The summer blockbuster season is here! “Media Services at the Movies” will look at what big movie is coming out this week, then offer a few movies like it from our collection. Who among us have never, at least once, loved a Pixar film? The Disney-owned studio has nearly two decades of bona fide classics […]
Continue readingSpielberg joins Soderbergh in warning of film industry “implosion”
Pessimism loves company. Roughly a month after now-retired director Steven Soderbergh engaged in an epic-length verbal takedown of the movie industry, Steven Spielberg has followed suit; Hollywood Reporter quotes a foreboding Spielberg warning of the industry’s imminent restructuring. The director predicts a number of changes, such as higher ticket prices for pricier blockbusters and the […]
Continue readingIWDRM is a mesmerizing tribute to iconic film images
I’ve been looking for an excuse to post this for a while, but no good one has come up. Consider it a little Tuesday pick-me-up. IWDRM is a blog that posts animated stills of famous movie scenes. That sounds confusing, and the results are somewhat confounding too. Pictures on the site combine animation with still […]
Continue readingMedia Services at the Movies: Man of Steel
The summer blockbuster season is here! “Media Services at the Movies” will look at what big movie is coming out this week, then offer a few movies like it from our collection. Seven years have passed since the last Superman film – 33 years since arguably the last good Superman film. We didn’t expect them […]
Continue reading“Fitzcardboardaldo” will make any Herzog fan’s week
This might be best to share without much context. Experimental artist and puppeteer Robin Frohardt recreated Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo in cardboard. We see creative tributes to movies all the time, but the sheer audacity of this project and its unusual choice of subject are laudable. And ironic, given Herzog’s tendency to make movies about impossible […]
Continue reading“Slow TV” will test your patience, calm your nerves
When we think about critically acclaimed and popular television, we usually turn to gripping procedurals like Game of Thrones and Mad Men. Compared to other popular sitcoms or dramas, these shows tend to be tense but protracted, using their episodic nature to develop characters and events with chess-like methodology. Many complain that these shows tend […]
Continue readingWould you stream your own DVDs? UltraViolet thinks so
As we continue to grow our streaming video collection, the world of digital media continues to evolve. Video service UltraViolet took a bold new step in that direction today by opening a first-ever DVD-to-digital copy program. That sounds crazy – how can they put every DVD in the cloud? – but it makes more sense […]
Continue readingMedia Services at the Movies: The Internship
The summer blockbuster season is here! “Media Services at the Movies” will look at what big movie is coming out this week, then offer a few movies like it from our collection. No pretenses here: sometimes we’re suckers for dumb comedies. Though our staff tends to be split on this, we’re frequently okay with movies […]
Continue readingNew Acquisitions – May 2013
After a month-long hiatus, we’ve once again started receiving new movies. We’re in the process of playing catch-up. In addition to rounding out our collection of Best Picture nominees (now including Silver Linings Playbook and Django Unchained), we’ve updated our collection of Frontline and 30 for 30 episodes, added the last of the Twilight movies, […]
Continue readingSee the counterterrorism documentary Dirty Wars before it hits theaters
Dirty Wars is an upcoming documentary by investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill about the highly secretive and illegal counterterrorism operations carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command. This is riveting material, and it’s a heavyweight film too: Dirty Wars was screened at Sundance and won an award for cinematography. Dirty Wars is out on June […]
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