Films featuring Libraries and Librarians

 In honor of National Library Week, check out a movie about libraries!  Below are some famous movies featuring libraries and librarians:

The Time Traveler's Wife (2010):  Based off the Audrey Niffenegger weeper, this movie follows the tortured but passionate romance of artist Claire and librarian Henry.  Personally, I'd recommend reading the book over watching this movie, but Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana do look fantastic!
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The Hollywood Librarian (2009):  This documentary looks that different images of librarians and libraries in American movies.
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The Station Agent (2004):  The so-hot-right-now Peter Dinklage made his big break in this indie sleeper.  Michelle Williams plays his love interest, a local librarian who is unhappily pregnant by her good-for-nothing boyfriend.
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Miranda (2003):   John Simms (from the British miniseries State of Play) plays a librarian who falls for a mysterious but comely library patron (Christina Ricci). 
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The Mummy (1999):  In this action thriller,  Rachel Weisz plays a beautiful but clumsy librarian at the library of Alexandra.
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Wings of Desire (1987):  This Wim Wenders masterpiece features one of the most famous library scenes ever in  the Berlin State Libary (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin). For the angels in the film, who can hear humans' thoughts, the library is one of the loudest places in the city.  This is a spectacularly beautiful film, highly recommended!
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Breakfast Club (1985):  What's a fate worth than death for a high school student?  Having to spend Saturday in the school library!  Check out this John Hughes classic and have Simple Minds stuck in your head all day.
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Ghostbusters (1984):  This classic 80s sci-fi comedy has lots of great scenes in the New York Public Library, including a librarian ghost who mysteriously stacks books!
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The Music Man (1962):  Featuring Marian the Librarian, queen of all librarian stereotypes.  She shushes, wears her hair up in a bun, and has spiffy glasses.  But when she takes down her hair, she's a total babe!
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Desk Set (1957):  Watch the sparks fly between Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in this romance set in television reference library!
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It's a Wonderful Life (1956):  Without George Bailey around, Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) is forced to live her life as a librarian.  The horror!  The horror!
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For further celebration, check out some fiction and non-fiction books featuring libraries and librarians!

Nerdy and Amazing Men of Rock

Celebrating rock's most unlikely heroes:

Kevin Barnes, Of Montreal.  Barnes is a true indie rock diva.  He has his own glam rock alter-ego, Georgie Fruit, and usually will switch outfits multiple times per performance, occasionally opting to go without any clothes.  However, he also references French literature, Wong Kar-wai films, and Greek Mythology in his lyrics.
 

David Byrne, Talking Heads/ Various and Sundry.  Byrne is a music icon, cycling advocate, artist and author. Early on in his career, Byrne stood out for his quirky vocals and wiry, spastic energy. It's hard not to be impressed by Byrne's weirdness and seemingly boundless energy during his performance in the concert film Stop Making Sense.  Nearly 30 years later, Byrne is still making interesting and enjoyable music. 

Albums We Love: Rubber Factory by the Black Keys

"The Black Keys play the kind of raw, sensual blues-rock that makes you want to hide your girlfriend and warn your mom."- Katie Hasty, Billboard Magazine.

 I am a recent convert to the Black Keys. For years, I avoided listening to them because they are frequently (and somewhat misleadingly) labeled as a blues-rock band, which conjures up images of Blues Traveler, John Mayer, the Doobie Brothers, and countless other acts that are really not my taste.  Thankfully, the Keys are less Blueshammer and more early Stones.  They have a gritty, sexy, primal sound that seems as rooted in 60s garage rock as it does Junior Kimbrough records.  All of their albums warrant a listen (or several), but Rubber Factory is a masterpiece as far as I'm concerned.

Rubber Factory got its name from the tire factory where it was recorded; the band hails from Akron, Ohio, former rubber capital of the world.  The album has a deliberately raw and unpolished sound; it feels as sweaty and smoky as a live show.  The Keys' sound is minimalistic and classic, but it's as powerful and well-crafted as bands that have layers and layers of sound. From the opening clamor of Patrick Carney's drums on "When the Lights Go Out" to the cool, Velvet Underground-y fuzz guitar on "Till I Get My Way," Rubber Factor is delightfully fun rock album.   "10 A.M. Automatic" is a catchy rock anthem on love turned sour; the video for the song, a parody on cable-access TV directed by David Cross, is pretty cool too. "Girl is on my Mind" is a simple rock lust song that wouldn't feel out of place on the Kinks Controversy.  My favorite track on the album is "The Lengths."  Dan Auerbach's slide steel guitar perfectly fits the mood of the song, which seems to be about the break up of a long-term relationship.  It's a haunting and quiet track on an otherwise noisy, rocking album.  The Key's cover of the relatively obscure Kink's song "Act Nice and Gentle" is another standout on the album.  No offense to Ray Davies, who is probably my favorite song-writer ever, but I enjoy this version much more than the original.  While the clean, poppy original is fine; the Keys' loose, country-tinged cover really brings the song to life. 

The Keys are a staff favorite, Jason recently wrote up their rap-rock side project Blakroc.  One of the things that I appreciate about the band is that seem more like music geeks than rock gods.  However, Rubber Factory proves that two nerdy kids from Ohio can make an album with just as much swagger and sex as anything released by the Stones.

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