Let the Games Begin – 2009!

At the crack of dawn this morning (530am!), the Oscar nominations were announced for this year’s performances. I was particularly pleased to see Richard Jenkins get nominated for his amazing work in The Visitor. Personally, I think he might just take the Oscar home this year. I was also pleased that The Reader got a nod for both Best Picture and for Kate Winslet’s Best Actress performance. (Yes, I know the Golden Globes gave her a Best Supporting Actress for this but it was really a leading role.).
Many of these films are still in the theaters, but not all! Here are the films that are currently available at the HBPL Media Department that received nominations:

The Dark Knight (Best Supporting Actor – Heath Ledger, Best Editing, Make-up, Art Direction, Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects )
The Duchess (Best Art Direction and Costume)
Encounters at the End of the World (Best Documentary)
Hellboy II (Best Make-Up)
In Bruges (Best Original Screenplay)
Iron Man (Best Sound Editing, Visual Effects)
Kung-Fu Panda (Best Animated Film)
Man On Wire (Best Documentary)
Tropic Thunder (Best Supporting Actor – Robert Downey Jr.) (He's The Dude Playing the Dude Disguised as Another Dude - I love that line!)
The Visitor ( Best Actor – Richard Jenkins)
WALL-E (Best Animated Feature, Original Score, Original Song – Down to Earth, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Screenplay)
Wanted (Best Sound Editing and Sound Mixing)


Many of the nominated films are scheduled for DVD release in the very near future. That and my picks for the Oscars will be in the next posts to this blog. I will also be asking for your picks for the top categories, so start thinking!

Blu-Ray Comes to HBPL

Did you know that the HBPL Media Department now has a selection of Blu-Ray DVD’s? Well, we do! Now that the price of Blu-Ray players has come down, we have decided to offer some titles to our patrons.
Now available on Blu-Ray:
Kung-Fu Panda, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Dark Knight, Wanted, Hancock, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Eagle Eye, Iron Man, WALL-E, Horton Hears a Who, Tropic Thunder, and Mamma Mia!

Blu-Ray DVD’s can be played on Blu-Ray players and Playstation3 but cannot be played on a regular DVD player. But if you have the right equipment, these DVD’s offer an incredible visual experience!

Saturday Film Forum Returns!

Yes, it is official! As some of you may (or may not) know, our director, Ron Hayden, retired after over 20 years at the helm of HBPL. We now have a new leader! Welcome Stephanie Beverage as the new director of our library. Welcome, because just today she gave the go-ahead for the Saturday Film Forum! This time I will take you to the seedy, noir and animated world of detectives! The official title: On the QT and Very Hush-Hush: Watching the Detectives.

Here are the films and the dates:
February 28th - The Maltese Falcon: After the murder of his business partner, private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette, the jeweled Falcon of Malta.

March 28th - L.A. Confidential: 1950's Los Angeles is the seedy backdrop for this intricate noir tale of police corruption and Hollywood sleaze. Based on James Ellroy’s crime novel, the film follows three detectives that try to find the truth; each in their own way.

April 18th – Chinatown: In 1930 Los Angeles, private eye "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson), at the request of a beautiful bombshell (Faye Dunaway), becomes entangled in a scandal of greed, depravity, and corruption surrounding L.A.’s water supply.

May 16th - Who Framed Roger Rabbit? : Roger, an animated rabbit with big feet, long ears and a polka-dot tie, enlists the help of a second-rate gumshoe in an adventure that has murder, mayhem, and lots of fun! Roger thinks his wife is two-timing him, but he uncovers something much more menacing in this 1940s Hollywood adventure.

I had wanted to screen Blade Runner as the fourth film, but alas! I was unable to get the screening rights so, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? it is!! Not that I am disappointed! If you haven’t seen Roger Rabbit or if you haven’t seen it for awhile, it is a mix of animation and live action and a Zemeckis tour-de force!
All screenings will be at 2p, on Saturdays, in the Library Theater and, of course, are FREE!
I hope to see you and “as many of your adult friends that you can drag along” there!