Month: January 2018

New Acquisitions: January 2018

Let’s take a look at every home use DVD that crossed my desk in January! Some highlights include The Big Sick, a ridiculous number of seasons of Cheers, Season 1 of my favorite tv show to watch in hotel rooms, The Rifleman, and Quatermass and the Pit, a scifi serial. I have not seen The … Continue reading “New Acquisitions: January 2018”

Let’s take a look at every home use DVD that crossed my desk in January! Some highlights include The Big Sick, a ridiculous number of seasons of Cheers, Season 1 of my favorite tv show to watch in hotel rooms, The Rifleman, and Quatermass and the Pit, a scifi serial.

I have not seen The Big Sick but I’ve been assured that this is the funniest bit.

Come check out a movie! It’s halfway to the weekend!
  • Alicia en el pais de Maria – HU DVD 13074
  • Amigo – HU DVD 3902
  • The Armor of light – HU DVD 13079
  • The big sick – HU DVD 14848
  • Bret Maverick : the complete series. – HU DVD 14860, Discs 1 – 5
  • Car 54 where are you? The complete first season – HU DVD 11530, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. Season 1 – HU DVD 14827, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. Season 2 – HU DVD 14828, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. Season 3 – HU DVD 14829, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. Season 4 – HU DVD 14830, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. Season 5 – HU DVD 14831, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. Season 6 – HU DVD 14832, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. Season 7 – HU DVD 14833, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. Season 8 – HU DVD 14834, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. Season 9 – HU DVD 14835, Discs 1 – 5
  • Cheers. Season 10 – HU DVD 14836, Discs 1 – 4
  • Cheers. The final season – HU DVD 14837, Discs 1 – 4
  • Doctor Who. The complete fifth series – HU DVD 10807, Discs 1 – 6
  • Doctor Who. The complete sixth series – HU DVD 10808, Discs 1 – 6
  • Doctor Who. The complete seventh series – HU DVD 10809, Discs 1 – 5
  • Doctor Who. The complete eighth series – HU DVD 10810, Discs 1 – 5
  • Doctor Who. Series nine, part one – HU DVD 10811
  • Doctor Who. Series nine, part two – HU DVD 10812
  • Elizabeth : the golden age – HU DVD 5492
  • The fastest gun alive – HU DVD 14788
  • GBF – HU DVD 14916
  • Give me your hand – HU DVD 14910
  • Gleason – HU DVD 14846
  • Hancock – HU DVD 14909
  • Hogan’s heroes. The complete first season. – HU DVD 14838, Discs 1 – 5
  • Hogan’s heroes. The second season – HU DVD 14839, Discs 1 – 5
  • Hogan’s heroes. The third season – HU DVD 14840, Discs 1 – 5
  • Hogan’s heroes. The fourth season – HU DVD 14841, Discs 1 – 4
  • Hogan’s heroes. The fifth season  – HU DVD 14842, Discs 1 – 4
  • Hogan’s heroes. The sixth & final season – HU DVD 14843, Discs 1 – 5
  • Holding the man – HU DVD 14912
  • I can’t think straight – HU DVD 14913
  • I, Daniel Blake – HU DVD 14908
  • Jenny’s wedding – HU DVD 14914
  • Loving Annabelle – HU DVD 14911
  • Mood indigo – HU DVD 14879
  • The next of kin – HU DVD 5394
  • Pennies From Heaven – HU DVD 5541, Discs 1 – 3
  • A perfect ending – HU DVD 14915
  • Quatermass and the pit : a serial in six parts – HU DVD 14878
  • Queen Sugar. The complete first season – HU DVD 14844, Discs 1 – 3
  • Rescue me. The complete first season – HU DVD 14817, Discs 1 – 3
  • Rescue me. The complete second season – HU DVD 14818, Discs 1 – 4
  • Rescue me. The complete third season – HU DVD 14819, Discs 1 – 4
  • Rescue me. The complete fourth season – HU DVD 14820, Discs 1 – 4
  • Rescue me. Season five – HU DVD 14821, Discs 1 – 6
  • Rescue me. The sixth season and the final season – HU DVD 14822, Discs 1 – 5
  • The rifleman. The original series, Season 1, episodes 1-40 – HU DVD 14569, Discs 1 – 8
  • Step – HU DVD 14847
  • Taxi. The first season – HU DVD 14855, Discs 1 – 3
  • Taxi. The second season – HU DVD 14856, Discs 1 – 4
  • Taxi. The third season – HU DVD 14857, Discs 1 – 4
  • Taxi. The fourth season – HU DVD 14858, Discs 1 – 3
  • Taxi. The final season – HU DVD 14859, Discs 1 – 3
  • Their eyes were watching God – HU DVD 14845
  • This is us. The complete first season – HU DVD 14876, Discs 1 – 5
  • Thundercrack! – HU DVD 14877
  • The Vietnam War – HU DVD 14875, Discs 1 – 10
  • The wacky world of Tex Avery. Volume one – HU DVD 14861, Discs 1 – 4
  • When I walk – HU DVD 13078
  • Whose streets? – HU DVD 14905

