Reel Women - Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire

Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 6pm

Staring Gabourey Sidibe, nominated for the Academy Awards' Best Actress, and Mo'Nique, who won for Best Supporting Actress, this is the story of a 16-year-old African American girl who is pregnant for the second time by her father. Yet as bleak as her life may seem, this film is not a downer, for Precious' life is changed when she joins a special school.

Reel Women for Real Women is co-sponsored by the American Association of University Women Elgin Area Branch. Enjoy a film and discussion focused on women’s issues at 6 p.m. in Programming Room. No registration.

New Quick Flicks for the Week of May 18, 2010

Blade of the Immortal Volume 1 By 2009-09 - Media Blasters 0631595093575 Check Our Catalog A dark, gritty and violent samurai martial arts action series, based on the Eisner Award-winning, best-selling Blade Of The Immortal manga published by Dark Horse Comics. Blade Of The Immortal tells the tale of Manji, a lone wandering samurai who has been blessed with immortality. No wound, no matter how brutal, can kill him. But Manji soon comes to see that this blessing may be more of a curse. …More

Blade of the Immortal Volume 2 By 2009-11 - Media Blasters 0631595096378 Check Our Catalog …More

Dead Space: Downfall By 2010-06 - Starz/Sphe 0013138220189 Check Our Catalog An ancient religious artifact has been recovered by a deep-space mining ship, and for the crew of the USG Ishimura, life just became a living hell. Unearthed on a far-away planet during a mining operation, the relic is worshiped by some, even seen as proof of God. But when its removed from its resting place and brought on the ship, the artifact unleashes a long-dormant alien race, one bent on ripping apart -- and taking over -- every human aboard. Their screams CAN be heard in space ] but only the slashers are listening. …More

Extraordinary Measures By Vaughan, Tom 2010-05 - Sony Pictures Home Ent 9781435997653 Check Our Catalog Inspired by a true story, this drama is centered on the efforts of John and Aileen Crowley to find a researcher who might have a cure for their two childrens rare genetic disorder. From the Academy Award winning screenwriter of Chocolat and Producers of Erin Brockovich! Based on the Wall Street Journal article and subsequent book, The Cure, by Pulitzer Prize winning writer Geeta Anand. …More

The Girl on the Train By 2010-05 - Strand Releasing Home Video 0712267291625 Check Our Catalog Jeanne (Emilie Dequenne) lives in a house in the suburbs with her mother Louise (Catherine Deneuve). The two women get on well together. Louise earns her living by looking after children. Jeanne is half-heartedly looking for a job. Louise harbors the hope of getting her daughter a job with Samuel Bleistein (Michel Blanc), a famous lawyer whom she knew in her youth. Jeanne and Bleistein's worlds are light years apart. However, they'll be set on a collision course because of an incredible lie that Jeanne invents, a lie that grows into the biggest news and political story of the day. …More

Gintama: Collection 1 By 2010-04 - Section23 Films 0814131018601 Check Our Catalog …More

Invictus By Eastwood, Clint 2010-05 - Warner Home Video 9781419879654 Check Our Catalog The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match. …More

North Face By 2010-05 - Southport Music Box Corpo 0705105742953 Check Our Catalog …More

Samurai School By 2009-07 - Media Blasters 0631595091687 Check Our Catalog At a private school that turns boys into true men, grueling training is practically the only thing that you can count on. Between hundreds of pushups, hot-oil baths, and being locked in jail cells, the new students have a lot to deal with before they can even think of kicking back and relaxing. And when a rival school is out to cause some trouble, will true friendship be able to save the day? The Samurai School's rules don't usually allow for personal grudges, but the rules don't matter anywhere outside the grounds. …More

Tetro By Coppola, Francis Ford 2010-05 - Lions Gate Home Entertainment 0031398120872 Check Our Catalog Fresh-faced and naive, 17-year-old Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich) arrives in Buenos Aires to search for his older brother who has been missing for more than a decade. The family had emigrated from Italy to Argentina, but with the great musical success of their father Carlo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), an acclaimed symphony conductor, the family moved from Argentina to New York. When Bennie finds his brother, the volatile and melancholy poet Tetro (Vincent Gallo), he is not at all what Bennie expected. In the course of staying with Tetro and his girlfriend Miranda (Maribel Verd), Bennie grapples with his brother and the haunting experiences of their shared past in this widely acclaimed film by legendary director Francis Ford Coppola. …More

