Five Films Featuring...Shaving Cream

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.



Happy viewing!

Five Films Featuring...Characters Hanging Upside Down

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.

5. Django Unchained (HU DVD 6208)

This scene is so horrible I can't even watch it.




Happy viewing!

Five Films Featuring...Bad Things Happening To Bunnies

It's Easter, and I love all the junk that goes with Easter including all the adorable bunny themed everything. That said, for this week we're doing Five Films Featuring...Bad Things Happening To Bunnies.

Bunnies probably represent innocence or something, which might be why they're so heartbreakingly mutilated in movies.

1. What's Opera, Doc (HU DVD 12736, Disc 3)

There are apparently only three Looney Tunes shorts where Elmer Fudd defeats Bugs Bunny, and this is one of them. Straight up dies in the end. Except not. But still, it's one of the greatest ones, and Elmer is actually sorry for shooting the rabbit he's incessantly trying to kill.

2. The Lobster (HU DVD 13642)

Hard to explain the movie, but basically a bunny gets killed in this film for food. While I'm sure that happens to lots of rabbits in movies, this is the only one I can think of where humans also turn into animals if they fail to find their soulmates. This movie is too weird for me to find an actual picture of the rabbit...or basically any picture that makes sense. But I swear it's there.

3. Watership Down (HU DVD 9336)

You knew it was going to be on here. This is the most screwed up "kids" movie ever. Rabbits suffer insanely in this film. And yet somehow the book is even darker.

4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (HU DVD 2143)

The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog does bite it in the end, but not without a fight.

5. Fatal Attraction (HU DVD 2081)

Bunny boiler. Yup. That's pretty bad.



Happy Friday!

Five Films Featuring...One Actor Playing Two Roles In The Same Frame...PART TWO!!!

Oh my gosh, this one was so popular that I'm actually going to do an update.

Here, according to our staff, are yet MORE movies featuring one actor playing two roles in the same frame, though we'll just have to trust our collective memory on this one, because I can't find pictures for some:

• Scott Pilgrim saves the world - Michael Cera
• Animal House - Tom Hulce (very briefly - The Devil/Angel confrontation)
• Sherlock Jr. - Buster Keaton
• Legend about the Kray Brothers - Tom Hardy
• Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey
• Dhoom 3
• Adaptation - Nicolas Cage

And, the most requested movie we somehow don't have: Last Action Hero.

Any more suggestions? I'm amusing myself with these until Counterpart returns.

As in, "Really Starz? You put a two week gap in a TWO PART EPISODE???"

Five Films Featuring...One Actor Playing Two Roles In The Same Frame

Certain members of the media services team are completely addicted to Counterpart, so for this week's Five Films Featuring we've got...a single actor playing two roles in the same frame.

1. The Parent Trap (HU DVD 5305)

Ummm...annoyingly, we only have the Lindsay Lohan version of this movie. BUT Natasha Richardson was one of my first crushes, so I'll let the general not awesomeness of this movie slide.

2. Dead Ringers (DVD 65)

Like the parent trap, but terrifying.

3. Being John Malkovich (HU DVD 91)

All the malkovich

4. Moon (HU DVD 7213)

Sam Rockwell and Sam Rockwell as Sam Rockwells on the Moon

5. Mary Poppins (HU DVD 7850)

The scene where her mirror is showing off. Gonna argue this one is in fact a different role, as mirrors are not ourselves...

And yes, honorable mention to Back to the Future, specifically Part II (HU DVD 7841):

Happy viewing! (Sparse commentary because I'm too busy reading reddit pages about Counterpart in preparation for the finale which has been moved to April 1st. HOW CRUEL IS THAT???)

Five Films Featuring...the Bradbury Building

This week's Five Films Featuring comes from Media/Tech teammate Kit Crawford! Take it away Kit!

***

Watching movies is not just about what goes on with the characters on the screen, but can sometimes be just as enthralling with what goes on the in the background. Considering how much is CGI these days in film it can be fascinating seeing slices of real life in older films. Whether it's viewing 1980's U St. in Mr. T’s early film D.C. Cab (1983),  watching Kevin Costner run from a non-existent Georgetown metro station in No Way Out (1987), or L.A.’s famous Randy’s Donuts that appears in numerous movies, including Iron Man 2 (2010) and Dope (2015). This week’s list pays homage to another ‘cinematic fetish location,’ the iconic Bradbury Building: an ordinary brick office building at 3^rd and Broadway in downtown L.A.

