Alright guys, this upcoming Sunday will be one for the records. Superbowl’s 50th anniversary. Panthers vs. Broncos. Are you ready?
This list of football themed movies at the media library may help you out:
Necessary Roughness (1991)
Filmed right here in Denton, TX! (see our blog about it here).
Any Given Sunday (2000)
Let me just list some of the awesome people in this film: Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, Jim Brown, and Lawrence Taylor. Do I have you hooked yet? If not, Al Pacino’s speech just might:
We Are Marshall (2007)
A heartfelt story about the tragic aftermath of a plane crash killing 37 football players and 38 others people from their crew. Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox star in this film addressing the healing and rebuilding of the football program.
Undefeated (2011)
A documentary about the struggles of a high school football team. This film was well received by football and film fans alike, winning the 2012 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Concussion (2014)
Starring Will Smith who portrays Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist who discovers a pattern of dementia and brain deterioration in NFL football players. This film may terrify you about the reality of NFL football hierarchy, and reiterates the passion of football that many Americans have.
Every year, the UNT Libraries are graced with numerous patrons and donors that drive our work in supporting the student community in more ways than we can count. Bi-weekly, here on Contribution Corner, we will acknowledge one patron by exploring one of their donated games or movies.
This week, our game of choice is:
Vault Wars, Floodgate Games
Let us start from the beginning.
Fantasy worlds are overloaded with adventurers seeking to advance themselves within society.
This leads them to do three things. They kill monsters, they loot hordes, and inevitably they die.
This leaves an abundance of chests and vaults behind filled with loot, and no one to pay the storage cost.
Vault Wars picks up here. In this new title by Floodgate Games, the players take on the roles of up-and-coming adventures attempting to get a jumpstart on adventuring by making money and collecting equipment through buying these vaults, and selling the goods within.
The mechanics of the game succeed in mimicking the feel of Storage Wars, a TV show from A&E. Each player takes a turn opening and leading an auction for a vault as each other player bids on it. The winner pays the auction master, or the auction master pays the bank. Then the vault contents are used to equip the character, store for victory points, or sell to fund buying more vaults. If a player begins to run out of gold, they can visit the loan shark, but doing so will reduce their victory point total at the end. Once all of the vaults have been sold, players tally up victory points to determine the winner.
This Game is a great addition to the UNT collection and definitely one you should check out. Its creative use of an auction mechanic to explore a different side of RPG adventuring makes Vault Wars an interesting and fun experience all around. During our play through, each player used a different tactic based on availability of items and our hidden character cards, yet each tactic held its own viability for victory. This ultimately left each player, both hardcore gamers and casual gamers alike, feeling that victory was within their grasp until the end. The theme was immersive and led to deep interactions between players, each trying to read and outplay each other to gain the vaults for the most profit.
We would like to thank Floodgate Games for this donation, and their support of the UNT Libraries as a whole.
If you would like to give Vault Wars a try, it is available for check out here, at the UNT Media Library.
Keep an eye out for more Floodgate games to come in the future.
February, Black History Month, is just around the corner, and this weekend Denton will be having it’s 2nd annual Denton Black Film Festival! In celebration, here is an insight to some awesome films at the media library created by black filmmakers.
Shaft (1971)
One of the classic blaxploitation films of the 70s, Shaft is about one kick-butt dude who will take on anybody and anything. Directed by Gordan Parks, the first major Hollywood black director.
Just Another Girl on the I.R.T (1993)
Directing-debut by Leslie Harris, this film is about a black & rebellious teenage girl from Brooklyn who struggles with her desire to escape from poverty with dreams of a better life. When she finds out she’s pregnant, she must also quickly gain maturity and step up to become someone who doesn’t want to be just another teenage black girl on the subway.The film won Leslie Harris a special jury prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Directed by Spike Lee, one of the most popular black filmmakers of our time, Do the Right Thing explores racism including within minorities, and discusses expectations people may face within each intertwined culture, all within the context of a hot summer day in Brooklyn.
Submarine (2010)
A movie that may stand out from the rest, Submarine is centered around a young boy aimed at getting the girl of his world. With quirky dialog, unique set design (notice the color scheme), and all around youthfulness, this film is sure to make you feel some feels inside. Another Director-debut film, Richard Ayoade was nominated for British Academy Film Awards for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for Submarine.
