Movies & Screenings
Friday Films in October
Friday, October 7 at 7:30 p.m. - Meek's Cutoff (2010) Starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano; Rated PG; 104 minutes
The year is 1845, the earliest days of the Oregon Trail, and a wagon team of three families has hired the mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a short cut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants must face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in each other's instincts for survival. When a Native American wanderer crosses their path, the emigrants are torn between their trust in a guide who has proven himself unreliable and a man who has always been seen as the natural enemy.
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
Friday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m. - Weekend One-Acts
In lieu of a Friday Night Film, Darien Library is proud to present for the second time “Weekend One-Acts,” a theatrical weekend featuring free performances of one-act plays from two esteemed American playwrights. We had to turn people away from last year's performance so you’ll want to arrive early this year. The program of two works includes Tennessee Williams’ I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow and David Ives’ Variations on the Death of Trotsky.
Friday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m. - The Trip (2010) Starring Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, and Claire Keelan; Not Rated; 107 minutes
Steve Coogan has been asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, but after his girlfriend backs out on him he must take his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon.
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
Friday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m. - Page One: Inside The New York Times (2011) Rated R; 92 minutes
Unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom yields a complex view of the transformation of a media landscape fraught with both peril and opportunity.
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
All films are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).
Friday Film - "Page One"
Written by Erin S on 10/01/2011
Friday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m. -- PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES (2011) Documentary; Rated R; 92 minutes
In the tradition of great fly-on-the-wall documentaries, PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES deftly gains unprecedented access to The New York Times newsroom and the inner workings of the Media Desk. With the Internet surpassing print as our main news source and newspapers all over the country going bankrupt, PAGE ONE chronicles the transformation of the media industry at its time of greatest turmoil. Writers like Brian Stelter, Tim Arango and the salty but brilliant David Carr track print journalism’s metamorphosis even as their own paper struggles to stay vital and solvent. Meanwhile, their editors and publishers grapple with existential challenges from players like WikiLeaks, new platforms ranging from Twitter to tablet computers, and readers’ expectations that news online should be free.
But rigorous journalism is thriving. PAGE ONE gives us an up-close look at the vibrant cross-cubicle debates and collaborations, tenacious jockeying for on-the-record quotes, and skillful page-one pitching that produce the “daily miracle” of a great news organization. What emerges is a nuanced portrait of journalists continuing to produce extraordinary work—under increasingly difficult circumstances.
At the heart of the film is the burning question on the minds of everyone who cares about a rigorous American press, Times lover or not: what will happen if the fast-moving future of media leaves behind the fact-based, original reporting that helps to define our society?
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
For the schedule of Friday Night Films in October, please click here.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
"Bag It" Screening: Is Your Life too Plastic?
On Thursday, October 27 at 7 p.m., in an event co-sponsored by Choose to Reuse in Darien,we will be screening the documentary film Bag It.
Choose to Reuse in Darien seeks to eliminate single use plastic retail checkout bags in Darien.
BAG IT – Documentary feature; Not rated; 78 minutes
Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes, disposable bags that they throw away without much thought. But where is “away?” Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to the environment, marine life and human health?
Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. Jeb’s journey in this documentary film starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded? What he learns quickly grows far beyond plastic bags.
To learn more about the film and to watch the trailer, please click here.
Refreshments will be served.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s)
Wednesday Matinee NOW AT 1:30 - The Magnificent Seven
Written by Erin S on 09/19/2011
Wednesday, October 19 at 1:30 p.m. - THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960) Starring Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, Robert Vaughn; Not Rated; 127 minutes
The Magnificent Seven is a powerful Western inspired by the Akira Kurosawa classic The Seven Samurai and moved from Japan to Mexico. The samurai have become a bunch of hard, scrappy gunmen, ideally played by a cast of the toughest actors anywhere.
Please note that our Wednesday matinee has an earlier start time. Please join us at 1:30 p.m.--a perfect post-lunch activity.
Friday Film - "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold"
Written by Barbara T. on 09/18/2011
Friday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m. -- THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD (2011) Documentary Feature from director Morgan Spurlock; Rated PG-13; 87 minutes
Morgan Spurlock brings a comedic documentary about branding, advertising, and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising, and product placement.
