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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
Well, Media Services got off to a less than productive start this morning as we got sucked down a rabbit hole of George Méliès. You've hopefully seen A Trip to the Moon, but there are so many Méliès gems in our collection and--yay public domain!--online.
I strongly recommend reading the SUPER AWESOME behind-the-scenes article about the creation of this Google Doodle. It charts the original illusions Méliès used and talks about things like his use of color:
Once you've watched the below 360 video to your heart's content, we suggest The Magic Of Méliès which is available streaming through Kanopy. Happy viewing!
Another month gone by? I can hardly believe it. April brought us terrible weather and a lot of TV here in Media Services, including the latest Game of Thrones, all of Foyle's War, Blue Planet II (squee!), and Have Gun, Will Travel.
But we're classy and certainly don't spend an insane amount of time on TV, so allow me to highlight instead this trailer for 78/52:
NOT ENOUGH HOURS FOR ALL THE AWESOME!
Happy viewing!
2 films by Agnès Varda starring Jane Birkin : Jane B par Agnès V ; Kung-fu master! - HU BLU 15081
78/52 : Hitchcock’s shower scene - HU BLU 15082
78/52 : Hitchcock’s shower scene - HU DVD 15082
Berlin Station. Season one - HU DVD 15143, Discs 1 - 3
Blue planet II : take a deep breath - HU DVD 6475
Blue planet II : take a deep breath - HU BLU 6475
Company town - HU DVD 15141
Father Ted. Series 1 : the definitive collection - HU DVD 15144
Father Ted. Series 2, part 1-2 : the definitive collection - HU DVD 15145, Discs 1 - 2
Father Ted. Series 3, part 1-2 : the definitive collection - HU DVD 15146, Discs 1 - 2
Foyle’s war. Set 1 - HU DVD 14861, Discs 1 - 4 + Guide
Foyle’s war. Set 2 - HU DVD 14862, Discs 1 - 4
Foyle’s war. Set 3 - HU DVD 14863, Discs 1 - 4
Foyle’s war. Set 4 - HU DVD 14864, Discs 1 - 4
Foyle’s war. Set 5 - HU DVD 14865, Discs 1 - 3
Foyle’s war. Set 6 - HU DVD 14866, Discs 1 - 3
Foyle’s war : set 7 - HU DVD 14867, Discs 1 - 3
Foyle’s war : set 8 - HU DVD 14868, Discs 1 - 3
Foyle’s war revisited - HU DVD 14869
Game of thrones. The complete seventh season - HU DVD 10027, Discs 1 – 4
The garden - HU DVD 15142
Have gun - will travel. Season 1 - HU DVD 14570, Discs 1 - 6
Have gun - will travel. Season 2 - HU DVD 14571, Discs 1 - 6
Have gun - will travel. Season 3 - HU DVD 14572, Discs 1 - 7
Have gun-- will travel. Season 4. volume 1-2 - HU DVD 14573, Discs 1 - 6
Have gun-- will travel. The fifth season. Volume one-two - HU DVD 14574, Discs 1 - 6
Have gun-- will travel. The sixth season, Volume 1-2 - HU DVD 14575, Discs 1 – 4
Keep on keepin’ on - HU DVD 15140
Miami vice. Season 1 - HU DVD 14870, Discs 1 - 4
Miami vice. Season 2 - HU DVD 14871, Discs 1 - 4
Miami Vice. Season 3 - HU DVD 14872, Discs 1 - 4
Miami Vice. Season 4 - HU DVD 14873, Discs 1 - 4
Miami Vice. Season 5 - HU DVD 14874, Discs 1 - 4
Oz. The complete first season - HU DVD 15148, Discs 1 - 3
Oz. The complete second season - HU DVD 15149, Discs 1 - 3
Oz. The complete third season - HU DVD 15150, Discs 1 - 3
Oz. The complete fourth season - HU DVD 15151, Discs 1 - 6
Oz. Season 5 - HU DVD 15152, Discs 1 - 3
Oz. The complete sixth season - HU DVD 15153, Discs 1 - 3
Jupiter's Wife (HU DVD 4016) is a documentary about Maggie Cogan, a homeless woman living in Central Park with her pack of dogs who attracted the curiosity of filmmaker Michel Negroponte. From googling around, it's unclear if this film really deals with the seriousness of homeless and mental illness. Maggie is described as beguiling and witty, but some reviewers question whether this film was enabling and exploitative. After the film was released, she briefly had her own apartment, but it sounds as though she eventually returned to Central Park.
Jupiter's Wife won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance among other awards. Here's our summary:
This is the story of Maggie, a beguiling homeless woman living in New York City’s Central Park. In her forties, Maggie’s vibrant personality and unconventional persona attract attention since she has 6 dogs and carries a huge backpack full of her personal belongings. A captivating jumble of cryptic stories, Maggie’s conversations are laced with intriguing claims - including the claim that she is the daughter of actor Robert Ryan and that she is married to the Roman god Jupiter.
