Happy Intersession, and happy Monday!!! Today’s movie at random is The Snake Pit (HU DVD 8513), a true classic from 1948 starring Olivia de Havilland. Here’s our summary: Following an emotional collapse a woman is placed in a mental institution by her husband. The severity of her depression causes her sympathetic doctor to try electric shock, … Continue reading “Movies At Random: The Snake Pit”
Happy Intersession, and happy Monday!!!
Today’s movie at random is The Snake Pit (HU DVD 8513), a true classic from 1948 starring Olivia de Havilland.
Here’s our summary:
Following an emotional collapse a woman is placed in a mental institution by her husband. The severity of her depression causes her sympathetic doctor to try electric shock, hydrotherapy, and drugs, along with psychoanalysis.
I really like the poster, so that’s what you’re getting instead of a trailer:
Enjoy it!
Today’s movie at random is the documentary Nanking (HU DVD 4367), which won a 2008 Peabody award. This well-regarded anti-war film is one of many crucial documentaries in our collection. The use of film storytelling to document, witness, and communicate plays such an important role in our history. It’s definitely worth checking out. Here’s our … Continue reading “Movies At Random: Nanking”
Today’s movie at random is the documentary Nanking (HU DVD 4367), which won a 2008 Peabody award. This well-regarded anti-war film is one of many crucial documentaries in our collection. The use of film storytelling to document, witness, and communicate plays such an important role in our history. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Here’s our summary:
Tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China in the early days of World War II and focuses on the efforts of a small group of unarmed Westerners who established a Safety Zone where over 200,000 Chinese found refuge. Told through deeply moving interviews with Chinese survivors, archival footage, and chilling testimonies of Japanese soldiers, interwoven with staged readings of the Westerners’ letters and diaries.
And the poster:
Let us know what you think.
There are a lot of sad goodbyes in the history of cinema. From Toy Story 3 (HU DVD 7770) to Casablanca (HU DVD 150), a good goodbye on screen can absolute destroy you. Through the magic of scheduling, you’ll see a few more random movie posts under my name, but I’m sad to say: this … Continue reading “Goodbye!”
There are a lot of sad goodbyes in the history of cinema. From Toy Story 3 (HU DVD 7770) to Casablanca (HU DVD 150), a good goodbye on screen can absolute destroy you.
Through the magic of scheduling, you’ll see a few more random movie posts under my name, but I’m sad to say: this is goodbye from Tara in Media Services.
I leave you with one of my favorite goodbyes in the movies, from Harold and Maude (HU DVD 1962):
It took all my strength not to put a Harriet the Spy (HU DVD 15000) clip right there. But I have some dignity. Sort of.
See you, Space Cowboy!
One of the new DVDs we’ve gotten in Media Services looks just heartbreaking: Thank You For Playing (HU DVD 15330 and streaming) is a story about using an unusual medium to document a human experience. From our summary: When Ryan Green, a video game programmer, learns that his young son Joel has cancer, he and … Continue reading “Thank You For Playing”
One of the new DVDs we’ve gotten in Media Services looks just heartbreaking:
Thank You For Playing (HU DVD 15330 and streaming) is a story about using an unusual medium to document a human experience. From our summary:
When Ryan Green, a video game programmer, learns that his young son Joel has cancer, he and his wife Amy begin documenting their emotional journey in the form of an autobiographical video game. This film follows Ryan and his family over two years through the creation of “That Dragon, Cancer” as it evolves from a cathartic exercise into a critically acclaimed work of art that memorializes and personalizes their time and interactions with Joel and sets the gaming industry abuzz.
The cancer aspects are, of course, heartbreaking. And yes, Joel dies. You can read a bit more about the game on Wired. You can watch the trailer for the game here as well:
One thing I find so interesting is that this project would have been nowhere near as compelling or challenging had it been a book. It is specific to its medium. Finding the ways in which a video game can be emotional, often using quite rule-breaking gameplay elements from what it sounds like, is a real artistic accomplishment.
Recommended viewing for any of our friends in AU’s Game Design program.
There’s a really specific look to rotoshopped movies that sits right in that uncanny valley for animation. They’re just slightly too real, and so they look really creepy. The two films best known for this, A Scanner Darkly (HU DVD 2416) and Waking Life (HU DVD 364), are just unbearably creepy. So what is rotoshopping? … Continue reading “Rotoshopping Is Creepy And Cool”
There’s a really specific look to rotoshopped movies that sits right in that uncanny valley for animation. They’re just slightly too real, and so they look really creepy. The two films best known for this, A Scanner Darkly (HU DVD 2416) and Waking Life (HU DVD 364), are just unbearably creepy.
So what is rotoshopping? It’s a specific kind of rotoscoping where an artist draws keyframes and a program decides what makes sense between them. Rotoshopping actually refers to a proprietary software used by the company Flat Black Films. It reminds me in a lot of ways of the creepiness of motion capture, probably for the same reasons. It’s too human in a thing we don’t recognize as human.
I kind of wonder if this is because a computer is making part of the decisions in rotoshopped movies. Maybe there’s more of the artist’s hand in a rotoscoped film than we really think, and that’s the difference between the styles of animation.
There is, I will mention, a little confusion about what rotoscoping itself actually is. Lots of animation uses live references. That’s not necessarily rotoscoping. That’s more like using a model for painting. Rotoscoping is when you actually trace the film frame by frame.
Oh, it’s too hard to explain. I guess to really get it, you’ll have to watch this incredible example:
You’re welcome.
