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CALL NUMBERS: |
| First, picks from some friends in the teaching faculty: |
| Pat Aufderheide |
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Dans, Grozny dans = The Damned and the Sacred (de Putter)
A poignant, moving, impressive story of Chechen orphans celebrating Chechen culture (a very political act) internationally; a powerful human rights story told with emotional intensity. |
VHS 7445 |
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Festa da Moca (Carrelli)
Brazilian Indians discover video and through a video project recover heritage; a great example of the Video in the Village project. |
VHS 1824 |
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The Gleaners and I (Varda)
A
warm, humanist and wryly funny essay by a legendary French artist, Agnes Varda, about people on the edges of Paris--and of today's globalized economy, including herself. |
DVD 417 |
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How the Myth Was Made (Stoney)
A
sympathetic but critical look at the great documentarian Robert Flaherty, by George Stoney, who returns to the place where Man of Aran was filmed and interviews its subjects. |
VHS 6156 |
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The Iraq Campaign (Patiris)
Brlliant video collage and a fierce critique of American warrior culture, made during the 1991 Gulf War, by San Francisco experimental video artist Phil Patiris. |
VHS 1828 |
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Shut Up and Sing! (Kopple)
Amazing cinema verite and inspiring exploration of First Amendment issues, from an Oscar winning director, Barbara Kopple |
DVD 2704 |
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The Sorrow and the Pity (Ophüls)
An astonishing revisionist history of collaboration and resistance in World War II France, using the inimitable interviewing techniques of Marcel Ophuls; you'll never watch History Channel the same way again. |
DVD 481 |
| W. Joseph Campbell |
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All the President's Men (Pakula)
I loved this when it came out in 1976, but am considerably less enamored with it now. I view it these days as an improbable, overstated claim of media power. It does contain a memorable, only-in-Washington shot from the dome of the main reading room of the Library of Congress |
DVD 1789 |
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Citizen Kane (Welles)
Best-ever motion picture, ever. Arguably. Great back story, too, about William Randolph Hearst's indirect efforts to block the film's release. |
DVD 434 |
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Just Visiting (Poiré)
I don't know whether the library has: it should. This is an improbable, yet imaginative, time-tripping escapist movie. Hilarious in parts. |
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Krippendorf's Tribe (Holland)
A terrific spoof on the scholarly life. Highly amusing, yet not without moments of suspense. |
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Monsieur Klein (Losey)
The best French-language motion picture I've seen. A gripping portrayal of German-occupied Paris. |
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| Eric Dussere |
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The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Sturges)
Actually, everyone should see all of Preston Sturges's films, but the story of Trudy Kockenlocker trying to figure out if she did in fact marry and get knocked up by someone named Ratsywatsy one drunken evening is just really, really funny.
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VHS 1614 |
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I Like It Like That (Martin)
The first major-studio film directed by an African American woman, by the way--but also a great, fun film that deserves a wider audience. |
DVD 1063 |
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Le Corbeau (Clouzot)
A truly creepy film and also an allegory of the Nazi occupation of France--like a much darker version of Camus's The Plague.
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DVD 1335 |
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Vivre Sa Vie (Godard)
My favorite Godard film; it's a kind of meditation on the history of male representations of women, and a love letter to the star, Anna Karina. |
DVD 116 |
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Stray Dog (Kurosawa)
This is Akira Kurosawa in noir mode. Toshiro Mifune plays a cop who has lost his gun, and his search for it is also a cinematic tour of postwar Tokyo.
