A New Millennium

At midnight on January 1, 2000, the clock ticked over into not only a new decade but also a new millennium, and the world wondered what lay in store for this new age. During the 1990s, new trends in business and entertainment had emerged to feed America’s unprecedented prosperity. The first decade of the 2000s would see continual development of these trends to the point that they exerted a major—and in some cases, negative—influence on people’s lives. Though the end of the Cold War (1945–91) had left the United States as the world’s only superpower, the decade would also see a new threat—foreign terrorism—emerge in place of communism.

On September 11, 2001, the real bogeymen of the decade emerged, and they were all too human. A group of nineteen religious extremists, acting on plans masterminded by al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden (1957–2011), hijacked four domestic passenger planes and flew them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field. The events of 9/11, as that dark day came to be called, scarred America and its allies deeply. Within days of the attacks, President George W. Bush (1946–) had announced a new War on Terror, an international effort to wipe out terrorism.

Domestically, the trend towards globalizing business operations that had begun in the 1990s continued at a rapid pace. The Internet came into its own during the first decade of the 2000s, speeding the process of globalization as it no longer became necessary for employees to gather together in the same location in order to conduct business. China and India in particular benefited from the outsourcing of American business overseas, and it soon became commonplace to hear an Indian accent on the phone when calling a corporation’s technical support or customer service phone number—there was even a TV show, Outsourced (2010–11), based on the premise.

The rise of the Internet also heralded massive changes in the ways Americans sought their entertainment and even communicated with one another. E-retailers like Amazon.com and the Apple iTunes Store offered consumers the ability to shop from the comfort of their home. In the case of digital music, book, and movie downloads, consumers could even enjoy instant access to their purchases. Digital music, in particular, had a major impact on the music industry and how people listened to music. With the ability to download selected songs individually, the age of the album came to a close. MP3 players allowed people to carry around libraries of thousands of songs in their pockets. Up-and-coming artists case of digital music, book, and movie downloads, consumers could even enjoy instant access to their purchases. Digital music, in particular, had a major impact on the music industry and how people listened to music. With the ability to download selected songs individually, the age of the album came to a close. MP3 players allowed people to carry around libraries of thousands of songs in their pockets. Up-and-coming artists also no longer needed to resort to seeking out the support of major labels in order to get their music heard.

Similarly, the advent of blogging sites and micro-blogs like Twitter gave people the ability to quickly and easily post their thoughts to the Internet with little to no knowledge of computer code required. As with the music and book industries, the world of journalism was rocked by this new technology. Suddenly amateur bloggers were scooping veteran reporters and helping to drive the news cycle.

These new technological changes may have made life easier for the consumer, but they heralded difficult times for the businesses that found their models suddenly outdated. Newspapers, book and music stores, and even major publishers and record labels could see that they needed to adapt rapidly to the new ways or perish. By giving everyone a voice, it ironically became harder to get noticed among the other competing writers, artists, musicians, and bloggers. The rise of social networking sites like Facebook, which was founded in 2004, provided central meeting places online for people to interact and share bits of their personal lives. Social networking, blogging, and web shopping, though convenient, led some critics to wonder if Americans were becoming too disconnected and decadent.

Matters did not improve when the world slipped into its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression at the end of the decade. Costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, unregulated speculation in the housing market, and a variety of other factors combined to plunge the United States into economic crisis in 2008. Although Europe had been making strides towards a stronger economy, notably with the introduction of a continental currency called the Euro, the crisis hit certain countries like Greece and Iceland particularly hard. As if all the economic worries were not enough, the last years of the first decade of the 2000s also played host to intensified debate over the cause of and solution to the problem of climate change, popularly known as global warming. As the decade came to a close, many Americans began to question the impact their way of life was having on the world and started looking for ways to cut spending and living beyond their means.

Source Citation: “2000s.” Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th- and 21st-Century America. Ed. Cynthia Johnson and Lawrence W. Baker. 2nd ed. Vol. 6: 2000-2009. Detroit: U*X*L, 2012. 1461-1467. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 7 Aug. 2012.

Join us for our Last Decades Programs of the Summer!

Decades Documentaries – Hurricane Katrina: The Storm that Drowned a City (2000s) – Tuesday, August 7 @ 2PM – On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, killing at least 1,300, destroying over 600,000 houses, and turning downtown New Orleans into an uninhabitable swamp. In a compelling hour-by-hour reconstruction of the ferocious storm, NOVA exposes crucial failures in preparation and engineering that led to the worst disaster in U.S. history.

Decades Movies: Juno (2000s) – Friday, August 10 @ 2PM – Ellen Page, Michael Cera, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney. An unplanned pregnancy propels a confident, charming teen into one of life’s many detours, where she sets her sights on her ideal adoptive parents: an affluent couple longing to adopt their first child. (2007, 96min, PG-13)

The 1990s – DVDs

August 1, 2012November 29, 2022Richelle

Here you’ll find a list of “Nineties” Films. Most of them were filmed during this decade but some are either set then or about that time period. We’ve tried to include something for everyone.

CLICK ON THE TITLES TO BE TAKEN TO THE LIBRARY’S ONLINE CATALOG. THERE, YOU CAN REQUEST THE ITEM AND SEE MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING RATING INFORMATION.

10 Things I Hate About Yo u – Cameron falls for the most beautiful girl in school. However, she is forbidden to date until the most hated girl in school, her ill-tempered older sister, goes out too.

Ace Ventura, Pet Detective – Ace Ventura, pet detective is on the case to find the Miami Dolphins’ missing mascot and quarterback Dan Marino, and whether he’s undercover, under fire or underwater, he always gets his man … or beast!

American Beauty – An emotionally & spiritually comatose suburban man decides “to hell with it all” and reverts to living as he did when he was happiest–as a carefree teenager. His desperately uptight wife and sullen daughter can only look on as he quits his corporate job to become a burger flipper, starts getting high with a strange new neighbor (whose parents are even stranger) and lusts after a pouty blonde teenager–his daughter’s best friend.

American History X – Derek Vinyard, the charismatic leader of a group of young white supremacists, lands in prison for a brutal, hate-driven murder. Upon his release, ashamed of his past and pledging to reform, Derek realizes he must save his younger brother, Danny, from a similar fate. A groundbreaking controversial drama about the tragic consequences of racism in a family.

American Pie – Follows the hapless adventures of four high school friends as they gear up for the prom.

Analyze This – When mob boss Paul Vitti starts having panic attacks, he seeks out the unwilling help of suburban family therapist Ben Sombel who just wants to get married to his fiancée and get back to his practice.

Any Given Sunday – Tony D’Amato, the embattled Sharks coach, faces a full-on blitz of team strife plus a new, marketing-savvy Sharks owner who’s sure Tony is way behind times.

Armageddon – The U.S. government calls upon an oil-well driller and his colorful crew to save the world by flying to an asteroid that’s on a collision course for earth and setting off a nuclear bomb to divert it.

As Good As it Gets – Chance encounters with the mother of a sick child and a homosexual artist inspire a cynical, obsessive-compulsive author to try to become a better person.

Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me – Intent on world domination, diabolical genius Dr. Evil travels back to 1969 and steals Austin’s “mojo”. Now Austin must return to the swingin’ sixties, recover his mojo and stop his nemesis from liquidating the world.

Basic Instinct – A tough but vulnerable detective investigates a murder identical to one described in the latest novel of a cold, calculating and beautiful novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite.

Batman Returns – Gotham City faces two monstrous criminal menaces: the bizarre, sinister Penguin and the slinky, mysterious Catwoman. Can Batman battle two formidable foes at once?

Being John Malkovich – A struggling street puppeteer takes a job to make some money. One day he accidentally discovers a door, a portal into the brain of John Malkovich (played by John Malkovich!) For 15 minutes he experiences the ultimate head trip – HE is being John Malkovich.

The Big Lebowski – Jeff ‘The Dude’ Lebowski doesn’t want any drama in his life; he can’t even be bothered with a job. But, in a case of mistaken identity, a couple of thugs break into his place and steal his rug (you gotta understand, that rug really tied the room together). Now, the Dude must embark on a quest with his crazy friends to make things right and get that rug back! Includes an exclusive interview, behind-the-scenes photos, film timeline, and more.

Boondock Saints – FBI agent Paul Smecker is on the trail of two vigilante brothers whose spiritual sense of right and wrong has turned Boston’s streets red with blood. The victims are the villains and mob bosses that the justice system has been powerless to stop. Now, Smecker finds himself torn between whether he should catch the killers…or join them.

Boyz ‘N The Hood – Three friends struggle to survive in South Central Los Angeles where friendship, pain, danger and love form a true picture of life in the ‘hood in this critically acclaimed, action-filled story.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – A popular California high school girl is selected by a mysterious old man to kill the vampires that are terrorizing Los Angeles. Although it could put a serious crimp in her shopping, Buffy takes on the ghouls with the help of a handsome drifter, and incurs the wrath of the chief vampire!

