Deja_Vu

In light of Michael Jackon's death, it's interesting to look back at Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely (FFM 13). In it, Diego Luna plays a Michael Jackson impersonator who meets a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, who introduces him to a commune whose members "live as" famous people--including Lincoln and Shirley Temple. Korine has said he picked a Michael Jackson impersonator to be the main character because, to him, Jackson represented a particular American eccentricity--"he wasn't a man, he wasn't a boy; He wasn't black; he wasn't white. He just existed like a ghost to me."

Remember last summer? Remember how it was all about Beijing? Well, it was if you, like the Media Librarian, are both a lover of all things Chinese and an Olympics freak. My Beijing Birthday will give you your Beijing fix, and get you thinking about marketing, the future of China, child development, the impact of the Cultural Revolution. But mostly, you will wonder how the filmmaker, Howard Snyder, became so incredibly fluent in Mandarin. The Media Librarian is in awe of his language skills.
Mr. Snyder spent time in 1996 studying the art of xiansheng (Chinese stand-up comedy) with a group of young kids from the generation known as the "little emperors." He capped the experience off by throwing an American-style birthday party for himself--catered by MacDonalds. Twelve years later he returned to look up the kids, now in their early twenties. Their memories and insights are funny and touching.

Like The Departed, The Friends of Eddie Coyle takes place in Boston. But Eddie Coyle is set in the grimy, no-frills Boston of the 1970's. And Robert Mitchum knew how to speak in an authentic Boston accent. So they are very different movies, but good companion pieces. Our new Criterion DVD includes an essay by Kent Jones, "They Were Expendable", in which he says "for those of us who grew up in Massachusetts, the film now functions as a time machine. With a few exceptions . . . the city has rarely been as well served in movies."

While he will always be Kwai Chang Caine to the Media Librarian, David Carradine is known to many as the assassin in Kill Bill - 2.

We have another side of Carradine in the collection--he's featured in a VHS videotape called Old Friends: The Carradines,( V 1590) in which Fred Rogers (yes, Mr. Rogers himself) interviews John Carradine and his sons, including David.

"Please get the DVD of Life.Support.Music. It's a really awesome documentary about a guitarist that suffers a terrible brain hemorrhage and how his family and rehabilitative therapists (YAY speech path!) help bring him back to performing. It would be a really useful and inspiring resource for CDS (and all) majors! Thanks!"

Sounds good--we will order it--
We're always interested in strengthening the media collection in CSD-related materials, so thanks so much for this suggestion!

National Library Week is almost over, so be sure to watch a library-related movie as soon as possible! We have several good ones in our collection:

Desk Set (DVD 902) Katharine Hepburn's Head of Reference exudes competence. She and the other librarians who staff the TV network reference department handle questions efficiently, and with a sense of humor. So like our own reference librarians!!!

Party Girl (DVD 900).Bohemian free spirit Mary ( Parker Posey) is forced to work in her godmother's library to pay her back for bailing her out of jail. Her transformation from wild party girl to dedicated-and-totally-cool librarian is so familiar, somehow.

Puss in Books (V 1969) Do you like libraries? Do you like cats? Then this documentary is for you! All about cats that live in libraries, and the librarians who love them. Raises interesting questions about public spaces and individual rights. But the Media Librarian believes that cats and lilbraries go together like, well, like Will and Grace!

Watch a video at the Library to celebrate!

The Library Media desk will spotlight films that feature librarians as main characters, or libraries as important settings. Got any suggestions? Post them here. (We already know about The Music Man, Desk Set, and Party Girl!)

Please note the skillful use of alliteration in that heading!!!
Anyway, the Media Librarian has been musing a little more than usual about copyright--what's right, what's clearly illegal, what's cool . . .
Lots of inspiration/food for musing/cause for indignation here:

Just in case you want to be able to sing along with Emerson Stage's upcoming spring musical, we've got the Burt Reynolds/Dolly Parton screen version. Of course, we have the original cast soundtrack on CD, as well as the "new cast" recording with Ann-Margaret.
Apparently, you'll also have the chance to sing along with the Hunchback of Notre Dame later this month, too, so check out some of our Lon Chaney DVDs, including our newest, The Penalty.