Between the lines

DVD Review - Argo (2012)

2013-05-21T09:15:00.002+01:00

Conquering this year’s Academy Awards was Ben Affleck’s directorial masterpiece Argo. Based on the true, relatively unknown story of Tony Mendez, whose ludicrous plan to save six American citizens from a life threatening situation in Iran was only recently declassified by CIA officials allowing Mendez to finally tell his remarkable story.

In 1980, the American embassy in Iran was stormed by Iranian protesters and activists, while many US citizens were captured and held hostage in the embassy, six of them escaped and sought refuge in the home of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor. Upon hearing of this crisis and the news of six escapees who will be hunted down by Iranians and killed, CIA agent Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck) devises a plan to get them back to the USA safely. However, Iranians everywhere are aware of these six people and there would be no way they could just walk onto a plane to fly home, Mendez had to think of something smarter to get the American’s back without being seen…

He comes up with the ingenious and crazy idea of staging a science fiction film shoot which involves sending six Canadians to Iran to scout for locations. Under this ruse, Tony Mendez should be able to sneak the Americans out as Canadians, but there are plenty of armed guards and officials at airport security who are keeping a watchful eye out for the American’s that escaped from the embassy. With the prospect of a brutal execution if they are found out, you will find yourself gripping your seat during the final airport scene, but will they make it?

With John Goodman , Alan Arkin and Brian Cranston in supporting roles, offering moments of comic relief and Ben Affleck in the leading role and at the director’s helm it is really no wonder Argo was one the of best films of 2012 and won countless awards all of the country.

Why not borrow it for the half term week?

Further Reading in the Information Store:

Argo – DVD ZONE – 791.43 A

Iran – BOOK ZONE – 915.60

Iran and the Bomb – BOOK ZONE – 327.1

Come in and grab a free book!

2013-05-20T11:07:00.000+01:00

The Information Store is launching its new Book Exchange today as part of Adult Learners Week.

Come in and grab a free book from the cupboard behind the printers. Take home any book where you see the Book Exchange logo (it will be on the front or back cover).

All we ask is that once you have read it, you pass it on, either to friends or family or back to us for the next person.

Happy reading!

Revision, revision, revision

2013-05-14T10:27:00.000+01:00

If you're revising, or about to start revising, read on.

We have a huge selection of revision guides available to borrow, from books that show you how to study, to books on specific subjects. Pop in and have a look at our revision display to get you started and help keep you motivated and de-stressed:

We are also putting daily revision tips on Facebook and Twitter, so spend your time wisely on these sites to help stay in touch.

Our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/#!/ccninformationstore

Our Twitter page is https://twitter.com/CCNInfoStore

Follow us for more hints and tips, and #ccnrevision to stay up to date.

Best of luck everyone!

DVD Review - Star Trek (2009)

2013-05-09T15:11:00.000+01:00

This week sees in the release of one of this summer’s most highly anticipated blockbusters. That’s right, Star Trek: Into Darkness is coming. If you’ve been watching trailers of exploding spaceships and Benedict Cumberbatch looking menacing and have been wondering what the fuss is all about, wonder no more and borrow the first Star Trek film right here from the Information Store!

You might want to read ahead first though…

Directed by J.J. Abrams, Star Trek is a visual masterpiece with an exciting story and relatable characters. The source material is vast, so it was always going to be a decent effort at re-launching it back into the moviesphere. The television series has been dominating screens for decades and William Shatner has always been Captain Kirk in our hearts, but Star Trek offers something new, young, fresh and exciting to a franchise that has spawned eleven films, a vast fan base of ‘Trekkies’ and been the subject of many a sci-fi related argument for years.

Chris Pine plays our heroic James T Kirk in this reimagining and while adopting mannerisms of Shatner he stills brings some fresh, cheese free imperturbability, revitalising dusty old Kirk into a good-looking and charming hero with a few bad boy tendencies. His story begins as he is being born while his father simultaneously crashes into a mysterious time-travelling vessel searching the galaxy for Spock, we spring forwards in time to see him getting into trouble with the law and causing fights in bars. Following one such dispute, Kirk is forbidden aboard the USS Enterprise as it takes the other cadets on a mission to help a suffering planet Vulcan. However, with some quick thinking from a fellow cadet, Kirk becomes sick and manages to wangle his way onto the ship with his ‘Doctor’. He is hurtled into an intergalactic warzone full of time travel, menacing over lords and Spock’s extended family.

Eric Bana plays the villainous Nero, a Romulan who is searching the galaxy for Spock and destroying anyone and anything that gets in his way including Spocks home planet. Similar in manner to a Pirate, the Romulan style is slightly unconventional, one of the many things that J.J Abrams adapted to bring the series up to date. Bana is the perfect hero , he is menacing, wilful and full of vengeance which culminates in a classic battle between goodies and baddies the old fashioned way.

The next film sees home grown talent Benedict Cumberbatch playing the villain, Khan, who attacks the Starfleet from the inside and brings Kirk’s world crashing down around him. So far it has received incredible reviews and is set to smash the box office this weekend as Iron Man 3 did a few weeks ago. It’s a summer of big blockbusters and with Man of Steel still to be released, I think our wallets are going to be taking a bit of a hit!

Further reading in the Information Store:

You can find STAR TREK in the DVD ZONE shelved at 791.43S

Fans, Bloggers & Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture by Henry Jenkins is available as an e-book. Ask at the issue desk if you need any help accessing this!

Science Fiction Cinema: Between Fantasy and Reality by Christine Cornea – BOOK ZONE – Shelved at 791.436 COR

Write Your Own Science Fiction Stories by Tish Farrell – BOOK ZONE – Shelved at 808.02 FER

Celebrate World Book Night All Week!

2013-04-24T12:04:00.000+01:00

World Book Night may be over for another year but we will be celebrating all week! The book display near the issue desk is dedicated to lots of different World Book Night books to get your teeth into, including recommendations and books from last years event!

Here's a brief selection of some of the WBN related books we have that are available to borrow:

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
This is another book by author Robert Louis Stevenson who's novel Treasure Island was given away for this years event. The story is about a scientist, Mr. Hyde, who suffers a great misfortune when one of his experiments goes wrong and he creates a sinister alternate personality, Mr. Hyde's murderous tendancies rapidly start to take hold of the timid Dr Jekyll. As well as being a peculiar and intriguing story, it also addresses the issue of split personality disorder, a genuine psychological problem. The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was recycled by Marvel and adapted into scientist Bruce Banner and his badly tempered alternate, Hulk.

Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontes classic follows the story of Heathcliff, a young boy adopted by the Earnshaw family who live in a run down old house, called Wuthering Heights. The book chronicles Heathcliff's life and focusses on his various relationships, including with the hateful son and the love struck daughter of the Earnshaw family. It is an intense read and examines life on the moors, where there is a signifcant class divide, a very complicated love triangle (probably a hexagon actually) and where catching a cold would have been enough to kill you. A classic story endlessly studied by students, literary scholars and lovers of classic fiction. Recommended by World Book Night for fans of Damage by Josephine Hart.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
From critically acclaimed author Jeanette Winterson whose novel Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is featured in this years World Book Night. This story is about a young girl called Jeanette who has been adopted into an evangelical family who have chosen for her to become a missionary. She embraces religion and manages to convert several people to God, however, a meeting with another young girl changes her life forever, when love and sex start to play an ultimate part in her future. Many have argued that this book is autobiographical, Wintertson has said herself it is and it isn't. Either way, its a fantastic story that will have you emotionally invested from start to finish!

Crossfire
Andy McNab continues the whirlwind life of ex-deinable operator Nick Stone in this installment of the series. Stone is body-guarding a TV crew on the streets of Basra when he comes face to face with a gunman. One of the reporters acts fast and saves his life, however, only a few hours later this reporter is missing and Stone is asked by the Intellegience Service to find him leading him on a deadly journey to Iraq, Kabul, Dublin and London where danger awaits him around every corner. A gripping and intense read from a former SAS Sergeant. McNab's short story Last Night Another Soldier is one of the books being given away all over the world for this years event.

The Road
Comac McCarthy's bleak novel about a father and son struggling for survival in a post-apocolyptic world was recently turned into a film starring Viggo Mortenson. The landsacpe is barron from whatever cataclysmic event has ravaged the planet and the population of Earth has dramatically plummeted. Many of the human survivors have resorted to cannibalism and the hopelessness surrounding the survival of the Father and Son acts a precursor to their potentially grim demise. A difficult yet poetic story that offers a bleak interpretation of the future of our planet from last years World Book Night event.

These are just a handful of the amazing books on offer on the display by the issue desk, have a browse through some of the titles, there's bound to be something that will take your interest!

DVD Review: The Iron Lady (2011)

2013-04-11T14:23:00.000+01:00

In light of this week’s news of the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, what better opportunity to encourage borrowing the 2011 film The Iron Lady which chronicles important moments in Margaret Thatcher’s personal and political life.

It would seem since her death, the headlines and social media sites have exploded into a predicted mixture of love and loathing for the ex-Prime Minister. Before passing judgement, give it another thought and watch Meryl Streep ignite the passion, energy and devotion she had towards her beliefs and her country.

At the beginning of them film, Thatcher is an elderly woman, visiting her local shops for some milk. She’s been forgotten by society and by her family and since the passing of her husband; the last few years have been peaceful. We watch her as she clears out her late husband’s wardrobe and we become increasingly aware of her struggle with old age and dementia as she coherently talks with her husband whom she imagines is in her room with her. Various flashbacks take place, from her working in her parent’s grocery store as a teenager through her education and election as Prime Minister. Fairly, we are also reminded of the horrendous misgivings her leadership influenced, including, the miner’s strike, the Brixton riots and further conflict in the Falklands. She is shown as a forceful figure of the government whom many disliked but others admired, as an out spoken, strong minded and imperious political leader, who, as age took its toll, lost her grip on her cabinet and was forced to retire as Prime Minister. The film ends as she takes her husband’s clothes to the charity shop, thus saying goodbye to him and letting go of that strand of her memory she so desperately clung to.

The film received a mixed reception from critics, most of who hail Meryl Streep’s acting capabilities yet dismiss the films message and script as a failed attempt at raising political awareness. However, in my opinion, the intentions of the film were not to paint a picture of Thatcher as a sinner or a saint yet to document her life. I agree it wasn’t done particularly well and the message falls flat. The situational element of Thatcher in her old age was obviously a ploy to pull on the heart strings and felt like a desperate attempt at making her seem remorseful, which I truly believe she never was. However, the documentation of her life is done concisely and Meryl Streep encapsulates her personality perfectly, almost encouraging one to take a sympathetic eye over her political mistakes.

It’s definitely worth a watch, if not just for Streep’s outstanding embodiment of Thatcher that is so realistic and so mesmerising it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. She commands the role with the strength and prowess that Thatcher commanded the Houses of Parliament with, which was reason enough for her to hold the Academy Award for acting that year, and as she said at the premier "It's a look back at power from the point of view of powerlessness" a sad fact that Thatcher struggled with in later life. At the time of her death, Thatcher was just a lonely old woman. Her children weren’t interested in her, her husband had been dead for ten years and the vague and distance memories of her glory days were left echoing in the back of her mind.

Her death was always going to be celebrated by some and the majority of society won’t look back upon her time as our countries leader with fondness, it was a sorrowful time and a lot of British citizens lost their lives at the hands of her errors. What I do think she will be remembered for is her courage and relentlessness, she was a strong figure of parliament, she lead our country with her head held high and she powered through some of Britain’s darkest days in recent years.

Further Reading in the Information Store:

The Iron Lady - DVD ZONE - 791.43I

The Fall and Rise of Margaret Thatcher by Alan Watkins - BOOK ZONE - 330.941082

The Downing Street Years by Margaret Thatcher - BOOK ZONE - 330.9410858

DVD Review: Books or Films?

2013-03-28T11:51:00.001Z

Film & Book Adaptations

Our Easter display is packed full of films and novels for you to devour during the holidays. Here are a random selection from the display and why they are worthy of your time.

Don’t Look Now

The film is directed by Nicholas Roeg and is based on the short story of the same name by Daphne Du Maurier, who also wrote The Birds. It is a thriller focussed around a couple whose daughter is killed in an unfortunate accident. They move to Venice where they meet two strange sisters, one of whom is convinced their daughter is trying to contact them from ‘the other side’. What ensues is a dark thriller which addresses the challenges that grief can bestow upon someone.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

This magical tale comes from the great mind of C.S. Lewis and is the first in the magnificent Narnia chronicles. Having been adapted to film before back in the 70’s and as a TV series in the 80’s, it was great to see someone take the franchise on when CGI and other technologies were on the rise. Director Andrew Adamson throws audiences into the magical world of Narnia where they see their childhood imaginings of the mystical world come to life, more realistically than ever before. The story is about the evacuees Edmund, Lucy, Peter and Susan Pevensie arriving at the country house of Professor Digory Kirke who is to be their guardian until the war is over. During a game of hide and seek they stumble across a wardrobe which transports them to Narnia, a realm run by the overpowering White Witch who needs to be over thrown in order for the dreaded winter to end. It’s a great story full of talking animals and mythical creatures, both book and film will be sure to enchant you.