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HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 816 |
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The Hudsucker Proxy (Coen)
The Coen brothers' biggest flop. It's a pastiche of classic Hollywood, with heavy doses of Capra, Sturges and Hawks, and also a kind of political fable about corporate capitalism. You know, for kids! |
DVD 1054 |
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The Stepford Wives (Forbes)
The original 1975 film manages to be scarier, funnier, and more politically potent than the atrocious remake. And while we're on the subject of bad remakes, be sure to see the first version of The In-Laws (HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1411), with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk. |
DVD 2158 |
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The Parallax View (Pakula)
The seventies era was chock-full of conspiracy thrillers. This is the bleakest and best, in large part because of cinematographer Gordon Willis's alienating visual design |
DVD 1362 |
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California Split (Altman)
This Robert Altman movie isn't a definitive statement like Nashville or an acid take on genre like The Long Goodbye, but it is certainly Elliott Gould's best performance; playing a compulsive gambler, he's a one-man carnival. |
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| Rose Ann Robertson |
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Absence of Malice (Pollack)
Sally Field, Paul Newman. Reporter (Field) writes a story linking a businessman (Newman) to the mob. Her facts are right, but the story is wrong and leads to disastrous consequences. An excellent look at how reporters are used by government officials. |
DVD 422 |
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Deadline USA (Brooks)
Humphrey Bogart stars as a big-city editor with ethics who's trying to keep the owners from selling the paper. It's more than 50 years old, so some things are dated, but the concepts are surprisingly relevant. |
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The Great Dictator (Chaplin)
Charlie Chaplin. The Little Tramp takes on Adolf Hitler as dictator Adenoid Hynkel. Chaplin also plays a Jewish barber, a ringer for Hynkel, in this satirical comedy. One of the best scenes in any movie comes when Hynkel dances around his office, balancing a globe. Finally, the globe bursts. The movie, made in 1940, was right on target in predicting the horrors of the Nazi regime |
VHS 963 |
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The Paper (Howard)
Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close. 24-hours in the life of a New York tabloid newspaper. This is as close to a real newsroom as you'll ever find. And you've got to love the scene between Keaton and Close as they actually come to blows as Keaton tries to stop the presses. The film tackles real issues of ethics, deadlines, and money. |
VHS 3338 |
| Josette Wisman |
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Un Chien Andalou (Buñuel)
One of the first, or maybe the first surrealistic movie (directed by Buñuel). It gets your mind going, and the music is sublime: tango mixed with Wagner! |
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1083 |
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The Leopard (Visconti)
Burt Lancaster’s greatest role B watch it in the original Italian!B without his usual American baritone. The film is faithful to Lampedusa=s novel about the fall of the Italian aristocracy. |
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 825 |
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Working Girl (Nichols)
A feminist movie (AI=m not steak, you just can=t order me@) and a great love story among capitalists. |
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Grand Illusion (Renoir)
Renoir may have gotten financial support from the left, but still the movie has one of the best presented anti-war messages ever put on celluloid. |
DVD 213 |
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Earth (Mehta)
By Indian director Deepa Mehta: the breakup of India in >47 seen through the story of friends who can=t remain friends for religious/political reasons. Heart of Darkness revisited. |
VHS 6718 |
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The 400 Blows (Truffaut)
Truffaut's first movie shows how he found solace in movies when his parents neglected him; could be called the making of a movie director. |
DVD 990 |
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Battle of Algiers (Pontecorvo)
Pontecorvo's movie about guerrilla warfare and the use of torture is as modern (or traditional?) as ever. Looks like a documentary movie. Chilling. |
DVD 950 |
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The Deer Hunter (Cimino) It doesn't matter whether the movie is realistic or not, it is a gripping story with young De Niro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken at their best. Will glue you to your seat for more than 3 hours. |
DVD 1706 |
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2001 A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
Another excellent literary adaptation by Kubrick. The problematic end justifies all the means used in this early special-effect movie. |
DVD 1817 |
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Mouchette (Bresson)
Dark (literally and psychologically), almost unbearable movie to watch; makes you feel the misery and agony of a young girl in post-war France abandoned by parents and God. By the great Robert Bresson. |
VHS 5732 |
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La Strada (Fellini) Quirky adventures of strong man Anthony Quinn and his innocent help (Massina) taking place in Italy in the 50's. Again, feelings seem to have deserted Europe after WW II. Great score. |
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 2590 |
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Breathless (Godard)
Godard's masterpiece with Belmondo aping Bogart, and the young Jean Seberg with a great haircut (all the French teenage girls got the same haircut in the late 50's). Introduced new techniques (jump cuts), new actors, and had a great dialog. |
DVD 456 |
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Reservoir Dogs (Tarentino)
Tarentino's indie is a non-linear story so cleverly done that it can be said to be a real tour de force, just fabulous; loved the dialog and the music. Violence mixed with fun. Po-mo flick. |
VHS 2915 |
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The Seventh Seal (Bergman)
See Death playing chess at the time of the Black Death. Bergman recreates a medieval astmosphere like no other medieval movie. |
DVD 47 |