Can’t Hardly Wait – Multicharacter teenage comedy about high school graduates with different agenda of life on graduation night.

Chasing Amy – New Jersey comic-book artist Holden falls in love with fellow artist Alyssa, only to be thwarted by her sexuality, the disdain of his best friend Banky, and his own misgivings about himself.

Circle of Friends – When girlhood friends leave their rural home to attend college in Dublin, they face challenges in themselves and their relationships.

Clerks – It’s one wild day in the life of a pair of overworked counter jockeys who brave a nonstop parade of unpredictable shoppers, while managing to play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and straighten out their offbeat love lives.

The Craft – When a group of high school outsiders discover witchcraft, they intend on using it for their own gain.

Cruel Intentions – After ruining the reputation of an unsuspecting classmate, sparks fly when Kathryn poses the ultimate challenge to her insatiable stepbrother Sebastian–deflower the headmaster’s virgin daughter. If Kathryn wins, she gets Sebastian’s vintage Jaguar; if he wins, he gets Kathryn.

Dead Man Walking – Tells the story of convicted killer Matthew Poncelet and Sister Helen Prejean, his spiritual advisor, and the journey they undertake in search of the truth.

Devil’s Advocate – Hotshot attorney Kevin Lomax’s 64-0 case record has brought him a tempting offer from an elite New York firm. But the job Lomax accepts isn’t what it seems. The Devil is in the details.

Dogma – Two banished angels find a loophole that would get them back into heaven. The only snag? They’ll be destroying existence in the process. In an effort to stop them, the overworked voice of God taps cynical mortal Bethany to save the world by preventing the angels from reaching their unholy destination. Along the way he meets two unlikely prophets named Jay and Silent Bob, and the quick-witted thirteenth apostle.

Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead – When their mother takes a trip to Australia, five children are left with an elderly tyrant who keels over dead the first night, opening up the possibility of a carefree summer–as long as they can keep Mom from finding out the babysitter is dead.

Drop Dead Gorgeous – The Sarah Rose Princess America Pageant is a beauty contest to die for. And that’s exactly what the contestants in Mount Rose, Minnesota are doing. Ever since the vivacious but vicious former beauty queen, Gladys, has been pushing her charm-challenged daughter, Rebecca, to win at all costs, the competition has been dropping like flies.

Dumb and Dumber – Comedy about a pair of dim-witted friends on a cross-country trip to return a case full of money.

Empire Records – Centers on a music store in danger of being sold to a chain, its employees and the kids who patronize it.

Erin Brockovich – Based on a true story, Erin Brockovich is a feisty young mother who convinces attorney Ed Masry to hire her and promptly stumbles upon a momumental law case against a giant corporation. Erin’s determined to take on this powerful adversary even though no law firm has dared to do it before. The two begin an incredible and sometimes hilarious fight that will bring a small town to its feet and a huge company to its knees.

Face/Off – FBI agent Sean Archer must go undercover to investigate the location of a lethal biological weapon planted by his arch rival, terrorist-for-hire Castor Troy. After undergoing a radical surgical procedure, Archer literally “borrows” Troy’s face and identity to carry out his mission. But things go awry when Troy, emerging from a coma, is transformed into Archer and wreaks havoc upon his life, both at work and at home.

Fargo – A midwestern policewoman investigates a series of brutal and interconnected crimes. Steadily, she tightens the net on the killers and their accomplices in a kidnapping scheme gone wildly wrong.

A Few Good Men – Story of a brash Navy lawyer who’s teamed with a gung-ho litigator in a politically-explosive murder case. Charged with defending two Marines accused of killing a fellow soldier, they are confronted with complex issues of loyalty and honor – including its most sacred code and its most formidable warrior.

Fight Club – When a ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a soap salesman channel their aggresion into therapeutic “fight clubs”, an eccentric woman gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

Fools Rush In – On a whim, Alex proposes to Isabel, who became pregnant as a result of a casual night of passion they shared.

Forrest Gump – Through three turbulent decades, Forrest rides a tide of events that whisks him from physical disability to football stardom, from Vietnam hero to shrimp tycoon, from White House honors to the arms of his one true love.

Four Weddings and a Funeral – Charlie is always the best man but never the groom. He meets the girl of his dreams at a wedding, but she marries someone else. He thinks that true love may always pass him by, until they meet again at a funeral.

Friday – Craig and Smokey have until the end of the day to pay back Big Worm. They’ve got to dodge Deebo, South Central’s meanest thug, and get the cash any way they can. As time ticks away, the chance this pair will ever see Saturday is fading fast!

The Fugitive – A Chicago surgeon falsely convicted of killing his wife is determined to prove his innocence by leading his pursuers to the one-armed man who actually committed the crime.

The Full Monty – Six unemployed men, inspired by a touring group of male strippers, decide they can make a small fortune by putting on a striptease show of their own with one small difference. They intend to go the “full monty” and strip completely naked. A hilarious, heartfelt comedy in which six friends discover the inner strength to overcome the problems in their personal lives.

General’s Daughter – When the daughter of a well-known and well-respected base commander is raped and murdered, an undercover detective is summoned to look into the matter and finds a slew of cover-ups at West Point.

Get Shorty – Loanshark Chili Palmer has done his time as a gangster, so when “business” takes him to Los Angeles to collect a debt from down and out filmmaker Harry Zimm, he talks tough and then pitches Harry a script idea. Everything would be smooth for this cool new producer, if it weren’t for the drug smugglers and gangsters who won’t leave him alone.

Ghost – A man killed during a robbery gone wrong remains on Earth as a ghost because of his love for his girlfriend. He teams up with a psychic to uncover the truth behind his murder, and to rescue his sweetheart from a similar fate.

Goldeneye – When a powerful satellite system falls into the hands of a former ally turned enemy, only 007 can save the world from an awesome space weapon.

Good Will Hunting – A young working-class genius is hauled back from the brink of self-destruction by a gifted counselor.

Groundhog Day – Teamed with a relentlessly cheerful producer and a smart-aleck cameraman, TV weatherman Phil Connors is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities. On his way out of town, Phil is caught in a giant blizzard, which he failed to predict, and finds himself stuck in the small town. Just when things couldn’t get any worse, they do. Phil wakes the next morning to find it’s Groundhog Day all over again– and again– and again.

Happy Gilmore – Although Happy dreams of becoming a professional hockey player, he discovers that his hockey slap shot translates to an astonishing 400-yard tee shot. So when his grandmother loses her home to the IRS, Happy decides to earn the house back by joining the pro golf tour, bringing his ferocious temper and outlandish antics to the well-tended fairways. Before long, Happy is a media sensation, attracting crowds and news cameras wherever he goes. But Happy’s bitter rival has his own plans for the golf superstar.

The Haunting – A professor lures three subjects to a mysterious mansion for an experiment which turns into a nightmare as the secrets of Hill House are revealed in this supernatural thriller.

Hocus Pocus – When three outlandishly wild witches are accidentally conjured up by pranksters, they return from 17th century Salem and set out to cast a spell on the town, but first they must outwit three kids and a talking cat.

Home Alone – An eight-year-old boy is left home alone on Christmas, and has to defend his home against two bumbling burglars.

Homeward Bound, The Incredible Journey – A fun-loving bulldog, a wise old golden retriever, and a hilarious Siamese cat travel through the rugged Sierras in a search of their missing human family.

Hot Shots – A team of crack jet jockeys led by an incompetent commander spend their nights carousing and their days training for secret operation Sleepy Weasel–a lightning strike against a desert kingdom.

Independence Day – Massive spaceships appear in Earth’s skies and wonder turns to terror as the ships blast destructive beams of fire down on cities all over the planet. The world’s only hope lies with a determined band of survivors.

The Indian in the Cupboard – On his 9th birthday, Omri receives a cupboard that magically brings his toy Indian Little Bear to life. They bond, embarking on an amazing adventure, until Omri’s friend Patrick brings a 6-shooting cowboy to life and the secret of the cupboard is in danger of being revealed.

Jerry Maguire – A sports agent suddenly discovers his scruples and promptly loses his job. But with the help of one loyal colleague and one outrageous client, he learns that loving well is the best revenge.

Jurassic Park – Scientists develop a means of bringing dinosaurs to life using DNA taken from dino’ blood, which has been preserved inside insects encased in amber.

Kids – 24 hours in the life of a group of contemporary teenagers who believe they are invincible.

The Mask – Stanley Ipkiss, a nerdy bank clerk, discovers an ancient mask with supernatural powers. He then woos the woman he loves away from her hoodlum boyfriend.

Mighty Ducks – Slapped with a community service assignment, a tough trial lawyer must coach a ragtag team of pee wee hockey players who can’t skate, can’t score and can’t win.

Mission: Impossible – A secret agent framed for the deaths of his espionage team, tries to discover the truth.

