Month: December 2018

New African Feature Films Filmography

Ever hear the phrase “there’s an app for that?” Well, the Media Services version of that is “there’s a filmography for that.” We have over a hundred filmographies available on the library website, covering everything from Swedish cinema to LGBTQ films. We recently updated our African Feature Films filmography. We break down, country by country, … Continue reading “New African Feature Films Filmography”

Ever hear the phrase “there’s an app for that?” Well, the Media Services version of that is “there’s a filmography for that.” We have over a hundred filmographies available on the library website, covering everything from Swedish cinema to LGBTQ films. We recently updated our African Feature Films filmography. We break down, country by country, all of the African feature films we have in our physical and digital collections. Twenty-nine of Africa’s fifty-four countries are represented, and our collection is growing. You can check it out here, and find films from Algeria to Guinea-Bissau to Zimbabwe.

The Art of the Title

Have you ever noticed the main titles and credits of movies and tv shows? Maybe you haven’t, but the folks over at The Art of thhe Title certainly have. They’d created a beautifully curated website devoted to the title sequences that open and close movies. Billing itself as “the definitive resource for title sequence design, … Continue reading “The Art of the Title”

Have you ever noticed the main titles and credits of movies and tv shows? Maybe you haven’t, but the folks over at The Art of thhe Title certainly have. They’d created a beautifully curated website devoted to the title sequences that open and close movies.

Billing itself as “the definitive resource for title sequence design, spanning the film, television, conference, and video game industries,” the site collects and analyzes title sequences, highlighting them as works of art within a film or tv show. Main title sequences can set the stage for a story, and add to the emotional journey of a film. Closing title sequences can summarize or encapsulate a movie of a tv episode, allowing viewers to process or further examine the story or the issues raised. The Art of the Title analyzes everything from Marvel’s Daredevil to Crazy, Rich Asians, Twin Peaks to the Rio Paralympic Games. You can spend hours reading their write-ups and interviews, and I guarantee you’ll enjoy every minute of it.

Random Movie Monday — Frontline: Lost in Detention President Obama’s Tough Immigration Enforcement

Today’s Random Movie feels a little on the nose given recent events here in DC. This 2011 PBS Frontline documentary, produced with our very own American University Investigative Reporting Workshop, examines the immigration policies of President Obama. Here’s our summary: More than one million immigrants have been deported since President Obama took office. Deportations and … Continue reading “Random Movie Monday — Frontline: Lost in Detention President Obama’s Tough Immigration Enforcement”

Today’s Random Movie feels a little on the nose given recent events here in DC. This 2011 PBS Frontline documentary, produced with our very own American University Investigative Reporting Workshop, examines the immigration policies of President Obama. Here’s our summary:


More than one million immigrants have been deported since President Obama took office. Deportations and detentions have reached record levels. The get-tough policy has brought complaints of abuse and harsh treatment. Now viewers can investigate Obama’s enforcement strategies and journey into the secretive world of immigrant detention, while getting a penetrating look at who is being detained and what is happening to them.

Remembering Penny Marshall

Today we mourn Penny Marshall, the trailblazing actress and director, who died on Sunday at the age of 75. Marshall began her career in the entertainment industry in the late 1960s, acting in commercials. In the 1970s, she moved to television shows, playing supporting roles in shows like The Odd Couple before landing a starring … Continue reading “Remembering Penny Marshall”

Today we mourn Penny Marshall, the trailblazing actress and director, who died on Sunday at the age of 75.

Marshall began her career in the entertainment industry in the late 1960s, acting in commercials. In the 1970s, she moved to television shows, playing supporting roles in shows like The Odd Couple before landing a starring role in the comedy Laverne and Shirley. It was on this show that Marshall first began directing, and by the time the show ended she had directed four episodes.

In “Laverne and Shirley”

Over the next decades, Marshall directed cinematic classics like A League of Their Own and Big. With Big, Marshall found commercial and critical success—it was the first movie directed by a woman to own over $100 million at the box office. She also directed Awakenings, an Oscar nominee for Best Picture, and produced Cinderella Man.

Marshall on the set of “A League of Their Own” with Tom Hanks and Geena Davis. 

Take a moment to remember Penny Marshall today and check out her filmography here at Media Services. We actually have a good selection of her acting and directing repertoire.

  • Awakenings (DVD 8861)
  •  A League of Their Own (DVD 1384)
  • Laverne and Shirley, Seasons 1-8 (DVDs 14464-14471)
  • Renaissance Man (DVD 1529)
  •  Big (DVD 4644)
  • Cinderella Man (DVD 9276)
  • Portlandia Season 2 (DVD 7572)

New Acquisitions

Campus Use Paywall: The Business of Scholarship White Right: Meeting the Enemy (DVD 16148) Home Use: Strange Victory (DVD 16149) We The People 2.0 (DVD 16150) Hare Krishna! (DVD 16152) The Last Laugh (DVD 16153) Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (DVD 16154) More DVDs! In this batch, I think I’m most excited for Won’t You … Continue reading “New Acquisitions”

Campus Use

  • Paywall: The Business of Scholarship
  • White Right: Meeting the Enemy (DVD 16148)

Home Use:

  • Strange Victory (DVD 16149)
  • We The People 2.0 (DVD 16150)
  • Hare Krishna! (DVD 16152)
  • The Last Laugh (DVD 16153)
  • Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (DVD 16154)

More DVDs! In this batch, I think I’m most excited for Won’t You Be My Neighbor? All my friends who have seen it cried while they watched it. I teared up just searching for a gif of Mister Rogers. I am so, so ready. 