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Brokeback Mountain (Lee) Annie Proulx's short story tears you apart, and so does Heath Ledger as Ennis Lamar in beautiful Wyoming where non-conformity was not (still not to some extent) readily accepted. Great movie by Ang Lee |
DVD 1924 |
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| Library staff picks: |
| Kirsten Allen |
Book: |
L'aventure ambigue by Cheikh Hamidou Kane |
PL 8021 .S4 K3 |
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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury |
PS 3503 .R167 F3 1993 |
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| Harvey Baine |
Book: |
The Beans of Egypt, Maine by Carolyn Chute
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Big Bad Love by Larry Brown |
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Movie: |
The Big Sleep (Hawks) |
VHS 2167 |
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| Melissa Becher |
Book: |
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding |
PR3454.T66 |
Movie: |
The Maltese Falcon (Huston)
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DVD 130 |
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The Big Lebowski (Coen) |
DVD 25 |
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Miller's Crossing (Coen) |
VHS 4622 |
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The Life of Brian (Jones) |
DVD 970 |
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| Steve Bergen |
Book: |
1984 by George Orwell |
PR6029.R8 N5 1992 |
Movie: |
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Jackson) |
DVD 805-807 |
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| Sean Casey |
Book: |
Montaillou, village occitan de 1294 à 1324 by Emmanuel Le Roy La, translated by Barbara Bray |
DC801.M753 L471 |
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God's Chinese Son: the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan by Jonathan Spence |
DS758.23.H85 S64 1996 |
Movie: |
Life on Earth (13 episodes) (Attenborough)
This epic series set the standard for wildlife filmmaking. Attenborough brings more than just spectacular footage; he positively exudes the joy of natural discovery. If this doesn’t move you, there is no hope for our species |
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Khane-ye doust kodjast? = Where is my Friend’s House (Kiarostami)
Someone said the greatest films are like children’s dreams. Kiarostami creates a masterpiece from the simplest story - a boy loses his homework. |
VHS 4856 |
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The Cameraman (Sedgwick)
Buster Keaton has a depth and therefore an appeal beyond Chaplin because he is the embodiment of the decent, American hero, from a time when the country still identified with the underdog. The unfortunate racism in some scenes is a reminder that that ideal has always been flawed. Also contains the greatest performance on film by a Capuchin monkey. |
HOME USE COLLECTION VHS 5700 |
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| Thomas Flynn |
Book: |
Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac |
PS3521.E735 D5 |
Movie: |
Walkabout (Roeg) |
VHS 5252 |
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| Jim Heintze |
Book: |
Time and Again by Jack Finney |
PS3556.I52 T5 |
Movie: |
Rear Window (Hitchcock) |
VHS 328 / VDD 210 |
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| Mark Hemhauser |
Movie: |
My Dinner With Andre (Malle) |
VHS 121 |
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Z (Costa-Gavras) |
VHS 941 |
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| Robert Kelshian |
Book: |
Henderson, the Rain King by Saul Bellow |
PS3503.E4488 H39 |
Movie: |
Harold and Maude (Ashby) |
DVD 1962 |
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The Royal Tenenbaums (Anderson) |
DVD 1937 |
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| Drew Lemerise |
Book: |
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran |
PJ7741.G54P7 |
Movie: |
Donnie Darko (Kelly) |
DVD 381 |
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| Chris Lewis |
Book: |
Low life: Lures and snares of old New York by Luc Sante |
F128.47.S23 |
Movie: |
Election (Payne) |
VHS 7244 |
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| Tony Loffredo |
Book: |
American Gods by Neil Gaiman |
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Movie: |
The Puma-Man (De Martino) |
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| Stacey Marien |
Book: |
Eat, Pray, Love : One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert |
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The Night Casey Was Born : The True Story Behind the Great American Ballad "Casey at the Bat" by John Evangelist Walsh |
PS3014.T3 Z96 2007 |
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Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech |
PZ7.C8615 Wal |
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare |
PZ7.S7376 Wi |
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The Last Best League: One Summer, One Season, One Dream by Jim Collins |
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Movie: |
The Cocoanuts (Santley, Florey) |
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1125 |
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Duck Soup (McCarey)
Marx brothers madness, mischief, and mayhem |
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1129 |
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Kyojin to Gangu = Giants and Toys (Masumura)
A great date movie. |
DVD 1280 |
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| Michele Mikkelsen |
Book: |
Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and Annie McKee
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| Mary Mintz |
Book: |
Emma by Jane Austen |
PR4034.E543 |
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Persuasion by Jane Austen |
PR4034.P4 |
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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen |
PR4034.P7 |
Movie: |
Emma (McGarth) |
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Persuasion (Michell) |
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Pride and Prejudice (Langton) |
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Sense and Sensibility (Lee) |
VHS 4603 |
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| Dan Ssebowa Musisi |
Book: |
Garlic Ballads by Mo Yan |
PL2886.O1684 T51 1995 |
Movie: |
Triplets of Belleville (Chomet) |
DVD 1125 |
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Cane Toads (Lewis) |
VHS 4096 |
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| Susan Neilson |
Book: |
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco |
PQ4865.C6 N61 |
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| Sidney Osborne |
Book: |
White Teeth by Zadie Smith |
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Movie: |
Children of Men (Cuarón)
A bleak view of the near future that makes you wonder what if it actually happened.
