‘War has made masochists of us all,’ or so says Testament of Youth. Originally released in 2015, the movie was something of a disappointment. It barely made back half of its $10 million budget, and it didn’t begin to capture the richness of its source material, Vera Brittain’s WWI memoir of the same name. Still, […]
Continue readingWhat Makes a War Movie: Thoughts on La Grande Illusion
How does one make a war movie? Do you show the blood, the guts? Is the movie about glorifying the war heroes that arise from battle, shaken but unbroken? Is it about the horrors of war and the depths that humanity is willing to plunge? Filmmakers have long had to grapple with questions like these […]
Continue readingJoyeux Noël: WWI 90 years Later
I’ve seen many WWI films in my time, even before we started this blog series, but Joyeux Noel is my stand-out favorite. Like All Quiet on the Western Front, it highlights what united the combatants, rather than what divided them. Joyeux Noel is certainly much more pointed than All Quiet, but it has the benefit […]
Continue readingAll Quiet on the Western Front: Truth, Authenticity, and Universality in WWI Films
Welcome to the first post of our new blog series WWI on Film: 11 Films for the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice. From now until November 11th, we’ll be highlighting movies about WWI from our collection. We’ll be discussing common themes throughout the movies, attributes that make each of these films stand out, as well as […]
Continue readingHappy Halloween!
In honor of this spookiest of holidays, we’ve created a staff picks list of our favorite Halloween movies and tv shows. While some of these might not be explicitly related to Halloween, they all give off a generally creepy vibe– perfect for everyone’s favorite holiday. Corpse Bride (DVD 13291) I watch Corpse Bride every Halloween […]
Continue readingRandom Movie Monday — The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
Every once and awhile, the random number generator picks something really… random. Case in point, this week’s random movie: The Topp Twins Untouchable Girls (DVD 6050). Here’s our description. Tells the story of the world’s only yodeling country singing and comedy lesbian sibling duo, the Topp Twins (Jools and Lynda Topp), who have inspired a generation with […]
Continue readingFree Passes — See the First Four Episodes of Amazon’s “Homecoming”
Attention movie and tv lovers! The Media Services Desk has two free passes available for a screening of the first four episodes of “Homecoming,” a new show from Amazon Prime. The screening is scheduled for 7pm on October 29th. If you’d like to claim these passes, please present your AU ID at the Media Services […]
Continue readingRandom Movie Monday — The Giver
Happy Monday folks! Today’s random movie is DVD 13980: The Giver. Here’s our summary: The story centers on Jonas, young man who lives in a supposedly ideal world of conformity and contentment. Yet as he begins to spend time with the elder, who is the sole keeper of all the community’s memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of […]
Continue readingHappy Birthday Jeff Goldblum
Happy Birthday Jeff Goldblum! An actor so fixed in our collective cultural consciousness that this: Became this: Of all the ways to commemorate the original Jurassic Park’s 25th anniversary, this was certainly the most… interesting. But anyway, happy birthday to Jeff Goldblum. Many happy returns, and may you always be memeable. You can check out […]
Continue readingSmithsonian African American Film Festival
One of the great things about living in DC is that we have this incredible city right at our fingertips. Case in point: the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is hosting its first ever African American Film Festival. While you do have to pay to attend a film screening and a […]
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