EPL's Oscar Picks 2016: Best Director

February 28, 2016

Tonight is the night for the “official” Academy Awards, but before the red carpet comes alive, we have some business to finish.  EPL Oscar business.  So, please mute E! and allow us to present our award for Best Director. The Nominees Are… Adam McKay, The Big Short “I’d give Adam McKay the prize for the […]


EPL's Oscar Picks 2016: Best Actress

February 27, 2016

We’ve reached the midpoint of our EPL Oscars extravaganza and now is a perfect time for a brief intermission.  Stretch your legs, grab a beverage, and then hurry back.  Next up, we have the award for Best Actress. The Nominees Are… Cate Blanchett, Carol “Cate Blanchett was just plain stellar in a stellar film that […]


EPL's Oscar Picks 2016: Best Actor

February 26, 2016

Best Supporting Actor?  Check.  Best Supporting Actress?  Check.  Now, ladies and gentlemen, please allow us to present the EPL Oscar for Best Actor. The Nominees Are… Bryan Cranston, Trumbo “Bryan Cranston brought Trumbo to life for me.  Although I had known the topline events, I didn’t know all the details that make a story and […]


EPL's Oscar Picks 2016: Best Supporting Actress

February 25, 2016

Yesterday we announced the EPL Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and now it’s the ladies’ turn.  Here is the award for Best Supporting Actress. The Nominees Are… Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight “I don’t think she’s ever won or even been nominated.  She’s a veteran who’s been on the back burner of our collective […]


EPL's Oscar Picks 2016: Best Supporting Actor

February 24, 2016

This Sunday the “official” Oscars will be presented at the 88th Academy Awards, but here on Off the Shelf, it’s time to unveil the winners of an honor arguably equal in prestige.  That’s right, Evanston movie buffs.  You’ve cast your ballots and beginning tonight, we’ll be announcing the 2016 winners of the EPL Oscars.  First […]


EPL Goes to the Oscars!

February 21, 2016

Calling all Evanston movie lovers and likers!  The 88th Academy Awards are less than one week away, and here on Off the Shelf, we need your help.  You see, we want to know who you think should win the big six Oscars of 2016 and why.  We’re not asking who you think WILL win but […]


The Elusive Promise of Democracy in India and Sri Lanka

February 19, 2016

Coming off one of the world’s most destructive civil wars, Sri Lanka is making a big change in its political landscape as a result of the 2015 election.  However, is it democracy in the making?  India’s fast growing economy has run into the wall of its own shortcomings. Can the Modi administration deliver on its […]


An Interview with Oliver Baldwin Edwards

February 15, 2016

Sixteen-year-old Oliver Baldwin Edwards is a talented local photographer and the latest Evanston artist to be featured in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL.  His show Traveling Light: Morocco is on display on the 2nd floor of EPL’s Main Library where you can catch it through the end of February.  In August 2015 […]


"11/22/63" Is Coming 2/15/16

February 11, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXUx__qQGew You read it, you loved it, you want some more of it!  And now Stephen King fans, you’ve got it.  This Monday, February 15 King’s fantastic alt-history novel 11/22/63 comes to television as an 8-hour miniseries airing on Hulu.  Directed by J.J. Abrams of recent Star Wars fame, the TV adaptation stars multi-hyphenate James […]


The First Folio: How We Almost Lost "Macbeth"

February 8, 2016

The First Folio of Shakespeare is a unique literary treasure.  Collected, edited, and published in 1623 by Shakespeare’s close friends and fellow actors John Heminge and Henry Condell, the nearly 1,000-page book collects 36 of the Bard’s plays – 18 of which had never before appeared in print.  Without the First Folio, Shakespearean masterpieces such […]


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