Trip to NYPL

I went to the New York Public Library (NYPL) at 40th and 5th Avenue, which was renovated a few years ago. The new version is impressive. If you go down 41st (from Grand Central), look down to see the sidewalk poetry.  I took the Express Bus ($7 now) back. 

I will always think of it as the "Mid-Manhattan" though it has a new name. On the "stacks" level of the first floor (1M) there are many DVDs, CDs, and audiobooks. It was closed when I went, but there is a food court now, and a rooftop terrace area (I never went there).  

It somewhat amazes me that I can go to a library filled with books and not find much interesting. I did take some DVDs and books out, including an interesting one I'm reading by a federal judge (now retired) on Justice Douglas' environmental record. I spent hours there this time.

Eat With Me is a pleasant film involving a gay man who runs a struggling restaurant. His mother shows up one day, driven crazy by her husband. George Takei pops up late in a cameo. Nicole Sullivan, from Mad TV and other programs, is in the film as a wacky neighbor. The film again overall is pleasant. Nothing special but I enjoyed it as a whole. 

The Cigarette Girl From Mosselprom is a silent Russian film from the 1920s. I saw the first half or so of the film. The film concerns a young cigarette seller (looking it up, the woman had a long history in film) whom three very different men (an office worker, a cameraman, and an older American industrialist) fall for. 

She becomes an actress. Meanwhile, a woman in the same office is hoping the guy asks her to marry her, raising another complication. The film is basically a romantic comedy. One amusing scene is when the office worker tries to "save" the woman from committing suicide. Turns out to be a movie scene. 

It is amazing to watch a black-and-white film that shows life in the 1920s Soviet Union. The fact it is a silent film doesn't make it unwatchable though just listening to a musical soundtrack is annoying. The acting and overall filmmaking are good. The overall story, however, is such that it will keep my interest for a film that is around two hours long. I think if the film was a third shorter or something, it would have helped.

Mind you, I stopped watching after around forty minutes, but that is my overall sentiment. It still is a film people should check out.  

I also took out the second season of Drop Dead Diva (an empty-headed beautiful woman dies and her soul is returned into the body of a heavy-set and dull lawyer). I watched the show when it was on until I think it overlasted its welcome. Also, an Australian TV series, which I will comment on later if I find it worthwhile.  

The library has a whole section of television DVDs, including classical and foreign shows. It is a prime resource.