Today's random DVD is The Magic Christian (HU DVD 7940) starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. This black comedy is completely littered with celebrity cameos (see Wikipedia), and looks fully ridiculous. But supposedly it's terribly madcap! So I suppose that's fine. Also, I mean, Peter Sellers in anything, really. How can you resist?
Here's our summary:
Sir Guy Grand, the richest man in the world, happens upon a young orphan in the park and, on a whim, decides to adopt him. Together they set off on a series of madcap escapades.
We also recommend Waiting to Exhale (DVD 2276), His Girl Friday (DVD 1341), Thelma and Louise (DVD 1169), Tiny Furniture (DVD 9713), and Hidden Figures (DVD 13951). I was curious, so I googled "Films with no women," and--I admit this should have been obvious--they're mostly big prison, ship, and army films. I wasn't able to find any without men, though.
There are so many interesting American female characters that it's hard to isolate just a few. Let us know if you have a particularly interesting example!
You can now find the full list of Democracy on Film in our LibGuide. Check back for additional recommendations.
Welcome to Module 3 of Democracy on Film, which covers Civil Rights! This small selection does attempt to expand the concept of civil rights outside the African American Civil Rights Movement with the inclusion of Harvey Milk and Smoke Signals, but the struggle for rights and equality in our diverse country is so multifaceted that no cinematic introduction could do it justice.
Module 3: Civil Rights
Introductory Lesson: The Camera as Witness
Chapter 1: King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis. 1970. Streaming video
http://proxyau.wrlc.org/login?url=http://american.kanopystreaming.com/node/114212 Chapter 2: Intruder in the Dust. 1949. DVD 8854 Chapter 3: The Times of Harvey Milk. 1984. DVD 1267 Chapter 4: Smoke Signals. 1998. DVD 1657
We also suggest Eyes on the Prize (DVD 2301 - 2307), a 14 part documentary series about the African American civil rights movement. Spike Lee's Malcolm X (DVD 165) is worth seeing, as is Selma (DVD 12221). We do have a campus use only copy of American Revolutionary : The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, but I wasn't able to find very many great movies about Asian American or Hawaiian American civil rights issues. Any suggestions out there?
You can now find the full list of Democracy on Film in our LibGuide. Check back for additional recommendations.
Today's random DVD is Mario Van Peebles' New Jack City (HU DVD 1097). A 1991 action gangster film, Wikipedia makes it sound like there's some disagreement about just how anti-gangster this film is, and Time Out London called it "a superior example of what used to be called blaxploitation." The IMDB trivia page on this one is pretty epic too, my favorite example being:
On Inside the Actors Studio (1994), Chris Rock claimed that for several years following his acclaimed performance as a crack addict, drug dealers would approach him and put crack and cocaine in his pocket; joking that "they thought it was a documentary." He stated that, although he knew people who used crack at the time, he never did and, in his 1997 memoir "Rock This" had only smoked marijuana twice. (from imdb)
Here's our summary:
Gangster film about a young, rich, smart drug baron who thinks he’s untouchable, and the tough, street-smart cops determined to bring him down.
And here's the trailer, with some epic trailer-voice:
Ok, so if you know me at all, you already know what the punchline is going to be. But shaving serves all kinds of purposes in movies. There's something about the obscuring/revealing in shaving that directors really love. And it's omnipresent...like, this doesn't even count all the bathroom cabinets that open to reveal shaving cream, and there are plenty of camp pranks missing. From comedic, to terrifying, to bordering on sensual, here are five films featuring shaving cream.
1. The Great Dictator (HU DVD 3796)
Chaplin rhymic shaving.
2. Sweeney Todd (HU DVD 13869)
What kind of monster wouldn't put Sweeney Todd on this list? The movie version with Johnny Depp (HU DVD 4111) is...um...kind of lame. But I strongly recommend the filmed stage production.
3. Hard Day's Night (HU DVD 5740)
Beatles shenanigans.
4. Skyfall (HU DVD 5001)
I'd say this scene is some kind of...demonstration of vulnerability...something...
Sorry, I'm way too distracted by Daniel Craig to philosophize.
5. Jurassic Park (HU DVD 4901)
My favorite can of shaving cream in film is, of course, the super-spy can of Barbasol in Jurassic park. It gets to do so much work! Hiding stuff, comic spraying noises, etc. Also, this ridiculous dick move:
For a bonus 6th pick, I'm going to add Shrek (HU DVD 13517) but I can't remember which of the films this shot came from. It's stuck with me thought, because it's paired with a scene of Shrek shaving, and this is supposed to be...funny? Because only ogre women have facial hair? I'm sure all those waxing, tweezing, shaving, lasering, electrocuting, and chemical depilatory products for women are marketed exclusively to ogres.
