Celebrate the Arrival of Spring

by Pam Everhardt Bloom  Rowan Public Library

Spring arrived March 20 and with it the opportunity to be outdoors with warm weather once again.  Whether digging in the dirt, mowing the grass, riding a bike or taking long walks, add a stroll through the DVD collection at Rowan Public Library and you might find yourself ready to kick back and relax after an active day of work or play. Take a close look at the following movies. All have won or been nominated for awards in film or TV.

Don’t miss Painted Lady starring Helen Mirren. Like her starring role in an April release that centers on a famous painting, this 1997 movie tells the story of a different type of art theft as Maggie Sheridan, a former 60’s rock singer, sets out to solve a murder and find the missing work. The complex plot and performance by Mirren will keep you riveted.

Another 1997 film, Life is Beautiful stars Roberto Benigni, the first male to win Best Actor at the Oscars for a male performer in a non-English-speaking role. The film centers on an Italian Jewish family and their internment in a Nazi concentration camp. Controversial at the time among some critics, the plot revolves around a father trying to protect his son’s innocence with a fabricated tale that makes this movie a true tragicomedy.

Hugo, a Martin Scorsese film, is based on the 2008 Caldecott winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a juvenile novel.  Don’t dismiss this award winner as just a kid’s movie because it is a masterpiece on so many levels. An adventure story, a magical quest, transformation – take your pick, you may be transformed. Interestingly, I actually saw Hugo, the movie, before I read the book and enjoyed both thoroughly.

Another film I saw before reading the novel was The Book Thief.  Had I not seen the movie first, I would have hurried through the book to reach the conclusion of illiterate Liesel and her journey with books, family, war and Death himself. Instead, I read it over a period of weeks, savoring the story and the language.  The visuals from the film actually added to my enjoyment of the book, something I did not expect.

On a lighter note, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was nominated for People’s Choice Award for Favorite Independent Movie.  Miss Pettigrew literally seizes the day with her unexpected employment as social secretary to a glamorous American actress. Set in 1939 London, this film is a romantic comedy staring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.

Other DVDs from Rowan Public Library you might want to add to your list of possibilities include Bottle Shock, Danny Deckchair, Julia, Kinky Boots, Philomena, Official Best of Fest and The Story of Qiu Ju.  Meanwhile, The Visitor is next on my list for viewing. With reviews from Rex Reed, “moving, humane and life-affirming” and the Boston Globe’s, “This is a film of our times – paranoid, heartbroken, disillusioned – and the rare recent American movie whose characters react the way actual people might.” (Wesley Morris) this is definitely a film I look forward to enjoying after a lovely spring day.