Jilliane, our Cybrarian over in Teen Services sent me this great article which just appeared in the LA Times.

Perspective: Millennials seem to have little use for old movies

For young people, the focus seems to be on what can be talked about now — new movies serve an immediate social function. Old films are being forgotten. A lot of folks have wondered whether it is too soon, just 10 years after the release of the original film and five years after the third installment, to relaunch Spider-Man. When questioned, a producer of the new picture snapped that anyone who asked that is "too old." He may have been dismissively arrogant, especially to geriatrics over 30, but he may also have been right..................................................

Follow this link to read the rest of this very interesting article. And while you're at it make some time to drop in on the Teen Zone Blog---they offer excellent recommendations, contests, discussions, reviews and information on local events---all geared for teens.

And in case you are wondering, we have a HUGE selection of Spider-Man---over 100 items, including DVD's, graphixs, X's, J's, even electronic resources.

I have quite a number of free double advanced screening tickets coming your way shortly for the movie "Ruby Sparks". This is by the same guys that brought you Little Miss Sunshine and the recent Safety Not Guaranteed.

To claim these tickets you must have a GoFoBo account set up. HERE'S HOW.

This part is important and you must judge your own comfort level. If you want to take advantage of this and other offers you will be redirected to an external site at http://www.gofobo.com/ and it is through them that you request your tickets. This will require that you set up a gofobo account and password and if you are okay with this, I would do so ahead of time. The register icon is small - it is up on the top right of the page along with login/ f/Connect/register. Click on register and set yourself up. They will send you a confirmation in the email you provide and then you can set your password up. Done- you are registered. Then when you read here on the Movie Maniac blog that passes are available you just go to gofobo, log on to your own account and enter the very specific RSVP code which I will provide for each movie.Then the tickets will be sent to your own computer for printing off.

We will have a designated number of double passes for advanced screenings held specifically for our readers. You don't need to worry about trying to find the right movie/page on gofobo- once you enter the rsvp code that I provide it will take you right to that movie. You will see our Movie Maniac name and Logo once you use the code. Don't worry that the image on GoFoBo looks different than this one below. You still put the rsvp code in the same place.

As with other advanced screening passes, you are not guaranteed admission UNTIL you redeem the pass at the box office for an actual theatre ticket.

You would be hard pressed to find a major star from the 40's, 50's and 60's who wasn't in a western and of course the 70's were full of Clint Eastwood and his 'spaghetti westerns'. But don't dismiss them because of what you think you might know about them- they are among the best. We have a huge assortment from which to choose so let us help you narrow it down a bit--- here is a recap of some of Moe and Mel's previously blogged faves.

My absolute favourite western of all time is the wonderful series Lonesome Dove. It is based on the 1985 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Larry McMurtry. The story focuses on the relationship of several retired Texas Rangers and their adventures driving a cattle herd from Texas to Montana. It has a huge cast including Robert Duvall (who has never been better), Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane, Robert Urich, Rick Schroeder, Angelica Houston, and Chris Cooper. It was the first in the series of the books to be put onto film, but was so successful that all the titles were done over the next several years. Return to Lonesome Dove is next, then Streets of Laredo, and finally the prequel Dead Man's Walk. The only weak one in the lot is Streets, but it is still worth a look. These are all mini-series, not movies, so you are going to have to set aside some serious watching time, but it is worth it. Even if you are not usually a fan of westerns, watch at least the original Lonesome Dove. You'll thank me for it. I think I have talked myself into watching it again- this will make the 7th time! And I may just have to reread the books as well.

High Noon---Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly trying to get away from it all on their wedding day. Well, maybe a little bit more happens.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. With two quintessential western stars- Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne. Also with perennial favourite bad guy, Lee Marvin.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller---A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town. From 1971 and directed by the wonderful Robert Altman---starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.

Most Westerns are really morality plays that just happen to be set in the west. None are better at exploring the dark side of man's nature than The Oxbow Incident and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The first with Henry Fonda, and the later with Bogart.

Open Range- Robert Duvall again, and also another veteran of westerns, Kevin Costner. This was filmed in the Calgary area. Speaking of Costner, check out Silverado. I know this is on tv at least twice a month, especially as it has just had its 25th anniversary, but it's a good bet with a big cast, a more than solid story, and just rollicking good fun.

And if all this is just way more serious than you want, sit down for some good laughs from the delightfully irreverent mind of Mel Brooks---yes, I am talking Blazing Saddles.

