Greenwich LIbrary Announces 2014-15 Friends Friday Films Lineup

Photo credit: imbd.com.

Friends Friday Films are screened in the Greenwich Library Cole Auditorium and admission is open to all at no charge. This series is made possible by contributions to the Friends of Greenwich Library. Show time is 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:40 p.m.

SEPTEMBER 5, PHILOMENA (2013)

With Judi Dench, Steve Coogan. Directed by Stephen Frears. An elderly Irish woman searches for the toddler son she gave up for adoption years ago as an unwed teen living in a convent. This production delights in unexpected twists and fine acting. 94 min.

SEPTEMBER 12, NEBRASKA (2013)

With Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb. Directed by Alexander Payne. Follows the pathetic, quixotic quest of Woody Grant, a senile and alcohol-addled Korean War veteran as he sets off from his Billings, Montana home to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect a million dollar prize he believes he has won. Staggeringly good acting by Dern and equally deft portrayal of the midwesterners he meets along the way. 110 min. Rated R.

SEPTEMBER 19 - NO FILM - COMMUNITY ANSWERS FUNDRAISER COMEDY NIGHT

SEPTEMBER 26, THE LUNCH BOX (INDIA-2013)

With Irrfan Khan, Imrat Kaur. Directed by Ritesh Batra. A neglected housewife and a widowed office worker connect through notes and boxed lunches. Sort of Shop Around the Corner or You’ve Got Mail, Mumbai style. In Hindi with English subtitles. 105 min.

OCTOBER 3 - NO FILM - YOM KIPPUR

OCTOBER 10, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014)

With a cast too numerous to mention but including Ralph Fiennes. Bill Murray, Edward Norton, F. Murray Abraham. Tilda Swinton, Jude Law. Directed by Wes Anderson. Fantastical and comical history of a Middle European Hotel in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka. A series of flashbacks upon flashbacks lead us on a whimsical whirlwind centering on a stolen painting and a clan of noblemen. 100 min. Rated R.

OCTOBER 17, THE BOOK THIEF (2013)

With Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Sophie Nelisse. Directed by Brian Percival. Film of the Markus Zusak novel that was last year’s Greenwich Reads Together selection. Young Liesel is left in the care of foster parents in Nazi Germany who also take in a young Jewish boy in hiding. Her love of books and reading lead to valuable and scary life lessons. Beautifully acted. 110 min.

OCTOBER 24, SEABISCUIT (2003)

With Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, William H. Macy. Directed by Gary Ross. This year’s Greenwich Reads Together choice is The Boys In The Boat about the US rowing team that lifted Depression-era spirits during the 1936 Nazi Olympics. Seabiscuit was an underdog horse who also lifted 1930s spirits in his epic race against the favored War Admiral two years later. 129 min.

OCTOBER 31, FINDING VIVIAN MAIER (2014)

Featuring Vivian Maier, John Maloof. Directed by Maloof and Charles Siskel. Unknown until after she died in 2009, Maier is now hailed as one of the great 20th century photographers. Think of her as Mary Poppins (well, not quite) with a camera which she used daily. She left behind hundreds of thousands of negatives and packing crates of photos at her death. These are powerful and touching images made during the 50s and 60s while she worked as a nanny for wealthy Chicago families. Presented as a tie-in with the current Flinn Gallery show, Contemporary Photographers, Oct.30-Dec.3.

83 min.

NOVEMBER 7, THE GREAT BEAUTY (ITALY-2013)

With Tony Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli. Directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty. Won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. In Italian with English subtitles. 142 min.

NOVEMBER 14, ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME (2013)

Featuring Elaine Stritch. Directed by Chieme Karasawa. Brassy Broadway legend Elaine Stritch

is still in the spotlight onstage and off at 87 in this revealing documentary. Tina Fey, Nathan Lane, Alec Baldwin and a blend of rare archival footage present quite a portrait of this legendary Tony and Emmy award winner. 80 min.

NOVEMBER 21, FALLEN IDOL (Britain-1948)

With Bobby Henrey, Ralph Richardson, Michele Morgan. Directed by Carol Reed. Told from a child’s point of view, this Graham Greene story focuses indeed on whether the butler did it. Robert Henrey of Greenwich and will grace our stage with tales of being a child actor and working with the great Sir Carol Reed (Fallen Idol, The Third Man) and will also discuss his recent book Through Grown-Up Eyes. 95 min.

