Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was a massive success this weekend, proving once and for all that people will see a sufficiently entertaining movie starring a tree. Guardians received rave reviews from fans and critics alike, and it may surprisingly end up the biggest movie of the summer. But as one writer points out, it […]
Continue readingFamous directors throw money to stall the imminent death of physical film
Ever since the all-digital release of 2002’s Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, filmmakers have steadily moved away from traditional film reels in favor of the increased power of digital cameras. As the Wall Street Journal points out, Kodak film consumption has decreased by nearly 12 billion linear feet in the past 8 […]
Continue readingRemembering Dick Smith, acclaimed makeup artist
On this blog, we usually memorialize the deaths of notable directors and actors. But today, we pay tribute to the life of Oscar-winning makeup artist Dick Smith, whose work ranks among the most memorable and iconic in film history. You probably don’t know Dick Smith and couldn’t pick him out of a lineup, but his […]
Continue readingSurvey claims you rewatch movies more than you’re willing to admit
We all enjoy rewatching our favorite movies. Sometimes we get more out of the subtext or themes, but often, it’s just fun to revisit our favorites scenes and characters. If you’ve ever had a Marvel marathon or watched whatever Will Ferrell movie was on Comedy Central multiple times in a row, you probably know this […]
Continue readingTop 8: Documentary Sequels
We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs. You may often hear self-identified film snobs talk about their love for documentaries as […]
Continue readingA peek into Mostly Lost, the Library of Congress’s mystery film festival
The Library of Congress’s film archives, located in Culpeper, Virginia, house hundreds of films from the silent era with seemingly no identification attached to them. Most if not all of the cast and crew of these films are no longer alive, and it’s unlikely that the nation’s archivists will ever positively identify some of these […]
Continue readingSan Diego Comic-Con begins! Celebrate with movies based on graphic novels
Every July, over 100,000 people descend on southern California for San Diego Comic-Con, the world’s biggest event for movies, comics, games, and all things nerdtacular. The convention has grown from its humble origins as a comic book show to a pop culture juggernaut, attracting everyone from small-time comic producers to the cast of The Hunger […]
Continue readingStill a boys’ club? Only 22% of film crew members are women
Much has been written about how the film industry skews male. Significantly more blockbuster films star male leads, and only one woman has so far won the Academy Award for Best Director. It should come as little surprise, then, that other sectors of the film world have similar issues with gender representation. According to a […]
Continue readingNew Acquisitions – July 2014
One of the interesting narratives in the film industry this year has been the dearth of heavy-hitting blockbusters. So far, the two highest-grossing movies of the year were released before the summer, and the biggest long-term success has come from 2013’s Frozen. Even with apes, Godzilla, and Transformers wreaking havoc in multiplexes, fewer people are […]
Continue readingDC’s famous Screen on the Green begins TONIGHT with The Karate Kid
The number of summer film festivals in DC has dramatically grown in the last several years, with seemingly every neighborhood having its own screenings. But there has always been one undisputed king of Washington outdoor movies: Screen on the Green, the HBO- and NBC-sponsored festival that takes place on the National Mall. Since it doesn’t […]
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