Pariah (2012)
Directed by Dee Rees, Alike is a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur and younger sister Sharonda in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity–sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.
Selma (2014)
Selma takes us back to the 1960s, where the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was de jure but not de facto, and discrimination continues to destroy black’s opportunity to vote. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (played by David Oyelowo) and his followers march from Selma to Montgomery, in the efforts of equality. This is an emotional and provoking film by director Ava DuVernay which reveals that from that even at the peak of progress, it is just as easy to slide down backwards as it is to move forward.
Denton Black Film Festival tickets and information can be found at DentonBFF.com!
Yeah… school is starting back up again. And I’m pretty sure the weather feels just as groggy about it as I do. If the start of another semester has go you feelin’ blue, don’t fret because the Media Library has plenty of movies and TV shows to keep you laughing, smiling, and feeling better.
Here are a few of our newest comedy titles!
Minions DVD 16681
Cute, yellow, mini-cyclops creatures that sometimes you just wanna squeeze and eat only to realize they’re not Twinkies. If good-natured animated humor is your style, this one’s for you.
Get a Life complete series
Get a Life is a short lived phenomenon about a 30 year old paper boy, played by Chris Elliott, where he goes on never ending insane adventures. It’s weird, it’s disturbing, and conclusively pretty rad.
Pixels DVD 16580
Need a movie that you KNOW is gonna be ridiculous? That kind of ridiculous where you kinda groan on the inside but accept the fact that it is pretty funny? Yep. That’s Pixels, featuring Adam Sandler and his usual actor friends.
Psych Seasons 1-8
Pineapples.
Psychic?
Phabulous.
Dumb and Dumber to DVD 15994
Honestly, the Dumb and Dumber series sort of speaks for itself. Make yourself feel smarter, but then maybe dumber by watching.
Louie Seasons 1-4
A personal favorite, Louie is everything you’re looking for in a comedy: occasional comedy stand ups, dark humor, awkward relationships, moments that might make you cry or cringe, special guests (cough, David Lynch, cough), and basically making fun of the every day life we can all relate to.
So enjoy this semester’s first Friday (and weekend!!!) with some comedy favorites, and maybe the new semester blues wont overcome you.
It’s been about a week since the year that was came to an end and while you’re still reeling from the realization that the spring semester is just around the corner, I thought it would be a good idea to take you back to the comforting embrace of the past and remember the year 2015.
The best way to look back is to take a look at some of the cool new stuff from 2015 that the Media Library has added to its collection. First we’ll start with a couple of film’s biggest movers and shakers.
Mad Max: Fury Road DVD 16556
An action packed, adrenaline fueled, edge of your seat, thrill ride of a film that makes you think and speak in hyperbole for months. Checking out this film will make you say to yourself, “Gee, I wish I had seen this in the theater.”
Inside Out DVD 16602
Pixar is back! This time with more feelings and Amy Poehler and Bill Hader. What better way to start 2016 than to get in touch with your favorite 2015 emotions.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Game 664 PS4
One of the most anticipated games of the year, mostly because you have a dog and horse in the dang game! Seriously, you can’t beat that.
Halo 5: Guardians Game 660 Xbox One
The year 2015 was the year of 5’s apparently. Catch up on the latest hi-jinks that old cranky Master Chief is getting into.
Mysterium Boardgame 329
One of the best tabletop games of the past year is now available to play at the Media Library! This game lets you and six of your friends work together to solve a crime in which the ghost communicates to you via images. Someone even gets to play as a ghost!
Wow, that really took me back..TO THE FUTURE PART 2!
Heavy…
That was pretty crazy when that happened.
All these items have links to their respective catalog pages and can be accessed here at the Media Library.
If you’re all for holiday movies, but running out of ideas, these movies might be slipping your mind.
Gremlins DVD 22
When you think of gremlins you’re probably thinking oh yeah little creatures running around but oh wait how did the whole mess start? A father trying to get his son a radical holiday gift.
Edward Scissorhands DVD 647
Poor Edward… alone in his castle. Then suddenly he comes down and is hoarded by suburbia insanity, only to be forced back to his home… on Christmas eve!
About a Boy DVD 1481
Adorable movie all about the coming-of-age story of a 30 year old dude and his friendship with a young boy. The movie deals with suicide and depression, but in the end it comes together on Christmas day as a celebration of the importance of friends who might as well be family.
