Spellbound (373.1 SPE) Follow (and root for) eight youngsters vying to win the National Spelling Bee.

King Corn: You Are What You Eat (633.15 KIN) Two college friends unlock hidden truths about America’s food system when they try to grow an acre of corn.

Helvetica (686.224 HEL) Yes, this IS an entire film about a font, but it’s also a fascinating look at graphic design and noticing the intersection of words and signage and space in the world around us.

Mad Hot Ballroom (793.3 MAD) This film about eleven-year-old New York City public school kids learning how to ballroom dance is both fun and inspiring.

Searching for Sugar Man (781.66) This recent winner of the Academy Award for Documentary Feature about a nearly forgotten folk singer from the 1970s grabs your attention and doesn’t let up until the heartwarming ending.

The September Issue (746.92 SEP) Sure you’ve seen The Devil Wears Prada and/or episodes of Ugly Betty, but this is the REAL behind-the-scenes look at U.S. Vogue magazine and editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
(B CARDIFF) An absorbing look at life behind the camera and the craft and ingenuity of an Oscar-winning cinematographer.

But there’s another reason for missing him: his upbeat attitude as he battled cancer continually astonished me. For many people, to suffer a so-called “disfiguring” surgery and then to lose their voice would give reason for disappearing from public life. Instead, he barely skipped a beat, finding new outlets in social media, as well as continuing his online movie reviews. I’m sure he had his dark days, but in the several times I saw him interviewed on TV, the joy in his eyes was real. I learned as much from that joy in the face of adversity as from reading many years of movie revues.

In his book “Life Itself: A Memoir,” Ebert said, “I believe that if, at the end, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. I didn’t always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.”

We meet gurus in strange places, and I think that in the future, every time life throws me a curve ball, I will think of Roger Ebert.

His last review, published on April 6, was of Terrence Malick’s “To the Wonder,” and you might also want to check out this compilation of some of Ebert’s “top films.”

Lastly, here’s an interview with Ebert about film criticism, including his explanation of the origin of the “two thumbs up” rating system.

The plot can be summed up as follows: A prim schoolteacher named Catherine Ballou (Jane Fonda) hires a famous gunman to protect her father’s ranch, and later to avenge her father’s murder, but finds that the man she hires is not whom she expected. She has hired legendary gunfighter Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin) to come and help protect her father from fast-drawing Tim Strawn (also played by Marvin), alias ‘Silvernose,’ the hired killer who is threatening her father, Frankie. There are various plot convolutions, and the prim Catherine Ballou emerges as “Cat Ballou,” girl train robber, with the “face of an angel, who fights like a devil.”

Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen

Marvin is inspired in this movie, with a kind of crazed goofiness, and he won an Oscar for Best Actor for his dual role. The scene where, as Kid Shelleen, he sobers up and dons his gunfighting costume, starting with a corset, is a classic.

Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye are billed onscreen simply as “Shouters.” They act as banjo-playing, wandering minstrels, intermittently narrating the story with verses of “The Ballad of Cat Ballou.”

Be forewarned that Cat Ballou could be accused of not being politically correct, and it looks like it was filmed on a studio back lot. But it has a light-heartedness and sense of fun that is really enjoyable.

Note: If you enjoy Cat Ballou, consider watching Blazing Saddles next. It’s the spiritual heir to Cat Ballou, with some of the same plot machinations, and it will keep the smiles coming.

You also might want to read Lee Marvin: Point Blank (B MARVIN), a new biography of the actor.

Fortunately, there are plenty of other  ways to enjoy short films. PBS is hosting the 2013 Online Film Festival , running through March 22, showcasing 25 short films on a diversity of subjects.  Viewers can vote for their favorites.

Watch 2013 Festival | Why We Love PBS on PBS. See more from PBS Online Film Festival.

The Library also has some short films on DVD as well as books on the topic, including:

Pixar Short Film Collection, Volumes 1 and 2  Short films that changed the face of animation and entertainment. Volume one shows all of Pixar‘s short works from 1986 to 2006, plus an early short from when Pixar was still the computer department at Lucasfilm. Volume 2 features 12 shorts that were released from 2007 through 2012.

