hoopla is Here!

hoopla's Here!!!

 

 

                   

          

 Why are we so excited?

Beginning this month, Wellesley Free Library Card holders will have access to thousands of movies (at least 2 years old), television shows, music  

albums and audiobooks -- all available for mobile and online access -- through hoopla. 


You may stream on your computer or use the hoopla app to view and listen on your phone or tablet.  AND most importantly, there is no waiting.  The titles are ALWAYS available!  
 

 It's easy to do:

• Have your Wellesley Library Card out and sign up at http://www.hoopladigital.com

• If you are using a mobile device (phone, tablet, etc.) download the app at the bottom of the hoopla page or from the Apple App Store or Google play Store.  (If you are using a computer, the file will simply stream so no need for an app).

• Log in to Hoopla on your mobile device or PC

• Browse, borrow, and enjoy 5 digital videos, music or audiobooks per library card each month.

• Borrowed titles will be automatically returned when your lending period is over. 

Lending Periods are:

• Movies and TV content are available for 72 hours (3 days)
• Music albums are available for 7 days
• Audiobooks are available for 21 days

For more information and assistance, visit the library, sign up for the class on March 25th, or simply stop by an Open Lab (Mondays 1 PM to 4 PM and Tuesdays 6 PM to 8 PM)

Have fun and tell us how you like hoopla ! 

SH

  

In Memory

Harold Ramis 1944-2014   

Harold Allen Ramis, actor, director and writer,  started his career in comedy as Playboy magazine's joke editor and reviewer. Before moving to New York to help write and perform in "The National Lampoon Show" with other Second City graduates including John Belushi, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray. His Hollywood debut came when he collaborated on the script for National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). This success was followed by many critically acclaimed films including Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters and Caddyshack.
 Harold Ramis died of autoimmune disease at his home in Chicago last week.

DB

Happy 100th

The blonde, light-footed partner of dancer Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers was born in Independence, Missouri in July, 1911 and died in 1995. In 1941, Rogers was Hollywood's highest paid female star performing dramatic, comic and Broadway leading roles. She made 73 movies opposite such leading men as James Stewart, Cary Grant and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Her 1941 Academy Award for her performance in Kitty Foyle are displayed at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University along with a trove of correspondence, photographs, scripts and film and stage memorabilia in honor of her birthday. Come browse our media collection for some of Rogers' films such as The Gay Divorcee, The Barkleys of Broadway, Swing Time, Shall We Dance, Top Hat and 42nd Street.

-DB

50th Anniversary for TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

In 1960 Harper Lee, at the age of 35, penned the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Little did she know that this book would have a tremendous impact not only on the readers in the United States but also the world. On its 50th anniversary, this book has been translated into 40+ languages and has sold more than 40 million copies. In 1962 the movie with Gregory Peck was made and it was nominated for 8 and won 3 Academy Awards.

To celebrate, HarperCollins is sponsoring events nationwide. The events in the Boston area are
July 14 (Cambridge) Brattle Theatre Panel Discussion followed screening of the movie.

September 18 Boston Boston Public Library--Panel Discussion

September 19 Boston Boston Public Library--Movie Screening

To read about how the movie impacted some people's live's, pick up a copy of Scout, Atticus, and Boo: a celebration of 50 years of To Kill a Mockingbird by Mary McDonagh Murphy. In this book she interviews prominent figures including Oprah Winfrey, Tom Brokaw, Wall Lamb, and Anna Quindlen to find out the book's effect on them. SH

Great Books into Movies

In past blogs I have alerted you about forthcoming movies based on previously published books. The next time you are visiting the library, feel free to peruse our newest display of movies and the books which inspired them located in our first floor alcove

.

-DB

Still Wild About Harry?

