Tag Archives: movies

Eight Reasons I’m Excited About Hoopla (And You Should Be Too)!

1 Apr

hoopla

Hoopla means to get excited about something and now for Hoboken Public Library resident card holders, along with other members of BCCLS libraries, Hoopla now means having online access to 15,808 videos (including movies and TV shows), 14,313 audiobooks, and 212,595 music albums!  Each month you have an access to up to 8 different choices.  Here are 8 things I’m excited about that Hoopla is currently offering.  So go online and see what all the Hoopla is about!

1. Serenity

As a huge Joss Whedon fan I was sad when Firefly got cancelled, but Serenity was a wonderful consolation prize.  With its blend of Scifi and Western it became an almost instant cult classic.  If you’ve enjoyed Whedon’s more recent work on the Avengers franchise and haven’t seen this yet, definitely check this out.  For more classic scifi goodness check out David Lynch’s Dune or for a documentary about the archetypical fans checkout the documentary Trekkies about devotees of Star Trek.

2. The Sword in the Stone

If you’ve had enough of Frozen, have your kids checkout one of my favorite Disney films instead.  The Sword in the Stone is a charming interpretation of the classic Arthur legend.  I especially love the Wizard battle between Merlin and Madam Mim.  Also available is The Black Cauldron based on the first in The Chronicles of Prydain high fantasy series by Lloyd Alexander, one of my favorites as a child (please be aware that this one unlike most Disney animation is rated PG).  But if you your kids still want more Frozen you can listen to the Frozen Soundtrack or even sing along to the Karaoke version which are available from Hoopla.

3. The Rise and Fall of Ruby Woo by The Puppini Sisters

I’ve been meaning for a while to write in the blog about the retro-wonderfulness that is the Puppini Sisters.  Inspired by groups like the Andrews Sisters they take on classic tunes, while also giving fun treatments to covers of “Walk Like an Egyptian” and “Crazy in Love”.  Their original pieces are quite lovely.  Also checkout Max Raabe and Palast Orchester’s Golden Age, whose cover of “Oops! … I Did It Again” isn’t to be missed.

4. A Cook’s Tour

I loved Bourdain’s classic memoir, Kitchen Confidential, and his latest foodie travel series on the Travel Channel and CNN.  If like me you can’t get enough of New Jersey born Bourdain’s dry wit and adventurous spirit check out his first travel series, A Cook’s Tour, where he travels to Tokyo, Paris, Morocco, Russia, and more.  If you want more foodie delights check out the terrific films Mostly Martha and The Wedding Banquet or the documentary on the world renowned Spanish molecular gastronomic chef Ferran Adria, El Bulli: Cooking in Progress.

5. Carrie Vaughn’s Low Midnight

Carrie Vaughn’s newest novel Low Midnight is available as an audiobook from Hoopla.  You may remember I wrote an earlier blog post about Vaughn’s Kitty series about a radio host DJ who is a werewolf.  In Low Midnight, she writes the about of one of my favorite characters, the mysterious Cormac Bennett.   You can also listen to other books about Kitty including Vaughn’s first Kitty and the Midnight Hour.  If you are a fan of urban fantasy Hoopla has more treats in store including the audiobook short story collection Night Shift featuring paranormal romance stories by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Milla Vane, and Lisa Shearin.  Plus consider checking out two great urban fantasy TV shows: Sanctuary about a group running a preserve for supernatural creatures and Being Human about a ghost, vampire, and werewolf who are roommates.

6. The Addams Family

The Addams Family has more recently spun off into movies and a Broadway musical all of which are enjoyable, but my favorite adaptation of the classic cartoon from The New Yorker, is the original TV series that you can watch now on Hoopla.  If you like dark humor check out the quirky Dead Like Me about a reluctant grim reaper.  Plus with Hoopla, you can view some episodes of the classic vampire soap Dark Shadows.

7. Return to Oz

Recently as part of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Discussion at the library we had a special Oz event where we discussed the first three books in the series and had a special screening of Return to Oz. If you missed the event you can still check out this cult classic film that many fans of Baum’s work feel is a more accurate interpretation of the books than the 1939 Garland musical. If you can’t get enough Oz you can also view The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz.  Plus you can listen to the audiobook of Wizard of Oz or the Wicked, the Musical, Soundtrack.

8. Movies, Music, TV, Audiobooks available 24/7! 

One of the best things about Hoopla is it allows us to provide our Hoboken Library Card patrons access to materials even when the library is closed. You can borrow music for 7 days, videos for 3 days, and audiobooks for 21 days. Any time you feel like watching a comedy such as Mr. Wrong you can or maybe you’d prefer a documentary like Bowling for Columbine or check out an episode of kid’s shows (my toddler recommends Dinosaur Train and Chuggington).  Hoopla has a lot of great musical selections whether you enjoy mainstream powerhouses like Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Imagine Dragons or are a fan of more obscure music such as Industrial bands like KMFDM, :Wumpscut:, and Skinny Puppy.  I’m looking forward to checking out Austrian darkwave act L’ Ame Immortelle’s latest Drahtseilakt tonight.  I also can’t wait to download the audiobook for Lydia Millet’s Mermaids in Paradise that I’ve been looking forward to reading.  There are no waiting lists, no late fees, and you have up to 8 great entertainment choices per month.