StoryCorps Animated Shorts [DVD] Based on the StoryCorps series on NPR which was started by former documentary filmmaker Dave Isay 2003. The shorts are based on three-minute excerpts of interviews from the show.

Make Your Own!

The complete guide to writing, producing, and directing a low-budget short film / Gini Graham Scott 808.23 SCO A comprehensive step-by-step overview of how to complete and promote a low-budget short film.

Normally it’s a cliché to start a review with a quote from The Bard, but with Slings and Arrows it’s practically required. Despite the contemporary setting, Shakespeare is essentially a main character. Not a scene goes by without a mention of, an allusion to, or a quotation from the playwright himself. This is television’s ode to Shakespeare, and a beautiful one at that. The best part about the show however, is that you don’t need to have read a word of his works to enjoy the series. While it’s true that familiarity with his plays is rewarded throughout the series, the fundamental core of the show can be appreciated by anybody.

The show depicts a Canadian Shakespeare troupe struggling to keep their personal drama from affecting their stage drama. It does this without ever verging into melodramatic territory, and this is where the success of the series lies: in its effortless ability to highlight the subtle theatricality of life, and the profound and human experiences the theater provides. This is also a show about people stuck inside a profession that they love, even while it consumes them whole. Their biggest accomplishments in life are just a collection of fleeting moments that are over before they even begin . . . much like life itself. Also like life itself, the show is filled with plenty of humor, and rivals even some of the best comedies at times.

The talent is excellent across the board, but the show’s leading man is the real gem of the series. Paul Gross stars as Geoffrey Talent, a somewhat mentally unstable washed-up theater actor who hesitantly returns to his old theater troupe. Outside of the protagonist however, Slings and Arrows knows that “there are no small parts,” because every character gets their moment to shine within a given episode, and just about all of them receive a satisfying ending by the time the show ends. With only three short seasons (six episodes each), it’s hardly time-consuming, and is more rewarding than most network dramas that lasted over 100 episodes.

From “The Root,” a news source from the African-American perspective, comes 10 Films on Our Must-See List in 2013, including a Jackie Robinson biopic and a new Will Smith sci-fi flick.

The story of late Brooklyn Dodgers star Jackie Robinson gets the big-screen treatment in ’42, with Chadwick Boseman as Robinson.

BlackShortFilms.com. Short films featuring black directors, actors, writers, and themes. Twenty-four short films are currently featured at the website.

BlackClassicMovies.com offers a Top 100 collection of the best black American classic movies available today. The list covers over 80 years of films dating back as early as 1920.

Hollywood Black Film Festival. Dubbed “The Black Sundance,” the Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) is an annual four-day celebration of black cinema drawing together established filmmakers, popular film and TV stars, writers, directors, industry executives, emerging artists, and diverse audiences from Hollywood and around the world.

The HistoryMakers. A video oral history archive of the untold personal stories of both well-known and unsung African Americans. The archive includes more than 2,000 interviews.

So to find some inspirational movies with “heart and soul,” check out Spiritual Cinema Circle. These movies can be found in 204 SPI, along with books on spirituality, and are not with movie DVDs.

The movie is based on the novels of Patrick O’Brian, who was known for his  detailed portrayals of 19-century naval life. The books Master and Commander and the Far Side of the World are part of a 20-novel series.

The title signals that we are going on an adventure, and the sense of being whisked away to another world and time is one of the things I love about this movie. As a Russell Crowe fan, I loved seeing him as Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey, master and commander of the HMS Surprise, and enjoyed seeing  life aboard this early nineteenth century man-of-war. An Oscar for Best Sound Editing went to Russell Boyd, who recorded realistic sound effects for the battle and storm scenes. So not only are we seeing this other world, we are hearing it.

Plot-wise, Master and Commander is set during the Napoleonic Wars, when England was under threat of invasion. The captain plays a cat-and-mouse game with the French war vessel, the Acheron, pushing his men and his ship to their limits, as they sail around South America, often on stormy seas. On board is Dr. Stephen Maturin, an amateur naturalist, who hopes to stop at the Galapagos Islands to study their natural history. The growing friendship between the captain and the doctor forms an enjoyable subplot to the naval adventure.

