Mad Men, Season 3

The Golden Globe-winning TV series about an ad agency in the 1960's is a must watch. It is based around the big cats of the agency, but mainly about the most interesting of them all: Don Draper. He is a man who has secrets of his own, although he may appear to the public as a loving husband and devoted family man.

In this season, Don has landed a rather important client: Conrad Hilton. But he cannot keep his womanising ways under control, and he finds his home life and very personal life colliding in one way or another. The other men in the agency must fight for survival as the British takeover threatens their blossoming careers. Peggy finally gets her own office, and all the problems that come with it. Betty welcomes a new baby, and new issues on the home front.

This series just seems to go from strength to strength, and I enjoyed each new episode. I highly recommend this show to everyone, and I am yet to find a person who didn't enjoy it.

The Library has the first four seasons of Mad Men on DVD.

(Reviewed by Jasmine)

Go on an Odyssey

I was tidying our graphic novel collection the other day and stumbled across not one, but three, different re-tellings of Homer's Odyssey. This got me thinking, “Just how many versions of the famous poem do we have?”

the Odyssey is a poem written by the Greek poet Homer nearly 3 thousand years ago. The story takes place after the Trojan war which was around 1200 BC. Our Hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca (also known as Ulysses to the Romans), was the man who came up with the whole Trojan horse trick, winning the war for the Greeks. It turns out however that some of the Gods were not impressed by Odysseus' trick, so they decided to stop him getting home. According to legend after 10 years fighting the war it took Odysseus another 10 years to get home. By this time his son Telemachus has grown up and his wife is beset by suitors who assume Odysseus is dead and there is a kingdom up for grabs.

The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus' trials and tribulations as he tries to get home and save his family.

Here at the library we have English versions of the poem in various formats. We have both illustrated and non-illustrated versions as well as a full uncut audio-book and a full graphic novel version by award winning graphic novel author Gareth Hinds.

The story has been redone many times in many different styles. If you want an easy light hearted version try “The Iliad and the Odyssey” retold by Marcia Williams in a style that reminds me of the Horrible histories series. For those with a more twisted sense of humour try either “Stickman Odyssey” which claims to be told the way it was meant to be read with stick figures. You could also try “Tank Girl, The odyssey”. I do have to warn you expect the unexpected. Telemachus for example has a television set for a head.

Lastly I'd recommend two items that tell a story that isn't quite the Odyssey but is so interlink that they deserve a mention. The first is the movie “O Brother where art thou” staring George Clooney. This is the story of 3 convicts in depression era America trying to get home. The other is James Joyce's epic “Ulysses” which all takes place over one day in Dublin. To get the most out of these last two I recommend you familiarise yourself with the story first.

All in all the Odyssey is a great action/fantasy/historical/love/revenge story. If it sounds like something you might be interested in come in and have a look at one of the many versions we can provide.

Limitless

Eddie Morra is a promising writer, who seems to have writers block, and has spent his entire advance for his next book drinking. Eddie is about to hit rock bottom as his long suffering girlfriend dumps him in a restaurant after meeting him for lunch. On the way home, he meets up with his ex-brother in-law who is about to change Eddie’s life forever.

Seeing that Eddie is having a hard time, he gives him an unregulated drug called NZT, which allows Eddie to access 100% of his brain. He finishes writing his book in a couple of days and the drug enables him to instantly understand and use complex maths and learn any language, and he seems to be smarter and cooler than everyone else. The effects of the drug only last for about a day, so Eddie goes to see his ex-brother in-law at his apartment, to get more NZT and this is when he finds out this drug has its price - and not a financial one.

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie as the story line fascinated me. I wasn’t disappointed. This movie is based loosely on a short story called “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes.

Band of Brothers

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg produced this fantastic mini series based around the efforts of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne in the Second World War. It is mainly based on the best selling biography of the men by Stephen Ambrose. It takes them back to the formation of Easy Company and the rigorous training that they had to complete before being shipped off to England. Here, they received yet more training and learned that they were to be part of one of the largest 'drops' in WWII – D-Day.

It goes through the various places they fought in the war from France, the disastrous 'Market-Garden' in Holland and the freezing winter in the Ardennes in Belgium, right through to Germany and the end of the war. Easy Company received a 100% casualty rate during the war, but this didn't stop them from becoming known as the “Battered Bastards of Bastogne”. Instead, the events that they went through bonded them as a group and helped form a sense of camaraderie that only exists in certain circumstances, such as combat.

The series follows various characters and their reactions to the situations that they had to face. I would highly recommend this series. It kept me riveted from the start to the dramatic conclusion. The Library has Band of brothers in both DVD and Blue-ray.

(Reviewed by Jasmine)

Desperate Romantics

Desperate Romantics follows the lives and loves of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, composed of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Millais. They are also joined by Fred Walters, a shy reporter who writes about the young men. Each of the artists is after the most important thing – recognition and patronage from Ruskin and the art society.
Rossetti is obsessed with finding the perfect model, a muse. He finds luck in Lizzie Siddal, whom Fred finds in a hat shop. Both men fall in love with her, and rivalry begins. Hunt uses a prostitute from a tavern as a model, and then tries to make her a ‘lady’, so that he can marry her. And Millais finds himself falling in love with Ruskin’s young, unappreciated wife.
Together, these men are the rebels of art society. We watch them as they create their masterpieces, battle their demons, find and lose love and have both successes and failures.
It is well worth the watch, and you will find yourself looking up the art of the young men, and thinking about the stories behind the paintings.
Check to heere to see if this BBC Miniseries is in the library.

(Reviewed by Jasmine)

Being Human

This is a story of a vampire (Mitchell) a werewolf (George) and a ghost (Annie) who are all living in a flat together in Bristol trying to "Be Human".

The best character by far is George the dorky werewolf. Mitchell is good as an on-the-wagon blood junkie and Annie who thinks she has to stay as a ghost as she has unfinished business on earth. The bad guys were all nasty and loathsome, which was great.

The first episode was slow, but stick with it! I love the supernatural theme and the under lying stories behind these characters that will make you think about what’s out there and do they truly exist and live in the fringes of our society. The story flicks back and forward between the past and the present. We get to see how they became what they are and how this haunts them.

The library has series 1 & series 2. Series 3 is currently screening now in England so we should be seeing it here sometime this year.

(Reviewed by Michelle A)