Here are the latest Amazon.com Top Sellers available in our collection. The cast of The Departed looks pretty impressive, although a role for Robert DeNiro would have been icing on the cake. But I guess he can't be in every Martin Scorsese film. Drat! Speaking of which, maybe Scorsese will finally take the Oscar for Best Director home this year at the 2007 Academy Awards, which are scheduled to air next Sunday, February 25th. Who are you rooting for?

The Departed
Flags of our Fathers
An Inconvenient Truth
Little Miss Sunshine
The Illusionist
Marie Antoinette
Babel
The Guardian
The Prestige

Here are just a few of the standout titles we've recently purchased for Black History Month.

Eyes on the Prize I: This landmark series is finally available on DVD. We also own Eyes on the Prize I and Eyes on the Prize II on VHS.

African American Lives: A compelling combination of storytelling and science, this series uses genealogy, oral histories, family stories and DNA to trace roots of several accomplished African Americans down through American history and back to Africa.

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till: The film that helped reopen one of history's most notorious cold case civil rights murders is the result of the director's 10-year journey to uncover the truth.

A History of Black Achievement in America: This eight-part series highlights the many contributions of black Americans that have influenced and shaped the history of the United States.

The Oscar nominations came out Tuesday and, as usual, there were plenty of surprises, most notably the absence of Dreamgirls in the Best Picture category. Most titles are not yet available on DVD, but you can check out Little Miss Sunshine (on order) or Meryl Streep's nominated performance in The Devil Wears Prada. We also own this year's top contender in the Best Animated Feature category, as well as Monster House. My favorites for actress and actor this year are Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker.

The 2007 Sundance Film Festival is being held in Park City, Utah from January 18-28.This is the top US festival for independent filmakers. More than 120 feature-length films and more than 80 shorts are shown. Although most believe that Robert Redford, founder of the Sundance Institute, was also the founder of the festival, it was originally established by some film people from Utah as a retrospective. But the focus changed with Redford who opened up the festival to new, independent filmmakers. And it's been this way ever since. If you can't get to Utah, The Library has many of the films originally shown at the festival.

Archie

Celebrate the 103rd anniversary of the birth of Archie Leach (better known to most as Cary Grant – b. January 18, 1904; d. November 29, 1986) by watching him in one of his many roles on DVD! The library owns many titles for you to check out and enjoy. The Awful Truth, where the Cary Grant "persona” began; The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, with Myrna Loy and a teenaged Shirley Temple; The Philadelphia Story, with Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn; and, directed by the great Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion, Notorious, To Catch a Thief, and North by Northwest.

Tommy the Clown and the Hip-Hop Clowns are coming to Ann Arbor as part of the 2007 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium, an annual series of events honoring the life and vision of Dr. King at the University of Michigan. Tommy the Clown invented clown dancing and has since offered membership in his dance team to youth as an alternative to gangs. They will perform a tribute to Dr. King, Wednesday, February 7th at the Michigan League Ballroom at 7:30pm.

If you want to learn more about an incredible new style of dance, check out Rize. This exhilarating movie documents the origins of krumping and clown dancing in South Central Los Angeles.

Below are just a few of the titles officially voted by Video Librarian as the "Best Documentaries of 2006." More will arrive in January and February, so stay tuned! (See the complete list.)

49 Up
Ballets Russes
Country Boys
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Emmanuel's Gift
The Hobart Shakespeareans
Our Brand is Crisis
Twist of Faith

Here are the latest Amazon.com Top Sellers available in our collection. No surprise that It's a Wonderful Life made the list...tis the season! My favorite is A Christmas Story. " Ralphie, you'll put your eye out!"

Little Miss Sunshine
Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest
An Inconvenient Truth
The Devil Wears Prada
It's a Wonderful Life
Cars
Talladega Nights

Looking for something to do after opening all those gifts? Check out Dreamgirls, the story of a female singing trio modeled after the Motown girl groups of the 1960s. In Dreamgirls, The Dreamettes try to sing their way to stardom at the famous Apollo Theater.

The movie opens Monday, December 25th at the Michigan Theater. With stellar performances by Eddie Murphy, Beyonce, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson, the movie already has Oscar and Golden Globe written all over it. I for one just wanna hear Eddie sing again. (‘80s Flashback: "My girl wants to party all the time, party all the time, party all the time!”) The Michigan Theater guarantees seating and will also sponsor a special appearance by Motown legend, Martha Reeves. Reeves was lead singer of the girl group Martha and the Vandellas and also enjoyed success as a solo artist.

Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, and Michael Caine starred in this adaptation of P. D. James’ The Children of Men, set in near-future London when all human males have become sterile. Historian Theo Faron is asked to join a band of revolutionaries--a move that may hold the key to humanity's survival. (December 25th)

Perfume: The Story of A Murderer is about one man’s pursuit of the perfect perfume, but the indulgence in his rare gift and greatest passion - his sense of smell - leads to murder. Based on the 1986 acclaimed bestseller and international sensation by Patrick Suskind. The novel is a brilliant, powerful, and gripping page-turner. (December 27th)

Zoë Heller’s Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel What Was She Thinking?:Notes on a Scandal is beautifully captured in this film adaptation.
When Sheba Hart's love affair with an underage male student comes to light, school teacher Barbara Covett decides to write an account of the affair in her friend's defense, in the process revealing not only Sheba's secrets, but also her own. The film boasts a stellar cast with Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. (Limited release December 27. Watch the papers for local release date.)

The Painted Veil is a remake of the 1934 Greta Garbo film, inspired by W. Somerset Maugham’s masterpiece.
Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, it is the story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane (Naomi Watts), who is forced to accompany her husband (played by Edward Norton) to the heart of a cholera epidemic, where she reassesses her life and learns how to love. (December 29th)