In a bizarre and herculean effort, a fellow name Jorge Zacher has recreated Reservoir Dogs in its entirety in the form of a Twitter feed. Zacher created Twitter accounts for every speaking part in the movie and, with brief narration, reenacted the events of the film as a Twitter conversation. (From a logistical standpoint, this […]
Continue readingFootage surfaces from Jerry Lewis’s disaster-piece The Day the Clown Cried
Perhaps the most notorious film in Hollywood lore is The Day the Clown Cried, the unreleased magnum opus of comedian-director Jerry Lewis. Intended as a moving drama about a clown living during the Holocaust, The Day the Clown Cried is by eyewitness accounts an unmitigated disaster. Harry Shearer, one of the few to see the […]
Continue readingRun Run Shaw, godfather of Hong Kong film, dies at 106
Today, we lost Run Run Shaw, one of the most prolific film producers of all time and perhaps one the most influential figures in Asian cinema. Shaw’s studio, Shaw Brothers Studio, produced nearly 1,000 films in his lifetime, particularly popular low-budget genre flicks. Among other achievements, Shaw is credited with inventing the kung fu film […]
Continue readingA peek at the massive tagging project behind Netflix
Those of you watching a lot of Netflix over winter break might have noticed some odd genre recommendations popping up. They aren’t genres by the typical definition – Western, thriller, etc. – but weird amalgamations like “Immigrant-Life Deadpan Action Movies” or “Heartfelt Ghost-Story Mysteries.” Those might seem too specific to be useful, but they’re a […]
Continue readingFarewell, VHS shelves!
There is a time and a place for everything. Unfortunately, the bell has tolled for our old VHS shelves. As we continue to expand our DVD collection, we needed to install more practical and compact shelving, and our rolling VHS unit had to go. Our VHSes are still sticking around, but in the meantime, we […]
Continue readingHelp fund an AU Library film series!
We’ve reported frequently this year about interesting film festivals and screenings happening around town. In the next year, the AU Library could hold a free film series of our own! But we need your help. In the last week or two, American University launched UFUND, a Kickstarter-style crowdfunding site that solicits donations for specific campus […]
Continue readingPeter O’Toole dies at 81
Image credit: IWDRM One of the all-time saddest Oscar narratives is the continued empty-handedness of legendary stage and screen actor Peter O’Toole. O’Toole died yesterday at age 81, and although he never won one of the eight competitive Academy Awards for which he was nominated, he will surely go down as one of the acting […]
Continue readingAU Library OPEN today, but limited
Because of the inclement weather, American University is closed today. The library will operate at limited capacity, so there’ll still be room to study, but service desks will be either closed or minimally staffed. The exact hours of Media Services and the New Media Center for the day are TBA. This is perhaps the most […]
Continue readingNeed a study break? See Grudge Match tomorrow!
In spite our commitment to enabling academic success, we continue to offer ways for you to escape or to ignore the stress of finals season. This time, we have passes to see the upcoming Grudge Match, a comedy-sports movie that inevitably unites boxing movie legends Sylvester Stallone and Robert DeNiro for one last round of […]
Continue readingDeep breaths! 8 videos to fight finals stress
So it has come to this: AU’s final exam period officially begins tomorrow. For those who don’t take summer classes, it’s been a good seven months since you’ve had to think about finals, but there’s no avoiding or delaying it anymore. We’ve seen plenty of signs of the finals crunch in the library, and although […]
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