Yay Monday! The last Movie At Random of July is Before the Nickelodeon: the early cinema of Edwin S. Porter (HU DVD 13148). Here’s our summary: Between the years 1894 to 1908, Edwin S. Porter was the leading American filmmaker. Follows his movie career, from his first job installing Thomas Edison’s Vitascope machines in New … Continue reading “Movies At Random: Before the Nickelodeon”
Yay Monday! The last Movie At Random of July is Before the Nickelodeon: the early cinema of Edwin S. Porter (HU DVD 13148).
Here’s our summary:
Between the years 1894 to 1908, Edwin S. Porter was the leading American filmmaker. Follows his movie career, from his first job installing Thomas Edison’s Vitascope machines in New York, through his business as a film exhibitor, to his job as head of Edison’s movie studio. There he created story films: Jack and the Beanstalk, The Life of an American Fireman, and The Great Train Robbery. By 1909, his film technique was old fashioned. Fired by Edison, he continued making films until 1915, but he had been left behind by new directors with new techniques.
And instead of the trailer, here’s Dream of a Rarebit Fiend, based on the hysterical Winsor McCay comic:
Happy viewing!
Today, July 29th, is William Powell’s birthday! I think I’ve suggested The Thin Man (HU DVD 4971 – 4977) about to death, so I’d like to encourage you to check out: The Great Ziegfeld (HU DVD 1979) Manhattan Melodrama (HU DVD 12753) Mister Roberts (HU DVD 5171) and My Man Godfrey (HU DVD 5850) Happy Birthday to the man … Continue reading “Happy Birthday William Powell!”
Today, July 29th, is William Powell’s birthday! I think I’ve suggested The Thin Man (HU DVD 4971 – 4977) about to death, so I’d like to encourage you to check out:
The Great Ziegfeld (HU DVD 1979)
Manhattan Melodrama (HU DVD 12753)
Mister Roberts (HU DVD 5171)
and My Man Godfrey (HU DVD 5850)
Happy Birthday to the man with the best quips and the chops to pull them off.
I’m not sure why, but the zeitgeist seems to want me to think a lot about Sessue Hayakawa these days. It’s funny, but on his Wikipedia page one of the things that’s remarked about him is that it’s weird how he was a huge sex symbol when later Asian men in Hollywood were so desexualized. In fact, he … Continue reading “Sessue Hayakawa”
I’m not sure why, but the zeitgeist seems to want me to think a lot about Sessue Hayakawa these days. It’s funny, but on his Wikipedia page one of the things that’s remarked about him is that it’s weird how he was a huge sex symbol when later Asian men in Hollywood were so desexualized. In fact, he was one of the first sex symbols of Hollywood, or so they say. I honestly don’t think that’s so weird when you also consider that he was a huge jock, and unbelievably handsome. Like, ridiculously so. What is intriguing, though, is that the Production Code both screwed him and made him since he could never portray the romantic hero if the lead actress was not Asian. But in a way, that also made him, because the villainous heartthrob may not get his costar, but he definitely gets the audience. It’s the Loki effect. No matter how wretched you make Tom Hiddleston look or behave, we all still know he’s Tom Hiddleston.
Here’s a selection of Hayakawa films in our collection. Tell us if any sweep you off your feet.
On July 25th, 1975, A Chorus Line opened on Broadway. You can read a bit more about the play in this article about the playbill, or on Wikipedia. This musical is particularly interesting for capturing the real experiences of broadway dancers. It was developed out of workshops with dancers, and at least at first, the … Continue reading “A Chorus Line”
On July 25th, 1975, A Chorus Line opened on Broadway. You can read a bit more about the play in this article about the playbill, or on Wikipedia. This musical is particularly interesting for capturing the real experiences of broadway dancers. It was developed out of workshops with dancers, and at least at first, the “winners” of the evening changed based on performance. It became the longest running musical on broadway until it was surpassed in 1997 by Cats.
It’s pretty rare for musicals to have this type of documentary feel to them, and because the setting is a theater, A Chorus Line really pulls it off. You might compare A Chorus Line to, for example, Working which is based on a Studs Terkel book but is…um…maybe not the best musical. Although, man, check out this selection with Rita Moreno who is just beyond perfect:
Or you might compare it to Hands on a Hardbody, which is based on a documentary film, but seems to have a bit more of a story.
There is a 1985 film version of A Chorus Line (HU DVD 9659) starring Michael Douglas, but it’s pretty widely panned. But, in 2008, a documentary called Every Little Step (HU DVD 6224) returned to this musical. From our summary:
For over three decades, there’s been one singular sensation: A Chorus Line. This groundbreaking hit musical inspired by the emotional lives of dancers during the audition process. Now the story comes full circle and offers a revealing, unprecedented look at the auditions for the Broadway revival of the perennial classic. The music, the moves and the real-life drama, bringing you closer to the footlights than you ever thought possible.
However you choose to experience A Chorus Line, today’s a great day to do it!
Happy Monday! Today’s Movie At Random is Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man (HU DVD 3530). For some reason I’ve been really into Henry Fonda lately after seeing Mister Roberts (HU DVD 5171), and I adore Hitchcock, but I’ve actually never seen this one! I’ll have to remedy that, if you don’t beat me to it. Here’s our summary: … Continue reading “Movies At Random: The Wrong Man”
Happy Monday! Today’s Movie At Random is Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man (HU DVD 3530). For some reason I’ve been really into Henry Fonda lately after seeing Mister Roberts (HU DVD 5171), and I adore Hitchcock, but I’ve actually never seen this one! I’ll have to remedy that, if you don’t beat me to it.
Here’s our summary:
The first Hitchcock film based on a true story. A nightclub musician is falsely accused of a robbery, an accusation that ruins his life.
And here’s the absolutely incredible trailer:
Happy viewing!
