Movies At Random: The Bad Seed

For the last random movie of May, we have the classic horror film The Bad Seed (HU DVD 4910). The plot summary on Wikipedia is too spoiler-y for my taste. But there’s a ton of interesting facts on the IMDB page, including one that is probably of interest only to me: Paul Henreid tried to buy […]

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Movies At Random: The War Lover

Today’s random movie is The War Lover (HU DVD 10437) starring Steve McQueen. This black and white 1962 war film got kind of meh reviews, according to Wikipedia. Based on the trailer below, it’s…uh…”of its time,” shall we say. (Check out that font though.) This film was also at some point subjected to the bizarre process […]

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Movies At Random: Taxi

Today’s random movie is Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (HU DVD 13144). This movie looks so good based on the trailer below. The plot summary on Wikipedia kind of gives too much away, but it’s really interesting to read about the production of this film. Panahi himself is a major part of this story, as it came […]

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Movies At Random: Jupiter’s Wife

Jupiter’s Wife (HU DVD 4016) is a documentary about Maggie Cogan, a homeless woman living in Central Park with her pack of dogs who attracted the curiosity of filmmaker Michel Negroponte. From googling around, it’s unclear if this film really deals with the seriousness of homeless and mental illness. Maggie is described as beguiling and […]

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Movies At Random: The Magic Christian

Today’s random DVD is The Magic Christian (HU DVD 7940) starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. This black comedy is completely littered with celebrity cameos (see Wikipedia), and looks fully ridiculous. But supposedly it’s terribly madcap! So I suppose that’s fine. Also, I mean, Peter Sellers in anything, really. How can you resist? Here’s our summary: […]

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Democracy on Film: The American Woman

Module 4 of Democracy on Film covers The American Woman, both through her eyes and through the eyes of others. Module 4: The American Woman Introductory Lesson: Ways of Seeing WomenChapter 1: Suspense. 1913. — Check out YouTube, as it’s out of print. Where Are My Children on Treasures III: social issues in American film, 1900-1934. […]

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Democracy on Film: Civil Rights

Welcome to Module 3 of Democracy on Film, which covers Civil Rights! This small selection does attempt to expand the concept of civil rights outside the African American Civil Rights Movement with the inclusion of Harvey Milk and Smoke Signals, but the struggle for rights and equality in our diverse country is so multifaceted that […]

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Movies At Random: New Jack City

Today’s random DVD is Mario Van Peebles’ New Jack City (HU DVD 1097). A 1991 action gangster film, Wikipedia makes it sound like there’s some disagreement about just how anti-gangster this film is, and Time Out London called it “a superior example of what used to be called blaxploitation.” The IMDB trivia page on this […]

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