Library News and Views: Spring film series Thursdays at 7 p.m.

By Rachel Rawn

Thanks to the Friends of the Havre-Hill County Library who purchase our annual site license through Movie Licensing USA, we will once again be presenting a film series this spring.

Everybody is invited on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m. to join us in viewing “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” starring Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, and Dev Patel.

Some British retirees decide to outsource their retirement to exotic — and less expensive — India. Lured by advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and imagining a life of leisure in lush surroundings, they arrive and find that the Marigold is actually a shell of its former self. Though their new home is not quite what they had imagined, the retirees find that life and love can begin again when they let go of their pasts. This movie is rated PG-13.

Our second film in this series will be “The Theory of Everything,” rated PG-13, Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. “In the 1960s, Cambridge University student and future physicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) falls in love with fellow collegian Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones). At 21, Hawking learns that he has motor neuron disease.

Despite this — and with Jane at his side — he begins an ambitious study of time, of which he has very little left, according to his doctor. He and Jane defy terrible odds and break new ground in the fields of medicine and science, achieving more than either could hope to imagine.”

On Thursday, May 14, at 7 p.m., we will show the 2014 “Annie,” rated PG. “Ever since her parents left her as a baby, little Annie (Quvenzhané Wallis) has led a hard-knock life with her calculating foster mother, Miss Hannigan. However, all that changes when hard-nosed billionaire and mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) takes her in on the recommendation of his advisers (Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale). Stacks believes that he’s Annie’s guardian angel, but the plucky youngster’s confidence and sunny outlook may mean that Annie will save Will instead.

Thursday, May 28, at 7 p.m., please join us in viewing the movie “Unbroken,” rated PG-13. “As a boy, Louis ‘Louie’ Zamperini is always in trouble, but with the help of his older brother, he turns his life around and channels his energy into running, later qualifying for the 1936 Olympics. When World War II breaks out, Louie enlists in the military. After his plane crashes in the Pacific, he survives an incredible 47 days adrift in a raft, until his capture by the Japanese navy. Sent to a POW camp, Louie becomes the favorite target of a particularly cruel prison commander.”

Thursday, June 11, at 7 p.m., we will show “The Imitation Game,” rated PG-13.

“In 1939, newly created British intelligence agency MI6 recruits Cambridge mathematics alumnus Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) to crack Nazi codes, including Enigma — which cryptanalysts had thought unbreakable. Turing’s team, including Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley), analyze Enigma messages while he builds a machine to decipher them. Turing and team finally succeed and become heroes, but in 1952, the quiet genius encounters disgrace when authorities reveal he is gay and send him to prison.”

Our final film in this series will be “Wild,” starring Reese Witherspoon. We will show “Wild” Thursday, June 11, at 7 p.m. “Driven to the edge by the loss of her beloved mother (Laura Dern), the dissolution of her marriage and a headlong dive into self-destructive behavior, Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) makes a decision to halt her downward spiral and put her life back together again. With no outdoors experience, a heavy backpack and little else to go on but her own will, Cheryl sets out alone to hike the Pacific Crest Trail — one of the country’s longest and toughest through-trails.” This film is rated R.  

Please join us in viewing these wonderful films. These events are free and popcorn will be served.