The increasing economic cooperation between the Chinese and U.S is no tightly held secret, but its impact on the film industry is just now becoming apparent. China is notoriously strict about which Western films it shows, reportedly refusing to screen The Departed for implying that Beijing has military connections. That tide is turning. Large movie […]
Continue readingMonthly Archives: August 2012
Two film festivals with very different audiences
Today marks the start of the Venice Film Festival, the oldest international film festival. Though smaller than notable rivals such as Cannes and Sundance, the Venice Film Festival is getting attention this year by premiering new movies from award magnets Paul Thomas Anderson and Terrence Malick. Some might call it the start of the Oscar […]
Continue readingHappy fall semester! Watch our best college movies
And with that, the 2012 fall semester at American University has begun. The first day of classes is winding to a close, but for incoming freshmen, the college experience has just begun. Whether you’re taking Leadership Gateway or preparing for your capstone, now is a great time to watch some of the greatest college movies […]
Continue readingTime Out New York crowns the greatest New York films
Here’s your controversial (if slightly old) link of the day: Time Out New York has compiled a list of the top 100 movies set in New York City. They put together a fairly complete list – but of course, you can dispute the ones at the top. Judging by the comments section, there are some […]
Continue readingBefore Photoshop CS6… there were giant chickens
For as long as we’ve trusted the authenticity of photography, it seems like, naturally, we’ve wanted to mess around with photos too. Now it seems like this urge his been around for generations – in this case, a whole century before we started Photoshopping mustaches onto people’s faces. Wired recently uncovered a collection of unusual […]
Continue readingThe Hunger Games screening TONIGHT!
We’ve gotten a number of patrons interested in watching The Hunger Games since it was released on DVD this Saturday. We hear you: it’s understandably one of the biggest movies of the year. We’re in the process of acquiring it, but our copy is still en route. Hang on! If you don’t want to wait, […]
Continue readingDirector Tony Scott dies
Film director Tony Scott committed suicide yesterday at age 68. While he was never an arthouse institution and didn’t have critical weight, Scott’s movies were immensely popular and changed the direction of big-action blockbusters. Perhaps most notably, Scott was sort of a Hollywood kingmaker, directing films that were massively successful game-changers for Jerry Bruckheimer and […]
Continue readingRetronaut unearths Frankenstein on his off-day
You can easily pull back the curtain of movie magic on almost any recent, major motion picture. It could be as innocuous as a clip of Bane and Batman off the clock, but even obtuse films like Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life come with special features explaining their production. For most older movies, the […]
Continue readingWhoa! Man with too much spare time makes a real-life Wall-E
This is too great not to share: hobbyist and madman Mike Senna has spent the past three years constructing a life-sized, remote-controlled Wall-E robot from scratch. Now it’s making its rounds through Disney locations, charity events, and hobbyist fairs across the country. You can follow Senna’s adventures on his blog, where he posts pictures of […]
Continue readingNew Films on Demand titles – August 2012
Films on Demand, a streaming video platform used by Media Services, recently added 225 new titles to its collection, including a large number of TED Talks. Since it would be silly to list every single one, here’s a few highlights from their most recent batch… Humanities & Social Sciences Collection In Search of Genghis Khan […]
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