Now on DVD.

July offers some fine films on DVD which will seem to require us to slow down a bit and take notice. Did you miss A Single Man or Greenberg in the theaters? Did you even know that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is now a Swedish film? Now's your chance to slow down and catch up...

   ...and as you're slowing down, enjoy the view (and the viewing), because we're going to show you what's arriving this month that may not be on your radar.

When You're Strange: A Film About the Doors (pictured left) just came out this week and is a must for fans. Here's what the critics are saying:

"Unhappy with what Oliver Stone did to Jim Morrison and the Doors in his 1991 biopic? Here’s the doc for you." -- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"For a couple of years, Morrison was the best act in American show business. And the best thing about it: It wasn't an act." J. Hoberman, The Village Voice  

More than four years in the making, the four-disc set of LIFE (narrated by Oprah Winfrey, and pictured right) is here. Spanning every continent and every habitat, LIFE explores the planet's living things, using new filmmaking techniques to capture never-before-seen images of natural and fascinating plant life and animal behaviors. Originally broadcast as a series on the Discovery Channel, featured episodes are: Challenges of Life, Birds, Creatures of the Deep, Fish, Hunters and Hunted, Insects, Mammals, Plants, Primates, Reptiles and Amphibians, and The Making of Life.

The following may seem foreign to you (three are in foreign languages), but they are all worth becoming better acquainted. Margot is a dramatic portrait of Margot Fonteyn, Britains' first international ballet superstar and considered one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time. She was a legend, as was her pairing on the stage with Rudolf Nureyev.

The other films shown at left will arrive in July and are: Girl by the Lake, a murder mystery from Italy, Oscar et la Dame Rose, coming to us from France, and Terribly Happy, a thriller from Denmark.

Thanks for slowing down and allowing us to suggest and recommend some things that may have escaped your notice.

If you're looking only for the feature films being released in July by the major studios, click here.

Relax. Enjoy. ...and get ready for a hot August. (You're going to love what's coming!) 

Out today on DVD!

Well, it's Tuesday. That we know for sure. We, however, can never be quite sure where a "pub date" will take us.

Here are today's features' featured destinations - Rome (When in Rome). Post-apocalyptic America (The Book of Eli). Awkward teen years (Youth in Revolt). Hmm.... Rome, anyone?

Out on the bookshelves today is a new novel by Jane Green. Promises to Keep takes the reader into emotionally difficult territory. Green's story is about a young woman who has it all - except time. With months to live, she must live in the present and say her good-byes to her loving family and friends.

A few of us from Darien Library, happened to hear the author speak about this book recently at a conference. Though the topic may sound unbearably depressing, the book is filled with insight, humor, and humanity. (...and recipes.) Green confided that though she writes fiction, she often writes from personal experience, and unfortunately, such was the case here (her book is dedicated to the memory of her dear friend). Please be sure to check out this book - Green's kindness, quirkiness, and compassion are warm and welcoming; her story, enduring.

Coming to DVD on June 8th!

This June, many of the new DVDs seem to be all about location! Shutter Island, Wonderland, the Green Zone, 19th Century Russia, and present-day Rome have one thing in common - their destination = Main Street at Darien Library - on our shelves. With directors like Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, and Paul Greengrass, screens are going to fill with sizzle and surprise.  And, then, of course, there's always Rome. *Sigh*

Ever summer has room for at least one outrageous comedy. We begin this summer with Hot Tub Time Machine, where hangovers for our sorry group of characters come complete with a trip back to 1986. Summer hot tub fun. 

We've got lots more coming in June. Please stop by and visit.

Oh, the places we'll go!

On this day in 1962 Anthony Burgess published his popular, if unorthodox, novel A Clockwork Orange. If you've never read it, you may want to check it out. Violent and disturbing, this book is best appreciated when viewed in the context of post-World War II Europe. The Library's Literature Resource Center database has several excellent articles; here's one to get you started. And if you have any energy left, there's a Stanley Kubrick movie, too.

See you @ the Library!