The Iron Giant

The Iron Giant is a 1999 animated science fiction film based on the short story The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. The film is about a little boy called Hogarth who finds a giant, iron man who has fallen from space. He befriends the Iron Giant and tries to protect him from the US Military who want to destroy him. The story is set in 1957 when America was going through the cold war and the threat of a nuclear attack from the USSR seemed likely following the launch of Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit Earth. The Iron Giant is certainly representative of this National panic in America, however the anti-war message the film sends out, and the way in which the boy befriends the giant shows that there is a glimmer of humanity left following the war.

Lolita

The novel by Vladimir Nabokov was adapted to the screen by the legendary director Stanley Kubrick in 1967 and adapted again in 1997. However, the notable adaptation is the Kubrick one which starred James Mason as Professor Humbert Humbert and Sue Lyon as Lolita. The story is about a divorced Professor of French who moves to a small town America. He starts a relationship with his landlady and ends up marrying her with the intention of pursuing a relationship with her 14 year old daughter, Lolita whom he has fallen completely in love with. It sounds a bit sinister, but its actually a tasteful romantic drama that explores the male psyche and infatuation with youth. Comparisons can be drawn between Lolita and American Beauty, they have a similar theme and each deal with it romantically rather than sinisterly.

American Psycho

Brett Easton-Ellis is famous for writing novels about successful, young men living the high life in a big American city. American Psycho is no exception to this as the film follows the sadistic Patrick Bateman, a rich investment banker who has a psychopathic side to his personality. He fantasises about gratuitous murders and psychopathic tendencies start taking over as he spirals in to a world fuelled by sex, drugs and murder. The book is far more detailed than the film, which was largely underwhelming especially considering how phenomenal the source text was. However, heed my warning, both film have very explicit content, so perhaps read up on the both a bit more before diving right in.

Everything is Illuminated

Finally is a real gem of a book that was turned into a real treat of a film. Jonathon Safron-Foer’s Everything is Illuminated is about a young man who sets out on a mission accompanied by the local eccentric to find the woman who saved his Grandfather from a Ukrainian town that came under attack by the Nazi’s. The film and the book are both delightful stories to engage with and the combination of a chain smoking young Jewish American and an eccentric Ukrainian native on a road trip is sure to make you laugh at some point!

Have a look at the display by the issue desk for more great films and books, including Harry Potter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Casino Royale and The Jungle Book!

World Book Night Events!

2013-03-25T14:16:00.001Z

World Book Night is happening in the UK, US and Germany on the 23rd April, so why not check out their interactive map of events!

http://www.worldbooknight.org/events/events-map

This is the selection of books that people will be giving away all over the country, see any you like? Any look...familiar? Check out other people's events and see what they are giving away too!

More film reviews by Ellie!

2013-03-19T11:39:00.004Z

If you love reading Ellie's regular film reviews on this blog, you'll be delighted to know that Ellie is now also reviewing films at Push Start Play.

Have a read of her review of "Robot and Frank", which is currently showing at Cinema City.

And here is a sneak peak of the film, starting with a great library scene!

The future of the book...

2013-03-18T10:05:00.004Z

Book art display in the Information Store this week:

where do you see the future of paperbacks versus ebooks?

Red Nose Day in the Information Store

2013-03-15T16:57:00.002Z

You might have noticed something funny going on in the Information Store today....?

1. Information Store staff all wearing various shades of red.

2. Information Store staff brushing away the crumbs from their Red Nose Day cookies!

2. Students running round trying to work out the James Bond film with the longest title....

3. Last but by no means least - our resident face painter, Avril Wilkisnon, decorating students and staff with a variety of red noses, flowers, animal faces and glitter.

See our Facebook fpage or student photos.... http://www.facebook.com/#!/ccninformationstore

Did you do something funny for money?

Countdown to World Book Night - Pt. 3!

2013-03-14T12:04:00.001Z

The final installment of our rundown of books being given away for World Book Night is upon us. But dont worry, there will be plenty of reminders around between now and April the 23rd!

The third book being given away in the Information Store is E.H. Gombrich's A Little History of the World as chosen by Learning Resources Assistant Ellie Wilkin.

A Little History of the World is a non fiction book which does exactly as the title says, however, the one thing that makes this book different is that the author wrote it in 1935, so it doesn't cover history from 1935 onwards. What it does do, is cleverly, concisely and clearly document the history of our world from the Neanderthals all the way through to the end of WWI. It is wonderfully written and its timelessness as historical non-fiction makes it an even more charming little book. The facts within will never change, the stories he tells are legendary and the history of our world reads almost like fiction.

Here is why Ellie chose this book:

"A Little History of the World is an informative and insightful book about the history of our little planet up until the first world war. Its easy to read and documents great moments in history like the Knights at the round table, the ancient Olympic games and the various revolutions that have torn countries apart. Each chapter is like a little story in itself, but my favourite chapter is the one about the Egyptians, there's nothing like a good true tale about Mummification to keep your pages turning!"

World Book Night is only a few weeks away so spread the word and make sure you keep up to date with us on TWITTER, FACEBOOK and PINTEREST!

Don't forget, make sure you are in the Information Store on the 23rd April to take part in this massive global event!

Countdown to World Book Night - Pt. 2!

2013-03-07T16:27:00.003Z

Following on from last weeks post about World Book Night and the first book that we will be giving away copies of being revealed...its time to announce the second one!

Library Services Manager Sam Floyd has chosen the classic tale Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. If you are unfamiliar with the story its a fantastic, swashbuckling tale which was first published back in 1883. It follows the story of young Jim Hawkins, who lives with his parents in the local inn. One night a man named Billy Bones dies in the inn after being accosted with the dreaded Black Spot - an infamous Pirate curse. Feeling the need for action, Jim and his Mother break into Billy's chest and steal a logbook and map therein. They soon learn that what they have stolen is of value as they discover they stole Billy's treasure map where X marks the spot of the loot of renowned pirate Captain Flint. Jim and his friend Squire Trelawney immediately start out on an expedition to sail the seas and retreive the treasure. However, another pirate is on the trail of the map, the smooth talking and devious Long John Silver - and he manages to trick his way onto Jim's ship...

The historical tale that ensues is full of mutiny, murder, treasure and adventure and makes for very entertaining reading which will keep you on your toes and eagerly turning the next page!

Here is why Sam chose this book:

"Treasure Island was a book I greatly enjoyed as a child – it was excellent escapism with pirate adventure, treasure maps where “X” marks the spot, great characters and suspense. I wanted to give other young people the opportunity to enjoy the original Pirates of the Caribbean!"

