Movies Blog

Alice in Blunder-I mean, Wonder-land

PotionsMaster@evpl — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:54:00 GMT

Alright, that sounds a bit melodramatic. It was an enjoyable film. It just suffered from lackluster dialogue, gaping plot holes, and flat characters. After hearing mixed reviews about Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland', I decided it was best to view it on the regular screen, not IMAX3-D. I didn't feel like I was missing anything special. Yes, the Cheshire Cat would be interesting to see floating inches in front of my nose, but it wasn't necessary in order to feel the same way about the movie.

Now don't get me wrong; I liked the movie. It was a mindless adventure that I didn't have to think my way through. In fact, it became less enjoyable the more I thought while watching it. There is a fight between the White Queen and the Red Queen. The only indication on why it's there is when the Red Queen screams, "I should be queen because I'm the eldest!" And it's implied that the White Queen would be a better one than the Red, but the reason 'why' isn't explained, either. It is never explained why Alice is the only one who can take on the Jabberwocky, and the same for practically every occurance in 'Underland'. (Alice mis-heard it the first time she was there and called it 'Wonderland'.) The only part that made sense was why the Mad Hatter acted like he had (according to MSN.com's review with a similar title) post-traumatic stress disorder.

It is dark for anyone under 13, but for anyone over it's a visual spectacle worth seeing, if nothing else for the crazily gorgeous world created in computers. Speaking from an artistic sense, I loved Johnny Depp's make-up job, but the hair made him look like Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka gone wrong. (Funnily enough, I didn't really like Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, either...Burton is losing his touch.) It was exciting to see the climactic battle. The script tried to be poignant, drawing back to a quote Alice's father said in the beginning; it would have worked better if Alice repeatedly refered to it instead of just at the end. The supporting cast was really the most interesting part about the movie. All in all, I would give it 1 1/2 's out of five. If you know someone with a big screen TV, rent it and watch it on that. You won't be missing anything.

Precious total thumbs up!!!!!!

this.is.not.here@evpl — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:16:00 GMT

Precious

I just watched the DVD of the movie “Precious” I have to report that it was by far one of the best movies I have ever seen. It contained every emotion imaginable ranging from the depths of depravity, rage, and horror to the highest display of euphoric joy. The movie is based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire.

All the actors bared their souls as well as their faces and stepped outside their comfort zone. A range of emotions floated across their faces as they came to the realization that incest, child abuse, poverty, and illiteracy were Precious reality. Monique did an exemplary job of portraying a tortured tragic mother who has focused all her anger on her teenage daughter. To say that Precious is an abused child is an understatement. Yet what sets this movie apart from the mainstream of typical “lifetime” movies is the way that Gabourey Sidebe the brilliant teen actress copes with tragedy with moments of fantasy in which she “sees” herself strutting down the red carpet, dancing with abandon and being idolized and admired by everyone.

I was afraid to watch this movie because I felt it might be too intense. I usually either pace, read, or play games on my laptop while half watching really frightening suspenseful movies. These 109 minutes flew by and I was glued to the screen so as not to miss anything.

Put this at the top of your list of “must see” movies.

The Informant

KickinLibrarian@evpl — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:39:00 GMT

Matt Damon has done some pretty amazing roles since starring in Good Will Hunting back in 1997. While I have never been a huge action movie fan, the Bourne Trilogy is a fan favorite and I made sure to check them out on the big screen. I loved Ocean's Eleven, even if they lost me with the next two. So I was pretty eager to watch The Informant when it came into the library. I should have kept it on the library shelf.

While Damon once again portrayed his role well, the movie never seemed to end for me. The movie centers around Mark Whitacre (Damon), a biochemist and junior executive at Archer Daniels Midland. In 1992, Whitacre began working with the FBI about price-fixing at ADM and turned in over 200 tapes as evidence. His motive for feeding insider knowledge shifts as the movie goes along, and he manages to fool the FBI and the movie watchers.

As the story twists and turns, it is hard to keep up. I am pretty sure I had a look of confusion on my face from the beginning to the end. At one point, I was sure four hours had passed, but it had only been 90 minutes. The music follows as Whitacre blunders along marking the time when his story mutates from one lie to the next.

