All the President's Men wins Washingtonian's bracket; SOC professor has some choice words

In February, we reported on the Washingtonian's bracket to determine the most "DC" movie of all time. Much to our sadness, the Mr. T-starring DC Cab did not win, but top honors went to the classic Watergate drama All the President's Men. AtPM beat out lobbyist ode Thank You for Smoking for the top prize, also knocking out presidential dramas Lincoln and The American President along the way.

Not everyone is happy with the top choice though, especially not SOC professor W. Joseph Campbell. Professor Campbell's objects that the film glossed over the many other forces in Washington that contributed to the unraveling of Nixon's presidency, including criminal investigators and the courts. Dubious mythmaking aside, we love the movie (sorry Professor), but we agree that in the spirit of the competition, it doesn't do service to the other institutions in DC.

Professor Campbell suggests the Nixon parody comedy Dick as an alternative winner, but of the other choices on the bracket. We might have also gone for Burn After Reading, if only for actually shooting at Constitution Gardens.

Your pre-March bracket: What's the DCy-est film ever?

Many movies take place in DC to make use of its proximity to politics and major cultural institutions like the Smithsonian. Others just happen to take place in the city. It's fun to see DC represented on the screen in a variety of ways, but the question remains: which is really the DC movie? It's an arbitrary choice, but Washingtonian is going to get to the bottom of this.

Earlier this week, Washingtonian opened a bracket to vote for movies set in DC based on their subject area. The rationale behind different categories is a little hazy, but we enjoy any tournament with the possibility of a DC Cab / Strangers on a Train matchup.

Head over to their site and start voting for your favorites. We really hope something non-political wins for the sake of celebrating DC culture. Sorry, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Win a FREE 1TB HARD DRIVE for coming to the New Media Center!

Midterms season is in full swing, and students are starting work on their big end-of-year projects. But where do you store your giant video project? If only you could get a new flash drive or hard drive for free...

Good news: our friends at the New Media Center are giving them away!

If you attend a New Media Center training session between now and November 15th, you could win a 32 GB flash drive or a 1 terabyte hard drive! Simply show up to any of the New Media Center's training sessions to enter.

Good luck. This is a prize worth winning!

Brave our Halloween giveaway and you might win a free movie!

We've been getting into the Halloween spirit for a while now. Time to share some of it with you!

In preparation for everyone's favorite terror-based holiday, we're giving away digital copies of True Blood Season 4, Hitchcock, and Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2, Which one will you get? It's random! Maybe that's the scariest part.

For a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite horror movie villain. Next Wednesday, we'll pick three random winners from our blog, Facebook page, Twitter, and in-person entries to get a free movie.

Good luck!

Celebrate Shark Week and win a copy of Jaws!

Shark Week, the Discovery Channel's annual celebration of all things sharktacular, kicked off yesterday. We're all fans of Shark Week (and for that matter Sharknado), so wanted to celebrate somehow.

To commemorate the occasion, we're giving away a digital copy of Jaws, indisputably the greatest of all shark movies. For a chance to win, leave a comment on this blog post (as well as some way to contact you). We'll randomly pick a winner from our blog, Facebook, Twitter, and desk at the end of the week!

Finals approach, and it's too hot out, so have a free movie!

It's 86 degrees in Washington right now. Wasn't it just snowing a few weeks ago? As the semester rolls to a close and summer is bounding over the horizon, you probably need an excuse to stay in and relax.

You're in luck: we're giving away another batch of digital copies of movies! This time, you could win...

• The Hunger Games
• Crazy, Stupid, Love.
• The Campaign
• The Avengers
• The Amazing Spider-Man
• Jaws
• The Lorax

To enter the giveaway, tell us your favorite summer movie in the comments. We'll randomly select five winners next wees from our social media and in-person entries.

Good luck, and stay cool!

EDIT: The giveaway is now over.

The Oscar giveaway is over

Thanks to everyone on the blog, Facebook, Twitter, and at the desk who entered our movie giveaway. The turnout was very strong! We've notified the winners.

Look for another movie giveaway in the future!

Oscar Cleanup Giveaway

We've been excited about the Oscars for a while, and now that they're over, there's sort of a big void left. What better way to fill that void than to give away some Oscar-nominated movies?

We're giving away six Oscar-nominated movies:

• The Artist
• Argo
• Flight
• The Iron Lady
• Pulp Fiction
• Sting

For a chance to win, leave us a comment telling us your favorite movie from 2012. We'll pick 2 or 3 winners from our blog, Facebook, Twitter, and in-person entries to take home their choice of one of these great movies.

Good luck!

Enter the Eco-Comedy Video Competition

Attention aspiring filmmakers: Interested in plying your craft for a good cause, getting some publicity in local film circles, and winning some money?

AU's Center for Environmental Filmmaking and the Sierra Club have teamed up for the 2013 Eco-Comedy Film Competition. Entrants are asked to make a short, funny YouTube video that draws attention to climate change. The winner will receive $1,000 and will have their short screened at the DC Environmental Film Festival. The usual rules apply (no copyrighted music, for instance).

Entries are due by March 1, 2013. For full information, check the Center for Environmental Filmmaking's website.

Here's last year's winner, a typography video titled "Clean Coal by the Bituminous Marketing Agency." It proves that you don't need a big budget or actors to make an award-winning short.

Win The Dark Knight Trilogy!

To celebrate the start of the semester, we're giving away a digital copy of The Dark Knight Trilogy, which includes all three of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises).

For a chance to win, leave a comment naming all three of the actors who have portrayed Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the Batman movies. (If you need a hint, they come from the movies in our collection with call numbers DVD 4701, DVD 4703, and DVD 10791.)

We'll pick a random winner from our blog, Facebook, or Twitter. Good luck!

EDIT: The giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Jonathan Waldroup for winning!

Win our copy of Moonrise Kingdom!

 
Moonrise Kingdom showed up in Media Services today, and we're giving away our digital download copy!

For a chance to win, leave a comment on this post with the names of three of Bill Murray's characters from Wes Anderson's movies. We'll pick a winner at random from our Facebook, Twitter, and blog pages.

EDIT: The giveaway is over. Thanks to everyone for participating, and congratulations to Daniella Napolitano for winning!

Dress up like Death or RoboCop, get a gift bag

Criterion has put their own unexpected twist on the glut of seasonal costume contests and themed events. They are currently running a costume contest rewarding people who dress up as characters from one of the 600+ films in the Criterion Collection. This sounds like a daunting task, since it's hard to pull of a recognizable Antoine Doinel costume, but Criterion's archives are full of exciting and costume-able characters. This is Spinal Tap, Brazil, and Armageddon, for instance, both saw Criterion releases.

If you send Criterion a picture if your costume by the end of the day on Halloween, you'll be entered to win a Criterion-themed gift bag. No telling what's inside except winning!

Wikipedia has a handy list of all the films released by Criterion if you need a reference.