Module 2 of Democracy on Film is called The American Laborer. American identity is highly bound up with the idea of labor, and this selection of films is a great introduction.
Module 2: The American Laborer
Introductory Lesson: The Common Good
Chapter 1: “Black Fury” (1935, d. Michael Curtiz) -- Not in the collection...YET!! Chapter 2: “Harlan County U.S.A.” (1976, d. Barbara Kopple) -- DVD 2032 Chapter 3: “At the River I Stand” (1993, d. David Appleby, Allison Graham and Steven Ross) -- Streaming Video Chapter 4: “Salt of the Earth” (1954, d. Herbert J. Biberman) -- HU DVD 5560 Chapter 5: “Norma Rae” (1979, d. Martin Ritt) -- HU DVD 440
I'm kind of surprised that On The Waterfront (HU DVD 7750) didn't make this list. But, for further study, we recommend Matewan (DVD 1651), a film about the Battle of Matewan. We also recommend Native Land (DVD 10448), a 1942 documentary film about labor organizing featuring Paul Robeson. Unfortunately, it looks like we don't have a filmed version of the Lynn Nottage play Sweat(PS3564.O795 S94 2017) which won the Pulitzer for Drama. But we do have, for a portrait of the alienation of the American laboror in today's workforce, the truly classic Office Space (DVD 2344).
You can now find the full list of Democracy on Film in our LibGuide. Check back for additional recommendations.
Masked Rider The First (HU DVD 11528) has got to be one of the more intriguing things I've pulled off the shelf in a while. Like a lot of live action movies based on anime, the plot sounds completely bizarre when you read it. According to Wikipedia, the movie is based on a popular manga that also became a TV show.
I mean, based on the trailer, it looks like bug themed Power Rangers?? I don't know. Just weird.
Here's our summary:
Transformed into a locust-human hybrid by a nefarious organization known only as Shocker, a once-normal man makes it his mission to bring down the group that destroyed his life once and for all.
This week, we're taking a look at five different scenes in which characters hang upside down. I'm sure there's some bigger philosophical point to be made about inversion as in Alice in Wonderland, about the ways in which hanging upside down represents helplessness--to the ideal of beauty? to a torturer? to love?--for the characters, or possibly even the inherent physical comedy of characters in this ridiculous position. But out of sheer laziness, I will be pursuing none of those arguments in this blog post.
1. Jungle Book (HU DVD 6643)
This scene with Kaa has Mowgli hanging all kinds of ways, and it is so artfully animated that I remember it frame for frame. Insanely well executed animation to produce this very humorous example.
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (HU DVD 6047)
It happens so fast in the movies that you might miss it, but one of the ways James bullies Severus is with the jinx Levicorpus:
3. Spiderman (HU DVD 7121)
The kiss. You know the one.
4. American Gigolo (HU DVD 4640)
Apparently this movie established Giorgio Armani in Hollywood, but I see no Armani in this scene. I've watched it several times. For research.
Appropriate for a country of immigrants, Module 1 of Democracy on Film focuses on the immigrant experience. Immigrant stories are incredibly diverse, just as immigrant experiences are diverse. We also should make sure, as always, to take a close look at who is telling the immigrant's story.
Module 1: The Immigrant Experience
Introductory Lesson: From Penny Claptrap to Movie Palaces—the First Three Decades
Chapter 1: “The Immigrant” (1917, d. Charlie Chaplin) -- HU DVD 8502 Chapter 2: “The Godfather, Part II” (1974, d. Francis Ford Coppola) -- HU DVD 2542 Chapter 3: “America, America” (1963, d. Elia Kazan) -- HU DVD 7756 Chapter 4: “El Norte” (1983, d. Gregory Nava) -- HU DVD 10144 Chapter 5: “The Namesake” (2006, d. Mira Nair) -- HU DVD 3499
Martin Scorsese's own Gangs of New York (HU DVD 590) is definitely a film I'd add to this list. Dancer in the Dark (HU DVD 285) is an incredible movie that highlights the exploitation of immigrants. For an offbeat pick, I'm actually going to pick DVD 14853, The Last Command, which is the story of an exile working as a film extra. It highlights his relationship to his country using film/storytelling in a really interesting way.
Martin Scorsese, as part of his efforts to bring visual literacy education to middle and high school students, recently put out the list of movies included in "Portraits of America: Democracy on Film."
As described in the announcement:
Offered free of charge to elementary and high schools, “Democracy on Film” is made up of eight modules addressing different aspects of the democratic experience, including immigration, labor, civil rights and the press. Within each module, scholars, educators and filmmakers examine movies that reflect American democratic ideals.
For any educators out there, each module of the film list looks like it includes additional curriculum materials. Over the next few weeks, we'll be highlighting each module, and offering some supplementary resources from our collection.
We're big fans of starting media literacy young, and this is a great program for kids. It's also a wonderful resource for adults seeking guided/thematic viewing. We look forward to exploring these titles with you!
