Teens getting killed. They have been making movies with that very premise for over 30 years. A main character (a female, usually being played by that actress you kind of recognize) and her group of friends (a jock, a nerd, a cheerleader, etc.) are picked off one at a time by a killer in a costume or mask who will reveal his or her identity and motive during the last 20 minutes of the film.

In all honesty, Scream’s plot really isn’t much different than all slasher film plots. The heroine this time is the damaged Sidney Prescot, played by Neve Campbell, whose mother was murdered one year prior to when the movie begins. And while she and her friends fit the typical slasher film archetypes, there is one difference between them and virtually every other character who has ever been written into a horror movie: they have seen horror movies. They know the cliches; they know what not to do; they know the "rules one must abide by in order to successfully survive a scary movie." Screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven cram so much wit, humor, and blood into this simple story that you are guaranteed to have a blast.

Scream was one of the defining movies of the 90s. It was a phenomenon reinventing a genre that hadn’t been marketable since the mid-80s. It spawned two sequels and endless rip-offs. An intelligent spoof on horror movies that is still extremely scary, Scream is one of my all time favorites.

Mike Dwyre – East Columbia Branch

My life has been irreversibly shaped by Bill Waterson’s Calvin & Hobbes. One of the comic’s most imaginative recurring elements was Calvin’s cardboard box, which, when set upside down was a Transmogrifier, and when set on its side was a Duplicator. Step inside the Duplicator, wait a couple minutes, and when you walk out, you are accompanied by an exact duplicate of yourself.

Primer, a low-budget film that milked every dollar director Shane Carruth had, brought me back to the wonder of Calvin’s Duplicator box, mingled with the horror of human selfishness. This is a time-travel movie that isn’t about time travel. It’s about human relationships and motivations, and it uses the vehicle of time travel to reveal aspects of human nature that we may have taken for granted.

Primer works for a number of reasons, the least of which is that it’s about normal guys who have normal jobs and normal families. This is not Back to the Future (which I love). It is about jealousy, greed, friendship, betrayal, love, and hate. It also works because it doesn’t try to make sense. The characters use technical jargon that, for the most part, went well over my head, but isn’t that what we would expect real engineers to say? Even with all the twists and turns, and all the questions of who, what, and when, I was able to follow it well enough to still get the final twist (I think!). Subsequent viewings have helped me understand the time line, but the time line isn’t nearly as interesting, or as important, as the brilliant character development. Highly recommended viewing!

Dan Curry – Savage Branch

Come Early Morning opens with Lucy Fowler (an exceptional Ashley Judd) insisting on paying for the motel where she spent the night, after what we assume is yet another in a series of drunken one-night stands. As she begins the long drive home (and back to a sober reality), Malcolm Holcombe’s "Killing the Blues" plays over the credits. Close-ups show us Lucy’s feelings of guilt, shame, and regret as she drives, and by the time her green and white truck pulls into her driveway, we’re hooked. What’s going on with Lucy?

The movie answers that question by gradually revealing the details of Lucy’s life. Her roommate Kim (Laura Prepon), Lucy’s closest friend, lends a comic element in the movie, saying those things that only your closest friend can say. Kim also provides balance for Lucy’s more extreme behavior. As we get to explore Lucy’s situation in greater depth, we meet the many strands of her dysfunctional family — her boss at the construction company, and eventually Cal Percell, (Jeffrey Donovan, Burn Notice), who is new in town, and might see Lucy as a romantic prospect, rather than simply a conquest. Cal’s pursuit prompts Lucy to examine her life and to make some changes, although they may be different than expected.

Written and directed by Joey Lauren Adams and filmed in her hometown of North Little Rock, the movie feels authentic and respectful, which makes Lucy seem all the more real. This is a deliberate and brilliant film providing drama and a moving story, along with a close-up examination of an ordinary life. Check out a stellar characterization by Ashley Judd in Come Early Morning.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

For most of us, buying tickets to a live performance of a major opera company is in the same league as buying a season pass to the Redskins. Actually it’s worse, since you can always watch the Redskins on TV — try finding a weekly opera on network television.

However, huge amounts of content are now being moved to DVDs, including a large number of operas. Some are good, while others are absolutely magnificent. So now DVDs give you an alternative to the NFL, and allow you to become a couch potato opera lover.

Mozart’s Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail is a solid example of what opera on DVD has to offer. For an 18th century work, its libretto is oddly topical (meaning "multicultural".) It’s all about a tenor named Belmonte who goes to rescue his love, a soprano named Konstanze, and his servants Pedrillo and Blonde. The three have been captured by pirates and are held captive in the palace of Selim, a Turkish Pasha.

Instead of sending her to the palace laundry or something, Selim has fallen in love with his beautiful captive. True to Belmonte though, Konstanze rejects him. Selim is too honorable to force himself on Konstanze; neither, though, is he inclined to set her free.

Enter the heavy, Osmin, Selim’s brutal but buffoonish palace thug. Osmin has a similar problem as he has fallen for Petrillo’s love Blonde. In Osmin’s case, though, it’s incompetence rather than honor that keeps him from abusing his position.

Naturally, Osmin detests both Belmonte and Pedrillo and wants them dead. One thing leads to another and Osmin finally captures the four lovers attempting to escape from Selim’s palace. In a position to have the lot of them executed, Osmin’s triumph is complete (he thinks). The world of opera, though, is rarely friendly to villains. In a surprise ending young love, aided by the virtue of the noble Selim, still manages to triumph.