Batman Returns DVD 6
Batman, Penguin, and Catwoman all join up in a dark Gotham story centered around Christmas holiday season.
Die Hard DVD 346
Let’s not forget Bruce Willis and his jokes. If mindless action, explosions, and an insane amount of bullets are more of your holiday style: here ya go.
Today is your chance to show off your martial arts skills, dress up like a ninja, and enjoy some awesome Ninja movies! Because why not. There are over hundreds of ninja movies to choose from, but to help you guys out (because I’m nice), you can pick and choose from the media libraries collection bellow!
The Anime
Ninja Scroll DVD 1824
If insanely ridiculous plots and kick-ass characters and demonic ninjas are your thing this is for you.
Wrath of The Ninja DVD 3213
The Jackie Chan & The Jet Li
Who doesn’t like the legendary kick ass actors of the 20th (mostly) century?
Rush Hour DVD 3362/Snake in the eagle’s shadow DVD 3192
Hero DVD 1647/ First of Legend DVD 1635
The Both of Them
And what could possibly go wrong with them together?
The Forbidden Kingdom DVD 10712
The Other Ones
Beverly Hills Ninja DVD 3203
This is one of those films where one picture can pretty much sum it up:
TMNT DVD 10986 Kung Fu Panda DVD 9481
You know the drill, Pizza, Kick Butt, Repeat. I just really want to hug a panda, ok?
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, our thoughts turn to turkey, potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Yams, glazed carrots, and pumpkin pie. Beans? Maybe, but perhaps it’s not the first food to come to mind.
You don’t really think about beans when you think about super fun tabletop games either. However! That’s where Bohnanza comes in. “Bohne” is the German word for bean, and in Bohnanza, you farm beans! (It’s much more exciting than it sounds.)
Bohnanza plays up to 7 players, and might be just the ticket for playing with family after the food coma wears off. Have a great holiday this week!
From the publisher:
“TO BEAN OR NOT TO BEAN!”
Bean farming was never so much fun! In Bohnanza, you have two or three bean fields and a handful of bean cards to plant in those fields. When you sell beans, you earn more for growing more of one variety than a few several. Thus, you want to plant as many of your favorites as you can. But you must plant the beans in your hand in the order you got them. To get rid of the beans you don’t want to plant, you trade them to other players for those you want. With clever trading, you get the cars you want without helping the other players too much. In the end, the player who warns the most gold is the winner!This already expanded game has 11 bean varieties: enough for 7 players, but it also has rules for as few as two.
Now everyone can be a successful bean farmer!
“You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side, but vow instead to preserve the balance that exists between the two.” -Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese producer, director, writer, and artist. He is critically acclaimed, worshiped even, in Japan and worldwide. His animations, whether as mangas, series, or films, are one of the most recognizable themes of Japanese anime and cultural identity.
On Nov. 17th, 2015 Miyazaki’s film collection on Blu-ray was officially made available on amazon: The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki. For those of us who cannot afford such a wonderful package, here is a list of his movies available at the media library.
*These are also available in Blu-ray!
In addition, check out The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, a movie discussing the notorious Studio Ghibli co-founded by Miyazaki. The documentary follows director Hayao Miyazaki, producer Toshio Suzuki, and director Isao Takahata for a year as the studio is working on two feature films.
Love it or hate it, Monopoly is hands down one of the most iconic board games in existence. This elaborate, often long, game of taking ownership and buying as much as you can was very much a reflection of actual monopolizing in the society it was created in.
Monopoly is commonly known to be invented by Charles Darrow in the 1930s. Until recent years, this seemed to be the case. But recently it was discovered that Elizabeth Magie, a progressive individual, created a game called The Landlord’s Game, which was the actual first known version of the Monopoly we know today.
It was meant to originally point out the immorality of Monopoly, particularly reflecting on Monopolists of those times like Carnegie and Rockefeller. The Monopoly we know now is exactly what it wasn’t originally meant to be:
The elitists taking control of territories and business.
But, looking past that, Monopoly is now the most popular family board game and has grown into multiple versions. With today’s monopoly games you can find pretty much any theme you can think of, from Dog-opoly, Horse-opoly, Seinfield-opoly, etc.