Not highly recommended, but I give Damon props for another good performance. Scott Bakula and Joel McHale also star in the movie. If you aren't familiar with these actors, you will discover it is hard to take either of them too seriously. The movie was based on the book The Informant: A True Story by Kurt Eichenwald.

Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) and The September Issue

librarianinheels@evpl — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:28:00 GMT

I love Chanel. Seriously - since childhood, I've been obsessed with someday, somehow owning some tiny piece of Chanel something. I even (somewhere, although sadly I could not dig it up for this post) have a photo of me in West Palm Beach, Florida, over Spring Break in 1991, kissing the door of the Chanel boutique. (It was closed...night-time.) In college, I ripped Chanel advertisements out of Vogue and taped them all over my dorm room walls. I was determined to someday wear Chanel.

Flash forward almost 20 years, and I do wear Chanel - No. 5. (It's about all I can afford and the library really isn't the ideal place for haute couture...) Last fall, I heard about a French film starring Audrey Tatou, documenting the early life of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, the iconic founder of the House of Chanel. To my knowledge, it never actually made it to Evansville theatres. And believe me, I checked.

Now available on DVD (in French with English subtitles), Coco Avant Chanel is a wonderful movie about the early life of Coco Chanel, based largely on the biography by Edmonde Charles-Roux, entitled Coco Chanel: Her Life, Her World, and the Legend Behind the Legend She Herself Created, published in 1975. The movie documents Chanel's life from the age of 12, when she and her sister were abandoned by their father at an orphanage - to the beginnings of her serious career as a designer - first of hats, then of couture. The movie focuses primarily on her personal relationships with men - mainly Etienne Balsan (Chanel was his mistress for several years) and Arthur "Boy" Capel, an English businessman who (although married) was rumored to be the love of Chanel's life. If you're familiar in any way with Chanel and her contributions to the fashion world, you can see through the film how this period of Chanel's life impacted her later career. If you are not familiar with Chanel in any way, this film shows the tremendous impact she made on fashion for women - she was very much a champion of comfort (yay) and practicality - of women dressing for themselves and not for men. The film - shot in the French countryside, in Paris, and in Deauville - is luxurious. The music, by Academy-Award nominated composer Alexandre Desplat, is haunting. As always, Audrey Tatou is elegant and lovely. I would have enjoyed a longer movie that explored some of the more scandalous aspects of Coco Chanel's life - including allegations that she was a Nazi sympathizer - but it was still quite good in its rather (my opinion) abbreviated form. (One of the really cool things about this movie is that is was made almost entirely by women.)

A more contemporary take on related subject matter is The Septmber Issue: Anna Wintour and the Making of Vogue, which documents the assembly of the famous, massive September "Age Issue" of American Vogue magazine. The film largely focuses on Vogue's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who is well-known as one of the most powerful women in fashion and publishing (it is rumored that the Miranda Priestly character (played by Meryl Streep) in the film The Devil Wears Prada is loosely based on Anna Wintour.) If you're interested in high fashion, this documentary is an interesting look into the high-pressure process of putting together an issue of an iconic fashion magazine by a legendary fashion editor and aficionado. You see not only Wintour, but her entire staff at Vogue including former fashion model and Creative Director Grace Coddington, in addition to famous fashion photographers like Patrick Demarchelier and Mario Testino and Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld working feverishly and sometimes petulantly to get this thing assembled.

Best romantic comedies

googler@evpl — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:20:00 GMT

Just in time for Valentine's Day, I ran across this list, published about a year ago, of the best (in their opinion, of course) romantic comedies of the decade. I love movie lists that include at least a few things I've never heard of (which is, unfortunately, not that hard to do).

Some of the titles recommended are Greg Kinner's Ghost Town, Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Virginia Madsen's Sideways, and Richard Linklater's Before Sunset.

But check out the whole article -- the descriptions are very good, and they're all very appealing.