Art of the Title does Star Trek Discovery!!!

I’m not the most devoted Star Trek fan in the world, though I will admit to taking down Voyager episodes like handfuls of movie theater popcorn. (Side note, I totally contest this study. I am the worlds most introverted introvert and I eat my popcorn by shoving full fistfuls into my face, with many casualties … Continue reading “Art of the Title does Star Trek Discovery!!!”

I’m not the most devoted Star Trek fan in the world, though I will admit to taking down Voyager episodes like handfuls of movie theater popcorn. (Side note, I totally contest this study. I am the worlds most introverted introvert and I eat my popcorn by shoving full fistfuls into my face, with many casualties down the front of my shirt.) But I’ve always been a sucker for the opening sequences. They are the definition of epic.

Art of the Title has taken a look at the opening sequence of Star Trek: Discovery, and as always the article is amazing. While I find this title sequence less epic, it absolutely hits all those trendy floating graphics notes.

What do you think? Points for pretty, at least.

Movies at Random: Night of the Shooting Stars

Today while perusing the dusty gemtrac, the movie Night of the Shooting Stars (HU DVD 5167) jumped out at me. The original title, La Notte de San Lorenzo, refers to the feast day of Saint Lawrence, a holiday associated with shooting stars. Here’s our summary: It is the Night of San Lorenzo, the night when … Continue reading “Movies at Random: Night of the Shooting Stars”

Today while perusing the dusty gemtrac, the movie Night of the Shooting Stars (HU DVD 5167) jumped out at me. The original title, La Notte de San Lorenzo, refers to the feast day of Saint Lawrence, a holiday associated with shooting stars.

Here’s our summary:

It is the Night of San Lorenzo, the night when dreams come true. While watching shooting stars, Cecilia tells her son about a similar night in 1944, when she was six years old, and the residents of San Martino, her small Tuscan hometown, struggled against Nazi oppression during the final days of WWII.

This film won the Jury Special Grand Prix at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, and Wikipedia describes it as a fantasy war drama film. Directed by the Taviani brothers, whose film Padre Padrone (HU DVD 1437) won the Palme d’Or in 1977, Night of the Shooting Stars is definitely worth watching.

 Happy viewing!

Five Films Featuring…Cakes!

Happy Friday! It’s time for Five Films Featuring…CAKES! Originally I had wanted to do cupcakes, but holy cow it is hard to find cupcakes in movies. But, for our first pick: 1. Bridesmaids (HU DVD 9104) The saddest, loneliest, prettiest cupcake in the world. 2. Singing in the Rain (HU DVD 674) Not a real … Continue reading “Five Films Featuring…Cakes!”

Happy Friday! It’s time for Five Films Featuring…CAKES!

Originally I had wanted to do cupcakes, but holy cow it is hard to find cupcakes in movies. But, for our first pick:

1. Bridesmaids (HU DVD 9104)

The saddest, loneliest, prettiest cupcake in the world.


2. Singing in the Rain (HU DVD 674)

Not a real cake, but a totally adorable dance number in this classic.

3. Back To The Future (HU DVD 7840)

Remember the pathetic “Welcome Home Uncle Joey” cake?

