Fan Favorite Friday: The winsome Kate Winslet

You probably don't even realize how good Kate Winslet is.

When I say her name, what do you think of? Titanic, of course. Maybe Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Perhaps, Revolutionary Road. Is that about it?

Did you know that she's been nominated for six Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes and seven BAFTAs? Or that she's just a Tony Award away from joining the prestigious EGOT club—that is, winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony?

So if you've never considered Winslet's remarkable filmography, consider this your invitation.

Welcome to Fan Favorite Friday. And, remember, you can borrow any and all of these movies from Mentor Public Library.

1. Sense and Sensibility. Winslet auditioned for the smaller part of Lucy Steele but was good enough that she earned the major role of Marianne Dashwood. However, Ang Lee was concerned enough about Winslet's high-energy style that he had her take piano lessons and read Austen-era poetry so she could better inhabit the character.

2. Titanic. Do I really need to say a lot about this one? There was a boat. It sank. Also, something about a necklace.

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Winslet's so good in this film (which is about a young woman who decides to have her memories of of ex-boyfriend erased) that we might forget that, at the time, this was an enormous departure for her. No corsets, no historical flourishes. Just an Oscar-nominated performance from Winslet and some of the best work of Michael Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and Jim Carrey's careers.

4. Finding Neverland. This semibiographical film tells the tale of J.M. Barrie and his friendship with the Llewelyn Davies boys, which inspired Peter Pan. Winslet plays Sylvia, the boys' mother.

5. The Reader. Winslet won an Oscar and a Golden Globes for her performance as Hanna, a Nazi concentration camp guard who would rather be wrongly convicted than reveal her secret.

6. Revolutionary Road. This film reunited Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio and was directed by her then-husband, Sam Mendes. She and DiCaprio play a seemingly happy but secretly troubled married couple.

7. Flushed Away. OK, so this one didn't garner any Oscars, BAFTAs or Tonies, but it's a personal favorite. It's an animated feature by the same team that created the Wallace & Gromit shorts. It's about a silver-spooned pet rat (voiced by Hugh Jackman) trying to survive in the London sewers with the help of a streetwise rodent voiced by Winslet. It's far more charming than any film about sewer rats should be.

8. Extras. Winslet's so good she could win an Emmy playing herself, and she did in this Ricky Gervais comedy about the lives of bit actors.

9. Mildred Pierce. Winslet earned another Emmy for her performance as the titular heroine in this James McCain novel turned HBO miniseries about a housewife, struggling to maintain her family's middle-class standing during the Great Depression.

10. The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism. Winslet is also an advocate for those with autism, and she talks about how this neural development disorder has impacted her life in The Golden Hat.

Come back each week for a new Fan Favorite Friday.

Throwback Thursday: A+ B-Movies

It's a contradiction of terms to talk about great B-movies. If they were that great, they wouldn't be B-movies. They'd just be movies.

But some of the schlocky, silly, underbudgeted films featuring 50-foot cavewomen, voracious blobs, radioactive monsters, and dinosaurs in the Wild West exceed their humble origins. They're a lot of fun. And, whether you're laughing sincerely or ironically, doesn't matter as long as you're having a good time.

So this week, we're dedicating Throwback Thursday to the best of the B-movies.

(As always, you can check out any and all of these movies and books from the Mentor Public Library. We’ve even linked to our collection so you can put them on hold wherever you are.)

1. King Kong v. Godzilla—It's nigh impossible to get a group to agree on a favorite King Kong or Godzilla film, but anyone with the slightest sense of the spectacular can agree that the combination thereof is B-movie brilliance.

2. Piranha—Jaws begat a million imitators. For my money, Piranha is the funniest and the most fun.

3. Leprechaun 3—Picking a favorite Leprechaun movie is like picking a favorite flavor of M & M. You can dress them up so they look different, but they're all peddling the same shtick. A gory sadistic version of an Irish mythological character goes to some distinctive setting and kills people—usually in over-the-top fashion. In the third entry of this series, the Leprechaun goes to Vegas.

4. Death Race 2000—David Carradine versus a pre-Rocky Sylvestor Stallone (as Machine Gun Joe) in a cross-country race to the death! There are not enough exclamation points in the world to fittingly punctuate that premise!

5. Army of Darkness—Medieval setting? Check. Undead monsters? Check. Bruce Campbell with a chainsaw for a hand? Yes, sir. This is Sam Raimi's finest hour. (Don't talk to me about Spider-Man 2.) Shop smart. Shop S-Mart.