Do your tastes run to classic films? If so, there's a bunch of romantic classics ideal for Valentine's Day. This article echoes a lot of my sentiments, especially in recommending Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (and other Capra films, like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town), and The Philadelphia Story.

"Moon" and the David Bowie connection

MediaPhile@evpl — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:48:00 GMT

Did you know that the director of the recently relased DVD "Moon" -- Duncan Jones (also known as Zowie or Joey) -- is the son of David Bowie?

Which is especially intriguing because "Moon" is the ethereal tale of a lonely man finishing up a three-year stint as the sole operator of a mining operation on the far side of the moon. Sound familiar?

All Sam (Sam Rockwell) wants is to go home to his loving wife and three-year-old daughter. But instantaneous two-way communication is down (mysteriously) so all he can do is leave messages and watch videos sent by her in reply.

When a mining machine malfunctions and he has to go out to fix it, things start getting really wierd. His faithful robot companion (voiced by Kevin Spacey) is no help as far as providing answers, although he assures him that a rescue crew is on the way.

One wonders if David Bowie's classic song "Ground Control to Major Tom" was reverberating in Jones' head as he made this really classy flick that got a whopping 89% on rottentomatoes.com. For those of you unfamiliar with it (or those who need a refresher), here are the lyrics:

Ground control to Major Tom Ground control to Major Tom:
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground control to Major Tom: Commencing countdown engine's on
Check ig-nition and may God's love be with you

This is ground control to Major Tom, you've really made the grade!
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear,
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare

This is Major Tom to ground con-trol, I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in the most peculiar way 
And the stars look very difeerent today

For here am I sitting in a tin can, far above the world
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do

BRIDGE

Though I'm passed one hundred thousand miles, I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go, 
tell my wife I love her very much she knows

Ground control to Major Tom: 
Your circuit's dead, there's something wong.
Can you hear me Major Tom? 
Can you hear me Major Tom? 
Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you ...

Here am I floating round my tin can, far above the moon
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Toni Collette wins Golden Globe for "United States of Tara"

MediaPhile@evpl — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:17:00 GMT

Having always been a Toni Collette fan, I was happy to hear that she was the star of a new Showtime series. I was even happier when the first season of "United States of Tara" arrived at the libraries on DVD.

Collette, who is Australian by the way (I didn't know that), played the mom in "The Sixth Sense." She also played the mom in "Little Miss Sunshine." Once again she plays a mom, but this time she is split into 4 parts.

Yes, she has dissociative identity disorder -- which (shades of "Sybil") used to be known as multiple personality disorder. As the series starts, she and her family have just agreed that the drugs she is taking are not worth the side-effects, and she is off her meds.

Collette is magnificent at morphing into the various personalities. In fact, the four-time nominee just took home the Golden Globe for leading actress in a comedy TV series.

Rounding out the cast are John Corbett (the nice guy who Carrie leaves on "Sex and the City" -- still a really really nice guy) as her husband Max, Kier Gilchrist as son Marshall, Brie Larson as daughter Kate, and Rosemarie DeWitt as sister Charmaine. Each family member is unique and a bit flawed but they all soldier on, with humor and grace.

Give this one a try. The second season just started in January.

Cuba Gooding Jr. May Be "Hardwired" For Failure

E-Ville Librarian@evpl — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:01:00 GMT

Do you remember the days of Jerry McGuire when Cuba Gooding Jr. played a cut, overly-emotional, oscar-accepting superstar? What happened to that guy? I'm not sure when the still-young actor jumped the shark, but Daddy Day Camp? The Devil's Tomb? Wrong Turn at Tahoe? Hardwired? These last three I am particularly interested in seeing due to the fact they seemed to have gone straight from shooting to DVD. Not a good sign for a one-time A-List actor. "Hardwired" with a few no-name actors and Val "What's-Up-With-His-Hair" Kilmer, this movie had to be as low budget as they come. Couple that with the fact that everything felt as though it was shot on a sound stage, and you've got an hour and a half of Cuba running around. The premise, while mildly interesting in its Orwellian commercialism, is only marginally flushed out of this turkey before the end heavy-handedly stuffs the viewer for a sequel. Trust ol' E'Ville, the first platefull of this will guarantee no return visits. As a side note what's up with Val Kilmer's blue screen cameos??? Is this guy turning into the next Marlon Brando?? Line!?! "The Horror ..."