Sam will be giving away her 20 copies of this heroic tale in the Information Store on April the 23rd. If it sounds like a book you might be interested in giving a go, then make sure you pop along to get yourself a copy! Absolutly free!

World Book Night has inspired all kinds of people to start reading and enjoying books, people all over the country will be giving away copies of their favourite books in their community. They have a blog on their website with some testimonies and information about their cause. You can visit it here:

http://www.worldbooknight.org/blog

DVD Review - The Hunger Games (2012)

2013-03-06T12:20:00.000Z

The Hunger Games is a science fiction action film based on the books of Suzanne Collins of the same name. Starring the recent Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Lawrence as the tenacious Katniss Everdeen, the film follows her incredible journey as she fights for her life in horrifying circumstances.

The Hunger Games is set in the futuristic dystopian nation of Panem which consists of a Capitol city and twelve districts who due to a rebellion on the Capitol in previous years must now sacrifice their own as punishment. Each year, a representative from the Capitol comes to each of the districts for ‘The Reaping’ where two children aged between twelve and eighteen are selected to represent their district in the annual Hunger Games. Primrose Everdeen, the younger sister of our protagonist Katniss, is selected as the female representative but Katniss nominates herself in her place knowing that her sister wouldn’t survive. Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is the male nominee and the two travel to the Capitol where they receive training and recognition for the event that is about to possibly end their lives. To the people of the Capitol, the Hunger Games is like the Olympics. It’s a huge event and everyone gets very excited about seeing the ‘tributes’ as they are paraded and interviewed like celebrities. The trick to surviving the Hunger Games is making sure the people like you, if you are favoured then people watching on TV at home can send food, medicine and various survival kits if you need them. Katniss and Peeta meet and train with the rest of the tributes and suss out their competition, some are fierce and some are weak. After significant guidance from Haymitch Abernathy, a previous winner of the Hunger Games (Woody Harrelson) and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), Katniss and the rest of the tributes are sent up into an extravagant artificial forest where they must fight until to the death and the one remaining survivor will be the victor.

A few of the eager tributes die in the first few minutes at the ‘Cornicopia’ a structure which consists of food, medicine and weapons which everyone runs at all at once. It very quickly descends into a huge blood bath as people get hold of weapons. Katniss grabs a rucksack and a bow and arrow from the pile and disappears into the forest, dodging her competition. She watches up a tree as the deaths of tributes are announced by a canon. The creators of the Hunger Games liven things up a bit for her when they start a huge forest fire to divert her into the path of the hunters and set wild bear like dogs on her trail. Luckily for Katniss, she has won the hearts of the viewers and they send medicines for her when she is injured. With thousands of people willing her to survive and a select few willing her to die, Katniss’ survival depends solely on her survival abilities and skills as an archer. Will she reign victorious? Or will she succumb to the Hunger Games tomb?

The plot may sound familiar and comes also in the form of the Japanese action-horror film Battle Royale where school children are put on an island to fight until the death, however, don’t be fooled. This film is incredibly violent, very disturbing in places and despite one main plot point being similar, they are very different films to be enjoyed on very separate levels. I would recommend The Hunger Games to most but to those of you with a strong stomach and the correct date of birth you could give Battle Royale a shot. I have warned you though. The Hunger Games has also come under scrutiny from various people remarking on how it promotes an unhealthy body image, certain unfair perceptions of race and a likening to the true life tory of the controversial figure Kony who created his own army of children who would kill each other.

Despite its criticisms and it being banned in Vietnam (suprisingly) The Hunger Games is an entertaining watch whether you know the outcome or not and some of the tributes fall foul of some pretty gruesome deaths. The futuristic hairstyles and clothes much resemble those of older science fiction films like The Fifth Element and the contrasting wealth of the Capitol and the Districts surreptitiously underlines how bleak life is for these children. It feels like the role of Katniss was made for Jennifer Lawrence who perfectly adapts to the strong and feisty character readers of the books will recognise. With familiar faces cropping up along the way – Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz and Donald Sutherland – The Hunger Games triumphs as a different take on the bleak, dystopian future that directors all across the board seem to believe is in store for us. Hopefully we won’t be nominating our young to go to a big fake forest and kill each other though…

Why not borrow The Hunger Games from the Information Store? You will find it in the DVD Zone shelved at 791.43 H! It’s a great film to watch with friends or on your own!

Further Reading in the Information Store:

We’ve got the whole series of The Hunger Games books in the book zone, so why not get ahead before the next film is released! You will find The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay shelved at 823.92COL.

Countdown to World Book Night!

2013-02-28T13:57:00.000Z

World Book Night has been running for a few years now and is a way for people to share the books they love amongst people that may not have as many opportunities to read, or people who haven’t really ventured in to recreational reading in our local community. It’s a great cause and has already had some remarkable results. Visit the World Book Night website for more information at http://www.worldbooknight.org

Some of the library staff here at City College have been chosen as givers for this years World Book Night. This means that they have chosen a book that they love and on World Book Night they will be given 20 copies of the book to share amongst their chosen community.

Three members of the library staff have been chosen as givers and each week we will reveal a member of staff and the book they have chosen. This week, The Information Store’s Digital Resources Office Amy Straker has chosen the book ‘Me Without You’ by Jojo Moyes and she will be distributing copies of it here at the Information Store on 23^rd April!

Here is why Amy chose this book:

“I chose mine because it is a great read, but with an unexpected story line. The cover looks like a light hearted tale of boy meets girl, but it is so much more than that. When Lou loses her job in a coffee shop she takes a job as a carer for the rather dashing Will, who has been injured in a motorcycle accident. They don’t hit it off, at all and Lou doesn’t know about the dark secret that Will has been keeping from her, that threatens to change everything. I hope it will appeal to students who want wouldn’t usually read for pleasure, and that the interesting plot will encourage students to take a copy, and hopefully pass it on…”

Reading books doesn’t have to be just for school or college, it’s a great thing to do in your spare time. You can lose yourself in exciting stories, become heroic characters and be transported to other worlds. If this sounds like something you would like to get involved in, make sure you come to the Information Store on the 23^rd April!

Keep your eyes peeled on the Between the Lines blog to find out what the other books being given away will be!

Reading resolutions

2013-02-26T16:07:00.004Z

I just spotted these great reading resolutions on the World Book Night blog. I have always felt quite guilty about point 1, but now I feel much better!

2013 reading resolutions:

This time last year we made 9 reading resolutions. Some we've kept, quite a few we haven't, but that's not going to stop us trying with them again! We've repeated them below and annotated them with our successes and failures. Is there anything you'd add or change?

