Movies

Narrow Gauge Cinema

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The Kennebec Journal announced on July 7th that the Narrow Gauge Cinema in Farmington was opening a new drive-in theater in the lot behind the cinema.  It brought back all the memories of childhood that involved my parents loading the 4 kids and the dog into the station wagon with bags of popcorn to go to a drive-in theater.  The one we visited had a playground in front of the huge screen that the kids would all play on until dusk arrived and the first movie started.  We always tried to stay awake through intermission to see the second movie …

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New Books in the Library!

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FICTION: The adventures of John Carson in several quarters of the world by Brian Doyle.  A young Robert Louis Stevenson is regaled by his landlord of tales of high adventure. All grown up by Jami Attenberg.  A wickedly funny novel about a 39 year old single, childfree woman who defies convention as she seeks connection. The arrangement by Sarah Dunn.  This is about a couple that agrees to have an open marriage, for a limited time only and while adhering to certain rules, is a polished, amusing, and highly entertaining take on modern relationships, parenthood, and suburbia. The coming by …

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Oscar Oddities

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 With the Oscars this weekend, it’s fun to look back at some of the odd and interesting facts you may not have known about the big event: Tom Hank’s acceptance speech for his role in Philadelphia became the basis of the film In & Out. Oscar winners sign a contract stipulating they cannot sell their Oscar without first offering it back to the Academy for the sum of $1. One of the requirements to be nominated for an Oscar is that the movie has to be screened in an LA theater for at least 7 days. 3 people have turned …

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Christmas Movies

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What’s your favorite holiday movie?  Is it White Christmas?  Love, Actually? A Christmas Story?  There are certainly many to choose from.  My ultimate favorite holiday movie is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacationfrom 1989.  A synopsis from the library’s copy of VideoHound’s Golden Movie Retriever says, “The third vacation for the Griswold family finds them hosting repulsive relatives for Yuletide.  The sight gags, although predictable, are sometimes on the mark.  Quaid is a standout as the slovenly cousin.”  Now that doesn’t sound very promising, does it?  But no matter how many times I have seen it, I swear – every time that …

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Watch this film!

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Return of the Secaucus Seven was released to the theaters in 1980. Robert Horton reviews the movie for amazon.com: “John Sayles began his commendable directing career with this terrific portrait of 1960s counterculture survivors, now teetering on the brink of turning 30. A homegrown movie all the way, Return of the Secaucus Seven was made for around $60,000 of Sayles’s own money (earned writing horror pictures such as Piranha). An effortlessly funny and thoughtful ensemble piece, Secaucus unmistakably provided the template for the bigger-budgeted The Big Chill: old friends reunite for a weekend to sort through fond memories, old resentments, …

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Academy Awards

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As we gear up for the 2016 Academy Awards this weekend, let’s look back at who won the awards 70 years ago in 1947.  Have these winners held the worth of the award throughout the years?    Check them out from the Gardiner Public Library and see for yourself why they were the winners. Best Picture:  The Best Years of Our Lives Best Director:  William Wyler, The Best Years of Our Lives Best Actor:  Fredric March, The Best Years of Our Lives Best Actress:  Olivia de Havilland, To Each His Own Best Supporting Actor:  Harold Russell, The Best Years of Our …

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