Ann Curry asked her twitter following to practice acts of kindness using the hashtag #26Acts.

Victor Cruz, receiver for the New York Giants, played with 6-year-old Jack Pinto's name on his gloves and cleats on Sunday. This small gesture inspired journalist Ann Curry to ask her 1 million+ twitter followers to practice 26 acts of kindness in honor of each Newtown victim. We invite members of the town of Darien to participate. Let's come together as a community to spread empathy and kindness locally and beyond.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

- Make a Memorial Donation to Sandy Hook victims

- Sign up to volunteer at Person-to-Person

- Grocery shop for a senior as a volunteer for Aging in Place + Gallivant

- Make a donation to Domus House

- Donate non-perishable, unopened food to the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County

- Pick out a toy and donate it to Toys for Tots

- Buy that person behind you in line a cup of coffee.

- Cook dinner for a friend.

Feel free to mention your act of kindness on Twitter using the hashtag #26Acts or share with us in the comments.

A documentary

Friday, December 21 at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. – First Position (2012) Documentary Feature; Not Rated; 95 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Every year, thousands of aspiring dancers enter one of the world’s most prestigious ballet competitions, the Youth America Grand Prix, where lifelong dreams are at stake. In the final round, with hundreds competing for only a handful of elite scholarships and contracts, nothing short of perfection is acceptable. This award-winning documentary follows six extraordinary dancers as they prepare for the chance to enter the world of professional ballet, struggling through bloodied feet, near exhaustion and debilitating injuries, all while navigating the drama of adolescence.

"These performers are so young, so serious, so full of dreams and so hard on themselves that it is difficult not to be moved by their striving." -- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

For more information, please watch the film's trailer. Check out the rest of our Friday Night Features in December.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

We're screening The Magic of Belle Isle November 30 at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

Friday, November 2 at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. – Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding (2012) Starring Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan; Rated R; 92 minutes; Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

For uptight Manhattan lawyer Diane, crazy means driving her teenage son Jake and daughter Zoe to Woodstock to visit their grandmother Grace. The crazy part is that the kids have never met Grace. In fact, Diane hasn’t spoken to her mother in twenty years. Grace is the epitome of the term “hippie”: she stages protests and hootenannies in the town square, smokes (and sells) a lot of dope, and howls at the moon once a month with her goddess-worshipping girlfriends. But what’s meant to be a weekend getaway turns into a summer adventure of romance, music, family secrets, and self-discovery.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

Friday, November 9 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – People Like Us (2012) Starring Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, and Michelle Pfeiffer; Rated PG-13; 114 minutes; Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

This smart, intimate drama features Sam, a twenty-something, fast-talking salesman, whose latest deal collapses on the day he learns that his father has suddenly died. Against his wishes, Sam is called home, where he must put his father's estate in order and reconnect with his estranged family. In the course of fulfilling his father's last wishes, Sam uncovers a startling secret that turns his entire world upside down: He has a 30-year-old sister he never knew about. As their relationship develops, Sam is forced to rethink everything he thought he knew about this family—and re-examine his own life choices in the process.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

Friday, November 16 at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. – Undertaking Betty (2003) Starring Brenda Blethyn, Alfred Molina, Christopher Walken, and Naomi Watts; Rated R; 94 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Boris is a funeral director in a small town in Wales. His mundane life is thrown for a loop when his business is threatened by a flashy new American funeral parlor that has moved into town. Boris must fight off this new threat to his livelihood but his plans are thrown off course when he falls madly in love with a local woman. He must get his business back… and get the girl.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

Friday, November 23 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Girl in Progress (2012) Starring Eva Mendes, Matthew Modine, and Cierra Ramirez; Rated PG-13; 91 minutes; Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Grace is a single mom. She is too busy juggling work, bills, and the very married Dr. Hartford, to give her daughter, Ansiedad the attention she desperately needs. When Ansiedad's English teacher, Ms. Armstrong, introduces her students to classic coming-of-age stories, Ansiedad is inspired to skip adolescence and jump-start her life without mom. While Grace becomes preoccupied with the increasing affections of her co-worker, Ansiedad enlists the help of her loyal friend, Tavita, to plot her shortcut to “adulthood.” But as her misguided plan unravels, Ansiedad and Grace must learn that sometimes growing-up means acting your age.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

Friday, November 30 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – The Magic of Belle Isle (2012) Starring Morgan Freeman and Virginia Madsen; Rated PG; 109 minutes; Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.
Monte Wildhorn is a famous Western novelist whose passion for writing has hit an impasse. He takes a lakeside cabin for the summer in picturesque Belle Isle, befriending the family next door. An attractive single mom and her young daughters help him find inspiration again.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

All films are free and open to the public.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

Eric Asimov

Thursday, December 13 at 7 p.m.

Eric Asimov, author of How to Love Wine, will be our featured speaker.

For most, choosing the right wine comes with strong feelings of anxiety—the sense of inadequacy when you find yourself, clueless, scanning the shelves of your local wine store, or when a restaurant sommelier approaches you to taste the bottle for your table. Do you twirl the glass? Inspect it carefully? Drink the full amount or just take a sip? New York Times chief wine critic Eric Asimov knows that while wine anxiety is normal, it’s also the greatest obstacle to deriving pleasure from this incredible yet complex beverage. Part manifesto, part memoir, How to Love Wine isolates and diminishes the sense of anxiety that so burdens would-be wine lovers.

About the Author

Eric Asimov is the chief wine critic of the New York Times. His weekly column appears in the Dining section and he contributes to the Diner’s Journal blog on the Times’s website. Before he started writing full-time about wine in 2004, Asimov wrote primarily about restaurants and food. He created the “$25 and Under” restaurant reviews in 1992 and wrote them through 2004. He is co-author of five editions of The New York Times Guide to Restaurants, and published four editions of $25 and Under: A Guide to the Best Inexpensive Restaurants in New York. Asimov is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut and did graduate work in American Civilization at the University of Texas at Austin. He is married to Deborah Hofmann, has two children, Jack and Peter, and lives in Manhattan. Naturally, he is on Twitter, you can follow him @EricAsimov.

Eric Asimov's appearance is made possible by Barrett Bookstore.

Books will be available for purchase at this event. Wine will be served courtesy of Nicholas Roberts Fine Wine.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).