1. Give up on a book if you’re not enjoying it. There are too many great books to persevere if you’re really not getting on. Obviously don’t quit after a few pages, give it a little time to settle in, 50-60 is the perceived wisdom (or 1/3rd of the book if it’s particularly short).
- I have absolutely done this this year and it's lead to me getting so much more pleasure from what I have read. I think it's now a habit and one I hope will lead to a more rewarding reading life.

2. Give as many books as you read. Obviously as well as what we’re doing on April 23 we’re going to aim to give away at least a book a week, if not more in 2012. Sometimes they’ll be the book we’ve just read, passed on (sometimes they’ll be newly purchased copies of the book we’ve just read as we can’t bear to part with ours!), sometimes they’ll be carefully and lovingly chosen gifts, sometimes they’ll be books that have sat unread for too long and deserve better homes. But whatever they are they’ll be amazing gifts.
- Everyone who invites me to their home now gets a book and pass on as much as I'm prepared to part with from the books I've loved reading this year. Plus, regular WBN followers will know how much I'm in love with Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies, so many people have received these as gifts from me this year.

3. Read outside your usual choice. We’ve all got particular tastes: subjects, areas and genres that we know we enjoy. But some of our best reading experiences have come from stepping away from the norm and trying something different for a change. So for every book we read this year within our comfort zone, we’re going to pick one from outside it. After all, we can always give up and move on if it doesn’t work out.
- Hmm. This has been an interesting one. I'd say I've stepped outside my comfort zone maybe a quarter of the time rather than half. I'm still definitely making value judgements about books without trying them and still being regularly delighted with books I don't think are my sort of thing when I do try them. Obviously must try harder with this one!

4. Read aloud more often. Publicly admitting that I read aloud to my husband almost makes me blush. I don’t know whether it’s because reading is such a seemingly intimate, private activity or because we associate reading aloud as something we do only to children or the infirm, but for whatever reason it is, it doesn’t feel like something I should admit to doing. But it is brilliant – you get the combined pleasure of reading with the shared experience of discussing it as you go along, like a book club but with instant gratification. I cannot more highly recommend it, start with something short (our first read aloud was Alan Bennett’s Uncommon Reader) and see how you go. No cheating and reading ahead on your own though, that completely ruins the fun!
- I'm still doing this, enjoying it more than ever and really think everyone should. I'm currently reading Wolf Hall to my husband (I know, I'm obsessed) and it's been interesting as I'd read it before and he hadn't. It's almost like taking someone new to a favourite place - I'm loving experiencing it for the first time vicariously through him and getting things from it that I didn't before. It's ridiculously long when you read it aloud but absolutely brilliant. We started at the end of November and are now very nearly finished. We've both read other things ourselves along side but as we've got more into it we've abandoned Christmas TV to read to each other instead.

5. Read more. Bit of a given this one, but looking back over my 2011 reading I find that increasingly those odd moments when I would have picked up a book have been filled with emails or twitter or playing games on my iPhone and, to be honest, I feel poorer for it. So I’m going to try to waste less time and fill it with amazing stories and writing.
- I've definitely read more this year, but I've still finished the year feeling like I've wasted more time than I should. Partly this is down to a frustration that I don't always have the book I'm reading with me and desperate desire not to have to buy it twice in physical & e format. Maybe 2013 will be the year publishers & booksellers get bundling right.

6. Keep a reading diary. The best books, our favourites, mark out our lives. I waited for my sister to come out of hospital aged 7 with The Princess and the Unicorn for comfort, overcame travel sickness aged 13 as I couldn’t stop reading To Kill a Mockingbird, tackled unrequited love with By Grand Central Station I sat down and Wept and knew I’d found my match when he read The Good Soldier and agreed it was the best book ever written. But I wish I could look back at everything I’ve read over the years so I’m going to keep a reading diary so I can!
- This started well, then fizzled out in the middle months. It's been very easy to track since October as I've read all the WBN books (plus a few others as well). But I can't for the life of me remember half of what I read that isn't written down. If there's one resolution I want to keep this year it's this one.

7. Be completely honest about what you’ve read. Whilst I’ve never out and out lied about having read a book, I’ve been known to give ambiguous answers or nod and smile when discussing a book as if it’s one of my favourites! What does it matter whether I’ve read Wuthering Heights, We Need to Talk about Kevin or Twilight (all on my to read pile)? And I shouldn’t be ashamed to admit that I haven’t.
- All those books are still on my to read pile. Maybe for 2013 I should be completely honest with myself about whether I'm actually going to read something or not!

8. Get over reading guilt. This kind of applies to all of the above. Reading is an incredible pleasure but too often we find ourselves feeling guilty about all manner of things from whether we’re reading enough to whether we’re reading the right books (or what the right books actually are) and almost all of the above resolutions sort of feed this. So whilst we try to read more, read out of our comfort zone, read out loud and keep track of what we read we’re going to remember the cardinal rule: reading is a great joy and whatever we do or don’t do, read or don’t read we’re not going to let any guilt get in the way of us really enjoying our reading in 2012.
- I really took this to heart in 2012. Particularly when 50 Shades of Grey was published and various parts of the media (as well as people up and down the country) decided to debate, again and again, who on earth was reading it, why, and whether they were actually 'readers'. My thoughts on this are lengthy and not always polite, but they were summarised before the debate started in this resolution. Never let anyone, ever, make you feel bad for what you're reading. I'm not going to try to pretend that 50 Shades was the best book I read, or particularly life changing, but it was a very enjoyable romp to read over a dreary summer weekend.

9. And last but very much not least, sign up to be a World Book Night giver and help spread and share a love of reading.
- Check. Obviously!

If there's one thing I've learnt this year then it really is that I'm a creature of habit. The more I read, the more I wanted to read rather than do any of the other habitual things I do to pass the time. So if I can make keeping a reading diary and diversifying my taste more habitual then hopefully these can be things I do for life not just for January! Now I just have to work on the more exercise, less food & drink and spending money habits too...

Make someone's day

2013-02-13T11:09:00.001Z

Make someone's day tomorrow. I'm not talking Valentines, I'm talking about giving an unwanted book to an underprivileged child.

Tomorrow is International Book Giving Day. Please bring in any preloved children's books to the Information Store desk, or SA103, and we will pass them on to a library that we work with in Dedza, Malawi.

Make someone's day tomorrow!!

Love your library

2013-02-11T15:58:00.001Z

To celebrate "National Libraries Day" on Saturday, we have put together a display of some of our favourite books, DVDs, CDs and magazines, all available to borrow, for free!