NOVEMBER 28, NO FILM-LIBRARY CLOSED-THANKSGIVING VACATION

DECEMBER 5, BLUE JASMINE (2013)

With Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Louis C.K., Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay. Directed by Woody Allen. Woody Allen trades Manhattan for San Francisco in this tale of a strung-out Manhattanite socialite trying to start over after being divorced by her wealthy husband. Typical Allen neurotic musings AND this won an Academy Award for Ms. Blanchett. 98 min.

DECEMBER 12, CERTIFIED COPY (COPIE CONFORME FRANCE 2011)

With Juliette Binoche, William Shimell, Jean-Claude Carriere. Directed by Abbas Kiarostami. A hall of mirrors tour through Tuscany with a beautiful high strung woman and an art historian. Constantly teases the audience in a way similar to art films of the 50s and 60s. In Italian, French, and English with English subtitles. 106 min.

DECEMBER 19, THE HOLIDAY (2006)

With Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black. Eli Wallach. Directed by Nancy Meyers. Two women looking for new leases on life exchange houses at Christmas time via an online arrangement, one in L.A., and the other in an English cottage. A minor case of culture shock, new love interests, and a looming deadline provide laughs in this holiday treat. 131 min.

DECEMBER 26 - NO FILM

JANUARY 2, SAVING MR. BANKS (2013)

With Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti. Directed by John Lee Hancock. This is how Walt Disney courted author P.L. Travers into giving him the film rights to Mary Poppins in 1961. A battle of wills ensues with Disney promising to be faithful to the book and Travers amassing many doubts. 125 min.

JANUARY 9, TO THE WONDER (2012)

With Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem, Olga Kurylenko. Directed by Terrence Malick. A stunningly beautiful and elusive film about a man who falls in love in Paris and brings his wife back to Oklahoma. Oklahoma isn’t Paris for her and big changes unfold. Told almost like a silent film with gorgeous images and rapturous music. 112 min. Rated R

JANUARY 16, TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM (2013)

With Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, The Waters Family. Directed by Morgan Neville. Stories of the great rock n’ roll backup singers told by interviews with Bette Midler, Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder, and Bruce Springsteen. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. 89 min.

JANUARY 23, FRANCES HA (2012)

With Greta Gerwig, Adam Driver. Directed by Noah Baumgarten. A young free-spirited twenty-something Brooklynite struggles to make a living and find love and in the process must move to smaller and smaller apartments. The only thing upwardly mobile is her spirit. Gerwig’s performance is offbeat and unusual. 85 min. Rated R

JANUARY 30, THE EASY LIFE ( IL SORPASSO ITALY-1962)

With Vittorio Gassman, Jean-Louis Trintignant. Catherine Spaak. Directed by Dino Risi. An odd couple road trip with a freewheeling bachelor and a straightlaced law student taking a madcap trip from Rome to Tuscany. Considered the holy grail of commedia all’italiana. In Italian with English subtitles. 105 min.

FEBRUARY 6, HER (2013)

With Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams. Directed by Spike Jonze. A guy who writes letters online for people who can’t express themselves is himself very lonely. For him, the perfect companion is his computer’s operating system. A boy-meets-operating-system romance that some may find disturbing while others can’t stop laughing. Very thoughtful and provocative. 120 min, Rated R

FEBRUARY 13, LE WEEK-END (BRITAIN-2013)

With Jim Broadbent, Lindsay Duncan, Jeff Goldblum. Directed by Roger Mitchell. A British couple go off to Paris for a weekend to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. A romantic drama that explores the highs and lows of their relationship. 93 min. Rated R

FEBRUARY 20, PARIS BLUES (1961)

With Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong, Diahann Carroll.

Directed by Martin Ritt. Two Parisian jazz musicians team up romantically with two American tourists against a background score by Duke Ellington. Shown in conjunction with February highlighting Duke Ellington in Peterson Jazz month at Greenwich Library. 98 min.

FEBRUARY 27, HERB AND DOROTHY (2009)

With Herb Vogel and Dorothy Vogel. Directed by Megumi Sasaki. Can a postal clerk and a librarian find happiness amassing a minimal and conceptual art collection of 4,000 pieces? And how did they do it on civil servant salaries? Fascinating story of two devoted collectors. 86 min.

MARCH 6, IDA (POLAND-2013)

With Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska. Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. A young novitiate nun in 1962 Poland is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a dark family secret dating back to the years of the Nazi occupation. In Polish with English subtitles. 80 min.

MARCH 13, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (2013)

With Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, Barkhad Abdi. Directed by Paul Greengrass. A U.S. cargo-ship captain finds his ship surrounded by Somali pirates. A tense standoff follows with Hanks doing his usual superlative job. Based on a true story. 134 min.

