Pan’s Labyrinth

Discussion on December 13th

Register and pick up your copy of the DVD starting December 2nd.

Director & Screenwriter: Guillermo del Toro

Stars: Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Ariadna Gil, Álex Angulo

Plot: When young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her mother go to live with her new stepfather on a rural military outpost during the Spanish Civil War, she finds herself in a world of unimaginable cruelty. Soon Ofelia finds the creatures of her imagination in which she used to escape have become a reality and she must battle them to save both her mother and herself. In the terrifying battle that ensues, Ofelia soon learns that innocence has a power that evil cannot imagine.

I’d like to set up the dvd selections for the first few months of the new year. Here’s a few newer titles I’ve been considering. If you click the title you can see the library’s catalog entry:

• Black Book
• Volver
• The Namesake
• The Wind that Shakes the Barley
• Notes on a Scandal
• The Lookout
• The Lives of Others
• Grizzly Man
• Rabbit-Proof Fence
• Magdalene Sisters

Once Were Warriors and Whale Rider - discussion on 5/10

Register online for this discussion starting 4/26

Once Were Warriors
Director: Lee Tamahori
Screenplay: Riwia Brown, Alan Duff (novel)
Stars: Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Julian Arahanga
Plot: " New Zealand filmmaker Lee Tamahori (The Edge) directed this brutal but powerful story drawn from the culture of poverty and alienation enveloping contemporary Maori life. Rena Owen plays the beleaguered mother of two boys--one of whom is already in prison while the other contemplates membership in a gang--and a daughter whose potential is being smothered at home. Temuera Morrison gives an outstanding and sometimes shocking performance as the violent head of the household, more adept at keeping up his social stature within his community of friends than holding down a job. The film pulls no punches, literally and figuratively, but despite the rough going, Tamahori gives us a rare and important insight into a disenfranchised people digging down deep to find their pride. --Tom Keogh [Amazon.com]


Whale Rider
Director: Niki Caro
Screenplay: Niki Caro, Witi Ihimaera (novel)
Stars: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis
Plot: On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny. [IMDB]

June 15th discussion : TransAmerica

Register for this discussion starting June 2nd.

Pick up your copy of the DVD starting June 8th.

Director: Duncan Tucker

Screenplay: Duncan Tucker

Stars: Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegars, Fionnula Flanagan, Burt Young, Graham Greene

Plot: “Huffman plays Bree Osbourne, a conservative transsexual woman, who learns she is the parent of a long-lost 17-year-old son (Kevin Zegers). The wheels of fortune take Bree and son on a cross-country adventure, including a memorable visit with Bree’s parents, that will change both of their lives. A funny, touching, completely original look at the modern American family” Product description via amazon.com

Review links:

Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times

David Edelstein Slate

Read more reviews:
IMDB
Metacritic