Multiplicity – A comedy about a man who clones himself to save his marriage and then almost loses his wife to himself.

Never Been Kissed – Josie, a twenty-five-year-old Chicago copy editor, gets her first assignment as a reporter, going undercover at her old high school to learn about today’s teens. While working, she finds that memories of her own high-school years come back to haunt her.

Office Space – When white-collar peon Peter Gibbons decides he’s had enough and neglects his job, he is quickly promoted to upper management.

Philadelphia – Two lawyers join together to sue a prestigious Philadelphia law firm when the firm fires one of them because he has AIDS.

Practical Magic – The wry, comic romantic tale follows the Owens sisters as they struggle to use their hereditary gift for practical magic to overcome the obstacles in discovering true love.

Pretty Woman – A corporate raider pays a gorgeous hooker to be his escort for a business week in Beverly Hills … and then falls for her. Fifteenth anniversary special edition packed with all-new, never-before-seen bonus features.

Pulp Fiction – Clever, dark film that tells 4 separate stories that are gradually brought together. Involved are two low-rent hit men, their boss and his sexy wife, a prizefighter and a pair of desperate robbers.

Reality Bites – The irreverent portrayal of the harsh realities of life after college captures the misadventures of Lelaina, an ambitious TV production assistant, and her relationships with her sarcastic roommate, Vickie, friends Sammy and Troy, and an ambitious video executive, Michael.

Reservoir Dogs – They were strangers, together to pull off the perfect jewel heist. Their simple robbery turns into a bloody ambush when they realize one of them is a police informant.

Scary Movie – A parody of all the scary movies you’ve ever seen. The victims pile up and the laughs pile on as a group of teenagers find themselves being stalked by a recognizable masked killer!

Scent of a Woman – Hoping to earn extra money, an innocent and reserved scholarship student at an exclusive prep school agrees to look after a blind, retired Lieutenant Colonel, who takes him off for a wild weekend in New York City.

Scream – A series of mysterious murders committed by a masked killer transforms a seemingly peaceful community into a place where no one is safe and everyone is suspect.

Se7en – A psychological thriller about two detectives on the trail of a serial killer who chooses his victims according to the seven deadly sins.

She’s All That – An irresistible cast of Hollywood’s hottest young faces star in this fun, sexy comedy hit about the power of attraction and the pressures of popularity.

The Silence of the Lambs – When FBI agent Clarice Starling is assigned a case involving a monstrous serial killer, she seeks counsel from an imprisoned cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, whose fascination with the young woman is as great as his hunger for murder. As their relationship develops, Starling must confront her own demons, and an evil so powerful that she may not have the courage or strength to stop it.

Sister Act – A lounge singer, forced to hide out from the mob, moves into a quiet religious convent.

The Sixth Sense – A noted child psychologist attempts to help a frightened 8-year-old boy who is experiencing terrifying visions of the dead.

Sleepless in Seattle – After hearing a man confess his love for his dearly-departed wife on a call-in radio show, a woman falls inexplicably in love with him. Deciding that he is her destiny, she treks across the country on a romantic impulse to meet him.

So I Married an Axe Murderer – A wedlock-shy coffee house poet finally meets the perfect woman. There’s one little problem–he’s convinced she’s an axe murderer.

Speed – An L.A.P.D. SWAT team specialist is sent to diffuse a bomb that a revenge-driven extortionist has planted on a bus. Until he does, he and a female passenger must keep the bus speeding through the streets of Los Angeles at more than 50 miles per hour or the bomb will explode.

Stir of Echoes – After Tom is hypnotized at a neighborhood party, he changes. He sees things he can’t explain and hears voices he can’t ignore. As the visions intensify, he realizes they are echoes of a crime calling out to be solved.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – After wading in a puddle of radioactive waste, these radical reptiles are transformed into New York City’s greatest crime-fighting quartet.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day – A lethal cyborg, the T-1000, has been sent back from 2029 A.D. to present day Los Angeles on a mission to kill the boy destined to lead the freedom fighters of the future. The original Terminator cyborg is reprogrammed and sent to save the boy, assisted by the boy’s mother, a woman warrior whose warnings of a world headed toward nuclear disaster go unheeded.

Thelma and Louise – Thelma is an abused and neglected wife, while her friend Louise is a bitter, hard-edged waitress. The two decide to take a brief vacation to escape the drudgery of their everyday lives. Immediately, they run into trouble, as Louise shoots and kills a man who tries to rape Thelma in the parking lot of a country bar.

Three Kings – Absurdly comic tale set after the end of the Gulf War, when three American soldiers looking to plunder stolen gold become involved in an uprising.

Tommy Boy – After seven years, party animal Tommy Callahan has finally earned his diploma — and a cushy job at Callahan Auto Parts. But when the family business starts tanking, Tommy hits the road with his dad’s right-hand man, a smug numbers cruncher.

Toy Story – An astonishing world where toys play while their owners are away. Woody is a pull-string cowboy doll and is the leader of the toys until the latest, greatest action figure, Buzz Lightyear, enters the picture. When the toy rivals are separated from their owner, they learn to put aside their differences and work as a team to get back home to the boy they love.

Tremors – Two country handymen and a seismology student discover a desolate town infested with gigantic man-eating creatures that live underground.

True Lies – Harry Tasker is a top spy for the ultra-secret Omega Sector, but his wife thinks he’s just a boring computer salesman. When his two lives collide, he and his wife find themselves kidnapped by international terrorists.

Twister – Scientist Jo Harding and her crack team of tornado chasers are pursuing the most destructive weatherfront to sweep through mid-America’s Tornado Alley in 50 years. TV weatherman Bill Harding is trying to get his tornado-hunter wife, Jo, to sign divorce papers so he can marry his girlfriend Melissa. But Mother Nature, in the form of a series of intense storms, has other plans.

The Usual Suspects – Police investigating an exploded boat on a San Pedro pier discover 27 bodies and $91 million worth of drug money. The only survivors are a severely burned Hungarian terrorist and Roger Kint, a crippled con-man. Reluctantly, Kint is pressured into explaining what happened on the boat. His story begins six weeks earlier with five criminals being dragged in by New York police desperate for suspects in a truck highjacking, and ends with the possible identification of a criminal mastermind.

Varsity Blues – A backup quarterback for the high school football team must confront the pressures and temptations of being a sports star, including conflicts with his coach and his girlfriend, when the starting quarterback is injured.

Wag the Dog – When the President is caught in a sex scandal less than two weeks before the election, his White House spinmaster decides they need a war to distract the public’s attention and he calls on Hollywood’s top producer to create it.

Wayne’s World – Wayne and Garth have their own public access TV show. A local station decides to hire them to do their show professionally. Wayne meets and falls in love with Cassandra, a bass guitarist, who he helps by getting her career started by using his connections.

The Wedding Singer – Robbie Hart is a master of ceremonies, left at the altar at his own wedding. He becomes someone who can only destroy other people’s weddings until he meets a waitress named Julia. Julia, however, is about to have a wedding of her own and may be lost forever.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape – Gilbert Grape is devoted to taking care of his family, which includes an obese mother and a mentally impaired brother. He feels the hopelessness of his life in a rural community when a young woman breezes into town and changes everything.

Wonder Boys – During a single weekend, college professor Grady Tripp scrambles to gather together a life that has suddenly reeled out of control. An unfinished novel, a stolen car, a murdered pet and a failing marriage are just a few of the crises piling up.

You’ve Got Mail – A romance in which superstore book chain magnate Hanks and cozy children’s bookshop owner Ryan are anonymous e-mail cyberpals who fall head-over-laptops in love, unaware that they are combative business rivals.

1990s – Books for All Ages

July 31, 2012November 29, 2022Richelle

Here you’ll find a list of books that are either set in the 1990s or were written during this time. This list is broken down by age but there are many books that can be enjoyed by some or all of the age groups. This list is just a sample of the thousands of books that we can access through the county-wide system. Some descriptions were taken from the catalog, others from our Literature database; Novelist (click to access from home.)

Click on Titles to be taken to the Catalog

ADULT FICTION AND NON-FICTION BOOKS (SOME MAY BE SUITABLE FOR TEENS OR EVEN CHILDREN. PLEASE ASK A LIBRARIAN FOR HELP WITH DETERMINING AGE SUITABILITY)

The Devil’s Teardrop: a Novel of the Last Night of the Century By: Deaver, Jeffery – An emotionless assassin programmed to wreak havok on Washington, D.C. at four-hour intervals until midnight on New Year’s Eve, 1999, is pursued by retired FBI agent and top forensic document examiner in the country, Parker Kincaid.

Gods in Alabama By: Jackson, Joshilyn – Ten years after leaving, Arlene Fleet finds she still has not escaped Possett, Alabama, when an old classmate turns up asking questions about a crime Arlene committed in her youth, forcing her into a confrontation with her past.