MARCH 20, TIM’S VERMEER (2013)

With Tim Jenison, Penn Jillette, Martin Mull, David Hockney. Directed by Teller. Magicians Penn and Teller produced this film to try and find out if Vermeer was a genius or a tinkerer who cheated on his paintings by using optical devices. Inventor Tim Jenison tries to recreate “The Music Lesson” even though he has never held a paintbrush in his hand. 80 min.

MARCH 27, TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972)

With Ralph Richardson, Peter Cushing, Joan Collins, Patrick Magee. Directed by Freddie Francis. Five horror film episodes based on William Gaines’ outlandish EC comics of the 50s. The Flinn Gallery is running a current show KA-POW! WHEN COMICS IMPERILED AMERICA March 19-April 29 exhibiting these comics in their original panels from the early 50s. 92 MIN.

APRIL 3 - NO FILM - LIBRARY CLOSED FOR GOOD FRIDAY

APRIL 10, AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013)

With Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence. Directed by David O. Russell. Screwball comedy lives as a con man with a bad comb-over enlists a renegade FBI agent on a scam that thrusts them into the treacherous world of New Jersey power players and underworld heavies. Outrageous film that is based on the Abscam scandal of 1978. 129 min. Rated R

APRIL 17, BABES IN ARMS (1939) – Mickey Rooney Tribute

With Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland. Directed by Busby Berkeley. A tribute to the hugely talented Mr. Rooney who passed away a year ago. Rooney and friends have 30 days to put together a show that’s Broadway caliber or else be thrown into a state work school. Highly energized fun. 93 min.

APRIL 24, THE TRAIN (1964)

With Burt Lancaster, Jeanne Moreau, Paul Scofield, Michel Simon. Directed by John Frankenheimer. A thrilling tense race to save a trainload of art from being transported back to Germany by the Nazis. One of the best action films of the 1960s. Shown as a companion piece to next week’s The Monuments Men. 140 min.

MAY 1, THE MONUMENTS MEN (2014)

With George Clooney, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Matt Damon. Directed by George Clooney. As the Americans and Russians closed in on Germany in 1944, the race was on to recover all the art stolen by the Nazis and stashed in caves and castles. Local Cos Cob resident and actress, Florence Phillips, is the daughter of one of the real life Monuments Men. She will grace our stage for some remarks beforehand. 112 min.

MAY 8, THE GRAND SEDUCTION (NEWFOUNDLAND-2013)

With Brendan Gleeson, Taylor Kitsch. Directed by Don McKellar. A down-on-its-luck fishing village tries to get a full-time doctor to agree to live there to better lure a petrochemical plant to replace the long-gone fishing business and bring much-needed jobs. A graceful, feather light comedy. 115 min.

MAY 15, THE STORIES WE TELL (CANADA-2012)

With Joanna Polley, John Buchan, Michael Polley. Directed by Sarah Polley. Highly acclaimed riveting documentary by filmmaker/actress Sarah Polley who’s trying to find out who her biological father was by untangling a myriad of interviews of family and acquaintances. 108 min.

MAY 22 - NO FILM - LIBRARY CLOSES AT 5 P.M. FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

MAY 29, ENOUGH SAID (2013)

With Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener. A newly divorced masseuse fears her imminent empty nester status but finds another kindly man, also an empty nester who may change her life. Likeable characters and moving and perceptive. 93 min.

JUNE 5 – NO FILM - GREENWICH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Check the Library’s website for schedule and details.

JUNE 12, THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (2014)

With Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn. Directed by Ben Stiller. Comic adaptation of the James Thurber story about a milquetoast incapable of standing up for himself except in his fantasy adventure daydream life. And what a life it is! Spectacular adventures carry us off to the far corners of the earth. 125 min.

JUNE 19, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN (SA SOM I HIMMELEN, SWEDEN 2004)

With Michael Nykvist, Frida Hallgren, Ingela Olsson. Directed by Kay Pollak. A world famous music conductor retreats to his small hometown to rest and recover from a heart attack. R&R isn’t on the local folks’ menu, however, and soon he is dragged into a musical merry-go-round with the local choir. A dramatic, romantic, and funny ode to love and art complete with snowscapes and the midnight sun. In Swedish with English subtitles. 132 min.

JUNE 26, CHEF (2014)

With Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johannesse, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey, Jr. Directed by Jon Favreau. A chef gets fed up (pun intended) cooking the same old/same old and heads off with his son in a fixed up food truck from L.A. to Miami, to New Orleans, Austin, and back to L.A. He gets to cook his way and we get a great food fest and travelogue. Funny film for foodies. 115 min. Rated R.