One of my favorite ways to spend an evening is a movie night. I’m sure I’m not alone. For me, one of the best things about the advent of streaming movies is the ability to browse and start watching movies without having to get up to put in the DVD or change the disc if I’m having a movie marathon. It really puts the “lazy” in “lazy day.”
The Delaware County District Library is now offering access to Kanopy, a streaming movie service, with your library card. If you’re a user of the Hoopla app, Kanopy will be very familiar to you. You’ll have 8 credits each month. Once you select a film, you’ll have three days to watch it as many times as you want. I am notorious in my family for re-watching films, so I am definitely excited that multiple viewings are possible with Kanopy. Like Hoopla, your Kanopy credits will reload on the first of each month. Kanopy is easy to access too, with apps for iOS, Amazon Fire, Roku and Google Play.
Available titles vary from artistic indie films, like “Loving Vincent,” to classics like “To Catch a Thief,” to cult favorites like “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” You’ll find new films to enjoy and rediscover old favorites. (And I mean old like Charlie Chaplin-old.) Like the ubiquitous Netflix, Kanopy offers fun categories to inspire your selections. My personal favorite is “Before They Were Famous,” featuring early performances of stars, like Mel Gibson in Tim or Helena Bonham Carter in “Francesco.”
This is my shortlist of Kanopy titles I can’t wait to watch or, in some cases, re-watch:
• “Loving Vincent”: In the first fully painted feature film, 2018 Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent tells the story of the mysterious and tragic death of the world’s most famous artist, Vincent van Gogh. Featuring the voices of Saoirse Ronan and Chris O’Dowd.
• “Journey’s End”: The Great War – March, 1918. C-company arrives to take its turn in the front-line trenches of northern France, led by the war-weary Captain Stanhope. With a German offensive imminently approaching, the company anxiously awaits their unknown fate. Based on the Tony award winning play.
• “Donnie Darko”: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a disturbed adolescent from a semi-functional, upper-middle class family, gifted with a sharp intellect and vivid imagination – but he’s also a bit weird. Donnie’s off his medication and when his boredom is obliterated by a falling airline engine, he becomes increasingly delusional and convinced the world will end in 28 days. Aided by an imaginary friend, he embarks on an increasingly crazed series of actions, which horrify his teachers, scare his parents and amaze his friends.
• “What We Do In The Shadows”: Housemates Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav (Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, & Jonathan Brugh) are three vampires who are trying to get by in modern society; from paying rent and doing housework to trying to get invited into nightclubs. They are just like anyone else – except they’re immortal and must feast on human blood. When their 8000 year-old roommate Petyr, turns 20-something human hipster Nick, into a vampire, the guys must guide him through his newfound eternal life.
• “Funny Face”: Paris, the City of Light, shines even brighter when Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire team up, bringing their luminous star power to this exquisite Oscar-nominated musical featuring songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Featuring iconic performances from two legends of the silver screen, this joyous, stylish film is sure to leave you singing and dancing.