At the end of the movie, the captain and the doctor sit in the captain’s quarters and play music on their cello and fiddle, indicating that peace has returned to the ship. Then, suddenly omnipotent, we see the ship, sails billowing, turning to the far horizon. What adventure will be next?

To learn more about nineteenth century naval life and history, read Jack Aubrey Commands: an Historical Companion to the Naval World of Patrick O’Brian by Brian Lavery, and Patrick O’Brian’s Navy: the Illustrated Companion to Jack Aubrey’s World, edited by Richard O’Neil.

Note: The sound track of Master and Commander is worth borrowing–over the years it’s earned four and a half stars at Amazon–so that you can listen to the music again . . . and again.

Note: We will be adding links to our catalog as items become available.

Best Picture
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Lincoln
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Amour
Django Unchained
Argo

Read more about Amour, and its surprise Oscars nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Director.

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
Alan Arkin (Argo)
Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Tommy Lee Jones as Senator Thaddeus Stevens in “Lincoln”
DreamWorks Studios/Touchstone Pictures

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Field (Lincoln)
Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
Amy Adams (The Master)

Amy Adams in “The Master”
The Weinstein Co.

Best Director
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Michael Haneke (Amour
Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

From Theatrical Trailer Poster

Best Actor
Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln)
Denzel Washington (Flight)
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

Best Actress
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Naomi Watts in “The Impossible”
Jose Haro/Summit Entertainment

Best Animated Feature
Frankenweenie
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph
ParaNorman
Brave

Best Foreign Feature
Amour
A Royal Affair
Kon-Tiki
No
War Witch

Best Visual Effects
Life of Pi
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

Life of Pi
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Best Cinematography
Skyfall
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Lincoln (based in part on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin)
Silver Linings Playbook (based on the book Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick)
Argo (based on the book Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by Antonio Mendez)
Life of Pi (based on Life of Pi by Yann Martel)
Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Documentary Feature
Searching for Sugar Man
How to Survive a Plague
The Gatekeepers
5 Broken Cameras
The Invisible War

Best Documentary Short
Open Heart
Inocente
Redemption
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine

Best Music (Original Score)
Anna Karenina
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Best Music (Original Song)
Before My Time (from “Chasing Ice”)
Everybody Needs A Best Friend (from “Ted”)
Pi’s Lullaby (from “Life of Pi”)
Skyfall (from “Skyfall”)
Suddenly (from “Les Misérables“)

Interested in the Short Film Nominees? Check out the Short of the Week website to see films and trailers.

When we grow up, we tend to feel a void in our lives where our childlike imagination used to be. We outgrow it because it’s no longer appropriate for us to play “make-believe,” never realizing that reality can seem so empty without it. Nicholas Van Orton is an adult man, leading a very adult life. It was Jack Torrance from The Shining who famously said: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” The same could be said about Nicholas, who has more money than he knows what to do with, and nobody to spend it on. Favoring career advancement and material possessions over meaningful relationships and life experience, Nicholas is only now starting to feel the emptiness that was always there. That is, until he played The Game.

When his deadbeat brother shows up out of the blue to celebrate Nicholas’ birthday over lunch, Nicholas is given an opportunity to play The Game. One character calls it “a vacation, but one that comes to you.” That’s putting it lightly. With no information other than a business card that reads “Consumer Recreation Services,” he gets thrusts into a life-changing experience. The Game (1997) really hits its stride when Nicholas starts to lose his grasp on reality. When does The Game end and real life begin? It’s a question that the audience will be asking themselves, and the film does well in blurring those lines as neatly as it does.

David Fincher (director of The Social Network, Fight Club, Se7en) sets the film primarily at night, highlighting the extremely dark nature of such an experience. When you take away a man’s distinction between real life and fantasy, it’s no longer just fun and games. Adults could stand to let some of their childhood imagination back into their lives, but it’s clear that there’s such a thing as too much. One doesn’t play The Game, so much as gets played by The Game. And that’s true of the film as well.