Come in and browse, and remember that all you need in order to borrow is your student card. Most items are available to borrow for 3 weeks, although more in-demand items will be available to borrow for one week.

Stock up on some DVDs and CDs while the weather is so chilly!

DVD Review - Un Chien Andalou (1929)

2013-01-10T16:11:00.002Z

2013 marks the 30 yearanniversary of the death of Spanish director Luis Bunuel. A unique film maker who lead the avant-garde surrealist movement with his work with the moving image. While in education he became very close with surrealist painter Salvador Dali who he would later work with to make one of the most respected short films of the surrealist movement called Un Chien Andalou, translated as ‘An Andalusian Dog’. Don’t be fooled by its romantic title which falsely promises the tale of a Spanish pooch, what lies within is something quite different; a hand crawling in ants, a woman having her eyeball sliced open and a man dressed as a nun riding a bike. It is definitely the work of two avant-garde artists and has been persistently studied by academics since its creation in 1929. Chiming in at only 16 minutes long, it certainly packs a punch and is not for the faint hearted.

A consistent feature of the film is a pattern of black and white stripes which appears in almost every scene, whether it be on some clothing or an object in a room or furniture. It was used by Bunuel as a device for creating some sort of solidarity and consistency throughout the film for the sake of the audience. Bunuel also used a series of title cards stating a progression of time, however these jump around from ‘eight years later’ to ‘around three in the morning’ to ‘sixteen years later’ which in itself is confusing. This kind of narrative structure, where an audience is shown a sequence of images loosely linked together was known as ‘dream logic’ and was favoured by surrealists at the time.

Time frames and narratives aside, there are reasons why this film is so famous, the number one reason probably being the infamous eyeball scene. At the beginning of the film, we see a man sharpening a cut throat knife while gazing at the moon. A woman is sitting looking straight into the camera and the man takes the knife, pulls open her eyelid and brazenly slices her eyeball in half, spilling all kinds of horrible fluid on to her cheek. For years people speculate how Bunuel and Dali constructed this scene arguing about where the eyeball came from, but in 1975 Bunuel came out with the truth and said it was the eye of a baby calf and he bleached the fur of the calf so much that it would look like human skin. He certainly did a good job of making this look convincing, even now almost 90 years on it looks real and is probably just as harrowing as the day it was premiered.

As famous as this scene may be, it is probably not the weirdest thing you’ll see in Un Chien Andalou. How about a man pulling on some ropes with the tablets of the Ten Commandments attached? What if the ropes were also attached to two priests being dragged along the floor? Better still, what if they were then attached to a piano with a dead donkey laying on it? Yes, this all happens. Bunuel and Dali were certainly on a roll when they came up with that little sequence of events. Overlapping frames and bizarre images makes Un Chien Andalou interesting viewing, whether you like it or not, you certainly won’t see anything else like it. Unique in name and nature and edited in Luis Bunuel’s kitchen, he deserves a round of applause for creating such an unforgettable film which has gone down in film and art history.

Un Chien Andalou can be found in the Information Store DVD Zone at 791.430944. It comes in a box with another film by Dali and Bunuel called L'Age D'or. Maybe you could give that one a try too!

Further Reading in The Information Store

Un Chien Andalou (book) - Book Zone - 791.4372
Belle du Jour by Luis Bunuel - DVD Zone - 791.430944
Salvador Dali 1904-1989 by Gilles Neret - Book Zone - 759.6

A Very Special Christmas DVD Review!

2012-12-10T17:46:00.000Z

Rather than choosing one of our Christmas DVD's, we've chosen...5 of them!

Here is our rundown of all things Christmassy in the DVD Zone.

5) Elf

Buddy the Elf is no ordinary Elf. In fact, he’s not an Elf at all. As an infant, Buddy adventurously crawled into Santa’s sack one Christmas eve and was accidentally taken back to the North Pole where he was adopted by one of the Elves. A few years on Buddy is three times taller than everyone else, has no natural capabilities in hand crafting toys and is beginning to question his origins. Papa Elf tells him that his Father lives in New York City and has no knowledge of Buddy existing as his Mother put him up for adoption and died shortly afterwards. Don’t worry, it gets more cheerful from here.

So off Buddy goes to meet his Father, Walter, who is less than impressed when Buddy arrives at his office in full elf uniform and starts singing to him. Buddy suffers a fair bit of misfortune in New York including getting accidentally drunk in a post room, being hit by a taxi cab and getting into a fight with a toy shop Santa. However, some good does come out of all of this when he meets the blonde haired, blue eyed Jovie, a beautiful little Elf who works at the toy store. However, Jovie has also lost all of her Christmas Spirit, as has the majority of New Yorkers, including Walters wife and son.

Christmas Eve is soon upon us and Santa’s sleigh breaks down and crashes into Central Park. The engine is broken and the presents need delivering and the rawkus has attracted quite a crowd of people curious as to what ‘fell from the sky’. Santa tells Buddy that the only thing to make his sleigh fly is Christmas cheer, and what’s the best way to spread Christmas cheer? ‘By singing loud for all to hear’. Expect a good old rendition of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, a lump in your throat, a warm feeling in your belly and very happy ending.

Will Ferrell is the perfect oversized Elf and his love of Christmas, Syrup and his Father lead him into some quite interesting situations. Predictable yet well executed, Elf will never have the classic status of something like Home Alone, but it is still a great Christmas movie that sets out to do exactly what it wants to do.

4) The Grinch

‘Inside a snowflake like the one on your sleeve, there happened a story you must see to believe’

It's Christmas in Whoville, and all the Who’s are frantically rushing around doing their Christmas shopping, grabbing bargains and knocking each other over. One of these Who’s, Cindy Lou, becomes frustrated that everyone, even her family have lost sight of what Christmas is all about. Feeling glum. She looks for a distraction and her adventurous little mind stumbles across the story of The Grinch, a hateful creature who lives on Mount Crumpit, overlooking the town. The Grinch hates Christmas, everything about it he loathes and despises, the only thing he seems to tolerate is his dog, Max. Nobody knows the reason behind his hatred, but what we do learn is that his heart is ‘two sizes too small’, withering away inside his green, fluffy chest.

Cindy Lou wants to find out why the Grinch is so hateful so she speaks to his Mothers. She learns of his unfortunate childhood and the bullying he received at school in front of his childhood sweetheart Martha May. Little Cindy Lou decides that she wants to reignite the fire in the Grinch’s belly so she goes to Mount Crumpit to invite the Grinch to the Whobilation (Whoville’s most important celebration), hoping this might encourage him to show a bit of festive spirit. The Grinch however sees this as an opportunity to get into some mischief, but he ends up enjoying himself and getting involved with the festive activities. Things turn sour when the Mayor proposes to the Grinch’s childhood love Martha with a ring the size of Mount Crumpit and makes a mean joke about the Grinch in front of the whole town. The Grinch then tears the town apart and burns the Christmas tree before returning to his cave to wallow in self pity once more.

