LitFlix Spicy Sampler 2008 (Part 3)

If variety is the spice of life, LitFlix at the James V. Brown Library presents extra spicy!

From now until the end of the year LitFlix will present a wide range of selections with literary flavor, guaranteed to appeal to a variety of tastes. This cinematic sampling offers something for everyone – from the most discriminating palate to the strongest stomach.


In the Family Place Room  - Saturday night features start at 7:30 PM  - Sunday matinees start at 2 PM
All shows are Free to the Public – No registration required. Must be 18 years of age or older to attend R-rated films.

October 18 and 19
The Name of the Rose
Sean Connery, Christian Slater, F. Murray Abraham
Warner Brothers; Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud
Rated R; 131 minutes; 1986

In this adaptation of Umberto Eco's complex novel of the same name, Director Jean-Jacques Annaud evokes the gloomy, primitive, wood-fire atmosphere of medieval times as Brother William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and his apprentice Adso (Christian Slater) arrive at an abbey to investigate a mysterious death. Adso learns from Brother William the power of information as they use the scrolls located in the abbey's library to solve the murders. As deformed characters slip in and out of the shadows and information is uncovered, in the library - a possible conspiracy emerges that hints of not only physical danger but of spiritual and intellectual oppression.

 Watch the Name of the Rose trailer




November 1 and 2
Wag the Dog

Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Anne Heche, Woody Harrelson
New Line Cinema; Directed by Barry Levinson
Rated R; 106 minutes; 1998

Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro lead an all-star cast in Barry Levinson’s WAG THE DOG. This comedy focuses on the machination of power as presidential spin doctor Conrad Brean (Robert DeNiro) teams with a celebrated Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) to manufacture a fake war. Less than two weeks before election day, a scandal erupts that threatens to cripple the President’s bid for a second term. The ultimate spin doctor, Brean has the uncanny ability to manipulate politics, the press and most importantly - the American people.

 Watch the Wag the Dog trailer

Saturday, November 15
Grindhouse Double Feature
Loud, fast, and proudly out of control, Grindhouse is a tribute to the low-budget exploitation movies that lurked at drive-ins and inner city theaters in the '60s and early '70s. Writers/directors Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) cooked up in this 2 and 1/2 hour double feature as a way to pay homage to these films, and the end result manages to evoke the down-and-dirty vibe of the original films for an audience that may be too young to remember them.

 Watch the Grindhouse double feature trailer

Death Proof
Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Sydney Poitier, Zoe Bell, Rose McGowan
Dimension Films; Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Rated R; 113 minutes; 2007

In Tarantino's Death Proof, a deranged stunt man stalks his victims from the safety of his killer car but when he picks on the wrong group all bets are off in an adrenaline-pumping high speed white-knuckle automotive duel of epic proportions where anything can happen.

Planet Terror Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Josh Brolin, and Bruce Willis
Dimension Films; Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Rated R; 105 minutes; 2007

Rodriguez's Planet Terror is a rollicking horror/sci-fi/action piece; a fun zombie film that busts at the seams with gross special effects amazing action and deliciously over-the-top moments as gun-legged Cherry Darling and one man wrecking crew El Wray try to save the world from a horde of flesh-eaters.

Sunday, November 16
Romeo + Juliet
Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo
Twentieth Century Fox; Directed by Baz Luhrmann
Rated PG-13; 120 minutes; 1996

Baz Lurmann’s dazzling and unconventional adaptation of William Shakespeare’s classic love story is spellbinding. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes portray Romeo and Juliet, the youthful star-crossed lovers of the past. But the setting has been moved from its Elizabethan origins to the futuristic urban backdrop of Verona Beach.

 Watch the Romeo+Juliet trailer

November 29 and 30
My Own Private Idaho
River Phoenix, Keanu Reaves, Chiara Caselli, Mickey Cottrell, Tom Cramer
New Line Cinema; Directed by Gus Van Sant
Rated R; 104 minutes; 1991

Mapping the spaces between fortune and degeneracy, Shakespeare and street cant, Europe and the Pacific Northwest, and gay and straight, My Own Private Idaho is the 1991 masterpiece by director Gus Van Sant. River Phoenix gave the most generous and memory-searing performance of his tragically shortened career as Mike Waters, a narcoleptic street hustler in search of his mother. His best friend, Scott, played by Keanu Reeves, is a son of privilege who fosters plans of rejoining the moneyed world of his father after gallivanting with assorted urchins and ne'er-do-wells.

 Watch the My Own Private Idaho trailer



December 13 and 14
The Natural
Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger, Barbara Hershey, Richard Farnsworth
TriStar Pictures; Directed by Barry Levinson
Rated PG; 134 minutes; 1984

A beautifully filmed movie about baseball as myth. Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford), a young man whose gift for baseball sets him apart, finds that trouble dogs him, particularly when it comes to women. In time, as an aging rookie, Roy must fight against his past to lead his team to the World Series and win the woman of his dreams.

 Watch "The Natural" trailer


In the Family Place Room
Saturday night features start at 7:30 PM
Sunday matinees start at 2 PM
All shows are Free to the Public – No registration required