David Lynch continues to be the favorite director of weirdos everywhere, ourselves included. So much of his appeal is tied to Eraserhead, his terrifying, confusing 1977 feature film debut. Eraserhead still defies explanation and analysis, and fans have for decades attempted to work out the symbolism and meaning of characters like the Man in the […]
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 readingOur streaming video partners celebrate the less-known corners of Black History Month
Our friends at Kanopy and Docuseek2 provide access to some great documentaries, often ones with a socially conscious perspective. In time for Black History Month, both companies have collections dedicated to the American black experience – and they’re stories you probably haven’t heard before. First up is Kanopy’s African American History collection, a group of […]
Continue readingA salute to Jacques Rivette, craftsman of the French New Wave
Last week, we quietly lost Jacques Rivette, one of the original filmmakers of the original French New Wave movement. As a filmmaker and a critic, Rivette advocated for a more natural, improvised cinema that the New Wave aspired to. Godard and Truffaut captured the spotlight, but Rivette’s films are often considered some of the most […]
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. […]
Continue readingNew Acquisitions – January 2016
Rub your weary eyes and put on non-sweatpants; DC has functionally recovered from the weekend’s massive snowstorm, and we’re back to work. Our first order of business is pushing out the next wave of new DVDs from this month. Big names from this month include the Melissa McCarthy comedy Spy, Marvel’s Ant-Man, and Sundance hit […]
Continue readingSnow approaches! Lock yourself in with the best movie blizzards
via Giphy Yes, a massive snowstorm will hit DC in about 24 hours. It will be big, possibly as large as if not larger than the Snowmageddon storm that locked down DC for a week in 2010 and caused some substantial damage on campus. If this is anywhere as bad as the experts predict, prepare […]
Continue readingFilm’s great directors circled up and talked about their craft
Everyone has probably imagined a fictional conversation between history’s greatest leaders, thinkers, or artists. It’s a classic hypothetical situation, but unless you’re in a science fiction story, you can’t assemble centuries of historical figures together. Film is still a young medium, though, and many of the greatest filmmakers are still active. That meeting-of-the-minds can actually […]
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