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The Main Library’s fall film series, “The Master of Suspense: Alfred Hitchcock Classics,” continues tonight (Monday, Nov. 9) with a screening of another popular offering from the portly genius. 1951’s Strangers on a Train is certainly one of the director’s most diabolical films, a startling piece in which a tennis player (Farley Granger) meets a peculiar man (Robert Walker) during a fateful train ride and dismisses the stranger’s suggestion that they “exchange” murders. It’s only after the athlete’s loathsome wife turns up dead that he realizes the plan was no joke — and that he’s expected to live up to his end of the bargain by murdering the other man’s domineering father. Walker’s creepy performance ranks among the best found in any Hitchcock film, and several of the set pieces — Walker’s immobile presence among an animated tennis crowd; a murder reflected in the victim’s eyeglasses; the shocking merry-go-round finale — represent the filmmaker in top form.

Strangers on a Train will be screened at 7 p.m. this evening at ImaginOn, 300 E. 7th St. Admission is free. For more info, call 704-416-0252.

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The Men Who Stare at Goats

The Box – Cameron Diaz, James Marsden

Coco Before Chanel – Audrey Tautou, Emmanuelle Devos

Disney’s A Christmas Carol – Animated; Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman

The Men Who Stare at Goats – George Clooney, Jeff Bridges

The Fourth Kind – Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas

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Following is a list of some major DVD releases debuting today. For a complete list, go to www.amazon.com. (more…)

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The Main Library’s fall film series, “The Master of Suspense: Alfred Hitchcock Classics,” continues Monday, Nov. 2, with a screening of the legendary director’s best picture. For better or worse, 1960’s Psycho is considered in many circles to be the granddaddy of the modern slasher flick. But whereas the contemporary crop revels in death and dismemberment, Hitchcock’s audacious masterpiece preferred to explore the recesses of the mind rather than the excesses of the flesh, and in doing so gave us one of the screen’s all-time great characters. That would of course be Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), the shy hotel manager and part-time taxidermist who explains to the aptly named Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) that “Mother’s not herself today.” Hitchcock broke so many established rules back in 1960 that it’s no wonder the film itself became a cause celebre. As for Bernard Herrmann’s nerve-jangling score, it’s easily one of the best soundtracks to ever accompany a motion picture.

Psycho will be screened at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at ImaginOn, 300 E. 7th St. Admission is free. For more info, call 704-416-0252.

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Zombieland

1. Paranormal Activity – $21.1 million ($61.5 million)
2. Saw VI – $14.1 million ($14.1 million)
3. Where the Wild Things Are – $14.0 million ($53.5 million)
4. Law Abiding Citizen – $12.4 million ($40.0 million)
5. Couples Retreat – $10.6 million ($77.7 million)
6. Astro Boy – $6.7 million ($6.7 million)
7. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant – $6.2 million ($6.2 million)
8. The Stepfather – $6.2 million ($20.0 million)
9. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – $5.2 million ($114.8 million)
10. Zombieland – $4.2 million ($67.2 million)

(Gross for weekend of Oct. 23-25. Figure in parentheses is total gross to date. Source: www.boxofficemojo.com.)

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Following is a list of some major DVD releases debuting today. For a complete list, go to www.amazon.com. (more…)

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Astro Boy

Amelia – Hilary Swank, Richard Gere

Astro Boy – Animated; voices of Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant – John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek

Good Hair – Documentary; Chris Rock, Maya Angelou

Saw VI – Tobin Bell, Betsy Russell

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The Stepfather

1. Where the Wild Things Are – $32.6 million ($32.6 million)
2. Law Abiding Citizen – $21.0 million ($21.0 million)
3. Paranormal Activity – $19.6 million ($33.1 million)
4. Couples Retreat – $17.2 million ($62.6 million)
5. The Stepfather – $11.5 million ($11.5 million)
6. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – $8.0 million ($108.2 million)
7. Zombieland – $7.6 million ($60.6 million)
8. Toy Story / Toy Story 2 (3-D) – $3.0 million ($28.5 million)
9. Surrogates – $1.9 million ($36.3 million)
10. The Invention of Lying – $1.9 million ($15.4 million)

(Gross for weekend of Oct. 16-18. Figure in parentheses is total gross to date. Source: www.boxofficemojo.com.)

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Following is a list of some major DVD releases debuting today. For a complete list, go to www.amazon.com. (more…)

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Art & Copy

Art & Copy – Documentary; Lee Clow, Mary Wells

Law Abiding Citizen – Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler

More Than a Game – Documentary; LeBron James, Romeo Travis

The Stepfather – Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward

Where the Wild Things Are – Max Records, Catherine Keener

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