Tag Archives: Pollard Memorial Library Lowell

Pollard Memorial Library hosts a Charles Dickens biographical film night, June 28!

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It’s a “Boz” double feature at Pollard Memorial Library on Thursday, June 28 at 6:30PM, and as always, admission is FREE, courtesy of the Friends of the Pollard!

In 1842, a 30-year old Charles Dickens came to America and actually made the Mill City one of his stops on a whirlwind tour of the country. The great Boz continues to be celebrated in Lowell in commemoration of the current exhibit Dickens and Massachusetts: A Tale of Power and Transformation, now on view at the Boott Gallery within Lowell’s impressive Tsongas Industrial History Center, right next to the Boott Cotton Mills Museum. As part of the slew of events centered on the famed writer, which includes Pollard Memorial Library’s city-wide Lowell Reads “Great Expectations,” our good friends at the Pollard will be screening a portion of the 10-part BBC documentary Dickens in America, which follows Dickens’s trip through Boston and up to Lowell. This segment is made even more magical as it is guided by the elegant, award-winning British actress Miriam Margolyes, an ardent fan of Charles Dickens, who gained recent notoriety as Professor Pomona Sprout in the Harry Potter film franchise. Following Dickens in America, the library will show an episode of A&E’s Biography of Charles Dickens.

Stay on top of all the news at the Pollard Library — including their fabulous Independent Film Night every 2nd Thursday of the month — by visiting PollardML.org, Pollard Library blog, or their Facebook page. We give sincere thanks to the library and our friend and supporter, Community Planning Librarian Sean Thibodeau, for continuing to bring stellar film events to Lowell!

A Memorial Day / John Wayne’s 105th birthday movie matinee at Pollard Library – TODAY (May 26)

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OPERATION PACIFIC (1951)
Saturday, May 26 @ 1PM
Pollard Memorial Library
401 Merrimack Street, Lowell
Free admission! 

If your Saturday plans have you craving a classic film, head over to Lowell’s Pollard Memorial Library for their special FREE Memorial Day Weekend Matinee and film tribute to The Duke on his 105th birthday (hard to believe, right?) In today’s feature, all-American icon John Wayne (born Marion Robert Morrison) joins the beautiful Patricia Neal in the 1951 Operation Pacific, critically considered to be Wayne’s finest film.

The Pollard Memorial Library is most excellent at selecting great titles for all of us to enjoy during all occasions, and free admission to boot, courtesy of the Friends of the Pollard Library. Our big thanks to Lowell’s local treasure (and a Kerouac haunt) for bringing fabulous film to the Mill City. And by the way, be sure to mark your calendars for the 2nd Thursday of each month for the library’s monthly Independent Film Night … their next indie film date is Thursday, June 14!

Vision loss takes center stage: Documentary film “Going Blind” screens at the Pollard, February 10

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“See What You’ve Been Missing”
A Vision Awareness Open House
including a film screening of GOING BLIND
Friday, February 10  |  9AM-3:30PM
Pollard Memorial Library
401 Merrimack Street, Lowell
Free admission! 

We are absolutely fascinated to hear that program staff at the Pollard Memorial Library are screening Joseph Lovett’s documentary Going Blind as part of a day long open house to bring more awareness to vision loss. The event, “See What You’ve Been Missing,” will highlight the library’s newly acquired low-vision equipment which comes to them through the generosity of the Lowell Lions’ Club, the Pollard Library Foundation, and other individuals. Released in 2010, Going Blind will screen from 1:30-3:30PM at the library’s downstairs Meeting Room, which also doubles as their own movie space for these special screenings as well as their monthly independent film series.

ABOUT THE FILM 
Going Blind is a unique documentary film that increases public awareness of sight loss and low vision issues profoundly affecting the lives of more and more people around the world. Director Joseph Lovett has glaucoma, a disease that robs 4.5 million people worldwide of their vision. After years of slowly losing his sight, Joe decides to take action: to investigate how people all over the country respond to vision-loss. His search begins small, with people Joe meets on the streets of his hometown New York City and gradually leads him to places and people around the country, of all different ages and backgrounds. Each has a fascinating story about dealing with the vision loss caused by sight-robbing diseases, infections, and accidents. As a filmmaker, Joe uses the tool he knows best to gather information, to connect with individuals and to find answers to share with the world.

New York-based Filmmaker Joseph Lovett.

As founder of Lovett Productions and a former producer at ABC News 20/20, Joseph Lovett has made filmmaking and video production his life’s work. After leaving ABC, Lovett independently produced and directed a series of specials on AIDS education and awareness, a project and passion that earned him the AIDS Action Foundation AIDS Leadership Award. Since founding Lovett Productions in 1989, Lovett has continued to turn his creative lens on a multitude of health and social issues including cancer survival, global warming, and drug addiction. In 1999, he turned the camera on himself to produce The Accident, a painful and thought-provoking 25-year film journey documenting the early loss of his own parents and its profound effects on his life. With his latest project, Blood Detectives, Lovett will enlighten people to the world of hematology.

Click here for complete details on Pollard Library’s “See What You’ve Been Missing” program and be sure to share this important event news with friends and family in your community. As always, our thanks goes out to the Pollard for continuing to host these great film events in Lowell, all at absolutely no cost!

More on Joseph Lovett and Going Blind:
Going Blind turns lens on stories of hope [TheSpec.com]
Meet Joe Lovett, Advocate, Filmmaker, and Director of Going Blind [Vision Aware profile]

Going Blind Trailer from Lovett Productions on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday, Elvis! Celebrate The King at Pollard Memorial Library with “Jailhouse Rock,” January 7

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JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957)
Saturday, January 7 @ 1PM
Pollard Memorial Library
401 Merrimack Street, Lowell
Free admission! 

Lowell’s Pollard Memorial Library presents its second annual Elvis Presley Birthday Matinee this Saturday afternoon at 1PM. Fans of The King should definitely make their way to the Pollard’s ground floor meeting room and relive one of the music legend’s most infamous film appearances! As with all of the Pollard Library’s film programs, this is a FREE event, open to all, courtesy of the Friends of the Pollard Library. Keep up-to-date on all the happenings at the Pollard — including their monthly Independent Film Night — via their blog and Facebook page. As always, we express our deepest thanks to our good friends at the Pollard for helping to bring more film to Lowell!

ABOUT THE FILM
Jailhouse Rock is Elvis Presley’s most famous film and also considered by many critics and fans to be his best. Elvis plays troubled young man Vince Everett, who is accused of manslaughter and sent to prison. While in jail, he is introduced to music by fellow inmate Mickey Shaughnessy and together they become the two songsters of the slammer. After his release from prison, Elvis decides to become a rock-n-roll singer with pal Mickey as his manager. But as Elvis’ popularity rises, Mickey becomes jealous of his talent and the tension begin to mount.

The unforgettable title song “Jailhouse Rock” is brilliantly performed by Elvis and the energetic dance sequence which accompanies his most famous song was choreographed by the man himself. It is one of the most classic examples of music and dance in motion picture history and many consider it to be the first music video ever made.

In addition to Elvis’ renowned rendition of the title track, the film also features performances of “Baby I Don’t Care,” “Don’t Leave Me Now,” “I Wanna Be Free,” “One More Day,” “Treat Me Nice,” and “Young & Beautiful.” It’s worth mentioning that Elvis’ love interest in the film, Judy Tyler, was tragically killed in car accident not long after the film’s release. As Peggy Van Alden, she’s an effervescent and dazzling 50′s femme alongside Presley — a final performance not to be missed.

Click above to view the official "Jailhouse Rock" trailer, courtesy of Turner Classic Movies!

American indie flick “Helena from the Wedding” screens in Lowell this Thursday, June 9

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HELENA FROM THE WEDDING (2010)
Thursday, June 9 @ 6:30 PM
Pollard Memorial Library
401 Merrimack Street, Lowell
Free admission!

“If Woody Allen had let John Cassavetes take over September, it might have turned out a lot like Helena from the Wedding.”
– D.B. Bates, The Parallax Review

We can’t say enough good things about our friend and fellow film buff Sean Thibodeau over at the Pollard Library. As the Pollard’s Community Planning Librarian, one of the cool things Sean does is coordinate the library’s monthly indie film screening, courtesy of the library’s partnership with Film Movement. This Thursday, June 9, we’re treated to Joseph Infantolino‘s acclaimed American film Helena from the Wedding, a self-described “nuanced and funny portrait of marriage and anxiety.” Any Two and a Half Men watchers out there? If so, we’re sure you’ll recognize Melanie Lynskey (Rose, Charlie’s psychotic stalker) in the HFTW film trailer on the Pollard’s blogsite below. At first glance, her character seems wonderfully fitting for her — we’re insanely curious to see how ‘Rose’ blossoms into Alice in this latest role.

We hope you’ll mark your calendars for the SECOND Thursday of the month for the Pollard’s Independent Film Night where you’ll see some great award-winning, under-the-radar foreign films and documentaries at NO COST — the free admission is made possible by the Friends of the Pollard Library so please express your thanks to these kind folks. Hope to see you this Thursday, film friends!

- Visit the Pollard Library’s blog to view the film trailer and for more info on their June 9 screening of Helena from the Wedding -