Campus is mostly deserted today, what with everyone leaving early for Thanksgiving. Enjoy the trip! This happens to be the time of year when courses assign final projects, and for film students, that might mean producing a short or a demo reel. It can be stressful… but you don’t know the agony of filmmaking until […]
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Raise awareness of film censorship by making a censor watch paint dry
Still from Paint Drying via Charlie Lyne There’s a lot of insightful talk about the role film boards play in censorship – why do these unaccountable groups get to decide what can practically be released? – but sometimes it’s more fun just to be a jerk about the whole process. This is one of those […]
Continue readingHow big movie franchises are bypassing the critics
Last year, we mentioned the idea of a post-plot movie, where property-driven movies transcend the need for strong narrative drive. Bryan Bishop at The Verge has noticed an odder, more troubling trend: the post-critic movie. Films have historically depended on advance screenings for critics to generate positive buzz. This is especially true for smaller or […]
Continue readingFarewell (again?) to Betamax
It’s the end of an era that we thought had already ended. After nearly three decades of stubborn persistence, Sony has finally chosen to discontinue the Betamax videotape. For those who missed out on the 80s, Betamax tapes were the main rival for VHSes before it was clear which videocassette format would be most popular. […]
Continue readingBrave Wired blogger binges the entire Bond series for your benefit (and amusement)
From Moonraker, one of the Bond movies on the “Nah” list James Bond’s latest adventure, Spectre, hits theaters tomorrow. Reception on this one is decidedly mixed (Daniel Craig’s Bond seems to get it right every other movie), but it will no doubt be a box office sensation here as it has been in the United […]
Continue readingThe ultimate guide to movies with really big worms
There are some recurring hazards in movies that we should be glad not to deal with in real life. Quicksand, for one. Also high on that list are massive, carnivorous worms. For some reason, science fiction and fantasy films love giant worm monsters. We understand that fairly big worms do exist somewhere out in the […]
Continue readingHitFix hunts for the top 100 horror movies
What is the greatest horror film of all time? Is that too broad? How about a top 10 or even a top 50? With enough aggregated stats and expert opinion, you can probably make a killer list of the best in the genre. The editors at HitFix have done just that, polling horror directors, writers, […]
Continue readingJimmy Stewart takes a detour through Kubricktown
The world has reached peak mashup, with seemingly every television show and movie spliced together with clever editing, so we now only feel compelled to share the really good ones. And one such terrific video has come along featuring a very wary Jimmy Stewart. “The Red Drum Getaway,” published by new film site Gump, features […]
Continue readingDC’s most genuinely spooky place becomes a landmark
If you’re an AU student who has made the trek to Georgetown, you’ve probably encountered the Exorcist steps, the legendary staircase famously used in a climactic scene from the bone-chillingly terrifying film The Exorcist. It’s in an unassuming spot – behind a gas station on M Street – but it has for decades served as […]
Continue readingSnag an armload of Criterion titles for half-off today!
Like an Arby’s selling piles of loose beef, the Criterion Collection has opened the floodgates on their store and is selling their entire DVD and Blu-ray stock for 50% off for the next 24 hours. This is a fantastic sale that every film buff should consider taking advantage of. The Criterion Collection sells the definitive […]
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