Who was Marion Barry? This HBO documentary is a good primer

Today marked the passing of Marion Barry, DC political legend and one of the country’s most controversial mayors. To describe his decades of public involvement as tumultuous would be an understatement; Barry weathered multiple scandals and a high-profile arrest yet remained enormously popular among his constituents, serving four non-consecutive terms and continuing to serve as […]

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The many works of Mike Nichols, EGOTer and prolific director

Mike Nichols, EGOT-winning director of The Graduate, died yesterday at age 83. For an acclaimed and decorated filmmaker, Nichols kept a comparatively low profile in the entertainment world, but he leaves behind an impressive lineup of truly great films and television productions, including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Primary Colors, Working Girl, Angels in America, […]

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Films on Demand gets bigger. Try the new content, send us your feedback!

We’ve previously talked about Films on Demand, a streaming video database we subscribe to that contains thousands of documentaries on seemingly every subject. Although a few of them come from big distributors like Discovery or History, they’re mostly smaller affairs. Color us excited that Films on Demand is expanding its offerings to include feature films […]

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See Fredrick Wiseman’s newest documentary with a director Q&A!

If you don’t know documentarian Fredrick Wiseman, you should. Wiseman has an absurdly prolific career, having directed dozens of documentaries since 1967. His first, Titicut Follies, is a incisive look at the American mental health system and the state of asylums in the 60s (we frequently recommend this one to faculty). His next film, National […]

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Top 10: Bonus Features Not to Skip

We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs. When was the last time you watched a DVD bonus feature? At the risk […]

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