Staff Picks

Starting From Happy by Patricia Marx [Book]

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The Mighty Uke [DVD]

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Cutter’s Way [DVD]

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“These are just the facts, Rich. I mean, I haven’t even begun to let my imagination loose on this thing.”

A film about our first head librarian? Telling a tale of the creation of the Cutter System (the same system Forbes Library uses to this day)? I’m afraid not… though Dylan and I are working on the second draft of the Charles Ammi Cutter Story. In theaters 2039.

Rather, Cutter’s Way is a film directed by Czech New Wave pioneer Ivan Passer that stars Jeff Bridges and John Heard. Heard plays Alex Cutter, a one armed, one legged, eye patch wearing bitter Vietnam veteran who is on the verge of losing touch with reality. Side bar: I tend to get drawn to movies where a character wears an eye patch (True Grit, The American Friend (though Nicholas Ray really needed to wear one of those in real life), Kill Bill, Thunderball or any pirate film come to mind). Cutter lives his life with the feeling that he has nothing to lose and often exists in a drunken stupor without the will to live. Though his antics on some occasions are entertaining to his wife Mo and his closest friend Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges), most of the time he’s putting himself and others in danger.

Bone, a yacht salesman who doubles as some sort of refined-hippie-vagabond-couch-surfing dude, witnesses the disposing of a body after a murder. He decides to flee the scene and not get involved (not getting involved happens to be a central theme of Richard Bone), but winds up being questioned and finds himself on the front page of the paper. Cutter, in turn, becomes obsessed with this case and is convinced he knows who has committed the terrible act.

Cutter’s Way is an overlooked film that explores the limits of friendship and expertly combines the genres of drama, mystery, comedy, adventure and film noir.

Baking: From my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan [Book]

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Over the past 20 years Greenspan has written 10 cookbooks and won six James Beard and IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) awards for them. This book is pretty enough to be a coffee table book, but enticing enough that you will quickly take it into the kitchen. From muffins to cookies to fancy cakes, the author and her recipes are very accessible. This is my go-to baking cookbook for muffins, scones, cookies and more. Everything I have made from this book has been easy and delicious. Her more recent book is Around my French Table: More than 300 Recipes from my Home to Yours.

Wedding Season by Katie Fforde [Book]

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Wedding Season is the story of wedding planner Sarah who secretly doesn’t believe in love. Her personal love life is non-existent as she plans the perfect nuptials of others. The book begins as she takes on two new clients who are getting married on the same day in just a few months–a celebrity and her own sister. Sarah’s friends, dress maker Elsa and hairdresser Bron have also not been lucky in love until now. This British romantic novels follows the 3 women as they meet new men and deal with demanding brides. While the story is somewhat predictable, anyone in the midst of wedding planning will enjoy the romance and comedy.

Birds of the Gods [DVD]

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This 2011 DVD release of the latest beautiful and informative documentary from the BBC/Nature series captures the spectacular beauty of the native birds of New Guinea. In the 16^th century European explorers named the gorgeous and elusive birds of the island “Birds of Paradise”. The local indigenous people have revered them for centuries and honor them as sacred ancestors by wearing their feathers as status symbols in elaborate headdresses during tribal ceremonies. This tradition, however, has made the more exotic and colorful birds’ feathers highly prized and, together with loss of habitat, has threatened the species’ survival and made them vulnerable to extinction. The ever-present BBC narrator David Attenborough introduces us to local biologists and conservationists, Miriam Supuma and Paul Igog, whose knowledge of the area and expertise guides us through the dense forests to document the elusive birds. The film does a good job of conveying the difficulty and challenges posed to researchers in the area, who must face incredibly difficult terrain, elusive and skittish subjects and are faced with centuries of local tradition and customs in their efforts to research and protect the birds of New Guinea. The joy of the researchers, when they do witness one of the elusive birds mating displays and dances, is palpable and infectious. The birds of New Guinea have evolved in relative isolation for thousands of years and have developed a wide variety of plumage, some with vivid iridescent blue and green coloring while others have tail feathers up the three times the length of their body. Overall, the film offers a satisfying, informative and visually captivating look at a corner of the world the viewer might not be familiar with and is a sure hit for birdwatchers and fans of nature docs alike.

Paul Taylor, Dancemaker [DVD]

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Paul Taylor is an innovative dancer and choreographer. He is known for his pioneering work in modern dance and his long career which began in the 1950s (he danced in Martha Graham’s company) and continues today. His choreography can be startling, beautiful, frightening, comical, serious, ornate, minimalist, and much else besides.

This documentary about Paul Taylor’s career focuses on the Paul Taylor Dance company as they prepare and perform a number pieces. We see the company rehearsing and performing, but best of all, we get to see Paul work with the company as he creates new dances. We are also treated to historical footage of Paul performing as a young man. The dancing is fantastic, and the portrait of this great artist is complex. This film is a great introduction to Paul’s work for those unfamiliar with it as well as a treat for those who have already grown to love the dances he creates.

Sing You Home by Jodie Picoult [Book]

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Jody Picoult has always been a popular author with library patrons as evidenced by the number of requests I receive to place holds on her books. I had not read one of her books but decided that her most current novel which deals with some current “controversial” topics including gay rights, reproductive rights, the evangelical Christian movement among others would be one that would hold my attention. I enjoyed reading this book and it kept me interested through its fair treatment of the issues mentioned above. This book, whether you are on one side or the other of the issues or open to all viewpoints, will keep you wanting to read it because of its compelling story line and strong character development.

