Walt Disney once employed a team informally known as the “Nine Old Men,” nine of the greatest animators of all time and the artistic forces behind nearly the first forty years of Disney animation. If you watch classic Disney movies today, their bold and fluid animations are still astounding and a great artistic accomplishment. Two […]
Continue readingH. R. Giger, artist of the Alien, dies at 74
Swedish surrealistic H. R. Giger died today at 74. Though he worked primarily in painting and sculpting, Giger is best remembered as the designer of the terrifying and highly Freudian architecture and creatures from Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise. Giger designed much of the iconic, dark, and twisted art of that world – from infested hallways […]
Continue readingSee The Fault in Our Stars TOMORROW!
John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars is one of the most celebrated young adult novels from the last few years. Ask anyone who’s read it, and they’ll probably shed a tear remembering the story of two cancer patients who find love. It’s no surprise, then, that the upcoming film adaptation starring Shailene Woodley and […]
Continue readingNew Acquisitions – May 2014
Adios, spring semester. Hello, summer! As we wrap up the academic year, the last of our new acquisitions are trickling in. That’s not to say we don’t have some fantastic new items. Among our favorite items are popular Mexican dramedy Instructions Not Included, debauchery anthem The Wolf of Wall Street, acclaimed Danish political series Borgen, […]
Continue readingWe’re green-certified!
As we decompress from the end of the spring semester and gear up for summer sessions, we want to take a second to celebrate one of our little accomplishments. Last month, the AU Library Green Team held an internal green certification program for our service desks and employees. We’re very happy that the Media Services […]
Continue readingCreate a Compelling Infographic
New courses on Lynda.com include Design an Infographic. An intensive two hour course on how to turn your data into an easily understandable infographic. Learn how to use Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, and Excel together to analyze and chart the data, plot locations on a map, and build a timeline that simply details a complex sequence […]
Continue readingOverrated movies: A statistical approach
When discussing film quality, people often resort to declaring popular movies overrated and defending their favorites as underrated gems. These are common defenses, especially in the face of critical drubbing or universal acclaim. And sometimes, that makes it hard to figure out if movies were ever actually beloved or hated to begin with. Intrigued by […]
Continue readingMusic Library Sez: 20 Feet from Stardom
We have a lot of music-related films and documentaries in our collection. Our friends over at the Music Library love them too, and they occasionally write reviews for their favorites. In our first post in this series, Music Library part-timer Jesse writes about the recent Academy Award-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom (HU DVD 11199). […]
Continue readingWe’re bored with special effects. Now what?
Comedian Nick Swardson has a terrific routine in which he makes fun of “jaded movie friends” who don’t appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into making impossible things happen on screen. “If you showed [Transformers] to people fifty years ago,” he jokes, “their brains would explode. Everybody would lose their minds.” When you hear stories about […]
Continue readingLove DC theaters? Support the Avalon’s annual fundraiser this Sunday!
With the sad news that Filmfest DC may be entering its last year, we’ve reached a critical moment for DC film culture. Many of us probably take for granted that we live in a city that our city is home to independent theaters, several film festivals, and the AFI Silver. Once in a while, it’s […]
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