1. M [1951 US remake] (Streaming Video)

2. Shockproof (DVD 7204)

3. The Artist (DVD 10193)

4. Marlowe (VHS 4877)

A VHS I know, but Bruce Lee kicks apart furniture in front of James Garner like a bad ass.

5. Blade Runner (DVD 1064)

Famously rendered as J.F. Sebastian’s decrepit apartment building and the climactic roof fight.

Runner Ups: Disclosure (DVD 10714) relevant in today’s #metoo work culture, and (500) Days of Summer (DVD 8533) At the end when Joseph Gordon-Levitt goes in for a job interview.

Five Films Featuring...A Musical Number (but not in a musical)

I personally love musicals, but I accept that the adorkability of, say, the ever under-appreciated Donald O'Connor is not every viewer's cup of tea. Musical numbers make appearances in films for a variety of reasons, from romantic to ridiculous. Here are Five Films Featuring toe tapping ditties in films that are NOT musicals.

1. (500) Days of Summer (HU DVD 8533)

I think the musical number here might be attempting to say something about the rose colored glasses this character is wearing. Possibly. It's too subtle to tell.

2. History of the World, Part 1 (HU DVD 4108)

This is how I prefer to learn history. The Animaniacs taught me the Nations of the World, Schoolhouse Rock taught me inane basic grammar I barely use, and this super-accurate representation of the inquisition taught me the value of topical phenylephrine in the Sephardic tradition.

3. 10 Things I Hate About You (HU DVD 195)

This film's title is drawn from one of the greatest poems in the English language ever to be recited in a 1999 romantic comedy starring Julia Styles, the poem itself blooming from a love sown and nourished by this "night soil" cover of a truly fantastic Four Seasons song.

 

4. Pretty In Pink (HU DVD 6848)

I have thoughts about the "nice guy" gender politics in this movie, but my god, this is an epic lip-sync.

5. Borat (HU DVD 2633)

While it's a stretch to call this a musical "number," I feel like this scene really highlights the power of music to bring people together in a thoughtless, sonorous bliss. You can practically see Euterpe, muse of music, whispering in Borat's ear and laying her gentle hand across those six strings, giving delight that transcends even nationality in a most divisive atmosphere. Art. True art.



Honorable mention and bonus film this week is Forgetting Sarah Marshall (HU DVD 8701), specifically for this experiment in stream of consciousness songwriting:


Happy viewing!

Five Films Featuring...Precarious Babies

This week's Five Films comes from Sean Casey, our Media Services Manager! Commentary by Tara, who has been thinking a lot about infant mortality. Why do they have to arrive like 25% done? They can't even hold their own heads up. It's like they're designed to die.

Child endangerment is no laughing matter, but shows up fairly frequently in film as precisely a laughing matter. Here are five films in which infants are placed in mortal peril for your entertainment.

1. Raising Arizona (HU DVD 2392)

I mean, I've done this plenty of times with takeout. It's an understandable mistake.

 

2. Battleship Potemkin (HU DVD 43)

The famous Odessa Steps sequence features a pram rolling down stairs. That's an important piece of cinema, but significantly more funny is this Naked Gun parody of that scene. But you should probably watch Battleship Potemkin if you are reading this blog.

3. The Hangover (HU DVD 8147)

This entire movie was child endangerment.

4. Hard Boiled (HU DVD 3459)

As one youtube commenter sagely noted, the babies represent innocence. Probably. Here's a whole article about this baby evacuation: https://medium.com/new-archives/hard-boiled-babies-d1d1292f5156

 

5. The Incredibles (HU DVD 1901)

At some point, as a plot device, it may have appeared that Jack Jack was in danger. Spoiler: Jack Jack IS danger. Like seriously why would you want this infant ball of death anywhere near you? It's a super power only a mother could love.

Here's to the little ones we love and occasionally come perilously close to killing.

Happy Friday!

Five Films Featuring...A Rain of Animals

Wow, so I did not know there was a term for animals falling from the sky, but apparently it's called a "Rain of Animals" and it's a real thing. To justify the several hours I spent reading about this phenomenon during my work day, here's Five Films Featuring...A Rain of Animals.

1. Magnolia (HU DVD 1458)

Sort of the obvious, classic rain of animals in film.

2. Fargo, Season 1 (HU DVD 11556)

I hope this isn't too spoilery. But Season 1 of Fargo, the TV show, features a rain of fish.

3. Triplets of Belleville (HU DVD 1225)

A self-made rain...of frogs.

4. Twister (HU DVD 12600)

"A Storm of Cows" was the best Game of Thrones book IMHO.

