Just a reminder: the American University Library will be CLOSED for Independence Day tomorrow, July 4th. We close at 6pm today in preparation for the holiday. If you’re planning on taking out any movies for the holiday, please do so today. Shockingly, we have two copies of Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day still available (HU DVD […]
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Get advance passes to see Pacific Rim THIS TUESDAY!
A number of high-profile movies come out this week, including the kid’s mega-hit Despicable Me 2 and Gore Verbinski’s big-budget gamble, The Lone Ranger. Those are all fine and well. But our real excitement is reserved for next week’s Pacific Rim, a tribute to Japanese kaiju monster movies from Guillermo del Toro. So why post […]
Continue readingSlim Whitman, musician featured in Mars Attacks!, dies
Here’s a sad movie trivia obituary. Slim Whitman, renowned folk yodeler, died today at age 89. Though not exactly a beloved or legendary musician, Slim Whitman has a small place in film lore. In the climactic scene of Tim Burton’s 1996 movie Mars Attacks! (DVD 4555), Whitman’s “Indian Love Call” is used by the military […]
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 […]
Continue readingHappy Memorial Day!
Normally on a big event like Memorial Day, we would take this opportunity to show you some relevant movies in our collection or a related local screening. However, we will be closed on Monday, and a military holiday in DC means that there are very few film-related events happening. So this time, we’ve got nothing […]
Continue readingCancel your afternoon of nothing: It’s Arrested Development (again!)
Back in 2006, fans of Fox’s underground hit Arrested Development thought they had said goodbye to the series for the last time. Despite its acclaim, many branded it a flop; the mere fact that they called it that tells us that they weren’t ready for its unusual, forward-thinking brand of comedy. Following a long hiatus, […]
Continue readingThe Office clocks out
After an impressive nine-season run (a rarity for modern scripted sitcoms), NBC’s surprise hit The Office will close shop tonight at 9pm. For a sitcom with an inauspicious start as a sure-to-fail remake of a British TV classic, The Office became a staple of Thursday night television for the last decade. The audience’s interest in […]
Continue readingBig names in cinema compete at Cannes 2013
Today marks the start of the Cannes Film Festival, widely considered one of film’s most elite and prestigious events. Despite some concerns about the festival’s secrecy, ballooning size, and demographics, Cannes is still the gold standard for festivals, and its top prize, the Palme d’Or, remains one of the highest awards a filmmaker can receive. […]
Continue readingForsooth! Happy Talk Like Shakespeare Day
Today is William Shakespeare’s 449th birthday, and accordingly, today is also Talk Like Shakespeare Day. This is an actual holiday that has been proclaimed in Chicago. We see no reason why it can’t be celebrated at the AU Library too. To celebrate the bard’s birthday on this most unusual but completely real holiday, consider coming […]
Continue readingYep, Game of Thrones is back on
If you’re friends with anyone with HBO, chances are you’ve heard that the third season of Game of Thrones premieres tonight. The latest installment in George R. R. Martin’s fantasy epic is sure to captivate audiences for the next two-or-so-months. And if the books are any indication, this is going to be a particularly violent […]
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