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By Kyle, March 21, 2010

Actor, singer, and adventurer Ewan McGregor celebrates a birthday on March 31st. McGregor was born in Scotland in 1971, to teacher parents that encouraged him to pursue his acting dreams. After attending London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama for three years, he left right before graduating to take a role in a TV miniseries called Lipstick on Your Collar. McGregor has had a successful acting career in both mainstream and independent films. His first notable performance came in the 1994 film directed by Danny Boyle called Shallow Grave. Boyle directed McGregor again in the gritty film Trainspotting based on the novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. Star Wars fans were pleased with his portrayal of young Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episodes I, II, and III.

Musical fans discovered McGregor could sing when he appeared along side Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!. In 2004 he and friend Charley Boorman traveled around the world on motorbikes. Documentary footage of their journey was made into a TV series called Long Way Round, then a follow-up series called Long Way Down.

Check out movies with Ewan McGregor

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By Kyle, March 19, 2010

Who hasn’t daydreamed about fighting their way out of this economy by finding and hoarding large amounts of lost treasure?  Anyone?  Unfortunately, these books will mostly tell you about other people who have done just that, thereby depriving the rest of us of yet another cache waiting to be discovered.  But anyone looking for a good dose of history, legend, and adventure in their nonfiction reading will surely find something on this list:

Check out books on Lost Treasure

- Ben

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By Kyle, January 30, 2010

British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, a small island just off the south coast of England. His career began with two years of training at the Bristol Old Vic School, after which he joined the repertory company working in everything from Shakespeare to contemporary dramas. He moved to London in 1971 and had a number of odd jobs before landing the role of John the Baptist in the hit musical “Godspell”. Irons made his on-screen debut in Nijinsky. In the early 80s, he gained international attention with his starring role in the adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel Brideshead Revisited.   In 1984 he won a Tony for his role opposite Glenn Close in Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing.”  Irons won an Oscar in 1990 for his role again opposite Glenn Close in Reversal of Fortune.  His most-watched movie from the 1990’s may only include his voice –he brought to life Scar in The Lion King.  His latest roles include Brom in 2007’s Eragon, and the Earl of Leicester in Elizabeth I.

Check out movies with Jeremy Irons

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By Kyle, January 26, 2010

The 2010 Winter Olympic Games is just a few weeks away.  Go Team USA!  For all things Olympics, visit www.Vancouver2010.com.  Learn more about Olympic history through these documentaries and films, available from your Nashville Public Library:

Check out videos about the Olympic Games.

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By Amanda, January 23, 2010

It’s that time of year again – award show season, and I didn’t want to be left out.  With the popularity of a certain teenage vampire series (which will remain nameless due to the fact that I’m not totally in love with it, unlike the rest of the female universe), the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy genres have exploded with new reads.  It can be a daunting task to figure out where to start, so I thought I’d offer a little advice on books I’ve found to be eminently more readable than The Book That Will Not Be Named (see also this PNR bibliography).  So here now, the absolutely meaningless, but hopefully still enjoyable, PNRUFies (pronounced pa-NER-fies).

Longest Series – local author, Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunters at 30 books/stories. Honorable mention to Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake books at 22 and Christine Feehan’s Dark series at 20.  For those REALLY long car trips, I’d suggest starting one of these.

Best Sidekick – Bob from Harry Dresden – he’s a talking skull who knows everything about everything.  Seriously, what else do you need and where can I get one?

Most Cliffhangery (This category is so frustrating that I had to invent a word for it) – Fever series from Karen Marie Moning.  You’ll scream. You’ll cry.  You’ll throw your book across the room (unless it’s a library book, then you’ll gently set it on the nearest table, lovingly brushing off any crumbs or lint, before you turn and punch the wall). Be warned – this one’s got at least one more book to go, and it’s not supposed to come out until December ’10.  Oh the humanity!

Wizard with the Biggest Hero Complex – Tie: Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden and John Pritkin from Cassie Palmer by Karen Chance. Harry’s never met a spell he wouldn’t try in the name of saving the world.  Pritkin would have had something quippy to say, but he’s already saved the world four times since we asked him for a quote.

Best Living Arrangements – The church in which Rachel and Ivy reside in Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series.  A witch and a vampire living in a decommissioned church – you’d think it would be more peaceful.  Honorable Mention to Jean-Claude’s underground lair in Anita Blake and the Black Dagger Brotherhood compound care of the Warden.

Craziest Relatives – Tie: “Grandpa” Eddie from Julie Kenner’s Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series and Niall, Sookie’s fairy great-grandfather, from Charlaine Harris’s True Blood-inspiring series.  One’s not related, one’s not human, but there’s still so much to love.

The Dr. Evil Award for Excellence in Villainy (I haven’t talked to Dr. Evil about this personally, but I’m sure he’d agree that these bad guys are worthy of being compared to someone who went to evil medical school) – Lilith from LA Banks’s Vampire Huntress series.  I mean, come on, she’s married to the devil – that’s evil. Honorable mention to Lash and the creepy baby-powder scented Lessers from J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood.

And there you have it.  The PNRUFy Class of 2010.  I was really hoping to see some Weather Wardens or Werecats in the lineup, but I guess there’s always next year. Agree or disagree with the winners – but either way, these books are all pretty good reading.  Happy PNRUFy-ing!

- Amanda

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By Kyle, January 21, 2010

Robert Pattinson, the young British actor who portrays Edward Cullen in the Twilight series movies, is next in a long line of actors who have played dark, brooding characters.

Listed here are others, including the best, Marlon Brando, who have taken a turn at playing the brooding male lead. Unfortunately, the 1939 version of Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff (the ultimate brooding character!) is out of print at this time.

Check out more movies with Dark, Brooding Characters.

- Crystal

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By Kyle, January 14, 2010

Winter is in full swing here in Nashville!  Looking for something to stave off that cabin fever?  Try an epic movie.  An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale.

Got Cabin Fever? Check out an Epic Movie.

- Crystal

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By Kyle, January 13, 2010

There’s still time to create your list of top ten movies released in 2009.  Did you catch all the best of 2008?

Check out the films that at the top of last year’s “best of” lists.

- Crystal

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By Kyle, September 21, 2009

What’s the deal with odd numbers and movies? If you give it some thought, I bet you can think of at least three movies off the top of your head with an odd number as the title, or at least an odd number in the title. District 9 debuted in the summer of 2009, and a new movie musical directed by Rob Marshall called Nine also hit the big screen in September.

See list of Odd-Numbered Movies.

- Crystal

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By Kyle, May 4, 2008

“Cult,” from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary:
5a: a great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement or work (as a film or book).†

For each of these bands, there exists a rabid following somewhere waiting for the next record or a bootleg to turn up. And for every kid who’s ever picked up a guitar, there exists something mysterious in finding a record that connects with this primal urgency to hear something so fresh. So next time you’re browsing the CDs and see something strange, give it a spin, you might uncover something that was never lost. Remember after all – it’s free!

Enjoy:  Cult Bands

†Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Springfield, MA, USA. 2003.