My job (I apologize to all of you who work during the school year–you’re all amazing), far from proving that I’m not lazy as I expected it to, has only vaulted me into a whole new dimension of procrastination and other such symptoms. It seems I’ve begun to use it (despite my extremely short hours) as an excuse for laziness. Thus, instead of studying or volunteering or blogging, once I get home I usually go to sleep or binge on movies from Hoopla (luckily there is a limit of 12 items per month or I would really be worrying about myself).
You see, Hoopla is my new favourite thing. It can be yours as well as long as you have a Calgary Public Library card.
It’s different from the pre-existing e-library, in one major way: there is no limit to how many copies of an item (music, video and audiobooks) are checked out at once. It’s something which usually rules the library system, to the distress of all on long hold waitlists, something eradicated with Hoopla.
So while a bit redundant for those of us with Netflix, it’s perhaps the next best thing for those without.
The only problem is that the selection is understandably mixed and a bit baffling–there are some bizarre documentaries, a selection of chick flicks, and a number of older films (what I do hear Hoopla is fantastic for is music, credited as “itunes-like”). It can take some digging to find something worth watching, so here are four decent movies to start you off with.
Angel in the House
A foster child unexpectedly shows up on the doorstep of a childless couple.
Anything with precocious young children in I immediately find charming. So despite other shortcomings and perhaps a rather stale plot, I still found it cute.
Cold Comfort Farm
An orphaned aspiring writer comes to live with her eccentric farming family.
I found this film vaguely disconcerting in how it disagreed with my initial impressions. I didn’t really understand the authors intent—although it’s hard to miss the bathetic events and humour—until I read the Wikipedia article. Now I appreciate it quite a bit more. The only thing I suppose is that it does come across as a bit pretentious in the use of modern versus rural lifestyles, but this might be unavoidable considering it’s purpose.
Hey hey it’s Esther Blueburger
Esther Blueburger secretly leaves her restrictive private school in lieu of the freedom and change promised by public school and her friend Sunni.
It follows a fairly standard plotline of the character-development variety, but I find it hard to go wrong with character development. I also liked the way the movie was produced; not only the surreal expressions of conformity in the initial scenes but realism in the unfinished, stilted way scenes suddenly end.
Today’s Special
The story of a chef and his anticlimactic return to his family restaurant.
Oh yes, the romcom. Father-son friction. Mysterious figure who brings some sort of salvation. This one was redeemed in the amount of beautiful food shots. But that taxi-driver.
