Month: July 2015

DC’s West End Cinema is back!

Great news, DC film fans! The Washington Post reports that West End Cinema, which shuttered back in March, is reopening later this month! West End was one of the area’s most beloved limited-run independent theaters, and its closure earlier in the year left a hole in the DC film market only partly filled by E … Continue reading “DC’s West End Cinema is back!”

Great news, DC film fans! The Washington Post reports that West End Cinema, which shuttered back in March, is reopening later this month!

West End was one of the area’s most beloved limited-run independent theaters, and its closure earlier in the year left a hole in the DC film market only partly filled by E Street Cinema, the Avalon, and the AFI Silver. High-end movie-going experiences like the new ArcLight, iPic, and Drafthouse theaters in the area crowded West End out of business. The closure also signaled the symbolic end of DC’s neighborhood theaters, which used to be everywhere.

Now, the Landmark Theatres chain has revived West End Cinema, still true to its goal as a small arthouse venue. Only two screens will be ready by the time it open on Friday, July 17th, but that’s a good start for getting this theater back off the ground.

The theater might be under new management, but we’re glad to see it back and operating!

Root around for something good in this fridge shot supercut

We had been looking for an occasion to post this supercut of refrigerators in films, and the post-Fourth of July leftover glut seems like a good occasion to do so. The classic point-of-view shot of a character look for food in a fridge has become almost background noise at this point. When previously groundbreaking cinematography … Continue reading “Root around for something good in this fridge shot supercut”

We had been looking for an occasion to post this supercut of refrigerators in films, and the post-Fourth of July leftover glut seems like a good occasion to do so.

The classic point-of-view shot of a character look for food in a fridge has become almost background noise at this point. When previously groundbreaking cinematography turns up in a Sunny D commercial, it’s probably passé. This minute-and-a-half-long video from an editor under the pseudonym “Roman Holiday” is startling – not because it assembles so many fridge clips but because of how many notable films use them. Ghostbusters, 127 Hours, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes all appear, and Roman Holiday promises he’ll continue to extend the video as he finds more.

The original fridge shot surely originated as a gimmick, but is it so ubiquitous as to be essential? Do all respectable directors need the Sunny D shot in their arsenal?

All we know is it reminds us to finally get rid of that weird jar of peppers that’s been in the back of the fridge for a year.

Celebrate ‘merica with an irrationally patriotic movie marathon

 Fourth of July falls on a Saturday this year, so many DC businesses are taking Friday off too – including us! The extended weekend gives us an opportunity to cram in a few more patriotic movies. We have fond memories of spending the Fourth lazily watching Independence Day on basic cable, and for America’s 239th … Continue reading “Celebrate ‘merica with an irrationally patriotic movie marathon”

 Fourth of July falls on a Saturday this year, so many DC businesses are taking Friday off too – including us! The extended weekend gives us an opportunity to cram in a few more patriotic movies. We have fond memories of spending the Fourth lazily watching Independence Day on basic cable, and for America’s 239th birthday, we look forward to three days of the same.

When making Fourth of July recommendations, there’s a few classics. Lincoln is a powerful portrait of one country’s greatest presidents, and 1776 will always be entertaining for making Benjamin Franklin singing about “sexual combustibility.” But for a holiday primarily about blowing things up, we also need to recommend the most aggressively, absurdly patriotic movies. There’s a danger, especially in military films, of patriotism turning violent or xenophobic, but the best rootin’-tootin’ America-worshipping movies love our country to an exaggerated level that’s almost harmless in its total silliness.

So, before we close tonight, we recommend swinging by the library for one of these movies that celebrates America – either in serious reverence of its history or in total, deep-fried excess. National Treasure probably falls hallway between those.

1776 – HU DVD 4969
Glory – HU DVD 1171
Independence Day – HU DVD 3111
John Adams (miniseries) – HU DVD 4991 – 4993
Lincoln – HU DVD 6210
National Treasure – HU DVD 11187
The Patriot – HU DVD 347*
Red Dawn – HU DVD 259
Team America: World Police – HU DVD 2089
Top Gun – HU DVD 2959

Documentaries answer: what’s happening in Greece?

News broke today that Greece is in serious financial straits, having missed a major loan repayment to the IMF and now teetering on the edge of default. We admit to not following this situation closely and to being less literate in international politics than likely a majority of the AU students. As is our tendency, … Continue reading “Documentaries answer: what’s happening in Greece?”

News broke today that Greece is in serious financial straits, having missed a major loan repayment to the IMF and now teetering on the edge of default. We admit to not following this situation closely and to being less literate in international politics than likely a majority of the AU students. As is our tendency, we’re turning to documentaries in our collection to get a better understanding of this situation.

We found three quality streaming videos on the Films in Demand database that explain how Europe’s greater currency crisis, Greece’s particular situation and its relationship with banking, and how many Greek citizens are reacting to the austerity measures.

  • The Great Euro Crash – a BBC documentary about the long history of the Euro, tracing its development from theoretical planning in the mid-20th century to the current dilemma in Greece.
  • Greece’s New Odyssey – looks at changing rural life in Greece and how agriculture and barter have become an alternative for young people leaving cities
  • Goldman Sachs and the Decline of Greece – generally about Greece’s crisis but specifically about how American investment bank Goldman Sachs fed its financial collapse

This is of course not a complete picture of what’s happening in Greece, but these videos certainly fill in the details better than many articles we’ve read. Films on Demand regularly updates their collections with quality, timely documentaries like these.