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HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 2631 |
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Smokin' Aces (Carnahan)
Bloody, bloody fun. |
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Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton, Faris)
Family dysfunction at it's most wholesome. |
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 2375 |
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| Kathryn Ray |
Book: |
Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway |
LD7152.7 1975 .C66 |
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The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta |
PL8011 .A3 no.227 1994 |
Movie: |
Chocolat (Denis) |
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Shakespeare in Love (Madden) |
DVD 76 |
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| Gwendolyn Reece |
Book: |
Treatise on White Magic by Alice A. Bailey |
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Silmarillion by J R R Tolkien |
PR6039.O32 S55 |
Movie: |
Kundun (Scorsese) |
VHS 5747 |
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| Amy Robertson |
Book: |
Middlemarch by George Eliot |
PR4622.A1 |
Movie: |
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Nichols) |
VHS 120 |
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| Sterling Scroggins |
Book: |
Don Quixote by Cervantes translated by Edith Grossman |
PQ6329 .A2 2003 |
Movie: |
To Sir with Love (Clavell) |
DVD 914 |
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| Martin Shapiro |
Movie: |
Les Enfants du Paradis = Children of Paradise (Carne)
An enormous carnival of a film which depicts the creative process, the art of performance, class divisions, romance, and unrequited love in 19th Century Paris. |
DVD 375 |
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Celine et Julie vont en bateau = Celine and Julie Go Boating (Rivette)
Two protagonists enter a Henry James ghost story through the medium of a piece of candy. This film gradually builds momentum until it becomes astonishing. A magical experience.
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VHS 4482 |
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El Ley del Deseo = Law of Desire (Almodovar)
Rough, exciting early Almodovar melodrama about a self-absorbed writer-director and the person who stalks him. This film features
Antonio Banderas, Carmen Maura, an over-the-top performance of Cocteau's Voix Humaine, and music from Los Panchos. |
DVD 2442 |
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| Mike Shubbuck |
Movie: |
Underground (Kusturica)
An epic story of betrayal between two friends that spans fifty years in Yugoslavia beginning of World War II. It won the Golden Palm at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
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DVD 1342 |
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Gunner Palace (Tucker)
Tells the stories of soldiers stationed in Iraq at palace built by Sadaam Hussein four months after President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in the country. One of the few cases an R-rating (Due to strong language throughout, violent situations and some drug references.) was overturned in an appeal and re-rated PG-13. |
DVD 2492 |
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| Katherine Simpson |
Book: |
Hyperion by Dan Simmons |
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Movie: |
Agnes of God (Jewison) |
VHS 2105 |
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| Matt Smith |
Book: |
The Hunting of the Snark: an Agony in Eight Fits by Lewis Carroll |
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Movies: |
Mon Oncle (Tati) |
VHS 1792 |
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Un Condamné à Mort s’est E ́chappé, ou, Le Vent Souffle où Il Vent = A Man Escaped (Bresson) |
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1120 |
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| James Trice |
Book: |
Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters by Robert Gordon |
ML 420 .M748 G67 2002 |
Movie: |
Nosferatu (Murnau) |
DVD 393 |
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Nosferatu (Herzog) |
VHS 5248 |
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Shadow of the Vampire (Merhige) |
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| Robyn Weisman |
Movie: |
The Big Lebowski (Coen)
Fantastic movie from the Coen Brothers - check out John Turturro as Jesus. |
DVD 25 |
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Angels In America (Nichols)
From award winning playwright Tony Kushner, starring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, and Emma Thompson. |
DVD 774 |
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28 Days Later (Boyle)
Surprisingly refreshing Zombie movie. |
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 952 |
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Orgazmo (Parker)
Bbefore Team America, Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the South Park comedy team) made this film about a Mormon porn star. |
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| Elizabeth Wirkkala |
Book: |
Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
One of my favorite paintings, I love how Chevalier created a story about Vermeer, the time period, and the young woman who posed for the painting. |
PS3553.H4367 G57 2000 |
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I Know This Much Iis True by Wally Lamb
An amazing story about identical twins, one of whom suffers from schizophrenia. |
PS3562.A433 I12 1998 |
Movie: |
The Princess Bride (Reiner) |
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Office Space (Judge)
These are my favorite movies because they always make me laugh. |
HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 2344 |