4. Room (HU DVD 13183)

Ahhh the really depressing birthday cake in Room.

5. Matilda (HU DVD 11525)

Who doesn’t remember the great triumph of Bruce Bogtrotter’s giant cake? This is possibly one of the best shows of defiance I ever remember on film. “You can do it, Brucie!”

Hungry now?

Can He Ever Be a Better Man?

This week we got in a really interesting documentary called A Better Man (DVD 14907) directed by a domestic abuse counselor who was herself a victim, Attiya Khan. It’s not Home Use, but I’m still really curious about it because the way it was made sounds so interesting. In the film, Khan and her abuser, … Continue reading “Can He Ever Be a Better Man?”

This week we got in a really interesting documentary called A Better Man (DVD 14907) directed by a domestic abuse counselor who was herself a victim, Attiya Khan. It’s not Home Use, but I’m still really curious about it because the way it was made sounds so interesting.

In the film, Khan and her abuser, who is identified as Steve, meet to discuss and come to terms with the two years of abuse Khan suffered while dating Steve twenty years prior. They sometimes have a facilitator, and also revisit their high school. It’s a little hard to explain the background, so just read the Wikipedia article.

The project itself is asking a question about justice. Typically this type of engagement is thought of as a form of restorative justice, which has been explored in a variety of types of offences, and reduces relapses to crime. It’s usually claimed that both the victim and perpetrator come away feeling better about the process and results than when the offender is merely fined or sent to prison. It’s worth reading a bit about the history of this type of justice, as many people have never considered an alternative to what is called retributive justice (basically, our prison system).

Here’s the trailer:

At one point in the trailer, Khan talks about running from the house screaming and no one on her street coming to help her. There’s a lot of isolation and terror involved in abuse like this. One of the reasons I’m curious about this documentary is that in some form or another, forgiveness is an ongoing negotiation in domestic abuse even as it occurs. Society forgives the abuser by un-seeing victims. Victims forgive their abusers by going back.

In the current #metoo movement, one of the most depressing things is the amount of un-seeing uncovered by these incidents that basically everyone knew about. (I mean, jesus, conductors??) Part of the reason domestic violence is so heartbreaking is that the victim and the victim’s social environment often becomes collaborators in concealing the crime. And, it’s kind of problematic to talk about restorative justice here: in many ways, abusers are intermittently “better men.” They feel shame, even as they cause grievous injury, but that shame is often somehow divided from their “true self.” The process of restitution is shallowly engaged every time a promise or an apology is made. Even victims of horrible abuse are capable of believing that their partners can and will be “better men.” People who live outside abusive relationships sometimes imagine them to be constant, epic battles waged behind closed doors. Often, they are relatively normal relationships with an element of violence that has simply become normalized, be it daily, weekly, or even much more infrequently.

I’m curious what the takeaway presented actually is. You can celebrate the conversation here, but when this type of abuse is current and not an issue twenty years in the past, what is the relationship between the resolution in the film and the resolution needed for current abuse?

I don’t know! Gotta watch the movie.

Scotch Cinema

I was doing some super serious research for work and came across this blog: Scotch Cinema. Which is pretty much what that name implies. Not much to say about Scotchka (see The Room, but actually don’t see it please), but lots of interesting shots of the drinks of choice in various tv shows and movies. … Continue reading “Scotch Cinema”

I was doing some super serious research for work and came across this blog: Scotch Cinema. Which is pretty much what that name implies. Not much to say about Scotchka (see The Room, but actually don’t see it please), but lots of interesting shots of the drinks of choice in various tv shows and movies. The most ludicrous scotch product placement I recall recently is the Johnny Walker in Blade Runner 2049, but this blog has plenty of pretty ridiculous examples.

Movies at Random: Holy Motors

Holy cow, I forgot about Holy Motors (HU DVD 11008)! Today, this DVD leapt off the shelf into my hands, and this one I’ve actually seen! This super weird Leos Carax movie stars Denis Lavant, whose acting generally leans towards hyper-physical mime-like motions, as an actor-like character inhabiting different roles. According to Wikipedia, Carax wrote … Continue reading “Movies at Random: Holy Motors”

Holy cow, I forgot about Holy Motors (HU DVD 11008)! Today, this DVD leapt off the shelf into my hands, and this one I’ve actually seen!