The Human Stain By: Roth, Philip – A college professor with a sexual indiscretion in his past is hounded from his job by academic enemies who label him a racist.

The Man of My Dreams By: Sittenfeld, Curtis – Hannah Gavener’s fantasies about family, romance, and love collide headlong with the challenges, complexities, and realities of adult life and relationships.

Prague By: Phillips, Arthur – Five American expatriates living in Budapest in the early 1990s seek to establish themselves and make their fortunes in a city still haunted by the tragedies of its Communist past.

Sex and the City By: Bushnell, Candace – Presents a collection of essays selected from the author’s column in the New York Observer, concerning the interpersonal relationships of the “young and beautiful” residents of New York City.

A Small Death in Lisbon By: Wilson, Robert – When Inspector Ze Coelho investigates the murder of a young girl living in Portugal, he discovers that the crime is somehow linked to Nazi misdeeds six decades earlier.

Time and Again By: Roberts, Nora – After time traveler Caleb Hornblower crash-lands in the twentieth century, he relies on Liberty Stone to help him survive; and Jacob Hornblower heads back into the past to rescue his stranded brother, only to find himself falling for Sunbeam Stone.

Timequake By: Vonnegut, Kurt – After the universe decides to back up ten years and all humans must live through the 1990s again, author Kurt Vonnegut finds himself trying to write a book called Timequake, which he knows he will never finish since he already did not finish it.

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day By: Cleage, Pearl – HIV-positive Ava Johnson returns to the Michigan town where she grew up, and finds that what she thought might be the end is, in fact, a beginning.

CHILDREN & TEEN FICTION AND NON-FICTION BOOKS (ADULTS CAN LIKE THESE TOO!)

After Tupac and D Foster By: Jacqueline Woodson – D Foster showed up a few months before Tupac got shot that first time and left us the summer before he died. The day D Foster enters Neeka and her best friend’s lives, the world opens up for them. D comes from a world vastly different from their safe Queens neighborhood, and through her, the girls see another side of life that includes loss, foster families and an amount of freedom that makes the girls envious. Although all of them are crazy about Tupac Shakur’s rap music, D is the one who truly understands the place where he’s coming from, and through knowing D, Tupac’s lyrics become more personal for all of them.

The Day Gogo Went to Vote: South Africa, 1994 By: Sisulu, Elinor – Thembi and her beloved great-grandmother, who has not left the house for many years, go together to vote on the momentous day when black South Africans are allowed to vote for the first time.

Girl of Kosovo By: Meade, Alice – Although Zana, an eleven-year-old Albanian girl, experiences the turmoil and violence of the 1999 conflict in her native Kosovo, she remembers her father’s admonition to not let her heart become filled with hate.

Miseducation of Cameron Post By: Danforth, Emily M. – In the early 1990s, when gay teenager Cameron Post rebels against her conservative Montana ranch town and her family decides she needs to change her ways, she is sent to a gay conversion therapy center.

Peace, Locomotion By: Woodson, Jacqueline – Through letters to his little sister, who is in a different foster home, Lonnie, also known as “Locomotion,” keeps a record of their lives while they are apart, describing his own foster family, including his foster brother who returns home after losing a leg in the Iraq War.

Perks of Being a Wallflower By: Chbosky, Stephen – This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie’s letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends.

The Rifle By: Paulsen, Gary – A priceless, handcrafted rifle, fired throughout the American Revolution, is passed down through the years until it fires on a fateful Christmas Eve of 1994.

Smoky Night By: Bunting, Eve and Diaz, David – During a night of rioting in Los Angeles, fires and looting force neighbors–who have always avoided one another–to come together. David Diaz was awarded the Caldecott Medal for his bold acrylic paint and photo-collage illustrations.

Solider Mom By: Mead, Alice – Eleven-year-old Jasmyn gets a different perspective on life when her mother is sent to Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the Persian Gulf War, leaving her and her baby half-brother behind in Maine in the care of her Mother’s boyfriend.

1990s – History and Programs

July 30, 2012November 29, 2022Richelle

Check out our 1990s Board on Pinterest to be taken back in time!

BRAVE NEW WORLD

Time justified its choice of Albert Einstein as “Person of the Century” with a quotation from Einstein himself, “Politics is for the moment. An equation is for eternity.” However, the technological innovations that bore fruit in the 1990s, such as the Internet, the proliferation of personal computers, and genetic engineering, were all the products of long, painstaking work on the part of thousands of scientists and engineers who measured progress in the smallest of increments and who built on ground broken decades earlier. The changes were, nonetheless, momentous. At the beginning of the Gulf War, reporters for the Cable News Network (CNN) reported live from Baghdad. That reporters could cover the action live already seemed to be taken for granted, but never before had virtually instant coverage of developing events become so crucial and even so expected. Also, though the Internet had existed for decades as a way for computers to communicate with each other, the development of the World Wide Web and easy to use operating systems and programs as well as substantially cheaper, faster, and more powerful computers, gave millions of Americans a way to send e-mail, download music, and buy books “on-line.” The purpose and function of computers had changed: no longer were they used just to compute, but to communicate, advertise, and sell things. People could stay in touch more readily—e-mail seemed less intrusive than a phone call, and neither as formal nor as much trouble as writing a letter—-but in so doing, they became increasingly isolated from their real neighbors. Computers became more powerful, not just in what they enabled people to do, but in the ways their use shaped human behavior and made people dependent on them. The Y2K Bug demonstrated the power and the vulnerability of a digital society. The programming glitch that threatened to crash computers world-wide as their internal clocks turned from “99” to “00” caused doomsday scenarios to seem realistic and even sober people bought electric generators and stored away a few weeks of groceries just in case the electrical and commercial infrastructures failed at the stroke of midnight.

–Read More Here.

Source: McConnell, Tandy. “Introduction.” American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 10: 1990-1999. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 30 July 2012.

Join us this week for these “Between the Decades” Programs.

Decades Documentaries Modern Marvels: 90’s Tech, Tuesday, July 31 @ 2PM – It was the dot com decade that opened up the information superhighway. For the first time you could shop search and surf online with the click of a mouse. “Modern Marvels: 90s Tech” will take you way back to the end of the 20th century and the beginning of today’s trendy technologies. From DVDs to TIVO to GPS we’ll see how the gadgets we can’t live without all started in the 90s. At an Amazon distribution center we’ll follow millions of goods as they are packaged and shipped out. And at Google we’ll learn about the science of creating a search engine. We’ll explore how virtual pet toys were born and how the Furby even created a national security scare. In an interview with two-time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion George Foreman we’ll show you how to “knock the fat out” with one of the best-selling appliances of the decade. And we’ll take you back to the original first-person shooter gaming experience of Wolfenstein 3D.- So chill as Modern Marvels explores the technologies of the 90s.

Decades Movies: Clueless (1990s) – Friday, August 3 @ 2PM – Alicia Silverstone won everyone over with her portrayal of a Beverly Hills teen, Cher, whose penchant for helping others with their relationships and self-esteem is a cover for her own loneliness. Director Amy Heckerling (“Fast Times at Ridgemont High”) made a smart, funny variation on Jane Austen’s novel “Emma”, sweetly romantic and gently satirical of “90210” social manners. The cast is unbeatable: Dan Hedaya as Cher’s rock-solid dad, Wallace Shawn as a geeky teacher, Paul Rudd as the boy who has always been Cher’s surrogate brother–and the true holder of her most secret wishes. (1995, 97min, PG-13

Music of the 1980s!

July 26, 2012November 29, 2022Richelle

Throw on those leg-warmers because it’s time to cut footloose with tunes from the rockin’ 80s! This week I promise to bring you music that will have you ‘vogueing’ and pining for a Brat Pack movie on T.V. because if there’s one thing Iove, it’s the 1980s!

Thriller / Michael Jackson – ‘The Walking Dead’ has nothing on the iconic Thriller music video, which has inspired flash-mobs across the globe. This album was a defining moment for the decade, and my personal favorite off the album has to be ‘Wanna be Startin’ Somethin”!

Now that’s what I call the 80s – If you’re looking for a sort of ‘time capsule’ for this decade, this album is one to check out! It has everything from Billy Joel to Cindy Lauper! I’m partial to ‘Jessie’s Girl’ myself! Check out this album and you’ll find yourself soon rocking out in your car on the way home, having the time of your life.

The immaculate collection / Madonna – This is the part where I tell you that this happens to be my favorite album of ALL TIME! For as long as I can remember, I’ve been listening to Madonna! I’ve learned that Madonna has the power to get me through the most difficult day! A little splash of ‘Holiday’ just makes everything better, or if I need a big pick-me-up I listen to ‘Express Yourself’!

The best of Blondie / Blondie – Debbie Harry led this rockin band with hits like ‘Tide is High’ but my favorite will always be ‘Rip Her to Shreds’!

