Married to the Empire

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Lovin' the library



I've always been a fan of checking out the written word. I also love borrowing audio books, as they make working in the kitchen a thing to look forward to. But lately, I'm all about the DVDs.

Our library has become a lot better about buying the latest DVDs when they're released. I didn't know that, though, because they're never on the shelves due to always being checked out. But I finally wised up, started doing a catalog search for any movies I'm interested in seeing, and more often than not, our library has them!

Last week I watched Pan's Labyrinth, which is just fantastic! I liked it so much, I may wind up buying it. I watched the documentary Jesus Camp, which was interesting and a little odd. I saw Knocked Up, which I was interested because it's a Judd Apatow film, and I just loved his TV show Freaks and Geeks. I learned, though, that Freaks and Geeks was highly cleaned up for TV, but Knocked Up didn't have to be. I don't recommend it.

Today I checked out Bride and Prejudice, which I've wanted to see for some time. I also picked up Lost in Translation, which I'm not sure about, and The Incredibles, which I've seen before, but it's been a long time.

I'm on a waiting list for Amazing Grace, Jane Austen's Persuasion, and Howl's Moving Castle. There are a few other titles I'm interested in, but I'll wait a bit.

With all these films, who needs to pay Blockbuster fees? I'm now off to fold laundry and do some ironing, all while watching free DVDs.

7 comments:

Ann said...

I totally agree! Audio books make housework much more bearable. I got an audio Bible and it's been really great! I listen while I clean. No more worrying about making time to read scripture, I can listen to it anytime. It has background music and different voices to make it easy to listen to.

I saw Pan's Labyrinth too. Is Jesus Camp about Christians being persecuted?

I haven't checked out the library here since we moved, but I was just telling Eric today that I'm eager to get over there. He said I might be disappointed, it sounds like it's a little small. We'll see.

You can't beat checking out movies from the library :) Unless you check out kid movies, they tend to be scratched so badly you can't hardly watch the movie. I usually make my kids check out VHS movies since those can't get scratched.

Enjoy your films! I'm eager to hear your review of them :)

Cathy VanPatten said...

I love Howl's Moving Castle--we even bought it! Some of the backgrounds are breathtaking. One of my faves!

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Cathy, would you believe that I remembered all this time later that you were the one who originally recommended HMC to me? That's the whole reason I put it on hold! That, and the fact that I checked out Castle in the Sky a while back and realized that I like anime!

Ann, Jesus Camp is a documentary that follows a Pentecostal children's minister and a few of the children in her group. It's, um, interesting. Understand that I'm Southern Baptist, and we're a very sedate bunch. Pentecostals are quite effusive in their worship. The perspective of this documentary is a little skewed, I think, because I think they were being presented as something freakish. While there is some I disagree with in their form of worship and evangelism, I think they received a somewhat unfair portrayal due to editing. It got a lot of discussion going between Steven and me the night we watched it, then at church, I had a ton of questions for my friend who was raised charismatic.

I hope your new library is better than your husband made it sound! Even if it's small, they may have interlibrary loan, so it may not be as small as it seems.

Yeah, kids and DVDs aren't a great mix. I check out children's DVDs there sometimes, and so far, I've been fortunate that they've all worked. But VHS is much more kid-friendly!

AnneK said...

I haven't checked out movies from the local library at all. We have Netflix for now. I was looking for some movie recommendations. I will check the ones you mentioned. Thanks for the list!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your library has a lot of new releases. Lucky you. Isn't it great getting the movies for free.

I really enjoyed Lost in Translation, hope you do, too.

I find the kids' VHS movies are usually filthy when I get them at the library. One was so dirty it broke both my VCRs. I tried to play it and both VCRs stopped working. Using a VCR head cleaner I was able to get one working again, but the other was dead. I try to stick to DVDs now.

Anonymous said...

PBS is airing the complete Jane Austen series, done by Masterpiece Theatre, on Sunday nights. This past Sunday was Northanger Abbey. The week before was Persuasion. They're really well done.

*carrie* said...

Ewokgirl,

Wow--I had a hard time keeping up with all the titles.

We watched Jesus Camp as well. I found it very disturbing.

I really enjoyed Bride and Prejudice--so much fun!