Random Movie Monday

Happy finals season! This week’s random movie is DVD 9895, Silent Naruse, is a collection of two early works of Japanese filmmaker Mikio Naruse. The two films, Flunky, Work Hard and No Blood Relations are Naruse’s first two films. Both are silent films. Here’s our summary: Flunky, Work Hard (1931, 28 min): An atypical breezy … Continue reading “Random Movie Monday”

Happy finals season! This week’s random movie is DVD 9895, Silent Naruse, is a collection of two early works of Japanese filmmaker Mikio Naruse. The two films, Flunky, Work Hard and No Blood Relations are Naruse’s first two films. Both are silent films. Here’s our summary:

Flunky, Work Hard (1931, 28 min): An atypical breezy comedy about a poor insurance salesman trying to provide for his family. No Blood Relation (1932, 79 min.): A maternal-instinct melodrama about an actress desperate to reclaim the daughter she left behind.

I wasn’t able to find clips for these on the internet, but if you’re interested in exploring early Japanese cinema, you should definitely check this DVD out.

Very DC New Acquisitions

We have two new DVD acquisitions today, both of which are very, very appropriate for DC. Vice (DVD 16238) On the Basis of Sex (DVD 16239) You can rent Vice now from the Media Services collection, and On the Basis of Sex on Sunday when I return it.

We have two new DVD acquisitions today, both of which are very, very appropriate for DC.

Vice (DVD 16238)

On the Basis of Sex (DVD 16239)

You can rent Vice now from the Media Services collection, and On the Basis of Sex on Sunday when I return it.

TV Shows for Days

All of today’s new acquisitions are TV shows! We’ve got: The Americans: The Complete Final Season (DVD 14323) The Leftovers: The Complete First Season (DVD 16235) The Leftovers: The Complete Second Season (DVD 16236) The Leftovers: The Complete Third Season (DVD 16237)

All of today’s new acquisitions are TV shows! We’ve got:

The Americans: The Complete Final Season (DVD 14323)

The Leftovers: The Complete First Season (DVD 16235)

The Leftovers: The Complete Second Season (DVD 16236)

The Leftovers: The Complete Third Season (DVD 16237)

Random Movie Monday — Countdown to Zero

Good morning, and happy Monday! The AU campus has begun its own countdown to finals, so it’s probably appropriate that this week’s random movie– DVD 8043 — is a countdown to nuclear armageddon. Here’s our summary: Tracing the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present state of global affairs: nine nations … Continue reading “Random Movie Monday — Countdown to Zero”

Good morning, and happy Monday! The AU campus has begun its own countdown to finals, so it’s probably appropriate that this week’s random movie– DVD 8043 — is a countdown to nuclear armageddon. Here’s our summary:

Tracing the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present state of global affairs: nine nations possessing nuclear weapons capabilities with others racing to join them, with the world held in a delicate balance that could be shattered by an act of terrorism, failed diplomacy, or a simple accident. The film makes a compelling case for worldwide nuclear disarmament, an issue more topical than ever as over 40 nations have the technical capacity to construct nuclear weapons.

Now if only someone could make a compelling case against finals…

New Acquisitions

Home Use: Silicon Valley: The Complete Fifth Season (DVD 13285) Campus Use: Medicine: The Death of a Profession (DVD 16234) Kumu Hina: The True Meaning of Aloha (DVD 16233)

Home Use:

Silicon Valley: The Complete Fifth Season (DVD 13285)

Campus Use:

Medicine: The Death of a Profession (DVD 16234)

Kumu Hina: The True Meaning of Aloha (DVD 16233)

Random Movie Monday — Toxic Tears

With everything in bloom all over campus, today’s random movie focuses on the nastier side of modern agriculture. DVD 10641, Toxic Tears, focuses on the effects of monoculture in India. Here’s our summary: “The Green Revolution of the mid 20th Century was aimed at greatly reducing starvation in the Third World. But the high-yielding seeds … Continue reading “Random Movie Monday — Toxic Tears”

With everything in bloom all over campus, today’s random movie focuses on the nastier side of modern agriculture. DVD 10641, Toxic Tears, focuses on the effects of monoculture in India. Here’s our summary:


