Independence Day Films 2012

The Patriot (2000) Rated R

A hero of the French and Indian conflict, Benjamin Martin had renounced fighting forever to raise his family in peace. However, when British troops arrive at his South Carolina home and endanger his family, he takes up arms alongside his idealistic patriot son, Gabriel.

Johnny Tremain (1957) Rated NR

Johnny Tremain, a silversmith’s apprentice, dreams of learning the trade and making his own way. When a terrible injury ends his hopes, he joins the emerging Sons of Liberty and takes part in the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Lexington Green.

1776 (1972) Rated PG

1776 is a delightful musical celebration of the founding of The United States of America. The story centers around the familiar historical characters as they organize a movement for independence from Mother England. All events lead up to that most significant date, July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

National Treasure (2004) Rated PG

Since his childhood, Benjamin Franklin Gates has known that he is a descendant of a long line of people whose job it has been to guard a treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers. They hid clues to its whereabouts in the country’s currency and on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Now, Ben has learned of a plot to steal the Declaration, and has only one option: he has to steal it himself. Even if he pulls off this monumental task, keeping the treasure safe is still going to be incredibly hard, especially since the FBI now knows of his plans.

Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) Rated NR

A historical drama that tells the story of a young frontier leader, his spirited wife, and their struggles in the backwoods of New York state.

Jeff Conaway

1950-2011

On May 11, 2011, Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of substances, believed to be pain medication, and was taken to Encino Tarzana Medical Center in Encino, California, where he was listed as being in critical condition and in a coma. On May 26, 2011, Conaway’s family took him off life support after doctors decided there was nothing they could do to revive him. Conaway died the following morning at the age of 60.

Babylon 5 (1994-1998) Rated NR

Babylon 5 is an outer-space way station, a port-of-call for diplomats, entrepreneurs, and scalawags of all species. Commander Jeffrey Sinclair–aided by chief security officer Michael Garibaldi, Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova, and resident telepath Talia Winters–tries to keep apprised of all the intrigues swirling around his little corner of the galaxy, but things invariably spiral out of control.

Taxi (1978-1982) Rated NR

Louie De Palma is a cantankerous taxi dispatcher for a New York City taxi company. He tries to maintain order over the varied collection of strange characters who drive for him. As he bullies and insults them from the safety of his “cage,” they form a special bond among themselves, becoming friends and supporting each other through the inevitable trials and tribulations of life.

Grease (1978) Rated PG

It’s love when a greaser falls for a good girl in this musical depicting young life in the fifties.

Pete’s Dragon (1977) Rated G

A 9-year old boy and his pet dragon (invisible to all but him) run away from his foster parents.

The Eagle Has Landed (1976) Rated PG

Sixteen German paratroopers are dropped on the coast of England in 1943 with orders to kidnap Churchill and bring him back to Hitler.

Information cited from Reuters, May 19, 2011 and Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2011.

Arthur Laurents

 

1917-2011

Arthur Laurents was a famed play and screen writer for 66 years. Arthur passed away on May 5th from complications of pheumonia. He was 93 years old.  He wrote a number of popular plays and movies, some of which are listed below.

Anastasia (1956) Rated NR

An expatriate White Russian general sets in motion a grand hoax after he meets a destitute woman on the banks of the Seine River in Paris. He is amazed at her resemblance to Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas of Russia, rumored to have somehow survived the Bolsheviks’ execution of the Romanoff family in 1918. He trains her to impersonate the missing princess but soon begins to feel she may be the real Anastasia. Ultimately, the truth can only be decided by one person–Anastasia’s grandmother, the Dowager Empress.

Gypsy (1962) Rated NR

The story of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, her rise to stardom from vaudeville and her volatile relationship with her ambitious mother.

Turning Point (1977) Rated PG

Two friends who started in ballet are reunited after many years; one is now a star ballerina, the other a Midwestern housewife/dance teacher whose daughter is embarking on her own ballet career.

Way We Were (1973) Rated PG

The romance and marriage of opposites– the love that binds them together and the differences that tear them apart. A love story from college to Hollywood in the thirties, forties, and fifties.

West Side Story (1961) Rated NR

This musical sets the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of the rivalry of two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, in New York of the 1950s. A young woman who is sister to the Sharks leader has her first taste of love with the former head of the Jets.

Arthur Laurents also wrote a book on directing musicals.

Mainly on Directing

Mother’s Day Films

 

Here’ s a list of films to watch with your mother this Mother’s Day:

Stepmom (1998) Rated PG-13

Anna and Ben, the two children of Jackie and Luke, have to cope with the fact that their parents divorced and that there is a new woman in their father’s life: Isabel, a successful photographer. She does her best to treat the kids in a way that makes them still feel at home when being with their dad, but also loves her work and does not plan to give it up. But Jackie, a full-time-mother, regards Isabel’s efforts as offensively insufficient. She can’t understand that work can be important to her as well as the kids. The conflict between them is deepened by the sudden diagnose of cancer, which might be deadly for Jackie. They all have to learn a little in order to grow together.

Sound of Music (1965) Rated G

As Nazism takes over Austria, a governess and a widowed father fall in love and escape the country with his large family of musically-talented children.

Chocolat (2000) Rated PG-13

When a single mother and her young daughter move to rural France and open a chocolate shop – with Sunday hours – across the street from the local church, they are met with some resistance from the rigidly moral community. But as soon as the townspeople discover their delicious products, their attitudes begin to change.

