Thursday 26 February 2009

Traffic tops list of ten most popular films among library members

TrafficA wide range of film genres was represented in the list of the ten most popular films borrowed from Clare County Library during 2008. The list contains films such as the epic Passage to India, the black comedy Harold & Maude, the French romantic thriller Read My Lips and the critically acclaimed Fargo.

Steven Soderbergh’s thriller about the drugs trade, Traffic, featuring Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones topped the list of the most borrowed films from Clare County Library in 2008, up from 8th place last year. It was closely followed by Magnolia, starring Tom Cruise and Julianne Moore, which interweaves nine separate yet connected storylines about the interactions among several people in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley, California.

About Schmidt was the third most popular film among library members, up from sixth place in 2007. Jack Nicholson stars in the role of Warren Schmidt – a man enduring an end-of-life crisis.

Movies featuring other movie greats - Gene Hackman (Royal Tenenbaums), Paul Newman (Road To Perdition) and Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) also featured on the top ten list. Films by some of the most critically acclaimed directors such as the Coen Brothers ("Fargo"), David Lean ("A Passage to India") and Ken Loach (Land & Freedom) were also much in demand in the libraries.

"Harold and Maude", a film that revolves around the exploits of a morbid young man who develops a relationship with septuagenarian Maude, was released in 1971 and remains a cult classic.

The French Romantic thriller "Sur Mes Levres (Read My Lips)" in which a secretary with hearing problems uses her ability to lip-read in assisting a petty thief she has hired as a trainee was the only foreign language film on the list in 2008, compared with three in 2007.

Top Ten Films Borrowed from Clare County Library in 2008:
Traffic
Magnolia
About Schmidt
Rain Man
Royal Tenenbaums
Fargo
Land & Freedom
Sur mes Levres (Read My Lips)
A Passage to India
Harold & Maude

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