Video Gifts from Dr. Bob AuFrance
In 2007 and again in 2008 Dr. Robert AuFrance, Director of the Waldorf Theater Program and Associate Professor donated 475 video titles from his personal collection to the library. In 2007 Dr. AuFrance donated 500 titles.
For a complete list of titles monthly please check the New Aquistions link on the main menu.
The Aviator is a 2004 American biographical drama film, directed by Martin Scorsese and based on the life of Howard Hughes. It tells the story of the eccentric aviation pioneer, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, following Hughes' life from the late 1920s through the 1940s, a time when he was directing and producing Hollywood movies as well as test-piloting his own groundbreaking new aircraft. The film also illustrates Hughes' descent into severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and reclusiveness.
12 Angry Men is an American drama film produced in 1957 by first-time director Sidney Lumet based on the play of the same name by Reginald Rose. It is about a jury member who tries to persuade the other 11 members to acquit the suspect on trial on the basis of reasonable doubt. The film is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set: with the exception of three minutes of screen-time split between the beginning and the end and two short scenes in an adjoining washroom, the entire movie takes place in the jury room.
Apart from two of the jurors swapping names on leaving the courthouse, no names are used in the film: the defendant is referred to as "the boy" and the witnesses as the "old man" and "the lady across the street".
In 2007, 12 Angry Men was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Gangs of New York is a 2002 bildungsroman film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan. The film is loosely inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book The Gangs of New York. It was distributed by Miramax Films.
The film begins in 1846 and quickly jumps to the early 1860s. The two principal issues of the era in New York were Irish immigration to the city and the Federal government's execution of the Civil War. The story follows Bill "The Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) in his roles as crime boss and political kingmaker under the helm of Boss Tweed (Jim Broadbent). The film culminates in a confrontation between Cutting and his mob with the protagonist Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his immigrant allies, which coincides with the New York Draft Riots of 1863.
The Magnificent Seven is a 1960 western film directed by John Sturges about a group of hired gunmen protecting a Mexican village from bandits. It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film, Seven Samurai
Sideways is an American comedy-drama film written by Jim Taylor and directed by Alexander Payne. Adapted from Rex Pickett's 2004 novel, Sideways follows two fortysomething men, portrayed by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, who take a week-long road trip to the wine country of Santa Barbara. Payne and Taylor won multiple awards for their screenplay. Giamatti and Church, as well as supporting actresses Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh, who played two local women who become romantically involved with the men, all received accolades for their performances in the film.
What Dreams May Come is a 1998 dramatic film, starring Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Annabella Sciorra. The movie is based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Richard Matheson, and was directed by Vincent Ward.
Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) dies in a car accident, and goes to an otherworldly paradise, created out of his wife's paintings. He befriends afterlife guide Albert Lewis (Cuba Gooding Jr.), but without his wife Annie (Annabella Sciorra) he is lost. Albert attempts to dissuade Chris from trying to reach his wife, who herself is terrified of a life without him. The two attempt to cross the boundaries of life and death to reach each other but it is not enough.
Luise V. Hanson Library
Waldorf College
102 South 6th Street
Forest City, Iowa 50436
641.585.8110
October 02, 2008
