Matt Groening created The Simpsons, but animator David Silverman gave them their iconic look. For years, Silverman hand-animated characters from the show, establishing the rules for their appearance that all future animators and merchandisers would follow. As it turns out, Silverman is active on Twitter, and he recently unearthed a whole slew of sketches he […]
Continue readingThe Room director Tommy Wiseau comes to DC this weekend (What a story, Mark!)
If you’re in certain film circles, you have likely heard of The Room, a notoriously bad 2003 movie about a sordid love triangle. The Room is remarkably horrible, failing on both technical and creative levels. It’s filled with flubbed transitions, rampant misogyny, ungrammatical dialogue, and characters that are recast halfway into the movie. It is […]
Continue readingThe Random Oscar Winner Generator is hilarious, necessary
We still have over a month to go before the Oscars, but we’re already excited! Questions about their authority aside, the Academy Awards are a fun time to celebrate nearly a century of great films. Let’s be serious though: there’s a lot of hot air involved too. With so many award contenders dealing with serious […]
Continue readingSeasonal question: How are the Oscar nominees picked?
In case you missed it, the Oscar nominees came out this morning. By all accounts it’s a pretty good list, featuring a wide cut of the most acclaimed films of the year. And Matthew McConaughey stands a chance to win his first Oscar! The question, of course, is how these nominees were even selected. Is […]
Continue readingAre you gonna bark all day #littledoggie? Reservoir Dogs adapted into Twitter feed
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 […]
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