Join us at 6:30 Thursday the 21st at Crowfoot Library for our monthly installment of Movie Night. As always please call us at 221-4122 to find out what the title on offer is. But I can tell you it is a brand new release to dvd, is just starting to come to our shelves and this is a great way to beat the hold line. It is rated PG, action/adventure and has a run time of 94 minutes.

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR OUR NEXT EVENT

Follow this link to an external site for free double passes to see an advanced screening of this French (with English subtitles) movie. This film was nominated for a total of nine 2012 Cesar Awards, France's equivalent to the Oscars and won the Grand Prize at the 2011 Tokyo International Film Festival. The Intouchables has broken box office records in its native France and across Europe.

Everything you need to get yourself a double pass is at this link---you do NOT need to go to your GoFoBo account for these passes. Your tickets will be sent to the email address you provide, where you can print them off from home. Enjoy and thanks to our friends at interactPR.

The Password/Pin Code is: INTOUCHABLESCJ11

Back in May we told you that MM had formed another partnership with a PR company which would send advanced screening tickets our way. Our first movie was the very enjoyable Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. We offered a lot of tickets through our site, and I'm happy to say that they were all taken. More importantly, they had an 85% redemption rate, which is very high. So as a result we will definitely be getting more tickets sent our way- we have shown them MM can put 'bums in seats', which is what the PR company is looking for.

So remember to check back regularly – promos often come up without too much advance notice – which is rather ironic for an advanced screening...

If you don't see us on the CPL homepage (which only shows the most current 7 posts) just click on the blue Latest Blog Posts on the top or the blue see all blogs at the bottom and find us this way. This applies to any and all other blogs – as bloggers add new posts the older posts journey down the list until they get bumped off.

There is always something worth reading in all the many blogs, even if we aren't on the front page.

Like a lot of rabid fans I am counting the days to the release of Prometheus on June 8^th. This is Ridley Scott’s—SIR Ridley’s that is—highly anticipated latest movie and it looks epic. It may or may not be a prequel to his iconic film Alien---they---as in the actors, the Studio, and almost anyone associated with it are playing it pretty close to the chest. Alien was the first instalment of the Aliens quadrilogy and the movie that launched Sigourney Weaver’s career, made kick butt heroines acceptable, and upped the ante for filmmakers for years to come.

Scott got his start 35 years ago working as a high powered ad-man. He then tried his hand at movies and had just finished making a feature film called The Duellist (actually pretty good) that hardly anybody saw because they were all lined up to go see another new release – Star Wars. Scott’s next release was to be a retelling of Tristan and Isolde, but after he himself saw Star Wars, he is quoted as saying “this changes everything – it’s time to get down to business”.

6 weeks later he signed on to direct Alien—he was actually 20^th Century Fox’s fifth choice. With its wonderful tag line 'in space no one can hear you scream' it was a phenomenal success. The franchise had a total run of 4, with the first sequel, Aliens (directed by another developing heavy weight – James Cameron) being even slightly better than the original. Unfortunately 3 and 4 ran out of steam. Out of all his movies since, Scott says that Alien is the one that has called to him over the years as unfinished business.

He has had a hugely successful career and any movie with him at the helm is an event. Here are some of his titles which are available at CPL: Thelma and Louise; Gladiator; Kingdom of Heaven; Robin Hood; Body of Lies; American Gangster; Blade Runner.

Prometheus features an excellent cast including Michael Fassbender (X-Men First Class); Noomi Rapace (Dragon Tattoo trilogy – original Swedish version); Charlize Theron – currently having quite a resurgence in her career with another big draw having just opened – Snow White and the Huntsman (here's the trailer). Check out this excellent teen zone post from earlier; Idris Alba (Luther) and Guy Pearce (Mildred Pierce).

Next on Scott’s plate – a prequel --- or maybe a sequel --- again, he is not saying, to his other cult classic—Blade Runner.

As you are likely aware CPL is 100 years old this year. If you are free this Saturday drop into any branch in the city for a whole lot of fun, food and festivities. Every branch has something a little different lined up, but I can tell you this: EVERY BRANCH has free cake! Check here to see what your local branch is offering.

Follow this link to a fun site over at AMC- you know them- they're Channel 47 here in Calgary and show some real classics, even if they show them far to often. I'm thinking Rio Bravo which seemed to run for about 18 months straight. All that aside, they offer up lots of fun trivia on their website and this glimpse of what was going on in filmdom in 1912 is very interesting.

Also lots more trivia at IMDB for 1912. Actually a good old google search of "films from 1912 " turns up lots of hits, including not just films made in 1912, but those that are set in 1912. Have fun and hope to see you at the party.

Here's a list in no particular order of some great movie soundtracks. Sorry there's no "Wind beneath my wings" nor Williams, so feel free to add or subtract in your comments to us

1. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?: The folk and bluegrass is integral to this mythic musical.

2. Any Mike Myer's Austin Powers Movie: Don't question the genius of using Quincy Jones' "Soul Bossa Nova" as the quintessentially '60s title- track, or turning the musical Annie's "Hard Knock Life" into a hip-hop anthem.

