Blog Posts by Subject: Film

In the month of September, many great DVD movies are coming to the Library. Reserve titles now using the Library's new Catalog. 

September is a super-powered month that sees the release of this summer's biggest hit movie, The Avengers. If you're looking for a laugh, we've got you covered, with releases of The Five-Year Engagement, What to Expect When You're Expecting and Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3. September also has many TV releases such as Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, The Office, and many more! Get a jump start ahead of the rest, and reserve these plus many more September DVD releases now!

In the month of August, many great DVD movies are coming to the Library. Reserve titles now using the Library's new Catalog. Highlights include box office hits The Hunger Games and Think Like a Man.

If you're looking for laughs, check out The Dictator, Bernie, The Five-Year Engagement Plan, and Community: Season 3. The Lorax, based on Dr. Seuss' classic book sees a DVD release in August. If you don't want to wait on the list, the Dongan Hills Branch of the NYPL will be screening The Lorax on Friday, August 10th, complete with free popcorn and prizes! Get a jump start ahead of the rest, and reserve these plus many more 

Motivated New Yorkers who want to start a career in TV and film production, but have never had the opportunity, now have a proven way to get into the business.

The "Made in NY" Production Assistant Training Program is a collaboration between Brooklyn Workforce Innovations and the New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting. BWI's mission is to give unemployed and low-income New Yorkers the chance to work on New York sets and build careers in this dynamic field.

Post-WWII London, by the mid-to-late 1960s, was reimagining, rebuilding and rearranging. Its economy was strong, and nearly 30% of its population was aged 15-34. With these factors in play, and with that undefinable "something" that brings creativity and zest to a location for however brief a time, London emerged as the style capital of the world, its youth culture arising from the heady influences of new music and street fashion.

In the months of June and July, we have been seeing many great DVD movies coming to the Library. Reserve titles now using the Library's new Catalog. Highlights include big comedy releases American Reunion, Casa de Mi Padre, The Three Stooges, Project X, Jeff Who Lives at Home, Wanderlust and 21 Jump Street. June and July also offers some great family films, such as Mirror Mirror, A Thousand Words and John Carter. If you want to catch up with some critically acclaimed Television shows, the Library's got you covered, with releases of Louie, and Breaking Bad's latest seasons. Get a 

Pretend you’re just outside Tompkins Square Park. Enter the park on Avenue A, at 8th Street. Take the windy path through the park towards Avenue B. Okay, now sniff. What do you smell?

You smell dogs.

The Way it Is or Eurydice in the Avenues opens early morning summer in the Park. Three feckless dog walkers stand over the dead body of a girl in a polka-dot dress. Who else is going to find a dead body in Tompkins Square Park? Okay, drug-addicts, probably, but still. Dog walkers. Brilliant.

In February of each year, we all wait with bated breath to discover the winners of the Academy Awards. But February isn’t the only time to turn our thoughts to all things movies.

Judging from the teasers, Batman: The Dark Knight Rises promises to be another must-see summer movie, not least for the anticipation of Anne Hathaway's being cast as Catwoman. Anne has some impressive spandex to fill, however, against such feline luminaries as Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, and and Michelle Pfeiffer, each with her own brand of Gotham catitude. Check out our treasury of vintage images of Catwomen from NYPL's Billy Rose Theatre Division and then take a sec and scratch your vote for the most purrfect Catwoman.

Have you ever been so excited when you found out one of your favorite books was to be made into a movie only to be highly disappointed or even disgusted by the movie? You would leave the theater or turn off your DVD player wondering, “What in the world were they thinking?"

Permanent Vacation opens with a moving crowd of New Yorkers, still dressed '70s groovy. It might be a camera trick, but no one appears to be rushing. The music is slow, diffuse horn and bells. We meet 16-year-old Aloysious Christopher Parker, already dressed '80s rockabilly cool. His body is like a marionette's — all long limbs and loose joints. His voice is like an oboe, and his delivery is like slow air out of a tire. He dances to Earl Bostic's Up There in Orbit, on a toy phonograph, on the floor, in a narrow Lower East Side tenement room painted thickly yellow-white.

Don't Shhhh me!.... NOT this time.

We are about to conclude the second season of our Lower East Side Heritage Film Series and for the closer we are ALL TALK.

My favorite stories are the ones about the ordinary people who, while going about their daily lives, encounter strange and/or inexplicable events. How they behave in the midst of weirdness is more interesting than the phenomenon itself. I've always been a sucker for a well-told vampire tale. (Sorry!) Or an off-center ghost story or strange-baby story... Here, in no particular order, are a few of my favorite, wonderfully odd movies.

Calypso, the traditional carnival music of Trinidad, is so infectious with its driving beat, upbeat rhythms and colorful lyrics, that it defies you not to get up and dance or sing or both.

It has been 15 years since James Cameron’s film Titanic took the world by storm! Titanic is one of the top grossing films of all time, and this month, the film comes back to the big screen in 3D.

Shhhh.... this one is silent.

One of the great things about silent film is the fact that it is, well, silent.

While this attribute certainly draws attention to body language and visual storytelling, it also provides a blank canvas. As someone who composes and arranges music, this proves a great opportunity to sharpen my skills and have a bit of fun, dropping different types of music into a set of scenes. The fun happens when music intended for one purpose magically enhances another. It is proved to be a much more laborious a task, as I am not able to rely on the timings (and ease of scrolling) as one would with a digital version.

OK readers. Some time back I did a blog post in which I firmly stated I was the real Billy Parrott. I'm writing today to formally acknowledge that I am only one Billy Parrott. I am Billy Parrott, the librarian. I'd like to introduce you to the other Billy Parrott. He's the actor.

In the month of May, many great DVD movies are coming to the Library. Reserve titles now using the Library's new Catalog. Highlights include big studio romantic comedies, New Years Eve, One for the Money, and This Means War. May is also a HUGE month for action and thrillers, with Haywire, Underworld: Awakening, The Grey, Chronicle, the Woman in Black, Red Tails, Man on a Ledge and Gone. Get a jump start ahead of the rest, and reserve these plus many more May DVD releases now!

The kids in my Teen Advisory Group have been going through a reviewing frenzy recently. Here are some of the books and other “stuff” they’ve been enjoying this spring.

Unless you’re a classic film buff, you’ve probably never heard of Frank McHugh, and most of the hundred odd movies he appeared in during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s have fallen into obscurity. Born into a theatrical family, McHugh (1898-1981) grew up touring in a Vaudeville act with his brother and sister. He honed his acting skills in the 1920s, performing in regional/stock productions and on the Broadway stage. He landed in Hollywood in 1930, along with the rash of New York theatre actors talking pictures created a demand for.

McHugh quickly became one of Warner Brothers’ most reliable supporting players. His diminutive stature, sunny face,