SomeNew DVDs

The library may be closed all next week, but we have some final new acquisitions to brag about before 2018 comes to a close. Today we added to the shelves… Campus Use: Twenty Years Later (DVD 16140) Home Use Sex, Lies, and Videotape: Criterion Collection (DVD 383) The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo … Continue reading “SomeNew DVDs”

The library may be closed all next week, but we have some final new acquisitions to brag about before 2018 comes to a close. Today we added to the shelves…

Campus Use:

  • Twenty Years Later (DVD 16140)

Home Use

  • Sex, Lies, and Videotape: Criterion Collection (DVD 383)
  • The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo (DVD 16136)
  • Gifted (DVD 16137)
  • Dark Money (DVD 16138)
  • Weighed But Found Wanting (DVD 16139)
  • Women He’s Undressed (DVD 16141)
  • Smithereens (DVD 16142)
  • Women in Love (DVD 16143)
  • White Sun (DVD 16144)
  • You Were never Really Here (DVD 16145)
  • VA: The Human Cost of War (DVD 16146)
  • Zama (DVD 16147)

I have my eye on three of these. Gifted, which starring my second-favorite Hollywood Chris. Women He’s Undressed, which is a documentary about the life and work of Orry-Kelly, a legendary Hollywood costume designer. He designed the costumes for Casablanca, An American in Paris, Some Like it Hot, and Oklahoma! If I get through those, I’ll watch Women in Love, because I’m a sucker for period dramas.

 

Random Movie Monday — I Saw What You Did

Today’s random movie is DVD 14740, I Saw What You Did. This 1965 horror movie will have you on the edge of your seat. Here’s our description: A prank phone call leads to a night of pure terror. With her parents away on an overnight trip, Libby amuses herself by joining her friend Kit, in calling … Continue reading “Random Movie Monday — I Saw What You Did”

Today’s random movie is DVD 14740, I Saw What You Did. This 1965 horror movie will have you on the edge of your seat. Here’s our description:

A prank phone call leads to a night of pure terror. With her parents away on an overnight trip, Libby amuses herself by joining her friend Kit, in calling up strangers and whispering, ‘I saw what you did.’ When Libby dials Steve Marak, a psychopath who just murdered his wife, his jealous neighbor listens in on the call, a conversation that ends with the panicky killer determined to silence them all.

It’s movies like this and When a Stranger Calls that made me swear off horror movies forever.

Random Movie Monday — The Homeless Home Movie

Another documentary for your viewing pleasure this chilly Monday! Today we present you with DVD 8185, The Homeless Home Movie. Released in 1996, this documentary seeks to empower the homeless by giving them a voice and a platform.

Another documentary for your viewing pleasure this chilly Monday! Today we present you with DVD 8185, The Homeless Home Movie. Released in 1996, this documentary seeks to empower the homeless by giving them a voice and a platform.

New DVDs

Our midweek gift to you: new DVDs to enjoy. This week we have: The Other Side of Hope (DVD 16121) Super Troopers (DVD 16123) Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (DVD 16124) The Death of Stalin (DVD 16125) Seed: The Untold Story (DVD 16126) Mully (DVD 16127) Leave No Trace (DVD 16128) The Rider (DVD 16129) Once … Continue reading “New DVDs”

Our midweek gift to you: new DVDs to enjoy. This week we have:

  • The Other Side of Hope (DVD 16121)
  • Super Troopers (DVD 16123)
  • Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (DVD 16124)
  • The Death of Stalin (DVD 16125)
  • Seed: The Untold Story (DVD 16126)
  • Mully (DVD 16127)
  • Leave No Trace (DVD 16128)
  • The Rider (DVD 16129)
  • Once Were Warriors (DVD 16130)
  • The ballad of Lefty Brown (DVD 16131)
  • The Beguiled (DVD 16132)
  • Sleeping beauty (DVD 16133)
  • Razzia (DVD 16134)
  • Drunken Master II (DVD 16135)

I saw The Death of Stalin in theaters, and believe me when I say that it’s one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely a great movie to watch when you have need to take a break from finals. Jason Isaacs as Field Marshal Zhukov was a particularly brilliant casting choice.

Our Whiteboard

We have a lot of creative types here at Media Services, and one of our student assistants, Julia, hasI a lot of fun with the whiteboard behind our desk. Look at this Grinch she drew! You know our favorite holiday monster is smugly hatching some evil plan! She also drew this incredible skeleton, which graced … Continue reading “Our Whiteboard”

We have a lot of creative types here at Media Services, and one of our student assistants, Julia, hasI a lot of fun with the whiteboard behind our desk. Look at this Grinch she drew!

You know our favorite holiday monster is smugly hatching some evil plan! She also drew this incredible skeleton, which graced our desk for the entire month of October.

Julia and our other student assistants also write up the movie recommendations that accompany the drawings. They have great taste, so watch this blog for their other recommendations and thematic creations!