6. Plan 9 from Outer Space—This film from the godfather of schlock, Ed Wood, is legendary for all the wrong reasons. It's on the short list for worst movie ever. Sadly, it bottoms out beneath even Wood's usual standards for a tragic reason. Star Bela Lugosi died during production, so Wood used unrelated Lugosi footage from other films to complete it. No, it doesn't really work; but it's fascinating to watch.

7. Troll 2—You think Plan 9 is bad? Troll 2 is so horrific that they made a documentary about how bad it is.

8. House on Haunted Hill—I'm sure almost every Vincent Price movie except for Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine has been described as his "finest hour." But they're all lying. This is the greatest thing Vincent Price ever did. (Except for The Muppet Show.) by modern standards, it's about as scary as a box of puppies; but it's the quintessential 1950's horror flick.

9. Foodfight—The story behind Foodfight is a lot more entertaining than the movie itself. It stars Charlie Sheen as Dex Dogtective and HilaryDuff as Sunshine Goodness. I'd love to tell you what the movie is about, but I was distracted by the ridiculously bad animation. However, there's a reason for that. This movie was almost finished in 2003 when the hard drives with all the animation on it were stolen. So they had to redo the whole thing. On the cheap. And it shows.

10. Sharknado—It's a tornado of sharks. Do you really need more explanation than that?

Bonus Pick: Hobgoblins—This film is the epitome the good kind of bad and would have topped the list if we had the original and not the just the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version. (But you should still totally check out the MST3k version.)

Come back each week for a new Throwback Thursday profile.

Kids get their hands dirty while making a garden at Mentor Library

Darin gets his hands dirty while planting flowers.

Kids learned about gardens, composting and even planted flowers last week at Mentor Public Library.

It was dirty work, but it sure was fun.

First the children learned about what they could and couldn't put in a compost pile by playing compost bingo.

It was a rot of fun.

Then the kids decorated hanging baskets and planted flowers in them.

First you decorate.

Then you get to the dirty work

While planting they learned about different kind of gardens—flower, vegetable, heirloom, urban and more.

In addition to their flower pots, kids also took home corn and carrot seeds and onion bulbs they can plant.

This was our way of introducing the kids to gardening and the bigger world of botany. Botany is just one of the branches of science we'll be learning about during our summer reading program, Fizz, Boom, Read. You can start signing up for Fizz, Boom, Read on May 31. This year, a lot of our programs have a scientific theme. And, as always, you can win a lot of cool prizes—just for reading.

For more information on Mentor Library’s summer reading program, call 440-255-8811 or visit your nearest branch.

NASA Scientist, Award-Winning Author Coming to Mentor Library

Geoffrey Landis

This year's summer reading program is dedicated to science and, of course, reading. So who better to kickoff the summer than a NASA scientist and award-winning author?

Geoffrey Landis works at the John Glenn Research Center in Brook Park. He's a member of the Mars Exploration Rovers team that landed rovers Opportunity and Spirit on Mars. After a decade of exploration and discovery, Opportunity continues to travel the surface of our nearest planetary neighbor and provide information to us.

Dr. Landis—he received his doctorate from Brown University—also researches and develops technology for future space missions for NASA. He's even written about the possibilities and mechanics of setting up bases on the moon, Mars and Venus.

Landis is giving a free talk at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 2, at Mentor Public Library's Main Branch. (You can register for it here.) Astrological enthusiasts and dilettantes alike are welcome.

The scientist will share his knowledge of the Mars rover, Curiosity, and his role in its explorations. He will also discuss the new discoveries Curiosity has made in the last few years. By the way, Curiosity was built and designed to assess if Mars' environment could ever have supported microscopic life.

Landis is not just a scientist (as if there is such a thing as just a scientist.) He also writes science fiction and has won Nebula, Hugo and Locus awards for his stories.

He received the Robert A. Heinlen Award last week during Balticon. The award is "bestowed for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space."

His fiction includes the novel Mars Crossing, the short story collection Impact Parameter, poetry collection Iron Angels and several other short stories and novellas. (You can learn more about his fiction writing and order it here.)

So come here Dr. Landis speak at the library, learn something about the solar system and, while you're at the library, sign up for our summer reading program.

Making Sun Catchers with Studio MPL

Gavyn coordinates her sun catcher so it matches her outfit.

In April, the kids from Studio MPL painted sunsets. Last week they made sun catchers.

I think they're working on some sort of solar motif.

If you haven't heard of Studio MPL, it's Mentor Library's art club for kids in first through fifth grade. They meet on the third Monday of each month.

Each of the kids could choose what color material they would fill their sun catchers with.

In past months, the kids have learned everything from weaving to inking to how to use fluorescent paints. They’ve made paper cutouts in the style of Matisse and even channeled Jackson Pollock.

Studio MPL is going to take a break for the summer but it'll be back in September. For more photos from Studio MPL’s most recent session, go to our Facebook page.

Monika Wolk attaches threads to her sun catcher so it can hang outside.

Speaking of summer, kids, teens and adults can start signing up for our Summer Reading Program on May 31. This year, a lot of our programs have a scientific theme. And, as always, you can win a lot of cool prizes—just for reading.

For more information on Mentor Library’s summer reading program, call 440-255-8811 or visit your nearest branch.

Paws to Read: Good dogs, good books, even better times

The Mentor Public Library is going to be closed Sunday and Monday in commemoration of Memorial Day. (All of our digital services are still available though.)

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Would you forgive us if we shared photos of cute kids reading to cute dogs.

Jay and Fragg share a book at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch.

These photos are from our monthly Paws to Read program.

It pairs young readers (between the ages of six and 12 years old) with therapy dogs, who listen to the children as they read.

Caesar nuzzles in as Amarys reads to him.

If your child can read independently but doesn't like to do it in front of other people, you might try signing them up for Paws to Read. (Especially if your son or daughter is also a dog lover.)

The next session is slated for June 18 at our Main Branch and registration for it begins on June 14.

Registration fills up quickly, so contact the children’s department at Mentor Public Library soon if you think you child could benefit from Paws to Read.

Maria and Hannah take a break from reading.

There is often a waiting list for the program once registration begins.

For more information on Paws to Read and other children’s programs at Mentor Public Library call (440) 255-8811 ext. 221.

And for more photos from our most recent Paws to Read session, visit our Facebook page.

Bela reads the adventures of CatDog to Hayley.

Fan Favorite Friday: The True Grit of John Wayne

Marion Mitchell Morrison, better known as John Wayne, appeared in more than 170 films from 1926 to 1976, so please forgive us if we neglect to mention a personal favorite during this week's Fan Favorite Friday.

And, remember, you can borrow any and all of these movies from Mentor Public Library.

1. Where to begin with Wayne, a man who has portrayed so many iconic characters in so many classic films? Sure, all of those characters seemed to share a common diction and disposition, but Wayne wasn't an actor—at least, not in the way Gregory Peck was or Paul Giamatti is.

Even when Wayne was alive, he was a legend; and, when he appeared on the silver screen, he wasn't so much acting as he was building a legend.

So where to begin is a matter of personal preference and we prefer to begin with Rio Bravo. So how good was Wayne in Rio Bravo?

Good enough that he made us believe Ricky Nelson was tough.

So good that I don't even need to invoke Dean Martin when discussing how good this film is.

"So good, he feels he doesn't need to prove it..."

2. Wayne was nominated for three Oscars, two as an actor. His only win was for his performance in True Grit where he played a U.S. Marshal out for revenge. His only other acting nomination: The Sands of Iwo Jima.

3. Wayne's most associated with the western genre, but he seemed to reserve his best work for war films. The Green Berets is excellent; another personal favorite is They Were Expendable, which you can stream for free on Hoopla.)

4. Bet you didn't know that Wayne could sing. OK, maybe he's no Judy Garland, but he did play in Singin' Sandy Saunders in one of his lesser known flicks, Riders of Destiny. (You can watch it as part of the John Wayne ultimate collection.)

5. When you think of Wayne, you probably think of westerns and war films, but he had comedic chops too. He was great as himself in the fifth season of I Love Lucy. (Lucy tries to steal his hand prints from in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater.)

6. One word: Hondo.

7. Wayne—much like Clint Eastwood, who perfected the John Wayne prototype—could be a surprisingly compelling romantic lead. In this regard, he was best when paired with Maureen O'Hara; and they were at their best in The Quiet Man.

8. Wayne's performance in Red River was so good that John Ford, the director behind Stagecoach and several other Wayne westerns, admitted that even he didn't know Wayne could act like that. If you don't know much about Wayne, Red River is a great place to start.

9. Wayne saved one of his best for last. The Shootist is not a film the young Wayne could have made. It took a wizened actor and man to play an aging gunfighter who dying of cancer. And, yes, you could this was just Wayne playing himself once more; but Wayne's performance is strong yet subtle. And any great artist will tell you that subtlety comes last, if it comes at all.

10. John Wayne is a fascinating man and his been the subject of dozens of biographies. We have ten—that's right, ten—of them at Mentor Library. Feel free to check them out. Even if you're a Wayne aficionado, you main learn things you never knew that you never knew.

Come back each week for a new Fan Favorite Friday.