Henning Goes to the Movies by Henning Ohlenbusch [Music CD]

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Please excuse the following burst of textual immodesty… Ahem. As founder and president (not to mention CEO, secretary, vice president & mascot) of the Forbes Film Club, I can safely say that I know a thing or two about the cinema. In addition, it was in college where I studied video and film, wrote lengthy ramblings dealing with issues within the worlds of documentary film and German cinema, composed pretentious screenplays and starred in some student produced shorts that feature poor lighting (often typecast as a chat show host, bud did sport a tricorne hat once for a period piece). I later found myself in Texas working in a video library/archive and spent most evenings devouring the collection and attending curated film festivals. To this day, little gives me greater pleasure than sitting in the theater, munching on popcorn and seeing something unfold on the big screen.

I have very personal connections to a handful of films and I believe movies we love can have a great impact on how we define ourselves. This is why Henning Goes to the Movies is so appealing.

Nine movies. Nine songs. Henning Ohlenbusch, lyricist extraordinaire/singer/songwriter of the group School For the Dead, is the architect (perhaps I should use director in this instance?) behind this wonderful album. He sings about the hilariously raunchy Super Bad, David Lynch’s quiet drama the Straight Story, the horror classic Poltergeist, the coming of age classic the Year My Voice Broke and more. His approach to these pieces is not a highlight of important plot points; rather he shares his personal experience with each film. Through introducing a specific character’s perspective or providing an overall sentiment of a movie, Ohlenbusch invites the listener to go on a cinematic journey.

His folksy pop songs are simply arranged to bring us close to the stories. He also tastefully sets the scene with appropriate backing. We find ourselves somewhere in the distant future in Logan’s Run with weaving backward electric guitar and at an old time carnival in Joe Vs. the Volcano. Though voice and acoustic guitar tend to be in the forefront throughout, keyboards, glockenspiel, subtle effects, electric bass, harmony vocals and percussion expand the mix.

This a great collection of songs, even without the movie theme. And I should mention that you really don’t need to have seen the films to appreciate the record. It is, however, even more of a gratifying listen for those of us who find that films are an important fabric of our lives.

The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman [Book]

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The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson [Book]

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The popular fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes once stated,“when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

The Psychopath Test, a work of non-fiction, begins as a real life mystery to discover the meaning and motivation behind selected mailings of a strange bound book entitled Being or Nothingness (notewe are not referring to Sartre’sBeing and Nothingness). Jon Ronson, a journalist and the author of the highly successful novel the Men Who Stare at Goats, is enlisted to find the source and make some sense of the text.

Many aspects of the authors life begin to arrive at certain parallels as the quest progresses and further mysteries unfurl themselves. He finds himself in conversation with members of the church of Scientology (who hold a strong opposition to the field of psychiatry) which leads to an interview with a particular inmate at the Broadmoor Asylum who claims he has faked madness as an escape a lengthy jail sentence.

Ronson becomes intrigued with the concept of psychopathy and learns that there is a specific test that helps experts determine whether any individual has psychopathic tendencies.It should be noted that overall, these studies claim to reveal that 1 out of every 100 people happen to be psychopaths (you’re now cataloging and making a mental list of all the people you know, aren’t you?). He later applies the test to an infamously ruthless CEO after learning studies show that 4 out of every 100 big business, corporate leaders happen to be psychopaths. This interview with the man possessing a menagerie of predatorial creature artwork offers plenty of laughs. You may have heard an excerpt from this humorous section of the book and also the Broadmoor story on NPR’s This American Life.The Psychopath Test eventually extends from Ronson’s personal adventure to discuss the history of experimental treatments for troubled individuals, the present state of the psychiatric and mental health fields and also pharmaceutical industry. While Ronson carefully exhibits little or no bias on these aforementioned subjects, he skillfully presents issues at hand. Though his journey leads him to come face to face with serious and thought provoking dilemmas, Ronson is able find humor in certain situations and always keeps the reader entertained. At one stage the author writes, “I was writing a book about the madness industry and only just realizing that I was part of the industry.”

Twentieth Century by Howard Hawks [DVD]

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John Barrymore and Carole Lombard star in, what some site as the first screwball comedy, Twentieth Century. The film’s director, Howard Hawks, who delivered several box office smashes in the form of the more macho features (his credits include the original Scarface, Rio Bravo,the Big Sleep), was also adept to orchestrate the gut busting comedy piece. He later went on to direct other classics in this genre such asBringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday.

Sort of a silly version of the Red Shoes (though the film we’re discussing predates it), Twentieth Century presents a didactic relationship in the entertainment business. Oscar Jaffe, a Broadway producer played by Barrymore, casts an unknown to actress to play the lead in his newest production. This actress (brilliantly performed by Lombard) is put through the ringer and subjected to plenty of condescending exercises and verbal tirades by this larger than life figure. Despite his questionable methods and erratic behavior, Jaffe manages to mold this unknown into a household name. He also dictates that her household name shall be “Lily Garland”.

Once Garland has attained fame and fortune, she no longer needs the temperamental Oscar Jaffe in her life. As a result, the producer soon falls on hard times. Not only does he realize that he needs Garland back in his life for professional reasons, he discovers that he’s madly in love with the starlet! His crusade, at times devious, to win back her favor knows no bounds.

Barrymore’s portrayal of Jaffe, which is grandiose in one instant and hilariously pathetic the next, propels the story at a breakneck pace. Filled with slapstick gags and wild monologues, the actor gives one of the most memorable comedic performances committed to film.