Greatest hits / Run-DMC – Easily one of the most influential hip-hop groups to ever exist, Run-DMC delivered huge hits in the 1980s! In fact, they were the first hip-hop group to earn a gold record! So crank up ‘King of Rock’ and get ready to bop your head along with these jams!

Big ones / Aerosmith – Sure, you can see Steven Tyler on American Idol, but lets flash back to the 1980s during Aerosmith’s revival! Get ready to rock out to some of Aerosmith’s greatest hits! Though, my favorite will always remain to be ‘Dude (Looks Like a Lady)’!

Next week–the 1990s!

The 1980s – DVDs

July 25, 2012November 29, 2022Richelle

Here you’ll find a list of “Eighties” Films. Most of them were filmed during this decade but some are either set then or about that time period. We’ve tried to include something for everyone.

CLICK ON THE TITLES TO BE TAKEN TO THE LIBRARY’S ONLINE CATALOG. THERE, YOU CAN REQUEST THE ITEM AND SEE MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING RATING INFORMATION.

3 Men and a Baby – Three handsome Manhattan bachelors find their dating and mating rituals irreparably damaged when an unexpected roommate–complete with crib, pacifier, and dirty diaper–shows up on their doorstep

Adventures in Babysitting – A babysitter and three kids leave the safe suburbs and head for the heart of the big city to rescue a frantic friend.

Airplane! – The passengers and crew of an airplane suffer every catastrophe in the book in this spoof of disaster movies.

Alf – In September 1986, a loveable alien named Alf crashed his spaceship into the home of the unsuspecting Tanner family. For the next four years, Alf elusively avoided houseguests, chased the cat, ate everything in sight, but the Tanners always loved Alf.

Back to the Future Parts I, II, III – In Back to the future (part 1), it’s the mid-80’s, and Marty McFly is your average 17-year-old slacker who happens to be friends with an inventor, Doc Brown. Doc’s latest invention is a time machine, that ends up transporting Marty back to 1955 where he must bring get his parents together so that he will exist when he gets back to his own time. In Back to the future II, Marty visits 2015 to straighten out the future of the McFly family, but Biff Tannen steals the time machine, and with it a book that allows his young self to amass a gambling fortune, which has significant consequences to the present. To correct the problems, Marty and Doc must return to 1955 to retrieve the book. In Back to the future III Marty must travel back to 1885 to rescue Doc so that the rest of the adventures can happen.

Batman – A young boy who witnesses his parents’ murder grows up to become Batman, a masked and emotionally disturbed vigilante who battles against an arch-criminal known as The Joker.

Beetlejuice – After Barbara and Adam Maitland are killed in a car crash, they find themselves trapped as ghosts in their beautiful New England farmhouse. Their peaceful ‘existence’ is disrupted when a yuppie family, the Deetz’s, buy their house. The Maitlands are too nice and harmless as ghosts and all their efforts to scare the Deetz’s away are unsuccessful. They decide to call to Beetlejuice, a people-exorcizing ghost, for help.

Better Off Dead – After his girlfriend ditches him for a boorish ski jock, Lane decides that suicide is the only answer. However, his increasingly inept attempts only bring him more agony and embarrassment.

Beverly Hills Cop – Axel Foley is a brash, street smart Detroit detective who follows the trail of a friend’s murderer to the posh surroundings of Beverly Hills. And before Axel gets his man, he gets up to his neck in an international network of smugglers and drug peddlers.

BIG – A 12-year-old boy’s wish comes true when he asks a mechanical carnival genie to make him ‘big’. He manages to land a job at a toy company where he experiences the complications of being an adult.

Big Trouble in Little China – Jack Burton is a big-talking, wisecracking trucker who goes beneath the streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown to battle an army of spirits when his friend’s fiancee is kidnapped.

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure – Screwball comedy about two high school students who face a difficult history exam. With the help of a time-traveling messenger they round up some historical heavyweights for their class project!

The Blues Brothers – Jake and Elwood Blues, two hoodlum brothers searching for redemption, set out to locate and reenlist the members of their defunct rhythm and blues band in order to raise some honest money.

Breakfast Club – Five teens from drastically different cliques spend a day in detention with each other, delving into each others’ true personalities.

Brewster’s Millions – Montgomery Brewster is a down-and-out baseball player who discovers that he is the only living relative of an eccentric multimillionaire. Monty stands to inherit $300 million, but only if he can spend $30 million in a single month without acquiring any assets. If he fails, it’s back to zero again.

The Burbs – A suspense-comedy in which Tom Hanks portrays a suburbanite whose plans for a peaceful vacation are disturbed by a creepy new family on the block.

Caddyshack – The greenskeeper is about to start World War III– against a gopher. Pompous Judge Smails plays to win but his nubile nieceLacey Underall wants to score her own way. Playboy Ty Webb shoots perfect golf by becoming the ball. And country club loudmouth Al Czervik just doubled a $20,000 bet on a 10-foot putt. Insanity. No. Caddyshack.

The Care Bears Movie – Way up high where the clouds and rainbows live, the Care Bears watch over the Earth and make sure everyone is kind and friendly to each other. So when they see an evil spirit trick a lonely young boy into helping make people mean, the huggable heroes jump into action! Together with the animals from the Forest of Feelings, the Care Bears come to the rescue!

Coming to America – Comedy about a wealthy, pampered African prince who comes to America in search of a bride. Accompanied by his closest companion, the prince quickly finds a new job, new friends and lots of trouble.

Die Hard – A team of terrorists has seized a building in L.A. and taken hostages. A New York cop, in town to spend Christmas with his estranged wife, is the only hope for the people held by the savage criminals.

E. T., The Extra-terrestrial – A ten-year-old boy befriends a creature from another planet that has been stranded on earth.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – A high school student is determined to get a day off with his friends in Chicago by outwitting his principal.

Flashdance – Alex Owens, a fiercely determined and beautiful 18 year old woman who works as a welder by day and as a dancer at a local bar at night. Alex struggles to gain independence, finds love, and realize her dream–to dance at the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance.

Follow That Bird – Oscar, Bert, Ernie and Cookie Monster join Big Bird in a bighearted, cross-country adventure. A meddling social worker sends poor Big Bird off to live with a feathered foster family in Illinois. But try as he might, he doesn’t fit in and runs away to return to Sesame Street. Now his old friends need to find him before he runs ‘afowl’ of trouble en route.

Footloose – City-boy Ren McCormick revolts with his best friend and the minister’s daughter when he finds himself in an uptight Midwestern town where dancing has been banned.

Friday the 13th – Camp Crystal Lake has been closed for over twenty years due to several vicious and unsolved murders. New owners reopen the camp, only to have each counselor stalked by a violent killer. This 24-hour nightmare of blood unfolds into a film which is widely acclaimed for its horrifying and creative murder sequences.

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie – A teenage boy accidentally releases a gang of dirty and disgusting children from a magical trashcan and enlists their help in fighting off the school bullies.

Ghostbusters – Suit up for classic comedy! When kooky, spooky college profs Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler lose their University jobs, they decide to go freelance, de-haunting houses in a new ghost removal service.

The Golden Child – Murphy goes to the rescue of a child with mystical powers who has been abducted by an evil cult.

The Goonies – The film follows a group of misfit kids as they search for buried treasure in a subterranean cavern. Here they cross the path of lady criminal Mama Fratelli and her outlaw brood. Fortunately, the kids manage to befriend Fratelli’s hideously deformed (but soft-hearted) son, who comes to their rescue.

Gremlins – When a young bank teller inadvertently breaks the rules of Mogwai care, his new pet Gizmo multiplies into a bevy of mischievous brothers, who soon morph into malevolent scaly creatures.

Hot Tub Time Machine – When a group of middle-aged men travel to a ski resort seeking a temporary escape from their failed, miserable lives, a drunken accident in a hot tub sends them back to 1986, where they get a chance to relive a night from the past and possibly change their futures forever.

Ice Castles – Alex Winston is young, beautiful and talented. She comes from nowhere to become a figure skating superstar. She has to push herself, reinvent herself, and most painfully of all, leave her boyfriend behind. When a tragic fall leaves her blind, she needs someone to believe in her, to love her and convince her she has the strength to skate and dream again.

The Karate Kid – Daniel, a 17-year-old, fatherless teenager, arrives in Los Angeles from the East and faces the difficult task of making friends. He becomes the object of bullying by a gang of karate students when he strikes up a relationship with Ali, the gang leader’s ex-girlfriend. Daniel asks Miyagi, a master of martial arts, to help him learn karate. He soon faces his greatest enemy in a karate tournament where more than honor is at stake.

License to Drive – All the comic stops are pulled out in this high-octane comedy about a boy, his car and his date with disaster!

Little Monsters – A kid meets the monster under his bed and follows him to his world.

