David Letterman ends his late night talk show career tonight. Although he has certainly settled into a curmudgeonly pattern in the last decade or so – and is probably indistinguishable from Jay Leno for many younger viewers – Letterman’s earlier years behind the desk remain some of the stranger and riskier network television ever produced. […]
Continue readingTCM’s ‘Summer of Darkness” offers free online noir course – and a noir movie marathon!
Turner Classic Movies is preparing for “Summer of Darkness,” a slate of over 100 noir films a commentary that will air throughout June and July. Two months of nearly century-old, dark, black-and-white movies is a hard sell during warm weather and peak movie theater season, but Turner clearly isn’t aiming for a general audience. Their […]
Continue readingSterling Cooper will go out big – but not bigger than Tool Time
AMC’s breakthrough drama Mad Men ends tonight, eight years after its debut that put scripted basic cable television on the map. Despite the show’s cultural ubiquity(some would argue oversaturation) the final episode likely won’t come even close to breaking records for most-watched finales. This has much to do with the ways we now watch television […]
Continue readingWatch a huge chunk of the Criterion Collection for free via DC Public Library
As film buffs know, the Criterion Collection releases the definitive versions of hundreds of classic films, restored and remastered to their original glory. Criterion has recently made much of their catalog available digitally through a subscription database, and we noticed that DC Public Library now provides access to this collection. This is a huge boon […]
Continue readingBeyond Thunderdome, there was Happy Feet
Director George Miller returns to the post-apocalyptic Mad Max franchise this Friday, and early reviews indicate his latest movie is a total triumph, an admittedly surprising outcome given Miller’s thirty years away from action films. That got us wondering: what else was Miller doing in the interim? If you can believe it, George Miller – […]
Continue readingHelp crowdfund Orson Welles’s final unfinished film
In 1970, legendary director Orson Welles began work on The Other Side of the Wind, a film about a filmmaker attempting to fund an experimental comeback film. Welles never intended The Other Side of the Wind to be autobiographical, but his life mirrored the protagonist’s in eerily similar ways. Over the next six years of […]
Continue reading“Lo and behold, there was actually an image in there.” Criterion’s techinical director talks restoration
Restoration is an important component of any film preservation and re-release process, especially the high-quality efforts from the Criterion Collection. Those of us without professional archival training never get a good idea of what happens during this mysterious process. Do they scan the original film? What sort of tools do they use to clean dirt […]
Continue readingSo long, farewell to our seniors!
Now comes the difficult part of every year when we say farewell to our departing senior staff. This year, we have five staff members graduating: Caitlin, Claire, Jasmine, Travis, and Trevor. We’ve gotten to know this crew over the past several years, and they’ve done a terrific job exceeding patron expectations of great library service. […]
Continue readingSchool’s out! Christen the end of the year with summer vacation movies
In just a few hours, the 2014-2015 academic year comes to a close. We’ve enjoyed this decidedly busy year, but like you, we’re looking forward to cutting back our workload a little. More importantly, we’re sure everyone is looking forward to taking some time off for a little vacation, no matter how big or small. […]
Continue readingState film tax credits on the chopping block
Tax incentives are often the saving grace of film productions. If a local film board gives you incentive to film your upcoming production on-site, you’d be silly not to at least consider its possible budget alleviation. That’s why House of Cards films many of its scenes in Baltimore. It brings commerce and attention to states […]
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