Saturday, October 30, 2010

Happy Halloween!

                    
I love Halloween. I've done a lot of Halloween cartoons so I thought I'd post a trick or treat selection from the last couple of years. After all, cartoons are better for your teeth than candy!



On another note, for a good scary time check out the classy horror magazine Shroud who also publish some great original horror titles. We hosted them at the library and I was very impressed by how beautifully done these are.

And don't forget tomorrow AMC premieres "The Walking Dead". Here's an amazingly embedded trailer to get you ready:


And remember... as  they say at Hill House "No one will hear you... in the dark...in the night... no one will hear you screeeeeeeeeeam!"
Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Scary Stuff

 When I moved to NH I used to run a film society at the house. This was before everyone had VCRs. We used to chip in and rent a projector and rent 16 MM movies like "the Producers" .
Since I've been working at the library I really wanted to start a movie group for grown-ups and our Friends finally bought us a license! And we got an LCD projector. All systems go (with a few minor glitches) and the Farmington Film Society was born. We showed "The Book of Eli". Great film. I wanted to show "the Road" as it didn't play in our area (I saw it in Boston), the book won a Pulitzer, etc. but our licensing company wanted an extra $100.00 to show it, I've no clue why, so we settled for Denzel, who is always a captivating actor, and there's a road in this one that looks like the same one Viggo trod on.
Then I got the OK to show a movie in October, as the patrons who came to "Book of Eli" asked to see something scary for Halloween.
When I think "scary" there is one film that stands out, to me, as the mother of all scary films and which many filmmakers have tried to imitate including a pretty bad remake. I'm talking the 1963 "The Haunting" based on the very creepy "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson. I saw the movie when it came out and was creeped out and disturbed by it at a young age and every time I see it I have pretty much the same reaction. Here, once again, through the miracle of embedding and Youtube is the original trailer for the movie:


I guess they give a lot away in the trailer, which is too bad, if you haven't seen it already. Anyway, with Netflix and on  demand audiences (our patrons) have seen pretty much everything so its hard to find something different to get them out in the evening and into the library. Two film buffs I know are both planning to come and both have seen it multiple times, so I'm hoping for a good turn-out.
If you haven't seen it before be sure to put it in your cue or come on down to the Goodwin Library. We promise to leave the light on in the hall.