Monday 15 July 2013

DVD Review - Amelie (2001)


 
 Amelie Poulain is a young woman who endeavours to bring a little happiness to the lives of those living around her. Despite a rather stunted childhood, she uses many ingenious methods to help the quirky and eccentric people she loves.  These include her father, a glum recluse, who has never offered Amelie any warmth or love. As a result, Amelie has grown up wrapped in her own dreams by way of escaping her lonely life. However, Amelie’s vocation in helping others draws her out of herself and she finds what she believes to be her purpose.

Unlike many feel good films, Amelie is not the perfect heroine. She’s clever and childlike and a little bit out of step, but you love her for it. The film has a typically French sense of style and subtly, with a recurring theme of nostalgia. Throughout the film we are reminded of those things we loved as children, and forgot as we grew up.
The film is shot in saturated colour with a ‘hyper real’ atmosphere in every shot. The sound track is utterly beautiful, echoing the film’s whimsical and sweet nature. The Montmartre portrayed is picture-postcard like, if not completely realistic. And that is quite in tune with the films suspension from reality.
By Erin Bradshaw

Amelie is shelved in the DVD ZONE under 'Foreign Language, French' 791.430944 A

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Summer Hobbies and Activites

The summer holidays are upon us and maybe you are jetting off to a sunny beach, escaping to the mountains or just chilling out at home. Either way, there will no doubt be a couple of rainy days where you are stuck inside, twiddling your thumbs thinking ‘I wish I had a hobby’.

Our display this week is dedicated to hobbies and activities and there are loads of books to get your mind turning and heart pumping. Here are a handful of examples:

Paper Cutting by Laura Heyenga
Paper cutting has become a popular art form in the last few years, where artists skilfully cut stencil-like designs into paper. This book chaptered by different paper cutting artists, discusses how they got started, their techniques and what they have achieved while showcasing the immense intricacies of their work.

 The Complete Idiots Guide to Astronomy by Christopher De Pree & Alan Axelrod
Summer offers clear, crisp skies and warm nights which are perfect for practicing astronomy. This books gives you a complete run down of everything you need to know before gazing into the depths of space, including, guidance on locating planets and tips for using a telescope.

 
Low-Budget Shooting by Cyrill Harnischmacher

Fancy spending the summer making low budget movies with your friends? This book tells you how to shortcut your way around film equipment without spending thousands of pounds. Couple with our other book on the display ‘The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook’ you should be sauntering up the red carpet in no time!

Cooking with the Masterchef:  Michel Roux Jr.
Do you enjoy cooking? Following recipes? A challenge in the kitchen? This book written by Master Chef Michel Roux Jr. is full of great, gourmet recipes that aren’t easy to perfect, but will be certain to satisfy the taste buds. A fun summer project could be cooking through the recipes and starting a blog to present your findings – disasters and successes!

 Design & Make: Mixed Media Jewellery by Joanne Haywood
This book covers all kinds of areas of jewellery making, introducing you to the wide range of materials and techniques. The easy to follow illustrations are suitable for a variety of ages and abilities, whether you are starting out or developing your skills, this books is a great starter.

Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots by Sharon Lovejoy
Gardening doesn’t have to be all weeding, mowing and planting, in fact, as demonstrated here by author Sharon Lovejoy,  there are lots of cool things you can do with a patch of soil or grass including making a ‘pizza patch’,’ moon garden’ or ‘medicine chest’ . She also offers basic gardening tips and tricks. The colourful layout and imaginative ideas make for fun reading and may even ignite a new found love for gardening!


All these books and more can be found on the display near the issue desk! Keep your eyes peeled for a few of these titles:
 
Simply Pottery
by Sarah Pearch
 
Printmaking on a Budget
by Mandy Bonnell & Stephen Mumberson
 
The Bicycle Book
By Bella Bathurst
 
The Complete Book of Running for Beginners
By Amby Burfoot
 
The Wagamama Cookbook
by Hugo Arnold

Friday 5 July 2013

Summery Movies!



Grease
Love-struck Kiwi, Sandy, moves to America and falls in love with high school stud Danny Zucko in this classic musical comedy. She meets him during the summer, knowing nothing of his bad boy reputation and notoriety as leader of the gang ‘T-Birds’. When she starts at Rydell High School all becomes clear to her as Danny’s not the boy she fell in love with on the beach. She decides to prove her worth to him, be the kind of woman that will make him sit up and listen, not the wimpy little Sandra D everyone teases her for being. The result is a feel good classic with tons of catchy tunes and groovy dance moves that will leave you tapping your toes for hours afterwards.

 
(500) Days of Summer
The clue is in the name, however, this is not a film about a prolonged season, instead about a girl named after a season. Tom falls for the whimsical, beautiful and quirky Summer and despite a great start to their relationship, things soon start to completely fall apart. Tom recalls his relationship with Summer through a series of clever flashbacks including an ‘expectations vs. reality’ sequence where he arrives at a party to see Summer.  It’s not the happiest story in the world but it is well acted and hilarious in places. Worth a watch, for sure.

 

Slumdog Millionaire
Everyone was talking about Danny Boyle’s 2008 summer blockbuster Slumdog Millionaire because it was such an amazing, sweeping love story that captured the imaginations of viewers all over the world. Dev Patel plays Jamal who winds up on the Indian version of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ Through the tribulations of Jamal’s life and the events that have lead him to this point he is able to easily answer every question down to life experience. He has no need for riches, he hasn’t gone on the show to become a millionaire, yet he is one question away from being one, so why is he there?

 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
What would you do with one day off school? Play video games? Watch movies? Sleep in until 2pm? Ferris decides that with one day off, he is free to do whatever he wants. He and his friend Cameron bust their other friend Sloane out of school and borrow Cameron’s Dad’s Ferrari and the three of them set out to have the best day they possibly can, and they do.   Classic 80’s comedy in the same vain as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a feel-good summer hit!

 

The Inbetweeners Movie
If you’ve ever watched the TV show The Inbetweener’s, you will know, before watching the film, that you will be in for some vulgarity from the start. The boys decide to go on holiday to Malia together, but of course, its not going to be that simple. Their dreams of a weekend full of girls, alcohol and all night raves is soon completely shattered when everything starts to go very wrong. Have a pillow to hand, this film will have you wanting to cover your face with embarrassment as their misadventures become more and more unfortunate.




If you find yourself faced with a rainy summer day, which let’s face it, is pretty likely, have a borrow of one of these movies to keep your summery spirits up!

Be safe and have a great summer!!

Thursday 4 July 2013

Summer Reads!


Our display this week is SUMMER READS!


 
 
Amongst the display are some great novels for you to get stuck into over the summer months as well as some gardening and cookery books!

Some titles include:
 
Bring up the Bodies 
Hilary Mantel
 
Hello Cupcake!
Karen Tack
 
Flight Behaviour
Barbera Kingsolver
 
Death Comes to Pemberley
 P.D James
 
Narcopolis
Jeet Thayil
 
River Cottage Veg
Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall