Accédez à une sélection d'ouvrages choisis en coup de cœur par les collaborateurs de la Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg.
Découvrez mensuellement les sélections de la Médiathèque et du fonds non luxembourgeois. Les sélections de Luxemburgensia et de la Réserve précieuse sont régulièrement mises à jour en fonction des coups de cœur de leurs collaborateurs.
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Greed [Film]
screen adaptation and scenario by June Mathis and Erich von Stroheim« Von Stroheim's original film was more than nine hours long. After it was cut, cut and cut again, it was released at about 140 minutes, in a version that he disowned--and that inspired a fistfight with Louis B. Mayer. It is this version that is often voted one of the greatest films of all time. The inspiration for "Greed" was McTeague, a novel by Frank Norris about the rough, simple son of a drunken miner, who learns dentistry from a quack, moves to San Francisco, marries a woman who is a miser and ends up in Death Valley next to the body of his rival for the woman and her lottery winnings. It was a bleak and sardonic story for the Roaring '20s, and neither Mayer nor his new MGM partner, Irving Thalberg, thought the public wanted it--not at nine-plus hours, certainly. »
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High fidelity [Film]
dir. by Stephen Frears« An early-thirty something English guy discovers that there's more to love than a good mixed tape in this dramatic comedy about music and relationships. Rob (John Cusack), an obsessive record collector in his mid-thirties, is struggling to reconcile his adolescent enthusiasm for pop music with adult responsibilities and a more mature outlook. He runs a record shop with his friends Barry (Jack Black) and Dick (Todd Louiso), who are known to drive away customers whose taste in music doesn't match their exacting standards.They are both experts on everything, brains stocked with info-nuggets about popular culture. In real life, Jack Black is himself from this world; he's the lead singer of the group Tenacious D, and it is a measure of his acting ability that when he does finally sing in this movie, we are surprised that he can.Rob is the movie's narrator, guiding us through his world, talking directly to the camera, soliloquizing on his plight--which is that he seems unable to connect permanently with a girl, maybe because his attention is elsewhere.Based on the acclaimed novel by Nick Hornby, High Fidelity also features Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lili Taylor, and Joelle Carter as three of Rob's ex-lovers, and Sara Gilbert as Dick's new girlfriend, who gets a crash course in U.K. punk bands that influenced Green Day. »
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Amazônia eterna [Film] = Eternal Amazonia
de Belisario Franca« The Amazon rainforest is today a vast laboratory for sustainable experiments that are unveiling new relationships among human beings, corporations and this natural heritage that is crucial for life on the planet. This is where the guidelines are being drawn up for a new global economic model: the green economy. But how much are the services really worth, rendered to humankind by this invisible commodity? And who should profit from this? Seeking for replies, this film showcases successful initiatives, exploring possibilities with specialists and plunging into a sensorial journey through the daily lives of these rainforest dwellers. »
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The great Gatsby [Film]
dir. by Baz Luhrmann«Baz Luhrmann writes, directs and produces this adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan. Set in the 1920s, the story follows aspiring writer Nick Carraway (Maguire) as he moves to New York and becomes intrigued by his neighbour Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio)'s lavish lifestyle and mysterious past. As Nick finds himself caught up in the world of the wealthy, he witnesses romantic entanglement and betrayal. Gatsby's true nature is slowly exposed and his involvement with old flame Daisy Buchanan (Mulligan) ultimately leads to tragedy.»
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Page one [Film] : inside the New York Times
written by Kate Novack, Andrew Rossi ; directed by Andrew Rossi«This documentary chronicles the transformation of The New York Times newsroom and the inner workings of the Media Desk, as the Internet redefines the media industry by surpassing print as the main source of news. At the heart of the film is the burning question on the minds of everyone who cares about a rigorous American press, Times lover or not: what will happen if the fast-moving future of media leaves behind the fact-based, original reporting that helps to define our society? This up-close look at factors and actors that produce the "daily miracle" of a great news organization is a nuanced portrait of journalists continuing to produce extraordinary work under increasingly difficult circumstances.»
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Moving on [Enregistrement sonore]
Versus You"Die Band rockt hier durch ihr Album, wobei rocken schon der richtige, aber vielleicht auch der falsche Begriff ist, denn direkten, harten Rock macht die Band dann auch nicht, oder nicht ganz. Am treffendsten ist die Musik von Versus You vielleicht als Pop-Punk zu bezeichnen, jedenfalls wird dies als Stichwort bei Bandcamp angegeben und auch das trifft es nicht so ganz. Es sind ruhige Passagen zu finden, auch mal einen poppigen Moment, viele Melodien und auch eine positive Grundstimmung und doch wird auch immer wieder mal gerockt. Es passiert hier vieles auf dem Album und in den Songs. Es geht durch die Bandbreite und bleibt sich selber und dem Stil der Band treu. Die Band ist eben poppig unterwegs und doch rocken sie auch, machen Punk und einfach Musik mit ein wenig verzerrten Gitarren und haben dabei gute Laune. Das wird wahrscheinlich hier auch der springende Punkt sein, dass die Band gute Laune und Spaß an dem hat was sie hier machen, denn dieser Spaß, die gute Laune geht über in die Songs, in die Stimmung der Lieder die hier auf Tonträger gebannt wurden, aber ohne das dies alles in irgendwelchen Fun-Punk jeglicher Spielart abdriftet. Versus You spielen feine Lieder, überzeugenden und unterhaltsamen Punk, welcher sicher auf einer Party oder Konzert sehr gut ankommen wird, in der ruhigen Kammer natürlich auch gehört werden kann, dort aber vielleicht nicht so ganz seine Kraft entfalten wird."
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Ziel mer net däi Liewen [Enregistrement sonore]
Freshdax« Si les thèmes sont - volontairement - légers, Freshdax ne faisant pas dans la politique, l'album est une belle balade qui évoque l'enfance, une ode aux vacances en Provence et puis quelques chansons plus ironiques, voire sarcastiques sur d'autres rappeurs, qui, même s'il ne sont pas nommés, semblent agacer profondément Julien Primout par leur attitude ghetto, pas toujours très crédible. Musicalement, on n'est pas loin des sonorités de De Läb, avec des incursions jazzy, des infusions psychédéliques et même des apparitions de krautrock. D'ailleurs la chanson « Wat, Wou, Vinyl », sur laquelle on retrouve Corbi, la moitié de De Läb, parle avec beaucoup d'amour de la passion pour les vieux disques.»
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Blue Jasmine [Film]
written and dir. by Woody Allen«After everything in her life falls to pieces, including her marriage to wealthy businessman Hal (Alec Baldwin), elegant New York socialite Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) moves into her sister Ginger's (Sally Hawkins) modest apartment in San Francisco to try to pull herself back together again. Jasmine arrives in San Francisco in a fragile mental state, her head reeling from the cocktail of anti-depressants she's on. While still able to project her aristocratic bearing, Jasmine is emotionally precarious and lacks any practical ability to support herself. She disapproves of Ginger's boyfriend Chili, who she considers another "loser" like Ginger's ex-husband. Ginger, recognizing but not fully understanding her sister's psychological instability, suggests that she pursue interior design, a career she correctly intuits that Jasmine won't feel is beneath her. In the meantime, Jasmine begrudgingly accepts work as the receptionist in a dentist's office, where she attracts the unwanted attentions of her boss, Dr. Flicker. Jasmine sees a potential lifeline when she meets Dwight (Peter Sarsgaard), a diplomat who is quickly smitten with her beauty, sophistication and style.Jasmine's flaw is that she derives her worth from the way she's perceived by others, while she herself is blind to what is going around her. Delicately portrayed by a regal Cate Blanchett, Jasmine earns our compassion because she is the unwitting instrument of her own downfall. Woody Allen's new drama Blue Jasmine is about the dire consequences that can result when people avert their eyes from reality and the truth they don't want to see.»
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The escape artist [Film]
directed by Brian Welsh ; written by David Wolstenscroft«Will Burton (David Tennant), a talented junior barrister of peerless intellect and winning charm, specialises in spiriting people out of tight legal corners, hence his nickname – The Escape Artist. Much to the aggravation of his courtroom rival, Maggie Gardner (Sophie Okonedo), Will is in high demand, as he has never lost a case. But when Will’s talents acquit Liam Foyle (Toby Kebbell), who is standing trial for an horrific and high-profile murder, that courtroom brilliance comes back to bite him. Foyle walks free, but he is a serial killer and surely it is only a matter of time until he kills again. This is thrilling action drama at its best.»
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Great museums [Film]
written by Susan Spann, Chesney B. Doyle ; dir. by Marc Doyle«Each of the programs - produced between 2002 and 2011 - was made by the same company and the quality is consistent. Most of the shows are 26 minutes in length with a few (New Orleans, for example) running nearly an hour. By the way, that NOLa episode - which appears to be the most recent (2010) is not about a "museum" as we know it. It about the whole French Quarter of the Crescent City , which is really a "living museum". And the program on the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi goes beyond the physical museum's walls to cover the wider Blues trail. This series of documentaries on museums in the U.S. and also in Cuba, has garnered dozens of television awards for excellence, including multiple Cine Golden Eagles, Telly Awards, and Aurora Excellence Awards.»
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Colors [Enregistrement sonore]
Romain NosbaumContient: Sergej Rachmaninov: Etudes-Tableaux (Nr. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 & 9); Frédéric Chopin: 8 Nocturnes; Richard Wagner / Franz Liszt: Isoldes Liebestod; Franz Liszt: Consolation Nr. 3; Georg Friedrich Händel / Wilhelm Kempff: Menuett; Romain Nosbaum, Klavier "Luxemburg verfügt über exzellente Musiker. Einer davon ist der Pianist Romain Nosbaum, dessen neueste CD ‘Colors’ man wirklich nur empfehlen kann, weil sich die Interpretationen deutlich von üblichen Klischees distanzieren. Rachmaninov und Chopin sind zwei Komponisten, deren Werke man gerne ausschließlich in die virtuose Ecke drückt, ohne dabei die vielen Zwischenstimmen und Nuancen zu berücksichtigen, die diese Stücke ebenfalls auszeichnen. Und gerade dieses Nachspüren der vereinzelten Melodienstränge, dieses sichere Gespür für Stimmungen und Reflexionen machen Nosbaums Interpretationen hörenswert, zumal er sich dem virtuosen Charakter auch nie verschließt. Vielmehr sucht der Künstler eine ideale Balance zwischen introvertierten Momenten und kraftvollen Akzenten zu suchen. Und das gelingt ihm auf eine sehr überzeugende und erstaunlich poetische Weise. Die sechs Etudes-Tableaux von Sergej Rachmaninov erklingen demnach sehr differenziert und gewinnen durch Nosbaums intelligent eingesetzte Vielschichtigkeit an Aussagekraft. Auch die sehr dynamischen Nocturnes von Frédéric Chopin – der Pianist stellt sich hier mit einer Auswahl von 6 Stücken vor – lassen aufhorchen und weisen Nosbaum als einen sehr stilsicheren und empathischen Chopin-Interpreten aus. Diese Stücke machen durch ihren Farbenreichtum und ihre Aussagekraft so viel Freude, dass wir uns nach dem Abhören dieser CD gefragt haben, wiese sich der Pianist nicht getraut hat, eine Gesamteinspielung von Chopins Nocturnes zu produzieren. Gerade solch talentierte Interpreten wie Romain Nosbaum müsste man hier in Luxemburg bei solchen Projekten weitaus mehr unterstützen und ermutigen. Jean Müller hat es mit seiner Gesamteinspielung der Beethoven-Sonaten vorgemacht, genau wie Cathy Krier mit ihrem Janacek-Projekt. Zwischen Rachmaninov und Chopin überraschen dann noch, ungemein intensiv, ‘Isoldes Liebestod’ von Wagner in der Bearbeitung von Franz Liszt sowie dessen sehr subtil ausmusizierte ‘Consolation Nr. 3′. Den Abschluss macht ein Händel-Menuett in der Bearbeitung von Wilhelm Kempff."
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The politician's wife [Film]
dir. by Graham Theakston ; screenplay by Paula Milne«While it first premiered on British TV screens fifteen years ago, The Politician s Wife is as compelling, gripping and shockingly true in its political and social impact as it ever was. The Tory Minister of the Family, Duncan Matlock - embroiled in a sensitive policy plan to cut Child Benefits - has been caught having an affair, and the last to know is his devoted wife Flora. To her, it is a body blow, not only for her husband s infidelity, but the way in which a swirling sea of Conservative men around her are not only aware of the affair but are only concerned with damage control. They are anxious to buoy her up for the good of the party while inside she is drowning alone. But not for long. One of Duncan s aides considers it vital that the truth be told, and once Flora is acquainted with the truth, she continues to play the hand she has been dealt, whilst secretly playing a game of her own. The sordid truth and the depths of his betrayal emerge hardening her resolve. For the politician s wife, there may be more than one victim but when the time is right, there will be only one victor.»
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Guest of Cindy Sherman [Film]
directed by Paul H-O and Tom Donahue«Guest of Cindy Sherman takes an eye-opening look at what happens when a skeptical outsider finds himself romantically involved with the ultimate insider. Paul H-O became a fixture of the New York art scene in the 1990s with his public access show GalleryBeat. Armed with a video camera, he attended art gallery openings, amusing some with his candid, witty assessments of their work, but also winning many fans. Among the latter was Cindy Sherman, the press-shy artist who is internationally acknowledged as one of the world's most gifted and significant visual talents. Cindy invites Paul to her studio for a series of exclusive interviews and through these videotaped encounters, he gains unprecedented insight into her artistic process and a romantic relationship blossoms. Their initial bliss ends when Paul finds himself wracked with anxiety about his own personality becoming subsumed by his role as Cindy's guest at the celebrity-studded openings and dinners she regularly attends. Filmed over 15 years and including interviews with a veritable who's who of the art and entertainment world (including Ingrid Sischy, John Waters, Robert Longo, Carol Kane, David Furnish, Danny DeVito, and Molly Ringwald), the film paints a vivid picture of the New York art scene that is also a witty, illuminating look at celebrity, male anxiety, and art.»
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Der Taktstock [Film] = The baton
von Michael Wende"Die Welt braucht keine Dirigenten!" Eine provokante These, die der kleine animierte Taktstockbauer an seiner Werkbank aufstellt. Sehen das die Teilnehmer des weltweit renommierten Gustav-Mahler-Dirigentenwettbewerbs ebenso? Auf humorvolle Weise durchleuchtet der Film Macht und Magie der Maestros und erklärt, wofür das Orchester denn eigentlich einen Dirigenten braucht"
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Becket [Film]
dir. by Peter Glenville"Becket is one of the great historical epics and features one of cinema's most legendary pairings - Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole. King Henry appoints his trusted companion to the esteemed position of Archbishop of Canterbury, believing his loyalty will give him control over the church. However, Becket takes his new duties seriously and his devotion to God soon brings him into direct conflict with the State and his lifelong friend."