5. Sharknado

You will be relieved to know that the library does not, in fact, own Sharknado. We have standards. Kind of. However, I simply had to highlight it because...



Happy Friday.

Five Films Featuring...Clock Towers!

Did you know, a Clock Tower and a Bell Tower are considered two different kinds of towers by the highly reliable source for settling petty and pointless arguments, Wikipedia? For that reason, you won't find Vertigo (HU DVD 14) on this list. But in any case, it's TIME (get it??) to enjoy Five Films Featuring...Clock Towers!

1. The Hudsucker Proxy (HU DVD 1054)

Coen brothers. Clock tower. Excellent fonts.

2. The Great Mouse Detective (HU DVD 13262)

If this Big Ben chase scene (at approximately this VHS quality) is not a part of your childhood, I feel sad for you.

3. Safety Last (HU DVD 8483)

I have been informed that this is not in fact a scene on a clock tower, but is merely a clock ON a tower so I might as well have included Vertigo, but I'm still in favor of highlighting this iconic scene from Safety Last.

4. Hook (HU DVD 8785)

As you can see, this movie features a...kind of...clock tower. (I mean it's obviously the coolest clock tower on this list, even if it is a crocodile.)


And, because you know I can't help myself, we have number five:

5. Back To The Future (HU DVD 7840)

Because obvious.

Five Films Featuring...Torches!

Fun fact: the entire time I read the Chronicles of Narnia, it never occurred to me that the torch Edmund had was a flashlight. Torches of the fiery variety show up (pretty predictably) in monster-burning scenes paired with pitchforks, and also, you know, when people need light and fire is handy. But, without further ado, Five Films Featuring Torches!

1. National Treasure (HU DVD 11187)

Torches. They has them. (I will never watch this movie.)

2. Ace Ventura (We don't have it! I'm leaving this in because how the hell do we own national treasure and not Ace Ventura???)

Jim Carrey: "All I really need is my torch." Lolz.

3. The Revenant (HU DVD 13120)

Honestly I just liked these images, and this movie was so beautifully shot. There's something both menacing and beautiful about torch light, probably from associations we've built up over time from images like these.

4. Snowpiercer (HU DVD 11486)

Remember the epic torch charge? This scene is so good.

5. Frankenstein (1931) (HU DVD 860)

And, of course, our classic torch-wielding mob scene. Enjoy.

For additional fun, you can find a ton more of these on tvtropes because man do Hollywood Torches come up a lot.

Happy Friday!

Five Films Featuring...Hair Dryers!

Happy Friday! Today we're looking at Five Films Featuring...Hair Dryers!

Why? I have no idea. But this one came out kind of interesting! I decided that beauty salons were cheating, so this one was really hard.

1. What Women Want (HU DVD 5279)

Mel Gibson's path to enlightenment involves water and a hair dryer.

2. Spaceballs (HU DVD 8895)

No explanation needed. This movie is amazing. This scene is incredible.

3. Thelma and Louise (HU DVD 1169)

Important demonstration of shirtless bank robbing skills by Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise using a hair dryer.

4. Back To The Future (HU DVD 7840)

Can't even go a week without this movie. Part of Marty's extra terrestrial get up here includes a hair dryer. Fun fact: it disappears from his belt, landing this scene on a lot of "goofs" lists.

5. Play It Again Sam (HU DVD 8491)

Poor Woody Allen gets pathetically blown around by a hair dryer while he's getting ready for a date in Play It Again Sam.

Today you get a bonus SIXTH film that was too good to leave out: Eastern Promises (HU DVD 3665) features a scene where a corpse is defrosted with a Hair Dryer. Which is super gross.



That's it for today! Have an awesome Friday!

Five Films Featuring...Cakes!

Happy Friday! It's time for Five Films Featuring...CAKES!

Originally I had wanted to do cupcakes, but holy cow it is hard to find cupcakes in movies. But, for our first pick:

1. Bridesmaids (HU DVD 9104)

The saddest, loneliest, prettiest cupcake in the world.

2. Singing in the Rain (HU DVD 674)

Not a real cake, but a totally adorable dance number in this classic.

3. Back To The Future (HU DVD 7840)

Remember the pathetic "Welcome Home Uncle Joey" cake?

4. Room (HU DVD 13183)

Ahhh the really depressing birthday cake in Room.

5. Matilda (HU DVD 11525)

Who doesn't remember the great triumph of Bruce Bogtrotter's giant cake? This is possibly one of the best shows of defiance I ever remember on film. "You can do it, Brucie!"

Hungry now?