“The Green Revolution of the mid 20th Century was aimed at greatly reducing starvation in the Third World. But the high-yielding seeds and mono-crops central to its success required heavy use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and water, with a higher cost than the traditional, more natural methods that were abandoned. While the Green Revolution did increase yields of grains and initially benefited farmers, the price paid proved very high in India, leading to heavy indebtedness, disharmony, environmental degradation, and thousands of suicides among farmers. Toxic Tears features farmers, local merchants, and moneylenders in the Southern Punjab region who tell their stories. Two older farmers in one village describe how farming in the past was different from today, and how their sons were forced to take more loans from banks and local moneylenders. Heavily in debt, they took their lives by drinking pesticides, and were among the 25 farmers who committed suicide in recent years in their village. One villager who continued to farm organically describes how the use of pesticides is like a drug addiction, making both farmers and the land dependent upon them, and at great cost. Dr. Vandana Shiva, noted scientist, environmentalist and winner of the Right Livelihood Award, provides additional background and commentary. She believes local moneylenders have indeed benefited, but that the main beneficiaries are the big agricultural companies who provide the seeds, pesticides and fertilizers to local middlemen, with little understanding of the impact of their decisions and products.”

Remembering Agnès Varda

On March 29th, the world lost Agnès Varda, one of the most quietly influential filmmakers of the 20th (and 21st) century. Varda, who released her first film in 1954, is considered by many to be the ‘godmother’ of French new Wave cinema, if not the first New Wave filmmaker. Her first film, La Pointe-Courte, predated … Continue reading “Remembering Agnès Varda”

On March 29th, the world lost Agnès Varda, one of the most quietly influential filmmakers of the 20th (and 21st) century. Varda, who released her first film in 1954, is considered by many to be the ‘godmother’ of French new Wave cinema, if not the first New Wave filmmaker. Her first film, La Pointe-Courte, predated the first films of Goddard and his ilk by several years.

Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Perhaps the reason some don’t include her in this movement was that she seemed to unconsciously separate herself from it. Varga moved to films from photography, and knew little about the broader (and quite misogynistic) film industry when she released La Pointe Courte, and even when she released her second film, Cleo 5 to 7, in 1961.

Throughout her career, Agnès Varda did what she wanted to do. Fiercely independent, her signature blend of documentary and story-telling examined her subjects with empathy and curiosity, inviting her audiences to examine her characters and her stories. Her techniques, too, were trailblazing. In Vagabond Varda ‘interviewed’ characters her main character encounters, similar to documentary features. This technique today is familiar to anyone who enjoys shows like The Office or Parks and Recreation.

In her later years, Varda moved from her fiction-documentaries to pure documentaries, such as The Gleaners and I and Faces Places, which earned her an academy award nomination. Still, these personal, empathetic films eschewed the hallmarks of a traditional documentary. With these, as with her earlier works, Varda created something that was all her own.

You can find most of Varda’s filmography here in Media Services, including:

  • la Pointe-Courte (DVD 4153)
  • Cléo de 5 a 7 (DVD 4151)
  • Vagabond (DVD 4152)
  • Faces Places (DVD 15052)
  • The Beaches of Agnes (DVD 6936)
  • Daguerréotypes (DVD 9187)
  • One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (DVD 7521)
  • Kung Fu Master! (DVD 15081)

Random Movie Monday — The Scientific Method

This is what Random Movie Monday is all about — digging up some obscure dvd we have in the collection. This week it’s DVD 13010, The Scientific Method. It’s a straight-up, no tricks educational video about… the scientific method. Originally released in 1996, it’s so obscure I can’t even find a trailer for it. If … Continue reading “Random Movie Monday — The Scientific Method”

This is what Random Movie Monday is all about — digging up some obscure dvd we have in the collection. This week it’s DVD 13010, The Scientific Method. It’s a straight-up, no tricks educational video about… the scientific method. Originally released in 1996, it’s so obscure I can’t even find a trailer for it.

If you ever need the scientific method explained, Media Services has you covered!