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The last emperor [Film] = Le dernier empereur
by Bernardo Bertolucci"Cette fresque à grand spectacle, tournée en partie dans la Cité interdite, décrit sur le mode intimiste et familial le destin le plus romanesque des histoires vraies : Pu Yi, dernier empereur de Chine, sans cesse coupé du monde et de lui-même. Et sur les deux plans, la réussite de Bernardo Bertolucci est éclatante. En ne lésinant ni sur les décors, ni sur la figuration, ni sur les costumes, le producteur britannique Jeremy Thomas ("Furyo", "Le Festin nu") a donné tous les moyens au réalisateur de "1900" de mener à bien son ambitieux projet. En outre, grâce au travail de Vittorio Storaro ("Apocalypse Now", "Reds") la couleur est utilisée à des fins symboliques, opposant des dominantes jaunes, rouges ou bleues selon les séquences. Somptueux. Tout en maintenant le cap du grand spectacle, l'auteur du "Dernier Tango à Paris" parvient également à dresser le portrait intime d'un homme en quête d'identité. Par le biais d'un scénario extrêmement adroit qui balaye en flash-back soixante ans d'histoire, le réalisateur italien laisse passer le souffle de l'Histoire tout en demeurant émouvant. Car derrière la biographie du plus prestigieux détenu de Mao, Bertolucci nous raconte l'histoire d'une formidable solitude, privée d'enfance et d'amour maternel, le destin dérisoire et tragique d'un homme anachronique, obligé de renoncer à sa vie d'homme pour incarner un symbole. Un chef-d'œuvre qui a raflé neuf Oscars en 1988, dont ceux du meilleur film et du meilleur réalisateur".
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Desperate romantics [Film]
dir. Paul Gay, Diarmuid Lawrence«Among the alleys, galleries and flesh-houses of 19th-century London, a group of young artists crash through Victorian society. Calling themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, they might present a real threat to the art establishment – if lust, poverty, jealousy and rivalry don’t tear them apart first… They are three talented and good-looking young bucks, thrill-seeking and on-the-make, on the grubby streets of London. But these are no punk rockers, this is 1851 and these lads-- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Millais – are among Britain’s most celebrated artists. Styling themselves as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, they declare their irreverent genius to the artistic establishment as frequently and as loudly as they can. Unfortunately for them, only one man seems to be listening: Fred Walters, a shy hanger-on who ingratiates himself with them by locating the “perfect model” – flame-haired Lizzie Siddal, a hat-shop assistant. Young, naive and high on laudanum, the Brotherhood manage to affront polite society with their lewd behaviour, but can they produce the work that will exemplify their revolutionary stance? And, as they encounter success, failure, love and rejection, can they overcome their own personal doubts and demons?»
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If god is willing and da creek don't rise [Film]
written and dir. by Spike Lee« This follow-up to director Spike Lee's documentary "When the levees broke", focuses on the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, five years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Bookending stories of individual heartache and perseverance are two momentous events: the historic 2010 Super Bowl victory by the "New Orleans Saints" and the disastrous British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Peabody Award-winning documentary. »
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Le neveu de Rameau [Enregistrement sonore]
Denis Diderot"Sous forme d'un dialogue vif et parfois provocateur, Le Neveu de Rameau de Denis Diderot met en scène Lui, le neveu du compositeur, et Moi : deux facettes de Diderot, le philosophe qui oeuvre pour les valeurs universelles et intemporelles, et le matérialiste qui pratique le cynisme et le détournement des valeurs. Le manuscrit fut caché, et ce n'est que 15 ans après le décès de Diderot qu'il fut retrouvé en Russie puis, publié en Allemand par Goethe. Il fallut attendre 1891 pour que le texte original paraisse en France."
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Happiness [Film]
written and dir. by Todd Solondz«Pour Joy, Trish et Helen, la route du bonheur est parsemée d’obstacles à la fois navrants et hilarants... A travers les destins croisés de trois sœurs du New Jersey et de leurs parents, amants et voisins « Happiness » dresse un portrait humoristique et décapant de la société américaine d’aujourd’hui et des démons qui la hantent.»