3DTV, or how your brand new HDTV is already obsolete

professor.knowsitall@evpl — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:34:00 GMT

In case you were unaware, 3D is once again all the rage. With the record-breaking success of Avatar, movie studios, TV networks, and electronics manufacturers are looking to capitalize on this recent surge in popularity.

There has never been a good way to reproduce the "3D movie theater" experience at home (those red/blue glasses don't count!). That will supposedly change with 3DTVs (3D-capable HDTVs). All the major TV manufacturers had 3DTVs on display earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show, with the first models expected to go on sale this summer. Movies will be available in 3D on Blu-ray Disc, and TV networks may broadcast in 3D (ESPN & The Discovery Channel are launching 3D channels). Sony has also demoed PlayStation 3 videogames in 3D.

In non-techie terms, 3D video works by having footage from two perspectives...one for the left eye and one for the right. By using 3D glasses, video intended for the left eye is hidden from the right eye and vice versa.

You've probably seen DVDs that come with the old-school red & blue glasses. While the 3D effect is okay, these glasses decrease brightness, give everything a green hue, and can even cause headaches/eye strain.

Most movie theaters nowadays use polarized 3D (i.e. glasses with grey lenses). This provides for incredible 3D without affecting color or brightness. But this isn't possible at home, as it requires a projector with a special lens and a special screen to project onto.

3DTVs will utilize wirelessly-synchronized shutter glasses, while quickly alternating between the left & right perspectives. The lenses are actually thin LCDs that darken & lighten. So the TV will display a single frame intended for your left eye, the right lens on the shutter glasses will darken completely, and only your left eye will see the frame. The next frame is only for your right eye, so when the TV displays it the left lens will darken & the right lens will lighten, making the frame viewable only to your right eye. As this will be running at 120 frames per second, it should appear silky smooth to the human eye.

Being the nerd that I am, in-home 3D definitely sounds cool. But with prices dropping on HDTVs, will consumers be willing to pay a premium for 3DTVs? Will folks that already own a HDTV go through the hassle of upgrading? Will current-gen Blu-ray players be 3D-compatible, or will they have to be upgraded with newer players? And will movie/TV-watchers and gamers scoff at having to constantly wear dorky 3D glasses?

What do you think? Sound off in the comments below!

More Info

CES 2010 TV Trends @ AnandTech: An article about upcoming TVs shown at the Consumer Electronics Show.
The Illustrated 3D Movie List: A list of past, and upcoming, 3D movies.
Next "Harry Potter" Movies Coming in 3D: Warner Brothers just announced that the upcoming Harry Potter movies will be in 3D.

Avatar: Visual Spectacle, But Not For Everyone

PotionsMaster@evpl — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:34:00 GMT

Avatar is a pretty amazing flick. The graphics are beautiful, the acting fairly decent and believable enough to not think, "Wow. That's some pretty bad acting." Action scenes are a-MAY-zing. Story line? A little predictable, but I found that I didn't mind that. But I know some people might. The movie is a bit clean-looking, like many sci-fi and space movies are. District 9 is a good contrast; very gritty and heavy handed. But this isn't about District 9. The claims that it have revolutionized the way future movies have been made? I can't say for certain, but it will definitely be a hard pill to swallow if future computer generation images aren't as well executed or realistic.

The first time I saw Avatar was in IMAX 3-D and I can say with certainty that made me absolutely love it. Sheer escapism done exquisitely. The movie implemented a few shots of traditional 3-D tricks, such as an arrow pointing straight at the audience, and when the main character Jake Sully is running for the first time in his avatar (he is a parapalegic Marine embarking on this adventure), dirt is kicked up and seems to fly directly into your face. But those shots are well implemented and not over done in the slightest. Instead of having multiple things coming at my face, it made me feel more like I was experiencing the world with Jake instead of observing it like on a traditional flat movie screen. When Jake is in the jungle running, I found myself moving my head to avoid the leaves, but they weren't blocking me from seeing anything. As an outdoorsy person, I appreciated the sensation and really enjoyed that high a degree of realism. If you can call ten foot tall aliens and their surrounding world real, that is. The one element in the movie that destroyed my suspension of disbelief was the mineral that the humans were going after: 'unobtanium'. Wow. Subtle, isn't it? And the message the movie is sending is one that many movies are using now, such as Wall-E.

