Books into Films  January and February

January releases
Coriolanus by Shakespeare starring Gerard Butler and Vanessa Redgrave. A banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer starring Tom Hanks,  Sandra Bullock and Thomas Horn.  Nine-year-old Oskar embarks on an urgent, secret mission to find the lock that matches a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11.

Albert Nobbs (novella The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs by George Moore) stars Glenn Close in this nineteenth-century period drama about a woman disguised as a man in order to obtain work and avoid destitution.


One for the Money by Janet Evanovich starring Katherine Heigl as Trenton, New Jersey's  one and only tough gal Stephanie Plum.  She has just lost her job, bills mounting up and her car is about to be repressed, her cousin offers her a job with his bail-bond business.

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly about how a mother comes to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and her son’s horrific rampage.


February releases:


Big Miracle (Freeing the Whales by Tom Rose) stars Drew Barrymore, John Krasinsky and tells the story the 1988 story of the international effort to free three grey whales trapped in freezing waters outside of Barrow, Alaska.


The Woman in Black by Susan Hill starring Daniel Radcliffe a chilling tale about a menacing spectre haunting a small English town.


And later this year The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson in this post-apocalyptic thriller.

January 2012 DVDs at the Avon Library

The Borgias (season 1) Jeremy Irons, François Arnaud. Rodrigo Borgia, the cunning, manipulative patriarch of the Borgia family ascends to the highest circles of power within Renaissance Italy. When Rodrigo becomes Pope Alexander VI, his two sons, Cesare and Juan, and his scandalously beautiful daughter, Lucrezia, become the most powerful and influential family in Italy.

The Change-Up Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde. Growing up together, Mitch and Dave were inseparable best friends, but slowly drifted apart. While Dave is an overworked lawyer, husband and father of three, Mitch has remained a single, quasi-employed man-child. Both guys seem to think the other has it made. But they were soon to discover that each other's lives are nowhere near as rosy as they once seemed.

Colombiana Callum Blue, Jordi Molla. A child grows up to be a hardcore assassin after she witnesses the brutal murder of her parents in Bogota. Working for her uncle as a professional killer, she remains focused on her ultimate goal: to hunt down and get revenge on the mobster responsible for her parents' deaths.

Cowboys and Aliens Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde. A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys and natives are all that stand in their way.

The Crash of 1929 (American Experience) Host: David McCullough; Narrator: Philip Bosco. On October 29, 1929 - Black Monday - large and small investors alike lost corporate and personal fortunes when the stock market crashed. This program examines the reasons behind the crash and whether the crash was predictable.

The Debt Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington. In 1997, shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel and Stephan about their former colleague David. These venerated Israel agents know for tracking down Nazi war criminal Dieter Vogel, the feared Surgeon of Birkenau, in East Berlin. At great risk, and at considerable personal cost, the team's mission was accomplished - or was it?

Freedom Riders (American Experience) The story of a band of courageous civil-rights activists calling themselves the Freedom Riders and a chapter of American history that stands as an astonishing testament to the accomplishment of youth, personal conviction and the courage to organize against all odds.

Friends with Benefits Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis. While trying to avoid the cliches of Hollywood romantic comedies, Dylan and Jamie soon discover that adding sex to their friendship does lead to complications.

Fright Night Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell. Senior Charley Brewster finally has it all, running with the cool kids and dating the hottest girl in high school. But all hell breaks loose when charming Jerry Dandrige moves in next door.

The Hangover II Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha. Two years after the bachelor party in Las Vegas, Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug jet to Thailand for Stu's wedding. Stu's plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch, however, goes seriously awry.

The Help Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer. In 1960s Mississippi, Skeeter, a southern society girl, returns from college determined to become a writer but turns her friends' lives, and a small Mississippi town, upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen, Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up, to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community.

Justified (season 2) Timothy Olyphant. This series is based on Elmore Leonard's novels Pronto and Riding the Rap and his short story "Fire in the Hole". Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is something of a 19th century-style officer in modern times, whose unconventional enforcement of justice makes him a target with criminals and a problem for his superiors in the U.S. Marshals Service.

Ken Burns presents The West Narrator: Peter Coyote. The history of the American West, starting with the first European explorations and ending with the beginning of the 20th century, examines the impact of the white settlers on the lives of the Native Americans and the land, the Gold Rush, the Civil War, the building of the transcontinental railroad, the battle of Little Bighorn, and the massacre at Wounded Knee.

Love Crime Ludivine Sagnier, Kristin Scott Thomas. After a corporate executive uses one of her assistant's ideas as her own, the assistant sets out to destroy the executive's professional reputation and personal life.

Margin Call Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons. Set in the high-stakes world of Wall Street, Margin Call is an entangling thriller involving the key players at an investment fi rm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When an entry-level analyst unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster.

Mildred Pierce Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce. This five-part TV drama is an intimate portrait of a uniquely independent woman who finds herself newly divorced during the Depression years, as she struggles to carve out a new life for herself and her family.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins Jim Carrey, Madeleine Carroll. Tom Popper, a successful businessman who's clueless when it comes to the really important things in life, until he inherits six penguins, each with its own unique personality. Soon Tom's rambunctious roommates turn his swank New York apartment into a snowy winter wonderland, and the rest of his world upside-down.

My Vietnam Your Iraq Tells the stories of Vietnam veterans whose children have served in Iraq. This story will look at the pride, challenges, fears and possible bitterness that parents and children are faced with when one is serving in a war.

Super 8 Elle Fanning, Amanda Michalka, Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee. In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witnesses a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon they suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local deputy tries to uncover the truth, something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.

Terri Jacob Wysocki, Creed Bratton, John C. Reilly. Social outcast Terri is stuck caring for his uncle and trying to survive high school. He feels disconnected until his wildly unconventional Vice Principal inspires him to reach out. Now with the help of beautiful misfit Heather, Terri discovers he doesn't have to fit in to belong.