The Lost Boys – A young teen thinks his town of Santa Cruz is infested with vampires, and becomes convinced of it when his own brother starts turning into one.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – When the affable host of an elegant Christmas party shoots a man to death, his friends discover secrets that make them less eager to help with his courtroom defense.

The Money Pit – Evicted from their Manhattan apartment, Walter and Anna buy what looks like the home of their dreams, only to find themselves with a bank-account-draining nightmare.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – Christmas is the perfect season for Clark Griswold and his family. Clark’s a disaster waiting to happen. You have to see it to believe it. There are 25,000 lights on the Griswold rooftop. An exploding turkey. And a house full of relatives.

National Lampoon’s Vacation – The Griswolds are going on vacation, trekking cross country in search of fun and recreation at Wally World.

The Neverending Story – The Nothing threatens to destroy Fantasia and its Child-Empress and a young warrior sets out to save them.

Nightmare on Elm Street – When her best friend Tina is brutally murdered, teenager Nancy suspects the killer isn’t Tina’s boyfriend but rather a much more horrifying figure from her dreams. Convinced that this vicious murderer is stalking her friends and killing them as they sleep, Nancy enters a desperate race against time to bring him out of her dream world and stop the bloodbath…before she falls asleep and becomes his next victim.

One Crazy Summer – Young people on Nantucket for the summer struggle with their parents’ expectations and fulfilling their own dreams.

Overboard – A super-rich and pretentious socialite winds up in the world of a struggling carpenter with four kids.

Popeye – Olive Oyl, Wimpy, Bluto and others join Popeye in his adventures in the harbor town of Sweethaven

Pretty in Pink – She’s a high school girl from the wrong side of town. He’s the wealthy heart-throb who asks her to the prom. But as fast as their romance builds, it’s threatened by the painful reality of peer pressure.

The Princess Bride – A kindly grandfather sits down with his grandson and reads him a bedtime story. As the grandfather reads the story, the action comes alive in a classic tale of love and adventure. The beautiful Buttercup is kidnapped and held against her will in order to marry the nasty Prince Humperdinck, while Westley (her childhood beau, now returned as the Dread Pirate Roberts) attempts to save her. Along the way he meets an accomplished swordsman and a giant, both of whom become his companions in his quest.

Private Benjamin – A pampered, spoiled upper-middle class widow joins the Army. The Army will never be the same.

Real Genius – When a group of crazy college geniuses put their heads together, their plan culminates in an incredible scheme that outsmarts the military and convinces the professor that it doesn’t pay to fool with real genius.

Red Dawn – When a town is invaded by foreign nationals and the security of the United States seems threatened, a group of high school students escape and wage warfare in defense of their parents, their friends and their country.

Revenge of the Nerds – Revenge of the nerds: Two freshman join the nerds in their battle against jocks using high-tech weapons only a nerd could dream of. Revenge of the nerds II: The nerds are off to Ft. Lauderdale for a national fraternity conference.

Rocky IV – Rocky faces his greatest challenge as he climbs into the ring against a savage Russian fighter, each determined to destroy the other.

Say Anything – A young man, recently graduated from high school, wants only one thing: a date with a fellow graduate. The catch is she’s beautiful, brilliant and headed to England to study, and all his friends and her father tell him she’s way out of his league. When they fall in love anyway, the result is a funny, poignant and joyous celebration of first love.

The Shining – When Jack Torrance moves into an isolated hotel to serve as the off-season caretaker, he brings along his wife and telepathic son. While Jack plans to write a novel, he soon finds himself distracted by mysterious occurences in the hotel that slowly drive him insane.

Shirley Valentine – An English housewife, bored with her life, goes on a vacation with a friend to Greece and finds that there’s more to life than just dishes and laundry when she has a fling with a handsome man.

Sixteen Candles – It’s Samantha Baker’s sweet sixteen and no one in her family remembers the important occasion. But wait…the day isn’t over yet!

St. Elmo’s Fire – Seven friends, recent college graduates, search for a place in the real world and face the issues of career and commitment. Against the backdrop of St. Elmo’s, their local hang-out, they save, betray and love each one another as only the closest of friends can.

Superman II – This epic takes up where Superman, the movie leaves off. Superman deals with a trio of villians whose powers rival Superman’s own.

Teen Wolf – Teen wolf: Scott Howard is a teenager who yearns to be more than just a nice, average guy and he gets his wish. From deep within his personality, the Teen Wolf emerges.

Tootsie – Michael Dorsey is an out-of-work actor who makes himself up as a woman to get a job. When his girlfriend, Sandy, fails an audition for a soap opera, Michael dresses up as “Dorothy Michaels” and lands the part. All goes well until “Dorothy” falls in love with beautiful co-star, Julie, and Julie’s father, Les, falls for “Dorothy.”

Top Gun – A daredevil Navy pilot striving to be the best at a Top Gun flight school doubts his abilities when his best friend is killed in training.

Trading Places – The lives of an upper class commodities broker and a homeless street hustler cross paths when they are unknowingly made part of an elaborate bet by two rich brothers.

Turner and Hooch – A compulsively neat detective’s tidy world goes to the dogs when he is forced to team up with a drooling slob of a junkyard dog named Hooch.

Uncle Buck – Uncle Buck, an idle good-natured bachelor, is left in charge of his nephew and nieces during a family crisis. While his carefree ways easily charm the younger relatives, he meets more than a little hostility from Tia, his rebellious teenage niece, and Chanice, his impatient girlfriend.

Valley Girl – Julie is, like, so over her preppy boyfriend, she dumps him on the escalator at the Galleria. And when she meets punker Randy, her eyes practically bug out because she thinks he’s sexy even though he makes her friends gag! But even if Randy’s ready to stop the world and melt with her, can Julie risk losing her friends and her super-popularity at school just to be with him?

Weekend at Bernies – Two employees uncover an embezzlement scheme in their company, and are rewarded with a weekend at their boss’s beach house, however, when they arrive, they find his corpse and then decide to pretend that he’s still alive.

Weird Science – Two nerdy best friends have the power to create the “perfect woman”. Like a computer-generated fairy godmother, the two use their creation to learn about the pleasures and pitfalls of adolescences.

1980s Books for All Ages

July 24, 2012November 29, 2022Richelle

Here you’ll find a list of books that are either set in the 1980s or were written during this time. This list is broken down by age but there are many books that can be enjoyed by some or all of the age groups. This list is just a sample of the thousands of books that we can access through the county-wide system. Some descriptions were taken from the catalog, others from our Literature database; Novelist (click to access from home.)

Click on Titles to be taken to the Catalog

ADULT FICTION AND NON-FICTION BOOKS (SOME MAY BE SUITABLE FOR TEENS OR EVEN CHILDREN. PLEASE ASK A LIBRARIAN FOR HELP WITH DETERMINING AGE SUITABILITY)

1984 By: Orwell, George – Portrays life in a future time when a totalitarian government watches over all citizens and directs all activities.

1Q84 By: Murakami, Haruki – An ode to George Orwell’s “1984” told in alternating male and female voices relates the stories of Aomame, an assassin for a secret organization who discovers that she has been transported to an alternate reality, and Tengo, a mathematics lecturer and novice writer.

American Psycho By: Ellis, Bret Easton – In a black satire of the eighties, a decade of naked greed and unparalleled callousness, a successful Wall Street yuppie cannot get enough of anything–including murder.

Brick Lane By: Ali, Monica – Presents the story of two Bangladeshi sisters, one who chooses her destiny by opting for a “love marriage” and one who lets destiny dictate her future when she is married off to an older man and moves with him to a small, claustrophobic London flat.

The Eyre Affair By: Fforde, Jasper – In a world where one can literally get lost in literature, Thursday Next, a Special Operative in literary detection, tries to stop the world’s Third Most Wanted criminal from kidnapping characters, including Jane Eyre, from works of literature.

Flyy Girl By: Tyree, Omar – A year in the life of Tracy Ellison, a 16-year-old black girl, showing her evolution from a promiscuous manipulator of boys to a responsible young woman thanks to, among other things, the teachings of Louis Farrakhan. The setting is a middle-class black suburb of Philadelphia.

The Inheritance of Loss By: Desai, Kiran – In a crumbling house in the remote northeastern Himalayas, an embittered, elderly judge finds his peaceful retirement turned upside down by the arrival of his orphaned granddaughter, Sai.

Killing Time By: Howard, Linda – Twenty years after a time capsule is buried under the front lawn of a small-town courthouse, the capsule is dug up and its contents stolen, an event that coincides with the murders of the contributors to the time capsule.

The Line of Beauty By: Hollinghurst, Alan – Moving into the attic room in the Notting Hill home of the wealthy, politically connected Fedden family in 1983, twenty-year-old Nick Guest becomes caught up in the rising fortunes of this glamorous family and finds his own life forever altered by his association during the boom years of the 1980s.