Hating the Whos, he builds a sleigh and steals all the presents and trees from every Who in Whoville. Although a successful haul, it fails to dampen the spirits of the Who’s below who start singing. Cindy Lou wants to wish the Grinch a Merry Christmas so ascends the great Mount Crumpit. The Grinch, angered that he hasn’t destroyed Christmas doesn’t notice Cindy Lou and his sleigh starts slipping towards her. A mixture of the singing, the realisation that Christmas isn’t something you can steal and the sight of the endangered Cindy Lou causes the Grinch’s heart to grow three sizes and he saves Cindy Lou’s life.

Not only is this film funny, but in true Dr Seuss style, it has a fairly significant message too. Jim Carrey is hilarious as the Grinch, and young Taylor Momsen perfectly illustrates the innocence of youth through Cindy Lou. It has all the elements of a good Christmas movie; a villain, a hero, a moment when the villain becomes the hero and lots and lots of snow. The glue that holds the whole thing together is the enchanting poetic legacy of Dr Seuss.

3) Miracle on 34^th Street - 1947

Set between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, Miracle on 34^th Street is regarded as one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time. In New York City on the day of the Thanksgiving Parade, the man hired by Macy’s department store to be Santa Claus is intoxicated so the store manager, Doris, hires another man who calls himself Kris Cringle to take his place. This man claims to be the real Santa Clause but Doris, doesn’t believe in the notion of fantasy and has taught her daughter to think the same. Kris Cringle is regarded as insane by the people around him and after an unfortunate dispute with a psychologist; he is despairingly forced into failing a medical exam, proving his insanity. However, people start to see something in him, the improbability of events that occur just don’t add up and even Doris and her daughter start questioning whether he may in fact be the real Santa. Doris hires Fred Gaily, a friend of hers to represent Kris in court where they can fight for his sanity and prove he is the real Santa. All hope seems lost and the light at the end of the tunnel is barely visible, surely what they need is a miracle…

Directed by George Seaton in 1947, it’s a classic Christmas tale and was remade in 1994 by Les Mayfield. For today’s audience, it is very dated. Even the 1994 version is dated but it's timeless message will always stay the same.

2) The Muppets Christmas Carol

I could have chosen the normal A Christmas Carol, the animated A Christmas Carol or even, Scrooge but instead I went with The Muppets, as it is one of my personal favourites.

The story, as we all know, is based on the classic tale written by Charles Dickens about a greedy, hateful man called Ebenezer Scrooge. He is horrible to his employees, to his family and he is the most hated man in town. He is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve who show him the past, present and the future. Firstly, reminded of his past and the moment he lost his one true love because of his reculsive and negative attitude. He is then taken to the present to Bob Cratchit’s house, one of his employees, who has a dying son called Tiny Tim who just wants his family to be together and happy for Christmas. Here he sees that material possessions and money are not what is making this family happy, but the love they have for one another. Finally, he is shown the grim reality of what the future holds for him and for poor little Tiny Tim.

It’s the perfect redemption story and other adaptations it can be quite eerie. However, this version is by The Muppets so there is very minimal eeriness and lots more silliness instead. Scrooge is played by Michael Caine, and Bob Cratchit and his wife are Kermit and Miss Piggy. The story is told by Charles Dickens, otherwise known as The Great Gonzo and his pal, Rizzo the Rat. It’s a highly entertaining adaptation of a classic Christmas story and its message is just as clear, albeit slightly devoid of some of the novels more poignant moments. With plenty of songs to sing a-long to, and moments to laugh out loud to, it’s a great family film that doesn’t get boring, in true Muppets style, when things start to get a bit serious, they just do something stupid to make up for it.

1) It’s a Wonderful Life

A year before Miracle on 34^th Street hit the movie theatres, It's a Wonderful Life enchanted audiences with its beautiful, honest tale of one mans relentless selflessness overcoming all odds. Set in New York, the film follows a troubled young man called George Bailey. George’s family and friends have been praying to the heavens for someone to help him, and so an Angel called Clarence, who is yet to earn his wings, reviews George’s life with the head Angels to decide whether he deserves their help or not.

The film chronologically moves through George’s life from the age of 12 to his present age at the beginning of the film. We see the sacrifices he made as a young man, and how his efforts to travel the world are constantly thwarted by some sort of incident which ends up making him stay. Things repeatedly look hopeful and then everything crashes down around him over and over again. He and his new wife even sacrifice the money saved for their honeymoon in helping the company George started from going bankrupt. George and Mary start a family and his brother, Harry, receives the Medal of Honour for serving in WWII. Things certainly look like they are on the up. That is until the evil Mr Potter, from a rival company, unlawfully acquires money from George and his company goes into bankruptcy. George goes and gets drunk at a nearby bar and after crashing his car into a tree he tries to commit suicide by jumping into a river. However, Clarence the Angel’s moment to shine arrives and he jumps in the river first, knowing full well that George will save him. Clarence reveals himself to be George’s Guardian Angel, and George tells Clarence he wishes he had never been born, so Clarence shows George what the world would be like if he wasn’t in it. All the good things that happen to George’s family and friends were out of acts of selflessness of George so without him everything goes wrong for everyone. George learns to value and appreciate what he has, and Clarence allows him ‘to live again’ earning him his wings and George a wonderful life.

Despite a mixed reception on its release, It’s a Wonderful Life appears in the BFI’s 100 greatest films of all time list, and AFI’s and IMDB’s. It’s the epitome of a Christmas movie, it’s heartfelt and emotional yet funny and serious all at the same time. The fact that it’s set at Christmas time is the cherry on top of an already magnificently iced cake.

I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to notice a theme with these Christmas movies…New York, bad guy turned good, redemption, morals…? Anyway, why not give one of these films a go and invite that warmness into your heart that only a Christmas movie can bring.

"Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand."

- Dr Seuss (1957)

Further Reading in The Information Store:

Elf – DVD ZONE – 791.43

The Grinch – DVD ZONE – 791.43

The Muppets Christmas Carol – DVD ZONE – 791.43

It’s a Wonderful Life – DVD ZONE – 791.43

Miracle on 34^th Street – DVD ZONE – 791.43

Why not take a look at our Christmas display of books by the Issue Desk? We’ve got everything from cookery to crafts!