Valentine's Day By Marshall, Garry 2010-05 - Warner Home Video 0794043137907 Check Our Catalog An all-star ensemble cast comes together in Valentine's Day, which follows the intertwining storylines of a diverse group of Los Angelenos as they navigate their way through romance and heartbreak over the course of one Valentine's Day. Couples and singles experience the pinnacles and pitfalls of finding, keeping or ending relationships in a day in the life of love. …More

One Week
When a young man is confronted with his mortality, he takes a cross-country road trip from Toronto to Vancouver Island on a vintage motorcycle. In search for himself, he finds out what makes this country, and his life, so beautiful.

Reflections
Europol agent Tom Brindle goes to Barcelona to track down Pygmalion, a serial killer. In Spain, Brindle discovers that DNA found near the body matches a young, volatile soldier, Marco Soler. Further investigation reveals that the real killer may be Marco's estranged twin brother. Brindle uses Marco to create a psychological profile of his deadly brother. But as Agent Brindle closes in on the killer, the killer closes in on him, and the hunter becomes the hunted.

The World According to John Coltrane
Interviews with jazz musicians commenting upon the impact which John Coltrane, an innovative jazz saxophonist, had upon American jazz music. Film traces Coltrane's musical growth from his roots in the black church and in rhythm & blues, through his forty years of life. Film culminates in a musical meeting between the saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and dervish musicians in Morocco.

Blade of the Immortal 3: No Virtue in Forgiveness
Where is the meaning in survival if you cannot hate? The pinwheel of fate turns, as Rin rescues a boy who turns out to be the son of Kawakami. Kawakami was the man who raped her mother, as she was forced to listen from only a few feet away. A lot has happened to Kawakami, and now he is a family man. Rin will either wear the signature face-point of Kawakami's victims, or kill him and doom his son to grow up just like she did, living only for vengeance. Episodes 10-13.

Five Years on Mars
When NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity touched down on Mars in 2004, they weren't expected to last long: perhaps 90 days to six months at most. But a short-term science mission searching for evidence of water has turned into a five-year trek across miles of hostile plains, mountains, and deep craters. The rovers have survived dust storms and mechanical failures to explore vast reaches of Mars.

Legends of the Dark King: A Fist of the North Star Story
"In the wastelands following the great nuclear war, a legend grew of a man. Hokuto No Ken was a man of impossible strength and endurance. Yet before Ken claimed the title, there was another master, trained in the art of Hokuto Shinken, the King of the Fist, the Divine Fist of Heaven. Raoh, the ultimate assassin, the ultimate warrior" --Midwest Tape website.

M.D. Geist: Deathforce
The genetically engineered soldier, Geist-02, has been classified as too unstable and imprisoned aboard an orbital satellite. When his makers unleash a doomsday device that will destroy all life, Geist-02 must return to save the world that tried to destroy him.

National Geographic's Most Incredible Photos
Flip through the pages of any issue of the National Geographic magazine and see eye-opening and evocative images that are among the best published anywhere in the world. Yet even among these striking images, there are some that stand out. What really sets these photos apart are the stories behind them.

The Race
Mary, an 11-year-old girl from a poor rural community in Northern Ireland, has big dreams of becoming a racing driver. When the local rich big-wig decides to build a go-kart racetrack, Mary dares to compete in the male-dominated sport against the wishes of her parents, her school, and the community. With the help of her friend Tom, her perseverance will eventually win over the hearts of those who scorn her.

The Spy Next Door
Bob Ho is an undercover CIA superspy who decides to give up his career in espionage to settle down with his next-door neighbor and girlfriend, Gillian. But Bob has one more mission to complete before Gillian agrees to marry him; he has to win over her three opinionated kids. When Gillian suddenly has to leave town, Bob volunteers to babysit the children so he can earn their approval.