UNT Media Library has various kinds of Monopoly games, including a card game version, a junior version, and Monopoly for the wii! So, Happy National Play Monopoly Day folks! Get your game on.
Filmed right here in Denton, TX! (see our blog about it here).
Any Given Sunday (2000)
Let me just list some of the awesome people in this film: Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, Jim Brown, and Lawrence Taylor. Do I have you hooked yet? If not, Al Pacino’s speech just might:
We Are Marshall (2007)
A heartfelt story about the tragic aftermath of a plane crash killing 37 football players and 38 others people from their crew. Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox star in this film addressing the healing and rebuilding of the football program.
Undefeated (2011)
A documentary about the struggles of a high school football team. This film was well received by football and film fans alike, winning the 2012 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Concussion (2014)
Starring Will Smith who portrays Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist who discovers a pattern of dementia and brain deterioration in NFL football players. This film may terrify you about the reality of NFL football hierarchy, and reiterates the passion of football that many Americans have.
One of the classic blaxploitation films of the 70s, Shaft is about one kick-butt dude who will take on anybody and anything. Directed by Gordan Parks, the first major Hollywood black director.
Directing-debut by Leslie Harris, this film is about a black & rebellious teenage girl from Brooklyn who struggles with her desire to escape from poverty with dreams of a better life. When she finds out she’s pregnant, she must also quickly gain maturity and step up to become someone who doesn’t want to be just another teenage black girl on the subway.The film won Leslie Harris a special jury prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival.
Directed by Dee Rees, Alike is a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur and younger sister Sharonda in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity–sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.
Selma takes us back to the 1960s, where the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was de jure but not de facto, and discrimination continues to destroy black’s opportunity to vote. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (played by David Oyelowo) and his followers march from Selma to Montgomery, in the efforts of equality. This is an emotional and provoking film by director Ava DuVernay which reveals that from that even at the peak of progress, it is just as easy to slide down backwards as it is to move forward.
Denton Black Film Festival tickets and information can be found at DentonBFF.com!
Psychic?
Phabulous.
One of the best tabletop games of the past year is now available to play at the Media Library! This game lets you and six of your friends work together to solve a crime in which the ghost communicates to you via images. Someone even gets to play as a ghost!
Wow, that really took me back..TO THE FUTURE PART 2!
When you think of gremlins you’re probably thinking oh yeah little creatures running around but oh wait how did the whole mess start? A father trying to get his son a radical holiday gift.
Poor Edward… alone in his castle. Then suddenly he comes down and is hoarded by suburbia insanity, only to be forced back to his home… on Christmas eve!
Adorable movie all about the coming-of-age story of a 30 year old dude and his friendship with a young boy. The movie deals with suicide and depression, but in the end it comes together on Christmas day as a celebration of the importance of friends who might as well be family.
Batman, Penguin, and Catwoman all join up in a dark Gotham story centered around Christmas holiday season.
Let’s not forget Bruce Willis and his jokes. If mindless action, explosions, and an insane amount of bullets are more of your holiday style: here ya go.
Wrath of The Ninja DVD 3213
Hero DVD 1647/ First of Legend DVD 1635
TMNT DVD 10986 Kung Fu Panda DVD 9481
You know the drill, Pizza, Kick Butt, Repeat. I just really want to hug a panda, ok?
On Nov. 17th, 2015 Miyazaki’s film collection on Blu-ray was officially made available on amazon: 
Monopoly is commonly known to be invented by Charles Darrow in the 1930s. Until recent years, this seemed to be the case. But recently it was discovered that Elizabeth Magie, a progressive individual, created a game called The Landlord’s Game, which was the actual first known version of the Monopoly we know today.
It was meant to originally point out the immorality of Monopoly, particularly reflecting on Monopolists of those times like Carnegie and Rockefeller. The Monopoly we know now is exactly what it wasn’t originally meant to be:
The elitists taking control of territories and business.
But, looking past that, Monopoly is now the most popular family board game and has grown into multiple versions. With today’s monopoly games you can find pretty much any theme you can think of, from Dog-opoly, Horse-opoly, Seinfield-opoly, etc.
UNT Media Library has various kinds of Monopoly games, including a card game version, a junior version, and Monopoly for the wii! So, Happy National Play Monopoly Day folks! Get your game on.
