Summer Doldrums–Sorted! August Movies of the Month on hoopla and DVD

The dog days are definitely dragging on. Do you feel like you’ve been there, done that with your summer viewing? If you don’t have the energy to trawl through whatever’s available on TV right now (face it, you know there’s nothing), then hoopla and the Abbot Public Library have some ideas for you! 

Too heat-beat to budge from the couch–or really to move anything except your fingers? hoopla’s got a fabulous little curated collection right at your fingertips. Explore August Movies of the Month for a spectrum of offerings, from an Academy Award winner to a couple of indies to an almost cult-status tween favorite. You can revisit 2016’s Moonlight and recall the historic mixup at the 2017 Oscars. Lad: A Yorkshire Tale certainly didn’t achieve such dizzying heights of acclaim, but as an endearing coming-of-age story in the cool, green landscape of God’s Own Country, it should satisfy.

Or, if you like, travel to the southern end of the Eastern Hemisphere and take in a South African-flavored romance that’s a bit off the beaten track: Forever. With 1,013 viewer reviews averaging 4.5 stars, you probably won’t regret following the path less traveled! And who could say no to Anne Hathaway in her early-career charmer Ella Enchanted? With elements of sci-fi, fairy tale, and fantasy (as well as romance), this is one for the whole family on a balmy summer’s evening.

If you find that you need a good stretch, then hop off the couch and try out APL’s curbside service for the DVD versions of a number of the titles recommended on hoopla: Moonlight, Florence Foster Jenkins, Legally Blonde, and The Last Word are ready for you to place on hold and pick up when they’re ready! And if you don’t see your choice on that list, remember that you can get some of the rest of the titles via interlibrary loan, through APL: A Small Act, Human Capital, Knock Knock, and The Rover! And right now, all DVDs have no checkout fee, too–our treat!

Here’s hoping we’ve helped you beat those summer doldrums!

If you’re new to hoopla, have a look here to get started. If you don’t currently have a library card, you can get started here. It’s easy!

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Creature Features! Summer Film Favorites from hoopla and the APL DVD Collection!

Summer is still very much with us, and you just may be craving the sort of  blockbuster viewing that the season usually provides. Something to take your mind entirely off of the pressures of real life and plunge you into the midst of impossible drama and adventure. Something with fabulous special effects to engross the senses and take you somewhere else, far from the world as it is. If you haven’t yet made it to a drive-in theater, or if you’re eager for more of this sort of thing, APL has you covered! Whether you prefer streaming video or watching DVDs, you’ll find “creature features” on hoopla and via our easy Curbside Pickup Service.

hoopla dishes up ravening dinosaurs, alligators, and sharks galore (also see this week’s Shark Week post) with its specially-curated Creature Feature category. Here, you can wander at will in unabashedly B-movie territory–because who doesn’t secretly love them, however bad the reviews may be? If you’d like a dollop of literature with your sci-fi/fantasy/horror experience, you might go for Journey to the Center of the Earth or Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island, both of which reimagine classic 19th-century novels in modern terms. Or perhaps try a comic take on H. P. Lovecraft’s famously weird tales with The Last Lovecraft: The Relic of Cthulhu, in which the author’s last living relative must reckon with the fearsome monster.

Once you’ve exhausted the 47 possibilities represented in hoopla, hop over to our library catalog for a bijou, hand-selected list of DVDs that are sure to give you those chills and thrills you crave! Get reacquainted with Godzilla and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, or opt for a real-life adrenaline rush with the documentary Shark Dive. If you’re in the mood for something a little gentler than Jaws, have a look at a critically-acclaimed, fantastical film full of tall tales: Big Fish. There are vintage heebeegeebees to be had too, if you want to try the classic film Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

If you’re new to hoopla, take a look at our FAQs page to get started. And if you haven’t tried our Curbside Pickup Service, learn all about it here and check the updates here. Oh–and you’ll be happy to know that there’s currently no fee for DVD checkouts!