as disposable as one of the '80s gumball tunes Grant used to swivel to as Alex Fletcher, a washed-up '80s pop star. Alex had some hits in a Wham!-like band called PoP, and it shows: Grant readily embraces bad hair (that of a has-been desperately trying to accommodate the '00s), bad tight shirts, and a cute spritz of eau de failure. Having split with his PoP partner--the lyric-writing half of the duo, who went on to even greater success--Alex makes his dough singing solo on the nostalgia circuit (high school reunions, amusement parks). The faintly idiotic gigs are enough to bankroll a modestly comfortable, unattached, showbiz-adjacent lifestyle on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Review from Entertainment Weekly-Lisa Schwarzbaum.
Read the rest of the review here.
Happily N'ever After
Written by Robert Moreland & Douglas Langdale
Directed by Paul Bolger and Yvette Kaplan.
Santa Monica, Calif. : Lions Gate Entertainment ; Distributed in Canada by Maple Pictures, c2007.
- Starring:
- Freddie Prinze, Jr
- Sarah Michelle Gellar
- Patrick Warburton
- George Carlin
- Sigourney Weaver
- Wallace Shawn
- Andy Dick
This CGI movie was similar to the Shrek series of films. It has fairly big name actors providing the voices for this tale of Fairy Tales turned upside-down.
The story follows the tale of Ella, who is destined to marry the Prince and become queen at the expense of her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Her evil stepmother is not pleased with this, and seizes control of the fairytale land in order to let "evil" win.
The movie is somewhat lacking in both the animation and the story when compared to Shrek, but is not completely worthless. I would suggest this film if you want a family friendly DVD and have already watched all of the Shrek films. A good enough time waster for a rainy weekend when the kids are stuck inside.
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