The Marriage Plot By: Eugenides, Jeffrey – Madeleine Hanna breaks out of her straight-and-narrow mold when she enrolls in a semiotics course and falls in love with charismatic loner Leonard Morten, a time which is complicated by the resurfacing of man who is obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is his destiny.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil By: Berendt, John – In charming, beautiful, and wealthy old-South Savannah, Georgia, the local bad boy is shot dead inside of the opulent mansion of a gay antiques dealer, and a gripping trial follows.

No Country for Old Men By: McCarthy, Cormac – Stumbling upon a bloody massacre, a cache of heroin, and more than $2 million in cash during a hunting trip, Llewelyn Moss removes the money, a decision that draws him and his young wife into the middle of a violent confrontation.

Push By: Sapphire – A courageous and determined young teacher opens up a new world of hope and redemption for sixteen-year-old Precious Jones, an abused young African American girl living in Harlem who was raped and left pregnant by her father.

See How they Run By: Patterson, James – A long-germinating plot for revenge, first conceived in the extermination camps of Nazi Germany, erupts in full force during the 1980 Olympics in Moscow when a group of terrorists delivers a shocking ultimatum.

True to the Game: a Teri Woods Fable By: Woods, Teri – Gena, a street-smart Philadelphian, finds her life turned upside down by a whirlwind romance with Quadir, a wealthy man who can give her whatever she wants but whose connections with a powerful drug cartel could threaten both their lives.

CHILDREN & TEEN FICTION AND NON-FICTION BOOKS (ADULTS CAN LIKE THESE TOO!)

Bog Child By: Dowd, Siobhan – In 1981, the height of Ireland’s “Troubles,” eighteen-year-old Fergus is distracted from his upcoming A-level exams by his imprisoned brother’s hunger strike, the stress of being a courier for Sinn Fein, and dreams of a murdered girl whose body he discovered in a bog.

The Chicken Dance By: Couvillon, Jacques – When eleven-year-old Don Schmidt wins a chicken-judging contest in his small town of Horse Island, Louisiana and goes from outcast to instant celebrity, even his neglectful mother occasionally takes notice of him and eventually he discovers some shocking family secrets.

Everything Beautiful in the World By: Levchuk, Lisa – Toward the end of the disco era, seventeen-year-old Edna refuses to visit her mother, who is in a New York City hospital undergoing cancer treatment, and barely speaks to her father, who finally puts her in psychotherapy, while her crush on an art teacher turns into a full-blown affair.

A Girl named Disaster By: Farmer, Nancy – While journeying to Zimbabwe from Mozambique, eleven-year-old Nhamo struggles to escape drowning and starvation and in so doing comes close to the luminous world of the African spirits.

Here Comes the Garbage Barge! By: Winter, Jonah – In the spring of 1987, the town of Islip, New York, with no place for its 3,168 tons of garbage, loads it on a barge that sets out on a 162-day journey along the east coast, around the Gulf of Mexico, down to Belize, and back again, in search of a place willing to accept and dispose of its very smelly cargo.

Kensuke’s Kingdom By: Morpurgo, Michael – When Michael is swept off his family’s yacht, he washes up on a desert island, where he struggles to survive–until he finds he is not alone.

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story By: Park, Linda Sue – When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan.

Night of the Twisters By: Ruckman, Ivy – A fictional account of the night freakish and devastating tornadoes hit Grand Island, Nebraska, as experienced by a twelve-year-old, his family, and friends.

Paper Covers Rock By: Hubbard, Jenny – In 1982 Buncombe County, North Carolina, sixteen-year-old Alex Stromm writes of the aftermath of the accidental drowning of a friend, as his English teacher reaches out to him while he and a fellow boarding school student try to cover things up.

Pepperland By: Delaney, Mark – Sixteen-year-old Star is angry that her mother has died and nothing seems to make her feel better. It is not until Star finds an unsent letter addressed to John Lennon and a broken-down vintage Gibson guitar that she begins to find a way out of her grief and maybe even a way to take care of some unfinished business left by her mother.

A Stone in My Hand By: Clinton, Cathryn – Eleven-year-old Malaak and her family are touched by the violence in Gaza between Jews and Palestinians when first her father disappears and then her older brother is drawn to the Islamic Jihad.

The Summer I Learned to Fly By: Reinhardt, Dana – Drew (13) is a bit of a loner. She has a pet rat, a treasured book of lists from her dead father, and an encyclopedic knowledge of cheese from working at her mother’s gourmet cheese shop. Drew meets a strange boy named Emmett in the alley behind the shop while searching for her escaped pet. Emmett surprises Drew with his knowledge of rats and the two become friends. Emmett confides his dream of finding a legendary spring with healing powers, and Drew betrays her mother’s trust by running away with Emmett in search of the magic waters. Set in California in the 1980s, this quiet novel touches on themes of friendship, love, and sacrifice.

Watchmen By: Moore, Alan – Exceptional graphic artwork brings to life the story of the Watchmen as they race against time to find a killer, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

Zayda Was a Cowboy By: Nislick, June – When a Jewish grandfather comes to live with his son’s family, he relates his experiences fleeing Eastern Europe for America, his adventures as a cowboy, and his assimilation into American culture.

1980s – History and SPL Programs

July 23, 2012November 29, 2022Richelle

Check out our 1980s Board on Pinterest to be taken back in time!

A DECADE OF DECADES

In one sense nothing distinguished the 1980s as a decade; instead, its cultural preoccupations and political symbols were borrowed from other decades. Little during the time was original or new: almost universally the art and literature of the period required some sense of precedent in order to be under-stood; politics and culture seemed locked into agendas set prior to the decade. The dominant political figure of the era, President Ronald Reagan, expressed an economic philosophy derived from the 1920s (or, perhaps, from the 1890s), a populist rhetoric borrowed from the 1930s, the can-do optimism of the 1940s, and an anticommunism straight out of the 1950s. His political opponents at-tacked him via the liberalism of the 1930s and 1940s or through the social radicalism of the 1960s and 1970s. The arts and fashion in the 1980s were dominated by stylistic borrowings: Art Deco from the 1930s, Abstract Expressionism and film noir from the 1940s, commercial kitsch from the 1950s, rock music and countercultural experimentalism from the 1960s. American lifestyle during the decade witnessed a continuing clash between the Reagan generation, who derived their sense of the “normal” or “natural” from the 1940s and 1950s, and the baby boomers, who challenged these norms in the 1960s and 1970s. The 1980s, in other words, contained the volatile historical forces and cultural conflicts of much of twentieth-century America. –Read More Here.

Source: “Introduction.” American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 23 July 2012.

Join us this week for these “Between the Decades” Programs.

Decades Documentaries – Ronald Reagan: An American Journey (1980s)- Tuesday, July 24 @ 2PM – Experience the astonishing political career of one of the most influential and popular political figures of the past three decades with this in-depth look at Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Now you can relive the historical milestones that shaped him including his early political career as governor, his debates with Carter and Mondale, the assassination attempt, his trailblazing relations with major international leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev, and his relationship with his wife, Nancy. This remarkable, feature-length look at Reagan’s achievements is packed with incredible archival footage including highlights and news coverage from his groundbreaking speeches and debates as well as the major world events he faced in office. From his early political career to his eight years leading his country, Reagan changed the face of modern American politics and became immediately recognized as a statesman and speaker like no other, and now his legacy continues with this essential portrait of one of America’s most important leaders.

Decades Movies: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1980) – Friday, July 27 @ 2PM – “Bueller? Bueller??” Sorry, not here! Instead, high-schooler Ferris Bueller (Mathew Broderick), his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara), and his best bud Cameron (Alan Ruck) are off on the spontaneous romp through Chicago known as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. (1986, 107min, PG-13)

Music of the 1970s

July 19, 2012November 29, 2022Richelle

This week we visit the 1970s on our journey through history. You’re in for a groovy time this week while I bring you the disco and rock music that made the decade!

ABBA gold : greatest hits – This is the part where I admit that I shamefully listen to ABBA way too frequently. Yes. While I stomp through my college campus, on my way to class, and on the outside I may seem sullen, but inside I’m silently rocking out to Dancing Queen. ABBA is great for getting the party started because practically every one of their songs are upbeat! My personal favorite happens to be ‘Waterloo’!

The essential Simon & Garfunkel – Their music is timeless really. I listen to Simon and Garfunkel whenever life just seems to be moving too fast. Check out their ‘Best Of’ album to beat the stress. My favorite is ‘Cecilia’!

Back in Black – AC/DC: For those times that those daily stresses get to be too much and Simon and Garfunkle aren’t cutting it. I reccomend a dose of AC/DC, cranked to the highest level possible! My track of choice ‘Shoot to Thrill’.

Jackson 5 – These legendary Jackson family began their careers as part of the iconic Jackson 5! This album will have you taping your toes and bopping your head to their incredibly harmonies! I love the song ‘ABC’ and I play it on my radio show every chance I get!

Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen : Nothing gets me more pumped up than the title track from the 1975 sucess ‘Born to Run’. I don’t know what it is, but this album gets me ready to take on the world. Check out this album for the classic rock album that’s stuck around for over three decades!

Next week: The 1980s!

The 1970s – DVDs

July 18, 2012November 29, 2022Richelle

Here you’ll find a list of “Seventies” Films. Some of them were filmed during this decade but the majority are either set then or about that time period. We’ve tried to include something for everyone.

CLICK ON THE TITLES TO BE TAKEN TO THE LIBRARY’S ONLINE CATALOG. THERE, YOU CAN REQUEST THE ITEM AND SEE MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING RATING INFORMATION.

Almost Famous – It’s the opportunity of a lifetime when teenage reporter William Miller lands an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine. Despite the objections of his protective mother, William hits the road with an up-and-coming rock band and finds there’s a lot more to write home about than the music.

Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy – It’s the 70’s and Ron Burgundy is the king of San Diego. He’s the most popular news anchor in town. He and his all male news team rule the city with their sauve looks, minimal IQ’s and unbelievably bad hair. In Ron’s world, women don’t belong in the newsroom. So when rising star reporter Veronica Corningstone fills in for Ron one night and the ratings soar, it becomes more than a battle … it becomes war.

Apollo 13 – True story of how three astronauts, stranded 205,000 miles above the earth, fight a battle to survive while Mission Control works against time to bring them home.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: a Tailor Made Romance – Set in the early 1970s during the later stages of China’s Cultural Revolution, two city-bred teenage best friends are sent to a backward mountainous region for Maoist re-education.

Born on the Fourth of July – A young man joins the army and fights in Vietnam, only to become a wheelchair-bound paraplegic resulting from battle. He then becomes a loud voice in the anti-war movement. Based on Ron Kovic’s book.

Casino – Two mobsters head to Las Vegas in the 1970s to manage the Tangiers casino and establish the Mafia’s presence in the city’s gambling industry.

Dazed and Confused – Coming of age story of high school students in the ’70s. Eight seniors facing life after high school have one last party.

Detroit Rock City – Follows three best friends in 1978 as they hit the road to see their favorite band–Kiss.

Dirty Harry – A violently inclined San Francisco police inspector is the only cop who is able to arrest a rooftop sniper. When the man is released through lack of evidence, he takes private revenge.

Dog Day Afternoon – Based on actual events that took place one hot August afternoon in 1972, the movie recreates the incredible circumstances surrounding an ill-fated Brooklyn bank robbery attempt.

Donnie Brasco – This true story follows FBI agent Joe Pistone as he infiltrates the Mafia of New York.

Edward Scissorhands – Once upon a time in a castle high on a hill lived an inventor whose greatest creation was named Edward. Although Edward had an irresistible charm, he wasn’t quite perfect. The inventor’s sudden death left him unfinished, with sharp shears of metal for hands. Edward lived alone in the darkness until one day a kind Avon Lady took him home to live with her family. And so began Edward’s fantastic adventures in a pastel paradise known as Suburbia.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Fueled by a suitcase full of pharmaceuticals, journalist Raoul Duke and his sidekick Dr. Gonzo set off on a fast and furious ride through nonstop neon, surreal surroundings and a crew of crazy characters.

Field of Dreams – Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can’t ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Annie, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.

The Greatest – A dramatization of the life of Muhammad Ali, from his Olympic gold medal victories to his battle to regain his heavyweight title.

Harold and Maude – A black comedy about a rich, disturbed, young man, fascinated with death and funerals, who has an affair and a series of adventures with an eccentric and independent 80-year-old woman.

The Hoax – Pathological liar Clifford Irving stages a complex hoax. In the 1970’s Irving managed to fool a major publisher and LIFE magazine into thinking he was writing an authorized biography of Howard Hughes. Irving and his best friend and partner, Dick Susskind, go to extreme lengths to pull off the hair-brained scheme.

Jesus Christ Superstar – Rock opera musical version of the last days of Christ.

Kingpin – Roy Munson is a pro bowler who seems destined for greatness, or as close to greatness as a bowler can get. But after a run-in with angry competitors, Roy finds himself sadder, wiser and minus his bowling hand. Years later, he thinks he’s found his ticket back to the big time when he meets the naive Ishmael, an Amish bowling whiz. Together, they set out for a million-dollar tournament in Reno.

The Kite Runner – As young boys living in Afghanistan, Amir and Hassan were inseparable friends, until one fateful act tore them apart. Years later, Amir will embark on a dangerous quest to right the wrongs of the past.

The Last King of Scotland – Chronicles Idi Amin’s rise and fall. Amin’s despotic reign of terror is viewed through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan, a Scottish doctor who arrives in Uganda in the early 1970s to serve as Amin’s personal physician. His perspective as an outsider causes him to be initially impressed by Amin’s calculated rise to power and he grows increasingly monstrous. A pointed examination of how independent Uganda (a British colony until 1962) became a breeding ground for Amin’s genocidal tyranny. Amin is both seductive and horribly destructive. Garrigan grows increasingly prone to exploitation.

The Longest Yard (1974) – Filmed on location at the Georgia State Prison, semi-pro football is played with the cons as the heroes and the guards as the heavies.

The Lords of Dogtown – Based on the true story of the legendary Z-Boys, this film is a fictionalized take on a brilliant group of young skateboarders who perfect their craft in the empty swimming pools of unsuspecting suburban homeowners, pioneering a thrilling new sport.

Milk – His life changed history. His courage changed lives. Harvey Milk is a middle-aged New Yorker who, after moving to San Francisco, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1977. His election makes him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States. The following year, both he and the city’s mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White, who blamed his former colleagues for denying White’s attempt to rescind his resignation from the board. Based on the inspiring true story of Harvey Milk.

Nixon – A riveting look at a complex man, Richard Nixon, whose chance at greatness was ultimately destroyed by his passion for power–when his involvement in conspiracy jeopardized the nation’s security and the presidency of the United States.

Now and Then – A heartwarming comedy about the childhood mischief of four best friends who reunite after twenty years.

Remember the Titans – A drama of forced high school integration in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971. After leading his team to fifteen winning seasons, white football coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by African-American Herman Boone, tough, opinionated and as different from Yoast as could be. The two men overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions. A rousing celebration of how a town torn apart by resentment, friction and mistrust comes together in triumphant harmony.

Rocky – Rocky Balboa, the underdog, gets his million-to-one shot at love, self-respect and the world heavyweight boxing crown and comes out a winner.

Roll Bounce – X and his friends rule their local 1970s roller-rink, that is until they are shocked to discover that their home base is going out of business. Heading over to the Sweetwater Roller Rink, they find their modest talents are, at first, no competition for their trick skaters and pretty girls who follow their every move. Now Xavier and his crew must pull together as a team to try and win big money at a rival rink’s Roller Jam skate-off.

Rudy – Although people have told Rudy all his life he’s not good enough, smart enough or big enough, nothing can stop his impossible dream of playing football for Notre Dame.

Secretariat – The spectacular journey of an incredible horse named Secretariat and the moving story of his unlikely owner, a housewife who risked everything to make him a champion.

Taxi Driver – A psychotic taxi driver tries to save a child prostitute and becomes infatuated with a political campaigner. He goes on a violent rampage when his dreams don’t work out.

The Virgin Suicides – When school hunk Trip Fontain convinces the beautiful but sheltered Lisbon sisters to go to the prom, the romantic fantasies of a group of neighborhood boys threaten to come true– until all are engulfed in a stunning chain of events that will change their lives forever.

The War – It’s Mississippi, the summer of 1970, and two children are determined to build the ultimate treehouse with their friends, while their father, a newly returned Vietnam vet, has equally high hopes to rebuild his life.

Find It @ Sewickley Public Library

Watch, Read, Listen, Learn

Author: Richelle

2000s – History and SPL Programs

The 1990s – DVDs

CLICK ON THE TITLES TO BE TAKEN TO THE LIBRARY’S ONLINE CATALOG. THERE, YOU CAN REQUEST THE ITEM AND SEE MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING RATING INFORMATION.

1990s – Books for All Ages

1990s – History and Programs

Join us this week for these “Between the Decades” Programs.

Music of the 1980s!

The 1980s – DVDs

CLICK ON THE TITLES TO BE TAKEN TO THE LIBRARY’S ONLINE CATALOG. THERE, YOU CAN REQUEST THE ITEM AND SEE MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING RATING INFORMATION.

1980s Books for All Ages

1980s – History and SPL Programs

Join us this week for these “Between the Decades” Programs.

Music of the 1970s

The 1970s – DVDs

CLICK ON THE TITLES TO BE TAKEN TO THE LIBRARY’S ONLINE CATALOG. THERE, YOU CAN REQUEST THE ITEM AND SEE MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING RATING INFORMATION.