Today’s entry in WWI on Film isn’t one film. It’s a collection of much shorter films. If you’re an AU student, you can access 20th century film and newsreel clips from the WPA Library and British Pathe. Some of these clips are from WWI, and are basic black-and-white motion pictures. Of course, they don’t have […]
Continue readingDo We Really Need to Say It: Westfront 1918
Westfront 1918 (DVD 16017)is one of Media Services’ newest acquisitions, but it’s one of the oldest films we’re reviewing for this series. A contemporary of All Quiet on the Western Front, Westfront explores many of the same themes, like the camaraderie between soldiers and alienation from the home front. Like All Quiet, Westfront is based on […]
Continue readingMaking Something New: Wonder Woman as a WWI Film
Let me make a few things clear. Yes, I know that Wonder Woman (DVD 14777) is completely, 100% fictional. I know that an ancient demi-goddess didn’t end the war. So, why am I including Wonder Woman in this series about World War I movies? First, this is one of maybe two WWI movies which feature […]
Continue readingRandom Movie Monday — All Over the Guy
Happy Monday! We’re taking a break from WWI for Random Movie Monday. Today’s movie is All About the Guy (DVD 12343). Here’s our summary: 4 friends, 3 guys, 2 couples … you do the math! It’s about the quest to find the “one” when “the one” doesn’t know he’s the “one.” It explores the unlikely pairing […]
Continue readingExpanding the Narrative: Testament of Youth
‘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 […]
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