This DVD dates to 1980 and is a recording of a live performance at the Bavarian State Opera. The sets and costumes are quite impressive, the direction is solid and the the cast ranges from good to excellent. As for the music, it’s by Mozart and what better endorsement can there be?

Joe McHugh – Administration

Season 4 of the new Doctor Who just hit the shelves. This long-running BBC science fiction show was recently re-imagined by producer Russell T. Davies. In its latest incarnation, the Doctor is the last of the Time-Lords, and a survivor of the most recent great time war. His experience makes him both more decisive and introspective than previous incarnations of the character. Season 1 gets the show off to a great restart with Christopher Eccleston in the title role, and Billie Piper as companion Rose Tyler. In seasons 2 and 3, David Tennant hits exactly the right note as the Doctor, who is mysterious, dangerous, powerful, and yet funny at the same time. He’s joined by Piper as Rose, Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones.

The format of the show has been updated. The four episode mini-arcs of my childhood, which ended with a cliffhanger each Saturday night, are gone. Instead, each season develops a story-arc that sheds some light on the Doctor’s situation and circumstances. Clues and evidence from each episode contribute in some small way to our understanding of the character.

The format and budget of the show have also been stretched to allow for stories that have different perspectives, and are ambitious in scope. "Turn Left" (Season 4, Disc 5) is particularly impressive. The sets and alien costumes are no longer constructed from recognizable household objects — no more cries of “That guy’s got an egg box on his head!” Instead we’re into big-budget special effects. 

So is it still Doctor Who? The answer is yes! The reinvention of the show has successfully integrated the history of the character, but taken the Doctor off in new and dramatic directions, revitalizing a great series. Although different in tone, Doctor Who is up there with Battlestar Galactica on the list of recent well-written, exceptionally well-produced TV science fiction. If you haven’t had chance to see it yet, take a look.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

It’s that time of year again. Between the hustle and bustle of crowds, I need to find a little time to watch some classic holiday movies. Not sure what to watch? Well, here are the top three movies that have seen the inside of my DVD player this season.

A perennial favorite is  Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! It could be, perhaps, that it is fun and light. Or maybe because Boris Karloff’s voice is just right. But I think that the most likely reason of all is because this movie is perfect for the tall and the small. Many may consider this a children’s movie, but I still enjoy it every year. Whoever thought to cast Boris Karloff as the Grinch was a genius. Dr. Seuss’ rhymes still appeal to me and the message, albeit cliché, still rings true. "Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!"  So if you don’t have a lot of time to watch a movie but need to get into the spirit, set aside an hour for the Grinch and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

A new favorite on my DVD playlist for the holidays is actually an oldie but a goodie: White Christmas starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. With these two talented song-and-dance men at the helm, you know you are in for a good time. Add in a splash of Irving Berlin’s great songwriting, a pinch of Rosemary Clooney’s heavenly voice, a dash of Vera-Ellen charm, and you have a classic that spells C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S. I just discovered another reason why this movie is a favorite — although uncredited, Bob Fosse (my top dance man) did the choreography.

My last pick is a bit unconventional when it comes to a typical Christmas movie. Love Actually is a fun little romantic comedy that hosts a plethora of great British actors: Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, and one of my all-time favorites, Professor Snape, aka Alan Rickman. Follow the escapades of a washed-up singer trying to make a comeback, a recently widowed father trying to connect with his stepson, or the newly elected, very single Prime Minister (if only Gordon Brown looked that good). It is light, funny (even made my British husband laugh in places, which isn’t easy to do) and of course ends on an upbeat note (well most of it). It is a fun reminder that not only at Christmas but throughout the year, love is all around us.

These are my three picks for holiday DVD viewing. I would love to hear about some of your favorite holiday movies so that I can expand my repertoire.  Please leave me a comment below.

Beth Tribe – Central Library

As promised in my previous post, I’m bringing you Bill Murray Part 2: Broken Flowers. Here we find Murray reprising a mid-life crisis reminiscent of Bob Harris’ from Lost in Translation. The whole thing begins with a particular letter. Beneath the credits, we watch an oversize pink envelope travel through the U.S. postal system and arrive on the doorstep of Murray’s character, Don Johnston. We know Johnston immediately, even before we meet him. As the mailman trudges from the neighbor’s toy and kid-filled yard onto Johnston’s pristinely manicured lawn, we realize that he’s an extraordinarily organized, compartmentalized, and very particular person.

When Johnston finally checks the mail, the pink letter is revealed to be sent from an unidentified former girlfriend. In it, she lets Johnston know that the nineteen-year-old son he didn’t know he had is coming to look for him. As you might expect, this revelation knocks off-balance Johnston’s ordered life as an affluent bachelor. With the encouragement of his mystery-solving next door neighbor (Jeffrey Wright), Johnston sets out across the country to visit the four, very different ex-girlfriends who may have written the note. (Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton.)

In one sense this is a road movie, in which Johnston sees four versions of the path not taken. He’s a "nothing" guy, content with his perfectly tidy house and absence of serious personal relationships. Meeting these old girlfriends suggests four different "somethings" that he might have become, and also teases the audience with the prospect that his son is one of these versions of himself. We join Johnston on an emotional journey as he reconciles his previous relationships with his current lifestyle, and we share Don’s feelings of confusion and estrangement as the movie concludes with a metaphor. Take a look at Broken Flowers today!

John Jewitt – Savage Branch