Just got home from the movie theater? Want to hear that great theme song again? Here are some soundtracks from the lastest and greatest family movies for you to enjoy:

Brave [sound recording]: original soundtrack by original score composed by Patrick Doyle

Hugo [sound recording]: original score by [music by] Howard Shore

Cars [sound recording]: original soundtrack

Enchanted [sound recording]: an original Walt Disney Records soundtrack by songs by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz; score by Alan Menken

Finding Nemo [sound recording] by music by Thomas Newman

John Williams conducts John Williams [sound recording]: the Star wars trilogy by Williams, John, 1932-

Animated movies, done by hand or computer, are beautiful to watch.  Not only does the story draw you in, but the blasts of color that illustrate the action going on. We have some wonderful books on art in our favorite movies. Here are a few you won't want to miss:

Look for these films based on popular books in your local theater in the coming months:

Anna Karenina: a novel in eight parts by Leo Tolstoy — Starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law. Release date: September 2012.

Chicken with plums by Marjane Satrapi — Starring Mathieu Amalric and Eduouard Baer. Release date: August 2012.

Easy money by Jens Lapidus — Starring Joel Kinnaman and Dragomir Mrsic. Release date: July 2012.

The great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald — Starring Leonard DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan. Release date: December 2012.

The Artist has become the first silent film to win the Oscar for Best Picture since 1929 when the film Wings won the award at the very first Oscars ceremony. For more great films of the silent era try some of these titles from the Library's collection:

Broken blossoms [videodisc] by United Artists — A young Chinaman in London's squalid Limehouse district hopes to spread the peaceful philosophy of his Eastern religion. There he befriends a pitiful street waif who is mistreated by her brutal father.

City lights [videodisc] by a comedy romance in pantomime written and directed by Charles Chaplin — A tramp wins the love of a blind flower girl and attempts to obtain money from a millionaire to help her regain her sight

Veteran stage and film actor Ben Gazzara died over the weekend. He was 81. Best known for his role in the classic film Anatomy of a Murder with James Stewart, he appeared in several notable films throughout his long career, including Husbands and The killing of a Chinese bookie with director John Cassavetes. He is also remembered for his starring role in the 1960s television series Run for Your Life in which he played a lawyer with a terminal illness determined to make the most of his remaining time. On stage, Mr. Gazzara originated the role of Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and was nominated for a Tony in 1955 for his performance in A Hatful of Rain. For a complete list of his films click here.

Nominations for the 84th annual Academy Awards were announced January 24. Several of the nominated films and performances are already available in the Library's collection. Among the nominees for Best Picture ready to check out are:

The Help [videodisc]

Midnight in Paris [videodisc]

Moneyball [videodisc]

The tree of life [videodisc]

Other Categories

Beginners [videodisc]

Bridesmaids [videodisc]

Ides of March [videodisc]

The past year saw several popular books made into movies. The Help, Moneyball, War Horse, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Extemely Loud & Incredibly Close were just a few of the titles that were made into successful films. And 2012 is shaping up to be just as full of books-into-film productions as 2011. Listed below are only a few of the titles to be released in theaters this year. Get a head start on your reading and stay tuned for more in the coming months!

Abraham Lincoln: vampire hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith — Starring Rufus Sewell and Dominic Cooper. Release date: June 2012

Breaking dawn by Stephenie Meyer — Part 2. Starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Release date: November 2012

The Black Swan [videodisc]

Catfish [videodisc]

The company men [videodisc]

Conviction [videodisc]

Fair game [videodisc]

The fighter [videodisc]

The Help [videodisc]

Inside job [videodisc]

The King's speech [videodisc]

Larry Crowne [videodisc]

The upcoming weeks will see several new films released that are based on, or inspired by popular books. Here are some of the most anticipated:

The adventures of Tintin: the chapter book by adapted by Stephanie Peters — Directed by Stephen Spielberg

Extremely loud & incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer — Starring Tom Hanks & Sandra Bullock

The girl with the dragon tattoo by Stieg Larsson — Starring Daniel Craig & Rooney Mara

The invention of Hugo Cabret: a novel in words and pictures by Brian Selznick — Hugo is directed by Martin Scorcese

Unfortunately, fans of this popular new DVD will have to wait an extra 28 days to check out a copy from the Library due to a new policy recently instituted by Warner Home Video:

Warner Home Video will no longer distribute theatrical releases to libraries or home video rental stores until 28 days after they release the movies for sale at retailers. This Warner Home Video policy applies to all public libraries and video rental outlets such as Redbox, Netflix, and Blockbuster. In addition to being released 28 days after the retail version, Warner's rental version DVDs will not contain bonus features or extras. Please note that Warner’s new policy will only impact titles that have a theatrical release, perhaps amounting to about 12 titles per year. Non-theatrical Warner releases will not be affected by this policy.

The first three Warner theatrical titles affected by this new policy are Crazy, Stupid Love, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, pt.2, and The Hangover, pt.2. If you would like to express your opinions to Warner Home Video you can call toll-free at 1-866-373-4389 or by email.