Pierce Brosnan in a western? Are you kidding? In Seraphim Falls, he's nothing like his charming Remington Steele or 007 personae. In fact, he's believable as a craggy former army captain on the run from a man determined to catch him at all costs. Liam Neeson plays his tormentor, and Angelica Huston makes an enigmatic cameo appearance, and why not? Her grandfather made a great cameo in another great western, Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Seraphim Falls is a sort of "To build a Fire" meets "Mantracker," and that's just the beginning of the movie. Add the pacing of "Dead Man" and the humor of Leone, and that's the essence of this story of the folly of revenge.

Dead Man

Follow William Blake (Johnny Depp) through the wilderness with a group of no goods and a native guide. He just can't catch a break in this humorous and unconventional film from one of my favorite directors: Jim Jarmusch.

Englishman's Boy

Originally a made for tv short series, this is based on Alberta author Guy Vanderhaeg's novel. If you can stomach some violence, the story is worth it. Nicholas Campbell (Da Vinci's Inquest) plays the protagonist driven by events to the edge of his tolerance and it's his best acting.

For pete's sake, if you haven't seen any of Sergio Leone's "spagetti westerns" made famous by Clint Eastwood, do so. These are westerns for people who don't like westerns...The cinematography is beautiful and atmospheric and really defined Western cinema after it.

Don't miss: Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Clint is always excellent as the quiet hand of justice (and sometimes comedy) in his encounters with the law and outlaws.

Tried to whistle the theme song didn't ya...heh heh heh

"Git" your holds on now for the Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936). It's a real tear-jerker at times, starring Spanky of Our Gang and Henry Fonda.

We have three versions of this very popular story. I actually like them all for different reasons.

First up is the wonderful 1946 black and white featuring Henry Fonda and Victor Mature as the consumptive Doc Holliday- My Darling Clementine.

Next is the 1993 offering Tombstone with a really solid list of A-stars of the time- Val Kilmer, Kurt Russell, Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton and Michael Biehn. I have always been a big Kurt Russell fan-in my opinion he almost always hits the right note in his roles and I think he is spot on in this. You'll love the moustaches- I haven't seen this much facial hair in a movie since Planet of the Apes.

For some reason, only one year later it was offered again with Kevin Costner in the lead role as Wyatt Earp. This one focuses more on the man and his relationships and is supposedly a little more historically accurate. As I said, I like them all.

We also have an A & E production in our non-fiction titled Cowboys and Outlaws, which claims to tell "the real story" of this and several other western legends.

Like a lot of you out there I am a HUGE fan of westerns and have been my whole life. As a result I have many favourites and would actually be hard pressed to narrow it down to even my top 30. So I had a look at some other sites to see what makes it onto other movie lovers lists. And I have to say some of them not only surprise me but actually flabbergast me--- but then if we all had the same tastes they would only need to make about 50 movies a year, instead of thousands. Some of the more egregious inclusions (to my mind at least) were The Quick and the Dead, Back to the Future Part 3, Brokeback Mountain, and City Slickers. Some of the better were Shane, Stagecoach, Unforgiven, High Noon, Tombstone, 3:10 to Yuma and Lonesome Dove. CPL has hundreds of westerns available and here's how you find them; in the classic catalogue head into advanced search and use a subject of 'western films' and change type to dvd; in the new catalogue search as 'western films dvd'. Both searches will bring up a truly impressive selection. A couple of the sites I visited were IMDB and AFI , so drop in to either of these and see what they have suggested. We have reviewed many westerns over the years so over the next 10 days I will re-release the posts so you can see some of our favourite previous recommendations.

And CPL has just received season one of the really excellent television series that just ran this past winter---Hell on Wheels. If you missed this one on tv put your hold on- you won't be disappointed. Like so many westerns of the past 20 years, this was filmed in Calgary and area.

Okay. Most people are barbeque-ing and whatnot in summertime. We seem to be watching a spate of movies by Lars von Trier, which is what we Movie Maniacs do.

In Five Obstructions, Lars makes another director re-do his original late 1960s experimental film but under a strict set of guidelines and then makes a terrifc documentary of the process.

I think Mat has already reviewed Dancer in the Dark starring Icelandic pop star Bjork. The soundtrack was very popular and a melodic departure from Bjork's earlier disco hits and Sugar Cubes work. She plays a young blind woman whose friendship with a local couple ends in tragedy.

Looking for a thriller? How about Lars' police vs. serial killer drama The Element of Crime? This is considered to part of trilogy that includes Europa, a thriller set in post-war Germany, and Epidemic, not in our collection at this time.

We're on the waiting list for Melancholia starring Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg as women threatened with planetary annihilation AND wedding planning! It sounds funny, but isn't.