"Spurlock says he's not selling out, he's buying in. I'm buying into Spurlock. As ever, he makes you laugh till it hurts." -- Peter Travers - Rolling Stone
"Spurlock comes off like a new and improved Everyman, familiar but smarter and funnier than the average Joe." -- Claudia Puig, USA Today
"Even more amusing than 'Super Size Me,' the documentary that put Mr. Spurlock on the moviemaking map..." -- Stephen Holden - The New York Times
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
For the schedule of Friday Night Films in September, please click here.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
Friday Film - "Meek's Cutoff"
Written by Erin S on 09/17/2011
Friday, October 7 at 7:30 p.m. -- MEEK'S CUTOFF (2010) Starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Will Patton, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan; Rated PG; 104 minutes
The year is 1845, the earliest days of the Oregon Trail, and a wagon team of three families has hired the mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a short cut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants must face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in each other's instincts for survival. When a Native American wanderer crosses their path, the emigrants are torn between their trust in a guide who has proven himself unreliable and a man who has always been seen as the natural enemy
"Visually stunning and extraordinarily textured. A real movie-movie, with star performances and literal life-or-death stakes." -- Karina Longworth, Village Voice
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
For the schedule of Friday Night Films in October, please click here.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
Wednesday Matinee - "Some Like it Hot"
Written by Barbara T. on 09/16/2011
Wednesday, September 21 at 2 p.m. -- SOME LIKE IT HOT(1959) Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon; Not rated; 129 minutes
SOME LIKE IT HOT whirls through the flamboyant settings of Chicago and Miami Beach in 1929. Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe) is a ukulele-playing vocalist in an all-girl band. Two musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) on the run from the mob join Sugar’s traveling troupe by hilariously donning make-up and dresses to hide their identity.
"Wilder's 1959 comedy is one of the enduring treasures of the movies, a film of inspiration and meticulous craft." -- Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times
For more information, please view the film's trailer.
For the schedule of our Wednesday Matinee Films in September, please click here.
Friday Film - "The Beaver"
Written by Erin S on 09/15/2011
Friday, September 30 at 7:30 p.m. -- THE BEAVER (2011) Starring Mel Gibson and Jodi Foster; Rated PG-13; 91 minutes
This film is an emotional story about a man on a journey to re-discover his family and re-start his life. Plagued by his own demons, Walter Black was once a successful toy executive and family man who now suffers from depression. No matter what he tried, Walter can’t seem to get himself back on track … until a beaver hand puppet enters his life.
"A brilliant film. A+" -- Richard Roeper
"This heartfelt, often painfully funny movie has the power to sneak up and floor you." -- Rolling Stone
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
For the schedule of Friday Night Films in October, please click here.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
Friday Film - "The Trip"
Written by Erin S on 09/10/2011
Friday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m. -- THE TRIP (2010) Starring Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, and Claire Keelan; Not rated; 107 minutes
When Steve Coogan is asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, he envisions it as the perfect getaway with his beautiful girlfriend. But, when she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon. As the brilliant comic duo, freestyling with flair, drive each other mad with constant competition and showdowns of competing impressions (including dueling Michael Caines, Sean Connerys and Al Pacinos), the ultimate odd couple realize in the end a rich amount about not only good food, but the nature of fame, relationships and their own lives.
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
For the schedule of Friday Night Films in October, please click here.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
Friday Films in September
Written by Barbara T. on 08/31/2011
Friday, September 2 at 7:30 p.m. - WIN WIN (2011) Starring Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, and Bobby Cannavale; Rated R; 106 minutes
Dishearted attorney Mike Flaherty, who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach, stumbles across a star athlete through some questionable business dailings while trying to support his family. Just as it looks like he will get a double payday, the boy's mother shows up fresh from rehab and flat broke, threatening to derail everything.
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
Friday, September 9 at 7:30 p.m. -- X-Men: First Class (2011) Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kevin Bacon; Rated PG-13; 131 minutes
Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-MEN.
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
Friday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m. -- THE CONSPIRATOR (Shown at left) (2010) Starring James McAvoy, Robin Wright Penn, Kevin Kline, Danny Huston, and Tom Wilkinson; Rated PG-13; 122 minutes
In the wake of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken, reluctantly agrees to defend the lone female defendant before a military tribunal. As the nation turns against her, Surratt is forced to rely on Aiken to uncover the truth and save her life.
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
Friday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m. -- THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD (2011) Documentary Feature from director Morgan Spurlock; Rated PG-13; 87 minutes
Morgan Spurlock brings a comedic documentary about branding, advertising, and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising, and product placement.
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
Friday, September 30 at 7:30 p.m. -- THE BEAVER (2011) Starring Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster; Rated PG-13; 91 minutes
This film is an emotional story about a man on a journey to re-discover his family and re-start his life. Plagued by his own demons, Walter Black was once a successful toy executive and family man who now suffers from depression. No matter what he tried, Walter can’t seem to get himself back on track … until a beaver hand puppet enters his life.
For more information, please watch the film's trailer.
All films are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
Darien Library, 1441 Post Road, Darien, Connecticut, 06820-5419 · 203-655-1234Directions and Contact Information. Twitter: darienlibrary. AIM & Y!M: deweydarien.