Join us on Thursday the 18th for Crowfoot's monthly movie offering. As always this is a brand new, very popular release with lots of holds, so avoid the wait and come and see it in our program room. This one is a little longer at 143 minutes so it will be starting at 6:00- it is rated PG for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout. If you want to know what the title is please phone us at 221-4122 and all will be revealed. I promise you, it is MARVELous.

Several months ago now I mentioned the movies I was really interested in seeing at the theatre over the spring and summer. I did manage to spend my money and see them all, but given how fast everything heads to DVD they are now available or on order here at CPL.

On my list were; Brave- the wonderful animated Pixar release-don't miss this one-it's for everyone; Prometheus, the maybe yes, maybe no prequel to the Alien Quadrilogy from Sir Ridley Scott. I was the tiniest bit disappointed with this one-I am such a huge Alien fan and there was a lot of hype around it, so maybe it's no surprise that it couldn't live up to my expectations. So although it wasn't everything I hoped for I did enjoy it, but a lot of people I talked into going with me, didn't. Oops.

Next up was Snow White and the Huntsman. Big cast in this - Charlize Theron, one of the Hemsworths and Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame. I wanted to give Kris one last chance to prove she could act. I remain unconvinced. Visually it has a great dark look, they threw a lot of $$ at the CGI's and Charlize is tremendous as evil stepmother Ravenna, but it still fell flat for me. And the 7 dwarves just bugged me- they took all these highly recognizable actors (Ian McShane, Toby Jones, Ray Winstone, Bob Hoskins) and just did their CGI thing with them, but it was unconvincing. I preferred the much lighter Mirror Mirror with Julia Roberts.

Add to your list The Hunger Games and Marvel's The Avengers, both of which I highly recommend, and you have hours and hours of block busters.

The second part of The Hunger Games trilogy- Catching Fire is in production with an as yet undetermined release date in 2013. Ditto The Avengers 2, with a release date of 2015.

As part of Wordfest, CPL's John Dutton Theatre will be the venue for the Calgary premiere of NORTHWORDS, a film that takes five celebrated urban Canadian writers on an artistic journey to North Labrador. "The film tracks the group as they navigate the harsh and stunning terrain of Torngat Mountains National Park. Along the way they learn about issues facing the north today and confront some of the dark moments in its recent past. The film explores the idea of north and shows what happens when the country's best writers tackle one of its most overwhelmingly beautiful places."

Hosted by CBC Radio One's Shelagh Rogers, it will be followed by an audience Q&A. Buy tickets online at wordfest.com or call the EPCOR Centre Box office at 403-294-9494 ($12.00)

The film airs on Tuesday October 9th, 5:30-7:00 pm.

I almost went to see The Expendables 2 then changed my mind at the last minute and decided to wait for the DVD. The main appeal is all these big action stars and even bigger egos in one pic. And that got me thinking about action stars/movies and how much $$$ they generate for studios. The amount is staggering- actually it is rather surreal. Collectively the actors in this film have made a lot of movies over the years, some good, some bad, and some better than average that showcase their actual acting chops and not just their pecs. So I have pulled out some of my fave movies featuring some but not all of the stars.

Sylvester Stallone- Rocky of course, but only the first and possibly the 2nd. It tends to gets dismissed too easily because the series got steadily worse as it progressed from 1 through 5, but there is no denying how really good the original is. Especially given that Stallone wrote, directed and starred in it all because he needed work and was having trouble finding anything so decided to write himself a part.

Jason Statham- The Italian Job is a very solid heist movie, as is The Bank Job.

Jet Li- I'll go with Hero and Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Dolph Lundgren- sorry Dolph, just couldn't find one

Chuck Norris-his hugely popular Walker Texas Ranger television series

Jean-Claude Van Damme is another tough one. I know this is a cheat but the Muscles from Brussels is at his best as a voice in Kung Fu Panda 2

Arnold Schwarzenegger-what to write about Arnold that hasn't already been written? We all know The Terminator franchise, but I think True Lies is his best. He also has a new autobiography modestly titled Total recall : my unbelievably true life story

Bruce Willis- now Bruce I can really get into. Of all of these guys he is easily the most talented and versatile. I remain a big fan of his and recommend any of these---Die Hard 1 2 3 4, 16 Blocks, The Sixth Sense, Hart's War, and my fave-12 Monkeys.

Now that surreal $ amount I mentioned at the beginning? A quick calculation based on IMDB's Box Office figures, not including DVD sales, not adjusted for inflation, and only for the movies I have linked above---almost $4 billion. Would you believe The Die Hard Franchise alone has generated world wide---$1,126,935,581.00!

And incidentally, Expendables 2 is doing well at the Box office and getting some decent reviews. On an estimated budget of $100 million, as of Sept 23rd it has made $264 million. We have the original Expendables, which has gross worldwide sales of $274,470.00. I smell another sequel.

CIFF launches its 2012 film festival with a Red Carpet Opening Night Gala tonight, September 20th at the Jubilee Auditorium. It will be hosted by Alberta Culture Minister Heather Klimchuk. The 11-day festival runs from Thursday September 20^th to Sunday, September 30th.

