Film has always been an instrument for pushing back against media censorship. The need is less visible and more subtle in America than it was during the years of the Hays Code (see This Film is Not Yet Rated, HU DVD 2414), but in other countries, overt suppression of creative content continues to be the […]
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Screening Room wants you to watch new movies at home, and not everyone’s on-board
photo by Mr.TinDC via Flickr Years ago, we mentioned PRIMA Cinema, the absurdly expensive streaming device that requires a home inspection and, for $500 a pop, allows you to watch first-run Hollywood movies. This was mostly intended as a way for the Jay Lenos of the world to see The Force Awakens in the comfort […]
Continue readingA rough early road for the Irish in film
Still from Whom the Gods Destroy via “Unsung Divas of the Silent Screen” While St. Patrick’s Day is now a generally beloved holiday (we’re going to grab Shamrock Shakes in a moment), it’s easy to forget that much of the world was inhospitable to the Irish a century ago. The hostile attitudes toward the Irish […]
Continue readingFor our Metroless day: public transit videos from our collection
In an unprecedented move, the entire Metro system is closed today. Whether or not this was the right choice, it means that DC is spending the day without its main form of public transit. There isn’t a documentary about the DC Metro (as far as we know) so we’ve gathered together three timely media items […]
Continue readingRocketJump Film School breaks down film cuts
Our staff will be out for a few days for a library conference, so we want to leave you with something substantive to chew on for the week. Enter RocketJump Film School, a film production education group that has been releasing dense, informative videos about specific aspects of filmmaking. It gets pretty wonky; see their […]
Continue readingApply for a paid internship on the set of Veep in DC!
Attention to AU film students! You might be aware that a whole bunch of productions film in DC, and you might have wondered how to become involved in one of them. The opportunity is finally here: HBO is taking applications for a week-long production assistant training program on the set of Veep, filming in DC […]
Continue readingAnother challenge for small DC theaters: actually being allowed to show movies
Rendering via Landmark Theaters We’ve talked about the struggles of DC movie theaters in the past, especially neighborhood community theaters like the recently re-opened West End Cinema that have to compete with major chains and often need to foot the bill for new digital projection systems themselves. As it turns out, costs of operation aren’t […]
Continue readingHow copyright law makes Star Wars homage, not theft
The fever over Star Wars: The Force Awakens has faded now (we haven’t posted about it in over a month!), but there’s still plenty to dissect about it. One of the greatest criticisms of the movie was its tendency to retread themes, imagery, and structure from the original film – ignoring that the first movies […]
Continue readingBill Clinton watched Groundhog Day while in office – and lots of comedies, oddly
Today is America’s favorite non-holiday that we’re all still obligated to talk about: Groundhog Day! The classic Bill Murray movie with that name came out 23 years ago this month and almost immediately had its fans – including, apparently, Bill Clinton. That’s a clumsy topical segue into a new list from Gizmodo’s Matt Novak of […]
Continue readingAtlas Obscura thinks Fritz Lang may have invented rocket countdowns
Life imitates art, but rarely does art have the chance to define the hallmark of a totally unrelated field. For an example of when a film managed to capture the public imagination that strongly, read Cara Giaimo’s article for Atlas Obscura about how German director Fritz Lang essentially popularized the basic ideas of space travel. […]
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