Once in a while, a lost film appears, delighting film buffs and historians. In the past few years, we’ve seen a lost Méliès film, a Hitchcock, and a Star Wars-related short all turn up after decades of absence. But this weekend, someone uploaded the Holy Grail: Jean-Luc Godard’s first narrative film. Une Femme Coquette (embedded […]
Continue readingTag Archives: video
Here, have an R2-D2 bird
We’ve been posting here a bit less frequently while we handle start-of-the-semester business, but with the understandably rising national stress levels, we wanted to send out the week with something positive. So, please enjoy this bird that sounds like R2-D2. Happy Friday!
Continue readingThe best movies of the year – spliced into one video
Every year, film critic David Ehrlich puts together a montage of what he considered the 25 best films of the year. Ehrlich’s tastes tend to lean towards interesting visuals, but we’re not complaining. His montages are visual feasts, so he gets to pick whatever he wants. Moonlight tops the list, understandably given the praise we’ve […]
Continue readingLook inside the Library of Congress’s explosive film vault
Drive down to Culpepper, VA and you’ll find the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, home to the Library of Congress’s film archive. This is where preservationists keep a massive storehouse of tens of thousands of films – classics, flops, and even reportedly Jerry Lewis’s unreleased disaster The Day the Clown Cried. YouTube channel Great Big Story […]
Continue readingNo, a silent film of a train probably didn’t cause mass hysteria
You’ve probably heard this one before: back during the dawn of motion pictures, a short movie showing a train heading for the camera caused audiences to freak out and try to run from the theater. It’s a funny anecdote about how much of an impact film made – and it makes those audiences look pretty […]
Continue readingThe first Star Wars trailer is missing a whole lot
For Throwback Thursday (do we have to use the hashtag if it’s on a blog?), here’s a neat piece of film history. In December 1976, the first trailer for Star Wars was released, about half a year before the movie. Episode Nothing supplied some context in a recent blog post explaining why it looks so […]
Continue readingHelp a beloved LA film library preserve their old VHSes
If you read this blog, you know we have an affinity for digital preservation and weird, niche films that aren’t available anymore. We do our best to serve the university community in those areas, but there are other groups with their own missions. Take Vidiots, a video rental store that’s served Los Angeles film nerds […]
Continue readingEvery Frame a Painting looks at the surprisingly unmemorable state of modern film soundtracks
Every Frame a Painting continues to be one of the best online film criticism video series. Usually the channel looks at editing and composition, but this time, creator Tony Zhou turned his sights to a very difficult film question: why are modern film soundtracks so uninspiring? Zhou puts forward a cohesive argument, with the Marvel […]
Continue readingSOC’s Media that Matter series kicks off with Thank You for Playing
Every semester, SOC’s Media that Matter film series highlights social issues as captured on the screen, from race issues in America to the ethics of food. It’s a very AU film series in the best way, and often, the screening includes a discussion with the filmmakers. Last semester, the series included a screening of Best […]
Continue readingFandor spotlights twenty acclaimed films by women
Fandor has established itself as the premier digital film service for cinema buffs: in addition to their streaming library, they run Keyframe, a daily film essay and video blog. If you haven’t followed them already and like film, you probably should. For one of their videos (embedded above), Keyframe polled fifty film critics about their […]
Continue reading