Their website is very navigable and you can search for a film by day, country, theatre, genre and series. Visit them at https://www.calgaryfilm.com/. Hope you can catch some of the 150 films on offer.

The Inspector Morse series is very popular, having run for 12 years, but it was never my cup of tea---or rather my pint of beer. I far prefer the spin off - Inspector Lewis, which is up to series 5, all of which CPL carries.

But when I saw this brand new release (July 1/2012) on the shelves I thought I would give it a look. Set in 1965, young Detective Constable Endeavour Morse (Blu-Ray) investigates his first case in Oxford. I'm glad I took the time for this one - a very well crafted mystery, and as always with PBS Mysteries fine, fine acting from the seemingly limitless pool of talent that is British television.

If they make any more of these, count me in! Then I might find myself a Morse convert in need of many hours to reevaluate the original series. Use Inspector Morse DVD as your keyword search to bring up dozens and dozens of the original series.

The Pool couldn't be more different from director Chris Smith's notorious documentary about amateur horror film-makers, American Movie.

This quiet, thoughtful film is set in Goa and stars Malcom Faria, Venkatesh Chavan, and Janghir Badshah.

Venkatesh spies a tranquil unused pool and garden from a tree near its high wall. As a hotel boy working to support his family who live in a faraway village, he doesn't have access to such luxuries. He moonlights with his homeless friend Janghir selling plastic bags in the marketplace. Janguir suggests that Venkatesh simply jump in, but he announces that he will go in the front gate, or not at all. That decision leads to his encounter with the pool's owner and daughter of the house.

Anyone who has every peered longingly at a pool will enjoy this film. It offers a glimpse into the street life of Indian children, realistic dialogue (Hindi, with English subtitles) and a moving look a young hero of everyday life. You may want to share this movie with your teens.

It's that time of year again! Set your devices on Sunday Sept 23rd to watch the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' impressive gala. And you know what's equally impressive? How many of these TV shows CPL carries in DVD. Here are some of this year's contenders, with links to year one of each of the series. A catalogue search by title will show you all the years that we have in the system. Many of the new season are already either in or on order and available to place holds on.

DRAMA

"Boardwalk Empire" (HBO)
"Breaking Bad" (AMC)
"Downton Abbey" (PBS)
"Game of Thrones" (HBO)
"Homeland" (Showtime)
"Mad Men" (AMC)

COMEDY

"The Big Bang Theory" (CBS)
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO)
"Modern Family" (ABC)
"30 Rock" (NBC)

MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE

"Hatfields & McCoys" (History)
"Luther" (BBC America)
"Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia" (PBS)

Some prognostications on my part: I would love to see Breaking Bad dethrone Mad Man and this could be the year. Mad Men was a yawn (Zu Bisou and Jared Harris not withstanding) whereas BB was equal parts compelling, twisted and gut-wrenching. However Homeland could be the breakout new drama—I couldn't wait to get through each episode and then was so upset when I watched the entire first year in just two sittings and realized I had to wait for season two. Game of Thrones is a strong contender—great sets, huge cast, big budget and fine acting. Boardwalk Empire—when is Steve Buscemi NOT good? And on a more genteel note, Downton Abbey is not to be ignored.

So much for prognostications—they are all worthy contenders, so I will just go with what I am hoping for—Breaking Bad. For Comedy I have to go with Big Bang–there is still nothing funnier or smarter on tv these days. For Miniseries again I am torn. Luther is an outstanding series, but man-oh-man the new Sherlock is great. But I think the Hatfields may get the nod because Kevin is still so darn popular, and although it wasn't great, it wasn't bad.

You won't believe the blockbuster we have in store for you at Crowfoot's regular Monthly Movie Night. Join us on Thursday Sept 20th for this brand new release to DVD, which currently has over 800 holds on it! Skip the wait list and come see it here, but come early because seating is limited and it's first come first serve. For this time only we are starting the movie at 6:00 p.m. as it runs a little bit longer at 142 minutes. Rated PG-13 for intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens.

If you haven't figured out the title yet, a quick phone call to 221-4122 and all will be revealed.

Why wait until New Year's? More and more we're focusing on nutrition, specifically the connection between what we eat and how we feel. The North American diet of the last fifty or so years is under scrutiny for the impact of processed foods. You may have already seen Fast Food Nation and Super size Me, both in our collection. Even if you haven't, check out Forks over Knives in blu-ray or dvd. This documentary was recommended to me by a Louise Riley staffer.

Forks over Knives is refreshingly non-preachy. It focuses on the extensive cancer research of Dr. Neal Barnard and Dr. Junshi Chen and others beginning in the 1970s and emcompassing data gathered from samples of millions of people over time. The way to go is a plant-based diet (hence no knives needed) of non-processed whole foods. A lot of these kinds of documentaries are kind of scary, but Forks is empowering the viewer to prevent, even reverse cancer and heart disease. It shows real life average middle aged folks who change their destiny. But don't just take it from the blogger or the scientists in the documentary, just ask the Texan firefirefighters (that's right) featured in Forks over Knives.