by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian
DVDs are extremely popular at the library. In September, 861 DVDs were checked out at
the Litchfield library, which amounts to roughly twenty percent of the items
checked out that month. We carry a
mixture of popular movies, art films, classics, documentaries, television
series, and children’s DVDs. Every month
there are new additions.
The Beguiled is a new drama based on the novel by Thomas
Cullinan. A 1971 movie by the same name,
starring Clint Eastwood, was also based on this novel. The 2017 version was directed by Sofia
Coppola and stars Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, and Kirsten Dunst. A wounded Union soldier is taken in by the
headmistress of an all-girls school in Virginia, where he romances each of the
women with unexpected consequences.
Reviewers say it’s quite different from the Clint Eastwood version, with
a restrained approach to the tension.
Coppola won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival for this
film.
Also starring Nicole Kidman, the HBO miniseries Big Little Lies won eight Emmy awards last month including Outstanding Limited Series. The miniseries is based on the bestselling
novel by Australian author Liane Moriarty.
Three mothers of first graders with seemingly perfect lives all have
secrets, and when someone dies at a school event, was it an accident or murder? This darkly comic drama also stars Reese
Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Alexander Skarsgård.
The Big Sick was an unexpected hit this year. Pakistani-American comedian Kumail Nanjiani
and his wife Emily V. Gordon turned the true story of their romance into the
script for this romantic comedy, and Nanjiani stars. Kumail and Emily fall in love but he won’t
commit because his very traditional family wouldn’t approve. Then Emily falls seriously ill and is put
into a medically-induced coma, and Kumail has to deal with Emily’s parents,
played by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter, whom he has never met. Audiences loved this for being a fresh take
on a rom-com, both funny and heartwarming.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is an animated
film based on the tremendously popular book series by Dav Pilkey. Two prank-loving best friends hypnotize their
angry principal and make him believe he’s Captain Underpants, an enthusiastic
and dimwitted superhero they’ve created.
The twelve-book series began in 1997 and concluded in 2015, and kids
have continued to be enthusiastic about reading the silly, potty-humor-filled
stories. Kevin Hart stars as George, one
of the young friends. Reviewers say
parents will be as entertained by this one as the kids are.
The indie film Certain Women tells three stories of women
in rural Montana, played by Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, and Kristen
Stewart. One is a lawyer who deals with
sexism and a hostage situation. The
second is a wife and mother planning her dream home without the support of her
family. And the third is a new teacher
of evening classes for adults who befriends a ranch hand. This is a very quiet, subtle movie about
ordinary lives.
Other recent additions include the Disney Channel movies Descendants and Descendants 2, the drama A Ghost Story, the Sam Elliott
comedy The Hero, and the Oprah/HBO movie The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. If you’re interested in some of
these, stop in to check the new-DVD section of the library, or place a hold
through the library’s online catalog.
