Goodbye Blogger, Hello Wordpress!

Hello internet!

We've been good friends here on Blogger for some time now. In fact, we've been here with you for twelve years. This blog started in 2006 believe it or not!

But, like all rising teenagers, we've started to think seriously about changing our look. We want to be a cooler, more social, staying-out-past-curfew kind of Media Services blog. And so it is with pimply-faced apprehension masquerading as nonchalance that we today announce: we're moving to Wordpress.

That's right! There won't be any more updates here on Blogger, and our new home will be https://blogs.library.american.edu/mediaservices

We've got a lot of cool new features planned, so please take a second to stop by over at wordpress and update any rss feeds or links you may have.

We're looking forward to another 12 years with you! Get excited!

We're kicking off summer here in Media Services with a TON of Fritz Lang Blu-rays, and somewhat mysteriously, four House Party movies...?

Happy Summer and Happy Viewing!

• Destiny = (Der Müde Tod) - HU BLU 2913
• Dr. Mabuse, the gambler - HU BLU 2703
• Four around the woman = Kämpfende Herzen : Vier um die Frau - HU BLU 15158
• Game of thrones. Conquest & rebellion : an animated history of the Seven Kingdoms - HU DVD 10029
• Harakiri : the wandering shadow = (Das wandernde Bild) - HU BLU 15157
• House party - HU DVD 15162
• House Party 2 - HU DVD 15163
• House Party 3 - HU DVD 15164
• House party 4 : down to the last minute - HU DVD 15165
• Jessica Jones. The complete first season - HU BLU 15161, Discs 1 - 4
• The complete Metropolis - HU BLU 1283
• The complete Metropolis - HU DVD 1283
• Die Nibelungen - HU BLU 1282
• The plague of Florence = Pest in Florenz - HU BLU 15160
• The Spiders - HU BLU 2921
• Spies = (Spione) - HU BLU 15159
• Woman in the moon - HU BLU 1285

Movies At Random: The Bad Seed

For the last random movie of May, we have the classic horror film The Bad Seed (HU DVD 4910). The plot summary on Wikipedia is too spoiler-y for my taste. But there's a ton of interesting facts on the IMDB page, including one that is probably of interest only to me:

Paul Henreid tried to buy the rights to the play. He wanted to direct and was planning to cast Bette Davis in the role of the mother. (see IMDB)

Also intriguing, this film is what inspired the band name Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.

If you somehow don't know what this movie is about, here's our summary:

A mother makes the tortuous discovery that her cherubic eight year old daughter harbors an innate desire to kill.

And here's the trailer:
Happy viewing!

Movies At Random: The War Lover

Today's random movie is The War Lover (HU DVD 10437) starring Steve McQueen. This black and white 1962 war film got kind of meh reviews, according to Wikipedia. Based on the trailer below, it's...uh..."of its time," shall we say. (Check out that font though.) This film was also at some point subjected to the bizarre process of colorizing old movies, though our version is black and white. But, hey, Steve McQueen playing a daredevil pilot so maybe it's ok.

Here's our summary:

Stationed in England during World War II, Buzz Rickson is the bravest air force pilot in his squadron. His maniacal quest for aerial thrills prompts his many daredevil heroics. His rebellious attitude, however, threatens to alienate him from everyone around him.

And here's the absolutely amazing trailer:
Happy viewing!

Movies At Random: Taxi

Today's random movie is Jafar Panahi's Taxi (HU DVD 13144). This movie looks so good based on the trailer below. The plot summary on Wikipedia kind of gives too much away, but it's really interesting to read about the production of this film. Panahi himself is a major part of this story, as it came about due to a travel ban preventing him from leaving Iran. Taxi won the Golden Bear at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, but the award was accepted by his niece because the director was not permitted to travel.

Here's our summary:

Jafar Panahi drives a yellow cab through the vibrant streets of Tehran, picking up a diverse group of passengers in a single day. Each man, woman, and child candidly expresses his or her own view of the world while being interviewed by the curious and gracious driver.

And here's the trailer:


Happy viewing!

Movies At Random: Wild Tigers I Have Known

Wild Tigers I Have Known (HU DVD 3048) by Cam Archer is our random DVD of the day. It was produced by Gus Van Sant, according to the cover, and has what appears to be the hippest of soundtracks by bands I've never heard of.

Intriguingly, according to Wikipedia a recut version was released after the film's premiere that rather changes the story. Points docked for this movie being shot in my least favorite place on the planet, Santa Cruz, California.

Here's our summary:

A young boy with a crush on the cool boy at school, pretends to be a girl on the phone so he can meet and win the affections of his crush.

And here's a trailer-ish clip:


Happy viewing!

Marx Reloaded

Did you know, May 5th would have been the 200th birthday of Karl Marx.

From our streaming collection, we recommend Marx Reloaded.

Our summary:

A cultural documentary that uses some of the central ideas of 19th century German socialist and philosopher Karl Marx to try to make sense of the global financial crisis of 2008-09. This crisis prompted the U.S. government to spend more than 1 trillion dollars in order to rescue its banking system from financial meltdown. But can the largest financial losses in history really be put down to the natural risks and uncertainties of the free market? Or is there another explanation as to why the crisis happened and what its implications are for the future of our society, our economy, for our whole way of life?

For true beginners, there's always the classic Marx for Beginners comic!