3. The Piano: Michael Nyman scores Jane Campion's dark costume drama with romantic evocative music. (currently not in the collection)

4. Louise Riley Branch Blogger Tyler likes Grosse Pointe Blank for the Ska and Ferris Buehler's Day Off

5. Staffer and musician Dan recommends The Road, for Nick Cave's original score, and Vangelis' soundtrack to Blade Runner

6. We don't have Jim Jarmusch's Stranger than Paradise but we do have Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I put a spell on you" on cd.

7. Immortal Beloved's Beethoven

8. On a more fun-hearted note, we'll add a true musical that Ashley likes: Grease

I've provided links to the dvds but we have blu-ray and soundtracks for some also

We'll likely revisit this...the list goes on

Whenever I think 'quirky', two actors come to mind. One is Johnny Depp and the other is John Cusack. Both have been around for a lot of years, both are highly versatile and both can be counted on to give solid performances---especially in very offbeat films. It's interesting to see that both also have new releases in the theatres at the moment. The Raven is loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem of the same name and features Cusask. Dark Shadows is a re-imagining of the 1966 TV cult classic and features Depp as an imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins. Truth be told, I will give both of these a pass until they come out on DVD, but we have lots of other Depp and Cusack titles that showcase their talents.

Forget the mainstream Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, we've all seen and enjoyed them, and try these from Depp: Edward Scissorhands, Rango, Don Juan DeMarco, Benny and Joon and the wonderful and truly strange Ed Wood. We also have the original tv series that launched his career and made him the heartthrob of most North American teens---21 Jump Street. I recently watched The Rum Diary and although not a great film it did qualify as mildly quirky, is well acted, and had more than enough to keep me with it.

Cusack has never really been main stream, or at least not since his days as a member of the brat pack in the 80's. Try him out in what is likely one of the most bizarre movies ever---Being John Malcovich. Also Grosse Pointe Blank and the same roll reprised in War Inc ---written by Cusack---and yes that is him doing his own stunts-he has a black belt in kick boxing.

Now to end this post, let me say that the two Johns have in their filmography to my mind several VERY scary movies. 1408 with Cusack just scares the milk and cookies out of me every time I watch it- and I can't stop watching it. And Depp is often at his best when he plays the 'in over his head' protagonist like in Sleepy Hollow. Also, From Hell (a Jack the Ripper retelling-very bloody and dark) and Secret Window.

If you are a fan of BBC mystery/detective series, and I know I sure am, one worth watching is 2010's Luther starring Idris Elba. We have season one and two available, and at the time of this post they are pretty easy to get a hold of. But it's getting a lot of buzz from word of mouth, so get while the getting is good because the holds will start piling up. Watch them in order; they build on each other. Once I started I couldn't stop.

As with most BBC productions you will recognize all sorts of cast members from other series. Elba himself you may recall as the maniacal Stringer Bell from the first season of the highly respected, multi award winning crime series The Wire. This series had a five year run (which CPL has) and centered around the Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement officers.

As promised on Tuesday, here is your chance to get a double pass to an advanced screening of this new release.

Hopefully you planned ahead and created your account at http://www.gofobo.com/. You will need to have one in place to access tickets. If you haven't yet, read the previous post to find out how.

-I did find gofobo a little tricky to register with and retrieve the tickets when I tested it, so here are some pointers:

-'Register' is a small icon on the upper right of their home page above the search bar

-Provide them with a valid email, go to your email and retrieve the temp password, log on again and reset your password

-When you are ready to get tickets from Movie Maniacs, have your gofobo account open and ready, and then enter the RSVP code I provide.

-Make sure you have the correct code because you are only allowed 3 attempts before you are locked out till the next day -best thing is just copy and paste the rsvp code right from here into gofobo

-Your tickets are sent to the email you provided as an attachment. It you have trouble with the attachment (I did) go back into myfobo and request that they be resent- it worked the second time for me

If you have an account the passes are now available--- the rsvp code for a double pass to Marigold Hotel is :

CPLMMJ7D6

If you have done everything correctly, below is what you will end up with- with your name on the printable ticket. One last thing- each ticket will have a unique barcode on it and may only be used once. Printing it twice will not get four of you in! If you request a pass and are unable to attend, please release your ticket in the MYFOBO area and someone else can use it. Or pass it on to a friend- they don't check ID, so the different name is not a problem- they just want bums in seats.

If you see the movie drop me a line through comments and tell me how it was.

I am happy to announce that MM has just formed another partnership with a company that will offer tickets to MOVIE MANIAC fans. If you have ever received advanced screening passes from our other PR companion (click on CONTEST on the left under tags to see some of our previous offerings) you already mostly know how this works.

Now this next part is important and you must judge your own comfort level. If you want to take advantage of these 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.

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.

On Friday the 11th I will be posting for advanced screening tickets for the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with a wonderful cast including Tom Wilkinson, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy---screening Thursday May 17 at 7:00 at Eau Claire Market.

Remember to come back on Friday and get that RSVP code.