I would give it out of , because it is a beautiful film that allows you to forget yourself and the visuals are stunning. The story is formulaic and average; think Dances with Wolves, but with blue aliens instead. 'Unobtainum' seems like a slap of, "Oh crud! We forgot to name the metal!" "How about 'unobtanium'?" "Sounds good, we'll keep it!". Very last minute and not thought about. But being placed in the world, instead of watching it, more than made up for it. Experiencing the world made the joyful parts of the movie feel like your heart was soaring, while the sad parts were completely heart wrenching. And the satisfying feeling at the end? Incredible, because you feel full of hope.

So if you want a bit of pure escapism, see Avatar and do yourself a favor: see it in 3-D. Flat screen will still be good, but the 3-D offers much more. If you don't like such cut and dry stories, it might be a little hard to stomach. But if you can forgive mediocre story lines and have an open mind, Avatar will reward you in ways you could hardly imagine.

Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin ----"It's Complicated" entirely too "Complicated"

this.is.not.here@evpl — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:12:00 GMT

In my opinion, which I realize is not everyone else's consensus, with a cast this great I was really expecting "It's Complicated" to be a wonderful outstanding romantic comedy. What did I get? Basically a comedy. I'm sorry but when I am prepared to see romance I want dynamite chemistry, clearcut easily identifiable couples getting together at the end and a tear jerker lump in your throat ending like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or "Sleepless in Seattle". I don't know what was so wrong but maybe it was as it so often is anymore------none of the characters were very interesting or appealing. I just didn't care who Meryl Streep ended up with. Now there was definitely some comedy and those scenes were laugh outloud funny. There was another problem I had with it. I couldn't actually figure out which of the three or four "adult" children were supposed to be Streep's and Baldwin's kids. I couldnt' figure out how old they were and one I thought might be gay turned out to be someone's fiance. It was all very confusing. Not complicated----confusing.

Alec Baldwin is also so much younger in real life than Meryl I couldn't get past that. Steve Martin is older but there is no chemistry at all. I've read reviews that say that this is a "love story" for the more mature generation. If this is what being mature is I'll take immature anyday. Give me sophomoric humor!!!!

Winter Holiday movies

KickinLibrarian@evpl — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:39:00 GMT

During the few days I had off over the holidays, I was able to catch a lot of movies. Some in the theater (Avatar- excellent!; Sherlock Holmes- pretty good), but even more at home. Two movies that I had been waiting to come out on DVD did so right before I left on vacation.

500 Days of Summer stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (loved him in 3rd Rock from the Sun) and Zooey Deschanel. Tom (Gordon-Levitt) is a greeting card writer who believes in fate and one true love. Enter the new girl at work (Deschanel), who Tom believes to be is soul mate. Unfortunately, Summer does believe in much of anything, but especially relationships. The movie bounces back and forth throughout their relationship's beginning, middle, and end. Quirky romance, great soundtrack. Highly recommended.

The creator of Office Space is back with his newest movie, Extract. This time we are introduced to happy business owner, Joel, who is content with his extract business, his wife, and his life. A freak on-the-job accident, however, throws Joel's life into a spin. Jason Bateman stars as business owner, Joel, Ben Affleck as his slacker best friend, Kristen Wiig as Joel's bored wife, and Mila Kunis plays a con artist in the middle of it all. I love Office Space (who doesn't?), so I had high expectations for Extract. I really wanted to love it, but it falls short for me.