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Consider yourself invited!

2012-11-26T15:23:00.001Z

Vince Laws (poet, performer, artist and campaigner) will be giving a talk and performance of his poetry in the HE Zone next Monday (3rd December).

Vince campaigns to remove the stigma of HIV and mental health. He will be in the HE Zone from 12-1pm, please come along and show him your support for some or all of this hour. It looks to be a full on and exciting hour!

http://www.vincelaws.com/cv.htm

Coming soon...Road Safety Week

2012-11-16T14:43:00.000Z

Watch this space or, more specifically, the seating area in the Information Store next to the newspapers.

Next week we will have a selection of books and DVDs for you to borrow on learning to drive, and most importantly, learning how to drive safely.

The Wellbeing Zone also has a wide selection of leaflets about road safety - pop upstairs and have a look.

DVD Review - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

2012-11-12T09:00:00.000Z

November sees in the release of the highly anticipated film The Master. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson who has brought us such films as Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, The Master is set to be one of the films of the year. What’s so special about it? Probably the most exciting thing is that it has been shot on 70mm film and will be shown in this format, which means that the resolution will be higher, clearer and much crisper. To put it simply, it has been shot on a much larger piece of film within the camera than most other films, so its double the size and double the quality. For those of you who thought IMAX was the best picture quality you were going to see, think again!

This swiftly brings me on to today’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was famously shot on 70mm, just like The Master, but way back in 1968. This didn’t stop it being a spectacular looking film which earned the film’s director, Stanley Kubrick, an Oscar for visual effects. What perhaps is most remarkable about 2001, is that audiences marvelled at what it was creating as a future world, showing huge space ships spinning through space, high tech gadgets, special anti-gravity shoes and futuristic furniture that no one had really seen before, as science fiction films were not particularly well established at the time. The visual effects were so breath takingly realistic and Stanley Kubrick created them without even using a computer. He used models and manipulation of the film cells to create his effects, an art which has long since bitten the dust. Before Man had even landed on the moon, Kubrick had made a convincing and technologically accurate film about space travel.

Written by Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, 2001 starts off on Earth in prehistoric times where we watch a family of Apes or ‘hominids’ as they would rather be known go about their daily lives of hunting, fighting and sleeping. A tall, black, rectangular object appears to them one day and subsequently they learn how to use rocks as weapons and kill animals for food. It was this important discovery that kick started our evolution from ape to man. We then hop forward a few thousand years to Dr Heywood Floyd who is travelling through space in a large, rotating vessel en route to the moon. We learn that something has been discovered on the moon which is remarkably similar to the object that appeared before the hominids. A great amount of mystery surrounds this object, which they call a Monolith, as it is assumed to be ancient extra-terrestrial intelligence. Dr Floyd and his team are sent to the moon to examine it, only to retreat again after it omits a painful, high pitched screech.

18 months later Dave Bowman and Frank Poole, two young astronauts, are travelling on board the aptly named Discovery spaceship bound for Jupiter for a so called ‘training mission’. Little do they know, they are following up the excavation of the Monolith 18 months previous. Their space ship is controlled by super computer HAL-9000 who has been programmed to behave and speak like a human, and to act as a friend to Bowman and Poole. HAL suddenly starts behaving strangely and reporting that communication devices are broken when they are not. Things rapidly go from bad to worse when HAL completely turns on Bowman and Poole and tries to kill them. Bowman escapes in a small pod and travels through a psychedelic tunnel of lights and flies over strange foreign lands in an unsettling and trippy sequence culminating in his arrival at Jupiter alongside our old friend the Monolith. Things get very strange now as Bowman lands in a baroque, French style bedroom. There are no windows, no doors and the floor is made out of light. Bowman goes through a series of stages whereby he moves through the room by looking at older versions of himself, which he then becomes. This progression allows Bowman to rapidise his life and become the ultimate version of himself. He noticeably ages three times until finally he is an old man lying on his death bed where the Monolith appears to him at his feet. He raises his hand towards it and is transported through it as a foetal baby where he is reborn as a master of the universe. I know this may sound like I am making it up, but I promise you this is what happens, it's not the easiest thing to synopsise so I suggest you see for yourselves!

Kubrick and Clarke shared a vision to create the ultimate science fiction movie and this one has it all. Its meaning is hard to decipher, especially of the end, but Kubrick didn’t want everyone to been spoon-fed meanings and philosophies. 2001 is essentially a depiction of the evolution of Man from our most primitive form to our most intelligent, predicting what Man could be capable of doing in the year 2001. Throw in a murderous computer, a few reprises of Strauss’ Thus Spake Zarathustra and a horse painted like a zebra and you’ve got yourself something really quite special.

Paving the way for great science fiction movies of the future like Bladerunner, The Alien Quadrilogy and even Prometheus, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a ground-breaking piece of cinema that is replicated time and time again in modern culture. Unfortunately, it’s not for everyone. It was poorly received when it was released and gained its fame from a cult following of 60’s youths who found it ‘trippy’ and has been splitting audiences for the past 44 years. I highly recommend it to science fiction fans, Kubrick fans and those of you who enjoy something a little bit different.

The nights are drawing in and the weekends are predominantly rainy, so borrow it from the DVD Zone, snuggle up in the warm and prepare yourself for the ultimate Stanley Kubrick experience…

Find 2001: A Space Odyssey in the DVD ZONE at shelfmark 791.43.

Further Reading in the Information Store:

Find other Stanley Kubrick films like The Shining, Barry Lyndon and Full Metal Jacket in the DVD Zone - under 18s beware!

Science Fiction Cinema from Outerspace to Cyberspace by Geoff King - BOOK ZONE - 791.43615

Stanley Kubrick: Drama and Shadows: Photographs: 1945-1950 - BOOK ZONE - 770.92

DVD review

2012-11-09T10:30:00.000Z

Ishbel's DVD review

As the night's get darker, I have found myself borrowing lots of free DVDs from the Information Store.

My colleagues Lucy and Graham recommended a film I wouldn't usually have borrowed:

“Aileen, life and death of a serial killer” (on shelves at 791.4353)

It made for both thought-provoking and disturbing viewing. It is a documentary about America's first female serial killer, covering her troubled childhood, the violent murders she committed while she was a prostitute, ending with interviews given during her time on death row.

The film leads us to question whether the death penalty should be given to someone who appears to be insane. The film gave me plenty to think about, and its message will stay with me for a long time - I highly recommend borrowing a copy. Find it in the DVD lobby area, or ask a member of staff to point you in the right direction.

Ceremony of Remembrance

2012-11-08T14:29:00.005Z