This super weird Leos Carax movie stars Denis Lavant, whose acting generally leans towards hyper-physical mime-like motions, as an actor-like character inhabiting different roles. According to Wikipedia, Carax wrote the role specifically for Lavant, which is not at all surprising given their work together. The movie sparkles with weirdness, and no summary will do it justice, but here’s our summary all the same:

Monsieur Oscar, a mysterious, shadowy character, spends a day traveling through Paris in a limousine driven by his loyal chauffeur, Celine. During his travel, he journeys from one life to the next, taking on the appearances of a wide variety of characters, including a captain of industry, an assassin, a beggar, a monster, a reptilian sex god, a melancholy father, and a dying old man.

And if that doesn’t sell you on it, here’s the trailer:

Happy viewing!

“Bible films”

Here in DC, the controversial Museum of the Bible opened back in the fall. There are tons of movies based on the Bible, from religious and historical feature films to documentaries. But, did you know that you can do a keyword search for “Bible films” on our Media services website? Here’s what comes up: Killing … Continue reading ““Bible films””

Here in DC, the controversial Museum of the Bible opened back in the fall. There are tons of movies based on the Bible, from religious and historical feature films to documentaries. But, did you know that you can do a keyword search for “Bible films” on our Media services website?

Here’s what comes up:

Killing Jesus (HU DVD 12315)
Ben-Hur : a tale of the Christ (HU DVD 3857)
Ten commandments (HU DVD 5930)
King of kings (HU DVD 10395)
Vangelo secondo Matteo (HU DVD 9083)
Genèse (HU DVD 10673)
Salomé ; Lot in Sodom. (DVD 7446)
Robe (HU DVD 2224)

Interesting!

Enjoy Some Lovely Stop Motion

This insanely cool video by Renana Aldor and Kobi Vogman explains the process of Lost-Wax casting. The video was made for the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and you can read more about it here: http://directorsnotes.com/2016/05/02/kobi-vogman-renana-aldor-hadrian-bronze-casting/   If you’re now in the mood for fantastic stop motion films, check out Kubo and the two strings (HU DVD … Continue reading “Enjoy Some Lovely Stop Motion”

This insanely cool video by Renana Aldor and Kobi Vogman explains the process of Lost-Wax casting. The video was made for the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and you can read more about it here: http://directorsnotes.com/2016/05/02/kobi-vogman-renana-aldor-hadrian-bronze-casting/

 

If you’re now in the mood for fantastic stop motion films, check out Kubo and the two strings (HU DVD 13637). And if you’re interested in lost-wax casting, we actually have a streaming video that covers that called Feuer & Flamme. And for more about Hadrian, check out this selection from The Great Courses on Roman Jerusalem.

Movies at Random: While the City Sleeps

Media services has so many movies that I’m always surprised by what I find. Today the movie While the City Sleeps (HU DVD 7621) caught my eye. This Fritz Lang film was released in 1956. Here’s our summary: “Ask mother” says the message scrawled in lipstick at a muder scene by an unknown serial killer who … Continue reading “Movies at Random: While the City Sleeps”

Media services has so many movies that I’m always surprised by what I find. Today the movie While the City Sleeps (HU DVD 7621) caught my eye.

This Fritz Lang film was released in 1956. Here’s our summary:

“Ask mother” says the message scrawled in lipstick at a muder scene by an unknown serial killer who preys on women. It’s a sensational story – if it bleeds, it leads – and a news conglomerate offers a big promotion to the high-level company exec who solves the case. So begins the wheeling, dealing and backstabbing of the competing media hotshots as they vie to unmask the so-called Lipstick Killer.

Fun fact from Wikipedia: “several props—some of which featured a large K in a circle—were recycled from Citizen Kane, which RKO had made 15 years earlier, and may have prompted the use of the name “Kyne.””

Not a favorite with all viewers (see this review), it’s still worth a look. Here’s a sample:

Happy viewing!