Nicole Kidman stars in Dogville but that doesn't mean you should confuse Lars von Trier with Baz Luhrmann; for one thing, Lars is Danish. For another, this film is very creepy. A woman on the run is sheltered by a rural American community in the 1930s. Our male protagist is a driven young writer who never writes. These must be nice folks, taking in a stranger, right? For fans of theatre, the set is a stage with chalk outlines of buildings in the small town. The film is narrated "Sunshine Sketches/Wobegon" style.

The Boss of it All is a charming comedy that features a hapless everyman hired to fire everyone in a corporation so the real big boss doesn't have to. Fans of comedy series The Office will appreciate this one. In Danish with subtitles.

With the death today of Nora Ephron, the world has lost a gifted author, essayist, screen writer and director of some very fine movies. She has a string of hits to her credit, starring many of Hollywood's A listers. A fine sense of humour defined her writing and her direction was subtle and skilled.

Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail features the great combo of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan

Julie and Julia is yet another Oscar nominated role for marvelous Meryl

Bewitched with Wil Ferrell and Nicole Kidman- a different take on the popular 60's sitcom

Michael stars John Travolta as the archangel who loves to boogie

Silkwood is the story of activist Karen Silkwood and with a great cast- Streep, Cher and Kurt Russell. This is older and might not be on a lot of peoples radar, but is well worth the two hours.

Pixar is releasing its first ever movie with a female as the lead. This of course is "Brave" and it looks absolutely wonderful. After I see Prometheus and Snow White and the Huntsmen, this is high on my list of must sees. Pixar was overdue to have a female lead and this got me thinking about my fave female characters/heroines/roles. Now a lot of such lists would have you believe that in order to be a strong female role model you have to be slaying vampires, werewolves or the Lord of the Nazguls. You must take on cyborgs, aliens and computers run amok. You must avenge yourself against the man who killed your fiance', and you must help dispatch Vader and the Sith. You have to dodge trees that come alive and try to consume you whole. You need to levitate a plane while holding back the waters of a ruptured dam. And you have to look great in a jumpsuit the whole time you are doing it---and maintain your hairdo!

But what about all the rest of us! My jumpsuits days are happily in my past, I would likley faint if I encountered an axe-wielding anything, and quite honestly my chances of getting in trouble off–world really aren't very high. So here are some more realistic role models for us regular womenfolk---I actually polled a bunch of co-workers, male and female to help me compile this list.

Steel Magnolias – any and all of the ladies

Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck

Katherine Hepburn as Rose in African Queen

Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice---Liz came up time and time again---and in particular, this version

Susan Sarandon in The Client

Jennifer Lawrence as Ree in Winter's Bone

Shirley Maclean in Guarding Tess – no copies at the moment (that's two for Dukakis and two for Shirley)

Almost anything with marvelous Meryl---but for this post let's go with Out of Africa

Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) as The Miracle Worker

There are so many to choose from but I think I will keep some in reserve for another post. Just for fun check out Movieline Magazine/AFI's 100 Best Female Character Roles. Now those appearing on their list aren't necessarily role models or people we in any way want to emulate, but rather they are great female movie roles (CPL has an amazing number of them).

And despite my opening paragraph I DO really love a kick-butt heroine in an action role---thus making my favourite ever ---yes, you probably guessed---Ripley from Alien and Aliens. Man- how many times have I blogged about Alien(s)!!

Just in – the opportunity to get double advanced screening passes to Safety Not Guaranteed !

Safety Not Guaranteed is from the same people that gave us Little Miss Sunshine:

When an unusual classified ad inspires three cynical Seattle magazine employees to look for the story behind it, they discover a mysterious eccentric named Kenneth, a likable but paranoid supermarket clerk, who believes he’s solved the riddle of time travel and intends to depart again soon. Together, they embark on a hilarious, smart, and unexpectedly heartfelt journey that reveals how far believing can take you.

Just follow this link to an external site for your free tickets and enjoy!

THE PINE CODE IS: CPLSAFETY

If you are a Wallander, Morse or Prime Suspect (Helen Mirren) fan, you'll enjoy this set of longer mysteries based on Ann Cleeves' mystery novels featuring detective Vera Stanhope. Like her predecessors, Vera's a driven and somewhat unhappy figure. Her job is to seek justice not "to make people happy" as she notes in one episode. She's humorous and lovingly chastises her sidekick, as Morse does. Vera, the series, has great camerawork, as Wallander does. Not Sweden, but what is it about gloomy Northumberland? George Gently is filmed in part there also. Looking forward to more...

And why not adapt Cleeves' Jimmy Perez character too? He's another great character and setting. Is anyone listening there in tv land?

In the meantime, checkout Ann Cleeves' novels.