Revolutionary Road - movie not as good as audiobook

this.is.not.here@evpl — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:59:00 GMT

I just finished listening to Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates on Overdrive audio download which I transferred to my mp3 player. The reader, Mark Bramhall does a wondeful job of nailing Frank Wheeler's patronizing cynical attitude toward everyone and everything. He even captures April his wife, their neighbors and even the real estate agent with equal precision. The book was well written and told a coherent story. But now back to the movie. The movie is at best confusing and at worst badly miscast. Leonardo DiCaprio's Frank just looks too young and Kate Winslett has always looked a little on the matronly side to me. And as far as I could tell most of the performances seemed really forced and as my husband would say "N.B." (that means "Not Believable"). So many little important parts were left out of the movie that when it was over my own mother commented "I don't even know what happened." I had listened to the book so I could fill in the blanks but the movie seemed to start in the middle and then unsuccessfully work its way to the beginning and then finally got around to a totally anti-climactic ending.

I'd have to give it a "thumbs down".

Sir Laurence Olivier on DVD

googler@evpl — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:16:00 GMT

I used to have a bit of a weakness for Sir Larry in his prime, and I still watch Rebecca whenever I see it's on TV. I noticed we have a fairly recent release of an old Olivier film from that period, and it made me wonder what others we may have acquired recently. Here are the three latest DVDs in the Library that feature, frankly, one of the best-looking actors ever:

1. That Hamilton Woman (1941) is an account of a famous love affair, that between the great British admiral Lord Nelson, and Lady Hamilton, the wife of a British ambassador. Says Amanda Mae Meynacke, the film is a "robust affair, brimming with vitality and nuance, the kind of film that is too deliciously layered to be taken at face value. Real life couple Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier starred in the 1941 film, with Alexander Korda directing the epic historical war romance. Leigh and Olivier were a newly minted couple who came together while still married to other people, much like Hamilton and Nelson, apparently magnetically drawn together as if their love was always meant to be."

2. My own favorite Olivier movie was re-released on DVD in 2008, Rebecca (1940), based on the Daphne du Maurier novel and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The movie is a wonderfully atmospheric suspense film, although you may find yourself frustrated by Joan Fontaine's exaggerated mousiness (and wonder, like I did, why Olivier's character ever wanted to marry her at all). I tend to watch Olivier movies just to hear the way he delivers lines, and the way he says "I'm asking you to marry me, you little fool" is an all-time favorite.

3. Pride and Prejudice (1940) has seen a number of film and television adaptations, of course, and if you love the book, you may well dislike this movie. "The script is so light in tone, and so light on its resemblance to the novel’s storyline and characters, that purists will find it wholly insufferable. Those with a sense of humor or affection for this era of Hollywood, however, will very quickly fall in love with it," says one blogger at the "My Pride and Prejudice" website.

Do you have a favorite Olivier film, or do you prefer Cary Grant? Tell us in the comments!

Easy Virtue

KickinLibrarian@evpl — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:55:00 GMT

I am a huge fan of Colin Firth. I might question his decision to make films such as What a Girl Wants, but he easily redeems himself with performances in Love Actually, Then She Found Me, and now Easy Virtue. In this movie, Firth plays the distant father and husband of an English family living in a crumbling estate. Firth’s character returned home after wandering around Europe following WWI as part of the Lost Generation. He now hides in his family’s shed repairing an old motorcycle and avoiding his family and their problems. He pops up throughout the movie with sardonic wit and repressed feelings.

Easy Virtue was adapted from a Noel Coward play set in the late 1920s. Jessica Biel plays American racecar driver, Larita, who steals the heart of English heir, John (played by Ben Barnes). The two marry and head to the family's English estate. Larita faces the scorn of her new mother-in-law who had plans for her son to marry the wealthy neighbor girl. Kristin Scott Thomas does an excellent job as the mother fighting against her daughter-in-law for her son's attention and affection. Larita's only allies come in the form of the family's servants and father-in-law (Firth). Once her past scandals come to surface, however, Larita must decide if she will stay with John or leave him and his family behind.

I loved the music, costumes, and actors in Easy Virtue. This movie slipped my attention before landing on the library shelves, so I guess many others may have missed it as well. Check it out- highly recommended.