Princeton Public Library is set to present a film series called Groundbreaking Movies this summer.
The series is in keeping with the theme of the library’s summer reading programs for all ages: breaking new ground through reading. Selected films broke new ground with their subject matter, style, animation or sound.
Screenings are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the library’s Community Room, 65 Witherspoon St., Princeton.
Scheduled movies include;
June 24: Citizen Kane. Critics have called this 1941 drama starring and directed by Orson Welles the greatest film ever made. Told in flashbacks as reporters try to discover the meaning of the final utterance of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, the film examines the life and legacy of the character that was loosely based on William Randolph Hearst. Not rated. 1 hour, 59 minutes.
July 1: Beauty and the Beast. This 1991 animated musical romantic fantasy film tells the story of Belle, a girl who is dissatisfied with life in a small provincial town and a prince who was placed under a spell because he could not love. Rated G. 1 hour, 33 minutes.
July 8: Jurassic Park. This 1993 adventure film based on the Michael Crichton novel of the same name tells the story of what happens when a wildlife park of cloned dinosaurs suffers a power breakdown that allows the dinosaurs to escape. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film is regarded as a landmark in the use of computer-generated imagery. Rated PG-13. 2 hours, 7 minutes.
July 15: Do the Right Thing. Written, produced and directed by Spike Lee, this 1989 film explores a neighborhood’s simmering racial tensions and how they culminate in tragedy on the hottest day of the summer. Rated R. 2 hours.
July 22: 2001: A Space Odyssey. Stanley Kubrick produced and directed this landmark 1968 British-American science fiction film about evolution. Sometime in the distant past, someone or something nudged evolution by placing a monolith on Earth. Evolution then enabled humankind to reach the moon’s surface, where yet another monolith is found, one that signals the monolith placers that humankind has evolved that far. Now a race begins between the computer and humans to reach the monolith placers. The winner will achieve the next step in evolution, whatever that may be. Rated G. 2 hours, 21 minutes.
July 29: Brokeback Mountain. Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger star in this 2005 film based on a short story of the same name by Annie Proulx. Directed by Ang Lee, it is the story of a Wyoming ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy who form an undeniable, if forbidden, lifelong bond. Rated R. 2 hours, 14 minutes.
Aug. 5: The Matrix. Keanu Reeves stars in this 1999 American-Australian science fiction film depicting a dystopian future in which reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated reality called “the Matrix,” created by sentient machines to pacify and subdue the human population, while their bodies’ heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. Computer programmer Neo learns this truth and is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, which involves other people who have been freed from the “dream world.” Rated R. 2 hours, 16 minutes.
Aug. 12: Toy Story. This 1995 Disney Pixar movie, featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, answers the question of what toys do when people aren’t around. Rated G. 1 hour, 21 minutes.
More information is online at princetonlibrary.org.