You can get more information about using Hoopla here.  See our eResources page for even more electronic goodies available 24/7 to Hoboken Public Library Card Holders like magazines, eBooks, downloadable music, reference resources, and more!  And let us know your audiobook, movie, music, and TV show recommendations for Hoopla in our comments section.

-Written by Aimee Harris, Head of Reference

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My Favorite Things: Meet the Newest HPL Librarian

29 Dec

Hello Hoboken patrons. I’m excited to join the community and this blog as a new librarian on the block. For my first post I thought I’d share some of my favorite books, television shows and movies as a way of introducing myself. I enjoy a huge range of genres and topics, everything from The Wizard of Oz to Harry Potter to The Walking Dead, but I’ll focus on a few titles that may not be as popular or may have been forgotten.

Some of my favorites for children are:

Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little-house-on-the-prairie

The Little House series (and the TV show loosely based on the books) made a lasting impression on me. As a child I wanted to be Laura Ingalls and often pretended that I was her. Although the books are fiction, not autobiographies, they paint an incredible picture of being a pioneer family and growing up in the 1870s. Laura wrote about the excitement of discovering new places, the heartbreak of losing a huge wheat crop and the fear of living through blizzards in a clear, matter-of-fact style. I recommend these books to any kid who is interested in history or just wants to read a good story. And if you haven’t read the books since you were a child, I’d recommend you pick them up again. I recently re-read them, and found new things I missed the first ten times.

Amelia Bedelia, by Peggy Parrish

play-ball-amelia-bedelia

Amelia Bedelia is a character who takes everything she is told literally. In my favorite story, Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia, Amelia learns how to play baseball. When she hits the ball and is told to “run home” she runs to her house. When I read these books as a child I thought I was so smart for knowing why Amelia was wrong. These books are silly and fun, and I recommend them to every kid I know.

The Three Pigs, by David Wiesner

three-pigs

This picture book starts out like every other version of The Three Pigs that you’ve ever read or heard. The pigs build houses out of different materials, the wolf huffs and puffs and blows the house down, but then something unexpected happens: the pigs are blown right out of their story and into others. Wiesner illustrates the story in different styles that match where the Pigs are exploring. This is a great book to read with your favorite kids, and offers an opportunity to use your imaginations to take the pigs on your own made-up adventures. If you enjoy this book, look for additional Wiesner.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Directed by Steven Spielberg

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E.T. is the story of a boy and his alien. A young visitor from outer space is stranded on Earth when his spaceship leaves without him. Elliot, his brother, sister and their friends work to reunite E.T. with his family. I could watch this movie every day and not get bored. It has adventure, frightening encounters, and real emotion. The friendship that Elliot and E.T. develop is deep and real and can resonate with anyone who has ever had a friend.

A few of my favorites for adults are:

Fringe – TV series

fringe

If you liked The X-Files and Lost, check out Fringe starring Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Jasika Nicole and John Noble. This series had all of the mythology and mystery of both of those series, but with a much less convoluted story. The monster of the week, the relationships between the characters and the overall arc of the show were beautifully intertwined to create something I haven’t seen much of: a series with continuity that (mostly) made sense. The series flew under the radar, and was constantly at risk of cancellation but if you like science fiction with complex characters I’d recommend watching the series.

Hannibal – TV series

hannibal

Hannibal starring Hugh Dancy as profiler Will Graham and Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lector isn’t for everyone. It’s violent and gruesome, yet it is also completely fascinating. It’s based on the novels by Thomas Harris, especially Red Dragon, and takes place before the events of Silence of the Lambs. The cinematography on this series is unparalleled. It’s stylish and haunting, as is the show itself. I often have to watch during the day because it’s very scary, but I still look forward each new episode. Season 3 is filming now, and this X-Files fan is very excited that Gillian Anderson has been promoted to series regular.

Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

wicked

My colleague Lois has already written about Wicked in her blog post about The Wizard of Oz, but I have to second the recommendation for this novel. I tend to re-read only books from my childhood, but this one (and my next entry on this list) are the exceptions. Maguire makes the politics and the people of Oz so real that you almost expect to read about Munchkinland in an actual newspaper. The book took me a little while to get into, but within a few chapters I was hooked.

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

jane-eyre

Jane Eyre is such a typical, old-fashioned, high-school English class book that I was surprised that I loved it. Even though I enjoy reading, and English was my favorite class, I didn’t always like the books we were forced to read. Jane Eyre is different and right from the first paragraph I was enthralled. Some of my opinions about the characters have changed over time, but the perfect language and sympathetic characters keep me coming back over and over. If you haven’t read Jane Eyre since your own high school English class, I recommend that you give it another chance.

All of these titles can be borrowed from the library.

-Written by Kim Iacucci, Children’s Librarian

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