Posts by Ryan P. Donovan

Over the weekend, I had my first experience visiting the Angelika Film Center to see Robbie Pickering's film Natural Selection. Pickering, a NYU film graduate, talked about his experiences with filming the movie in over just 18 days and directing a traditionally comedic actress (the film's dazzling lead, Rachel Harris) in a much more serious role.

The film got a lot of buzz at SXSW last year, so I was excited when I found out it would be playing in New York. I would recommend going to see the film at the Angelika while it's still playing there. If you are looking for some other independent film suggestions, here's a list of films and theaters that I've personally 

After reading Greg Rucka's Batwoman Elegy last year, I've been thinking a lot about graphic novels featuring the original Caped Crusader, Batman. Stories involving Batman and the characters in his universe have been published for over seven decades! Since that's a lot of reading to do, I've singled out 10 of my favorite Batman tales, all available to check out or request at your neighborhood library with your library card. Enjoy!

Do you miss the Library's Stuff for the Teen Age list just as much as I do? Are you looking for a few good young adult books to read, but don't know what to check out from your local library? Then look no further! Here are 10 of my favorite books from last year. 

Since I would never make anyone coming into the library do something that I'm not willing to do myself, I had one of my fellow librarians interview me for our monthly anime patron feature. I'm also sad to report that this month's Anime Night is our last, mainly because FUNimation's Operation Anime service has decided to officially shut down. Something tells me that this is not the end, however, so look for more Anime/Manga offerings from the Mid-Manhattan Library sometime in 2012!

When we last left off with our heroine Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) in the first season of The Vampire Diaries, she was walking into her home after her nefarious vampire doppelgänger Katherine had just brutally stabbed Uncle John. Elena’s arrival probably saves John's life, as she narrowly avoids meeting Katherine for the first time.

We had 14 patrons at last night's anime screening of Kenichi, the Mightiest Disciple. There are many people who work at the Library who help contribute to our regular programs. One of them is Je-Andy, an audio-visual page who helps set up Anime Night every month at Mid-Manhattan Library. I sat down with Je-Andy and asked him some questions.

This past Sunday, I spent the morning in Central Park participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I was not the only librarian there. Turns out, there's a New York Public Library team that walks every year. It was not my first time there, either. This was my third breast cancer walk since moving to New York City three years ago.

So this month, as I asked family and friends for donations, I began thinking about cancer in general. There's a few books that I've read over the last few years that have inspired me to join the fight to end cancer, so I thought I might share a few of these titles with you. While this is by no means a comprehensive list, they are books that will 

Heather, this month's anime patron, joins her sister Erin and her fellow library patrons Anthony, Matt, Bobby, Shanta, and Marcus as one of longest standing Anime Night participants at Mid-Manhattan Library.

Despite faithfully coming nearly every month, Heather recently confessed to me that she wasn't always the biggest fan of anime and manga. I took some time during this month's screening to see if she had changed her mind and find out if she planned on coming to our upcoming screenings of Kenichi in November and MoonPhase in December. 

Imagine being lost in a strange place with no memory of who or what you are. The only thing you know? That luck seems to somehow be on your side. This is life for the mysterious man known only as Longshot.

Destined to become one of the iconic X-Men, Longshot's first self-titled graphic novel details his first trip to Earth. It turns out he ended up here by accident.

Last night, there were 17 people who came out for Mid-Manhattan Library's monthly Anime Night screening. This month, we watched popular game-turned-anime Disgaea. For September's patron feature, we caught up with Marcus. A man of few words, Marcus was nice enough to chat with the Library about why he likes anime and give us a few of his favorite titles. Let's hear what he has to say!

Happy September! As the fall season begins, we must bid farewell to Sci-Fi Summer and all the television we've watched together. I was extremely happy to get the chance to blog about 10 of my favorite science fiction shows. And just in case you missed any of the blog posts, I've put them in a "Top 10" list below with my absoulte favorite series appearing first. Remember — it's all part of Summer Reading 2011.

The summer is almost over! It's sad but true. As we look ahead to the leaves changing colors in Central Park and kids going back to school, let's spend the last fleeting moments of the season talking about the oldest show on our list, Quantum Leap.

There is no discussion about science fiction television without talking about Firefly. This was the brainchild of Joss Whedon, the man who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, spinoff Angel, and more recently Dollhouse. Following nine people on a small spaceship on the outskirts of civilization, it was essentially what Star Trek was originally intended to be: "cowboys in space." Firefly arguably did a much better job. Their captain actually rode horses and transported cattle on a regular basis.

"September 23rd. Journal entry one. I'm Liz Parker, and five days ago, I died. After that, things got really weird..." 

Here's a typical boy-meets-girl story. The girl is Liz Parker, a high school waitress from Roswell, New Mexico. The boy is the mysterious Max Evans, a high school loner who redefines "tall, dark, and handsome." Liz works at her parents' diner, the Crashdown Café, which plays up the town's touristy alien kitsch mentality. One afternoon while Max is eating and Liz is working, two guys get into an argument. One pulls out a gun. There's a struggle. The gun goes off... and Liz is shot. Without thinking, Max rushes to her side. 

Are you ready for another edition of Anime Addicts? It's a new month, so we had a new anime screening: this time it was all about Kaleido Star — the story of Sora Naegino, a young girl who dreams of joining the circus.

"What if you found a portal to a parallel universe? What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds? Where it's the same year and you're the same person... but everything else is different. And what if you can't find your way home?"

Teleportation. Precognition. Suspended Animation. Dark Matter. Fringe.

"Over the last 60 years 4400 people have been abducted. All at once they were returned. With no memory of where they've been. They haven't aged a day. And some have returned with new abilities. All are trying to reconnect... with a life interrupted."

We've met Anthony. We've also met Matt. We've even met Erin. While those three patrons — attendees at Mid-Manhattan Library's monthly Anime Night screenings — are on the quieter side, none are quite as enthusiastic as this month's featured patron: Bobby! Boisterous and full of endless energy, his regular presence every month has helped solidify the bonds of friendship amongst our anime club.