August-September DVD Spotlight: The AFI Top 100

From now until the end of September, Reeves Memorial Library is spotlighting those films in our collection that have been included in the American Film Institute's 2007 list of the 100 greatest American films of all time.  This display was inspired by the recently-launched podcast Unspooled, in which co-hosts Amy Nicholson and Paul Scheer watch and discuss one film from the AFI list each week.  We've got nearly half of the titles on the list, including the film taking the top spot, Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941).  From undisputed classics like Casablanca (1942) and Singin' in the Rain (1952), to modern favorites like The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Sixth Sense (1999), there's something for everyone in this month's display.

Other featured titles include:

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Stanley Kubrick's monumental science fiction epic is a challenging, beautiful work of cinematic art that still inspires awe 50 years after its release.

The Godfather (1972)
Far more than just a simple gangster film, Francis Ford Coppola's great mafia epic is both a sweeping family saga and an incisive examination of the corrupting influence of power.

High Noon (1952)
Gary Cooper gives an Oscar-winning lead performance in this suspenseful classic, about a retiring marshal who must face a gang of vengeful outlaws on his own after being abandoned by his cowardly fellow townspeople.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Steven Spielberg's influential, grittily realistic World War II film, about a small group of American soldiers on a rescue mission behind enemy lines, is both a grisly reminder of the horrors of war and a moving testament to the honor and courage of those who have given their lives fighting for freedom.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Oscar-winner Jodie Foster plays a young FBI cadet who must seek help from imprisoned cannibal murderer Hannibal Lecter in order to catch another serial killer.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
This perennial favorite follows Kansas farm girl Dorothy, who must find her way back home after being magically transported to the land of Oz, where she and her new friends must defeat the evil Wicked Witch of the West.

Stop by the library and check one out today!