Are you missing Harry Potter a little? Then you should take advantage of Harry Potter: The Exhibition taking place at the Boston Museum of Science through Sunday, February 21. I was fortunate to experience this display of over 200 costumes and props actually used in the series of Harry Potter movies while I was in Chicago in June. It is amazing to stand next to the clothing worn by Harry, Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, and even Dumbledore. My, were the children little when they first began filming the series, and the size of Harry's broom for playing Quadditch reinforces the idea of how young they were. The settings and music put you right into the scenes in the Great Hall, Hagrid's hut, and the Gryffindor common room.

The exhibit in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry featured Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in their IMAX theatre. How wonderful it was to immerse myself in the World of Harry Potter by seeing the movie and then reminiscing about the first five with the Exhibit. It makes you want to have a Harry Potter movie marathon! Since Boston's Museum of Science isn't showing the movie, watch it at home on DVD OR actually reread some of the books, and then make your journey to Boston.

Word of Advice: Rent the audio for the exhibit so you don't miss any of the interesting facts behind the costumes and props. It will be a wonderful way to bring in 2010! SH

Books into Movies - Coming in December

Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, comes to theatres on December 11. Based on John Carlin's 2008 nonfiction book Playing the Enemy : Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation, the movie is directed by Clint Eastwood.

A Single Man, based on the 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood, is directed by Gucci fashion designer turned filmaker Tom Ford and stars Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Ginnifer Goodwin. The film is due out on December 11.

Sherlock Holmes, due out December 25, is based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective. It stars Robert Downey Jr., Rachel McAdams, and Jude Law and is directed by Guy Ritchie.

Up In the Air is based on Walter Kirn's 2001 novel about a career transition counselor who is also a very frequent flier. The film stars George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Jason Bateman and is directed by Jason Reitman.

-DB

Movies Based on Graphic Novels (It's not just Capes and Masks)

We all know that movies such as Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, and pretty much anything with "Man" in it are based on Comic Books (or Graphic Novels, in library terms.) But did you know that there are a number of other movies that are based on graphic novels?

Graphic novel-based movies range from the obvious (when you think about it) such as V for Vendetta, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Watchmen creator Alan Moore, to the completely unexpected, such as Road to Perdition, a Chicagoland gangster epic starring Tom Hanks. Other movies of this type include 300, Sin City, and The Spirit, all the brain-children of Frank Miller, acclaimed creator of a number of Batman storylines. Fans of somewhat grittier material may want to check out From Hell, a story about Jack the Ripper, or 30 Days of Night, a grisly survival horror movie set in the Alaskan wilderness. Wanted, the recent film starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy, is based on a graphic novel of the same name, though the film differs radically from the graphic novel, so brace yourself. Even the recent and popular film I Am Legend, starring Will Smith is based on a graphic novel of the same name.

But wait! There's more, graphic novel-based movies aren't a 21st century phenomenon, they go back to films such as Swamp Thing (also based primarily on work by Alan Moore) and even the perrenial children's favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (based on a book by New Hampshire residents Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.) For more realistic fare, try Persepolis or American Splendor (based on the classic graphic novel by Harvey Pekar.)

All of the titles mentioned in this post are available at the library in either book or movie form, and the part of the duo we don't have can be ordered using the Minuteman Library Network's shared catalog, which encompasses more than 40 libraries, each having a large and diverse collection! AC

More Books into Movies

October brought more movies based on books. Whether you have seen the movies or are hoping to, pick up the book. The stories are even more captivating in print.


How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young.

A British journalist offers a hilarious account of the five years he spent looking for love in all the wrong places and steadily working his way down the New York food chain, from glossy magazine editor to crash-test dummy for interactive sex toys.


Body of Lies by David Ignatius.

Roger Ferris is one of the CIA\'s soldiers in the war on terrorism. He has come out of Iraq with a shattered leg and an intense mission -- to penetrate the network of a master terrorist known only as \'Suleiman\'. Ferris\'s plan for getting inside Suleiman\'s tent is inspired by a masterpiece of British intelligence during World War II : he literally prepares a body of lies, the corpse of an imaginary CIA officer who appears to have accomplished the impossible by recruiting an agent within the enemy's ranks.