Divine Secrets of Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) Rated PG-13

Like mother, like daughter. Neither a hard-as-nails New York playwright nor her flaky Louisiana mother will take the necessary steps to mend their long-time rift. No, this is a job for the Sisterhood, sworn life-long friends who stage an outlandish “intervention” to bring daughter and mother back together again.

Calendar Girls (2003) Rated PG-13

When Chris’ best friend Annie loses her husband, Chris derives a scheme to memoralize him. The two women, along with some of their friends–all fiftysomething women–will make a nude calendar to raise money for the hospital where he died. The calendar becomes hugely popular. Based on actual events, this story carefully balances the stories of several women as it follows the media explosion.

Library Movies

In honor of Library week, here’s some films with librarians.

Librarian: Quest For the Spear (2004) Rated NR

A geeky librarian is hired by the prestigious Metropolitan Library, keeper of such top-secret treasures as Excalibur and Pandora’s Box. When the Serpent Brotherhood, seeking world domination, steals one of three parts of the magical Spear of Destiny from the library, only this librarian, aided by a gorgeous bodyguard, has the know how to thwart their plan. But does he know how to be a hero?

Desk Set (1957) Rated G

Bunny Watson heads up the research department at the Federal Broadcasting Company, a major TV network. And she does her job very well, thank you very much. Assigned by the network president to introduce computers into some of the department’s functions, Richard Sumner arrives at Bunny’s well-run division to observe daily activities. Unfortunately, however, Sumner is ordered to keep his mission secret. As a result, the whole staff believes they are being replaced. To make matters worse, there appears to be more than a little electricity between Bunny and Sumner, which upsets Bunny’s boyfriend Mike.

Good News (1947) Rated NR

A school librarian falls for a star football player in this lighthearted musical set in the gone-but-not-forgotten college days of the 20′s.

Somewhere in Time (1980) Rated PG

A young writer sacrifices his life in the present to find happiness in the past, where true love awaits him.

With Honors (1994) Rated PG-13

When Harvard senior Monty Kessler loses the only copy of his thesis, it is found by the homeless Simon Wilder. He’ll return it for food, a place to stay, and more–one page at a time.

Oscar Films

It’s that time of year when Hollywood is a buzz about what they do best—films. To honor that in some insignificant way is our list of oscar films; that you may have or have not watched. So, without  further ado-The Oscar goes to…

Broadway Melody (1929) Rated NR

This is the first musical to win a Best Picture Oscar. Anita Page and Bessie Love star as two sisters in love with the same man.

Ordinary People (1980) Rated R

The “ordinary” existence of an upper middle class family is shattered with the death of the older son in a boating accident and the struggle of the younger son against guilt and suicide.

Rebecca (1940) Rated NR

A young bride is brought by her new husband to his manor house in England. There she finds that the memory of her husband’s first wife haunts her, and she tries to discover the secret of that mysterious woman’s death.

Silence of the Lambs (1990) Rated R

FBI agent Clarice Starling is assigned to help find a missing woman to save her from a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Clarice attempts to gain a better insight into the twisted mind of the killer by talking to another psychopath, Hannibal Lecter, who used to be a respected psychiatrist.

Unforgiven (1992) Rated R

Two retired, down-on-their luck outlaws pick up their guns one last time to collect a bounty offered by the vengeful prostitutes of the remote Wyoming town of Big Whiskey.

Honorable mentions:

Casablanca (1942) Rated PG

Gigi (1958) Rated G

Great Ziegfeld (1936) Rated NR

Hurt Locker (2008) Rated R

Midnight Cowboy (1969) Rated R

Summer Films

Waiting for summer to arrive, here’s a list of films at your local library to tie you over until June.

50 First Dates (2004) Rated PG-13

Henry Roth lives an enviable life in a Hawaiian paradise, spending every night with a different beautiful tourist in search of an island fling. It’s a great life, no strings attached–until he meets Lucy. He and Lucy hit it off right from the start, but the next day she acts like she doesn’t know him. Lucy suffers from short-term memory loss, so every night all memory of her day is erased. But a man in love will go to great lengths to win the girl of his dreams. In an effort to help her remember him, he makes a video tape for her to watch every morning.

Bee Movie (2007) Rated PG

Having just graduated from college, Barry B. Benson finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice – honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa. He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bee’s honey for centuries. He ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race. That is until the ensuing chaos upsets the very balance of nature. It is up to Barry to prove that even a little bee can spell big changes in the world.

Esther Williams Vol. 2 (1945-1953) Rated NR

Thrill of a romance: A war hero takes swimming lessons in order to woo the instructor. Fiesta: A woman disguises herself as a matador to fill in for her brother. This time for keeps: A veteran falls in love with a swimmer. Pagan love song: A love story set on Tahiti. Million dollar mermaid: Dramatizes the life of Annette Kellerman. Easy to love: A water skier falls in love with her agent.

Jaws (1975) Rated PG

A man-eating shark causes havoc off the Long Island coast and three men join together to hunt and destroy it.

South Pacific (1958) Rated NR

Set in the Pacific theater during World War II, this musical film explores the theme of racial prejudice in two parallel stories–that of a Navy nurse’s love for a plantation owner with two Eurasian children, and a Marine lieutenant’s love for a native woman.