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau.
The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! Bill Murray lovers and dystopian novel fans will love this. Although it is written as a children's book, the story will keep an adult's attention.


Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.
A motherless Lily leaves her home in 1964 South Carolina with her caretaker, Rosaleen, who was beaten and jailed by town racists. This is the story of their journey as Lily seeks to fill the longing for the love she missed from her mother. Secret Life of Bees is a remarkable story about mothers and daughters and the women in our lives who become our true mothers.

September Books into Movies

Many of us love movies as well as books. So when a book is made into a movie, we want to make sure we read the book first because it is ALWAYS better!

Films from books for September 2008 (Be sure to reserve your copy by clicking on the title.) Some of the films may be released to a limited audience first. Let's hope the Boston area is one of them.

Appaloosa by Robert Parker. 2005. (This title isn't being released until Oct. 3 but I thought you might want to get a head start.) Setting is the untamed territories of the West during the 1800s. When Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch arrive in Appaloosa, they find a small, dusty town suffering at the hands of renegade rancher Randall Bragg, a man who has so little regard for the law that he has taken supplies, horses, and women for his own and left the city marshal and one of his deputies for dead. Cole and Hitch, itinerant lawmen, are used to cleaning up after opportunistic thieves, but in Bragg they find an unusually wily adversary-one who raises the stakes by playing not with the rules, but with emotions. This is Robert B. Parker at his storytelling best.

Blindness by Jose Saramago. 1997. (1998 Nobel Prize Winner)
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century


Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. 2001.
(Author of Fight Club) Palahniuk gives readers a vision of life and love and sex and mortality that is both chillingly brilliant and teeth-rattlingly funny. Victor Mancini, a dropout from medical school, has devised a complicated scam to pay for his mother's elder care: Pretend to be choking on a piece of food in a restaurant and the person who "saves you" will feel responsible for the rest of his life. Multiply that a couple of hundred times and you generate a healthy flow of checks, week in, week out.


Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. 1999. (Movie Title is The Duchess) (Whitbread Award, Costa Award)
This biography offers a rich, rollicking picture of late-eighteenth-century British aristocracy and the intimate story of a woman who for a time was its undisputed leader. Lady Georgiana Spencer was the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, and was nearly as famous in her day.Foreman's descriptions of Georgiana's uncontrollable gambling, all- night drinking, drug taking, and love affairs with the leading politicians of the day give us fascinating insight into the lives of the British aristocracy in the era of the madness of King George III, the American and French revolutions, and the defeat of Napoleon.


Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride. 2002. (Author of The Color of Water) Based on the historical incident of an unspeakable massacre at the site of St. Anna Di Stazzema, a small village in Tuscany, and on the experiences of the famed Buffalo soldiers from the 92nd Division in Italy during World War II, Miracle of St. Annais a singular evocation of war, cruelty, passion, and heroism. It is the story of four American Negro soldiers, a band of partisans, and an Italian boy who encounter a miracle-though perhaps the true miracle lies in themselves.



Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks. 2002.
A tender story of hope and joy, of sacrifice and forgiveness, a reminder that love is possible at any age and at any time, often when we least expect it


A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li. 2005.
(Ernest Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award , Guardian First Book Award, Kiriyama Prize)
In “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers,” in which a man visits America for the first time to see his recently divorced daughter, only to discover that all is not as it seems, Li boldly explores the effects of communism on language, faith, and an entire people, underlining transformation in its many meanings and incarnations.


Towelhead by Alicia Erian. 2005.
(NY Times Notable Book of the Year) Erian's story of an impressionable yet resilient girl who must grow up against the backdrop of the Gulf War is mesmerizing--a coming-of-age tale that is at once brutally honest and unexpectedly hilarious.