Posted by & filed under Movie Recommendations.

Back again with another strange VHS collection review. Seeing as my last viewing experience with the film Black Rain was so exhilarating I decided to venture back again into the depths of our VHS collection to find yet another hidden gem. This film in particular caught my eye because while I had heard of the French director Mathieu Kassovitz (specifically for his acting role in the film Amelie, 2001) I found it strange that the written title on the VHS was written in English and translated to Hate. This odd observation led to the interesting discovery that while this film was indeed a French film, the title was only translated to the English title Hate as supposed to La Haine (MV 9221) exclusively for the VHS release of the film. So having that said you can be assured that if you sign out this film from our Media Library you will be holding a type of collector’s edition version of this masterful film.

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This film is completely in black and white yet it has a striking power that most modern films in color lack. The organic intensity of the acting and the way the sequences are put together by Kassovitz are truly impressive and will leave you glued to the edge of your seat throughout the film. This film was received incredibly well, winning the award for best director from both the Cannes Film Festival and The Lumiere Awards in 1995, along with more Cesar Awards including best film, and best editing.

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Through the trajectory of the film the audience follows three young men living in the outskirts of Paris in the mid 90’s, they travel the city a day after a massive riot had erupted in which one of their close friends was shot by riot police. The tensions portrayed as the boys struggle to find news about their friend while also having several run ins with police continually grows through the entirety of the film finally arriving at a climactic ending in which the line “La haine attire la haine” which translates to “hatred breeds hatred” summarizes the overarching theme of this film with one last powerful blow. The film is artistic and youthful, full of risk and exceptionally executed. If you are a fan of the earlier work of Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, such as Amores Perros 2000 or earlier films from Antonio Serrano such as Sexo, Pudor, y Lagrimas 1999, I can guarantee you will love this film.

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Post by Special Projects Student Assistant Cesar Velasco

Posted by & filed under Movie Recommendations, Uncategorized.

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Lately, we have been able to experience a strange trend based on resurrection of a very awkward medium most millennial students have long forgotten or never interacted with: the VHS tape. The mysterious and outdated home movie format that some of you may or may not remember since the coming of DVD’s, Blu Ray discs and streaming services has surely made a trendy comeback. Its strange, and quite honestly terrible, quality, has snuck back into the mainstream, creating a nostalgic mood in almost every millennial who gets a glimpse of any video with that signature VHS quality look. Falling for the trend, I decided to take a look at some of the movies available in the Media Library for checkout by any student at UNT, and I surely found some hidden gems.

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The first of this films found on the remaining rack of VHS tapes available for check out by any student who dares to enter the Media Library, is a Japanese film from 1989 titled Black Rain (MV 2574) directed by Shohei Imamura.black-rain

This film is one of the most critically acclaimed of its time, not only in Japan, but by the global film community. It is often too easy to get caught up in western award winning films (since they are more accessible) but let me guarantee that looking towards the east for some noteworthy films is never a bad idea, and this film is a true testament to that. This film follows the journey of a family through the years that followed their exposure to the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and allows the audience to see a whole new side to this tragic point in world history. The film starts with an aggressive showcase reflective of the violent images seen by many who were exposed to the atomic power of the bombs dropped on Japan, and smoothly takes you from that violent day on towards the distant future, further exploring the harsh realities of a community infected by radiation poisoning.

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The film does a brilliant job of showcasing issues that faced many Japanese individuals and their communities and creates a microcosm for the reality which so many lived day in and day out after these attacks. The film provides a new perspective for a western viewer and is also very easily categorized as a film masterpiece. The camera work is intentional and innovative, the dolly and track movements impressively executed and the framing of the film is blissful, yet direct and personal. This film having won not only 9 awards in 1989 at The Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Director, but also won the Technical Grand Prize at Cannes Film Festival that same year along with plenty of other notable mentions from festivals and critics worldwide.

So if you want to take a look at something perhaps a little out of the ordinary and have an old VHS player sitting at home (also available at the Media Library: VCRs) , I highly recommend you take a look at Black Rain, and dive into a nostalgic and tragic look into the world of the East post WWII.

Post by Special Projects Student Assistant Cesar Velasco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by & filed under Board Games.

tail-feathers 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 a donated game or movie they have given. This week, our game of choice is Tail Feathers from Plaid Hat Games. Shadows whisper deep within the oaken roots of Nestlebrook. Wizards scry black wings from pinpoint drops of water. Silence scouts from the edges of Meanderfield. All voices ring with the same message, the Downwood Militia must take arm. Tail Feathers takes place in the same world as the Plaid Hat hit Mice and Mystics. In this game, our mousy friends take wing, riding their starling and blue jay mounts, to fight the invading rat army and their allied rooks. Unlike Mice and Mystics, which takes the form of a story driven co-op dungeon crawl RPG, Tail Feathers instead looks at tactical combat and incorporates an interesting flight mechanic into a skirmish battle game. Balancing speed and maneuverability as you manage your flying units, and disrupting this balance through tactical placement of ground forces is key. Combined, this new take on flight movement with incomplete information mission options creates deep strategic gameplay and interesting player interaction. Using familiar themes, characters, abilities, and components from Mice and Mystics, this game quite successfully integrates one genre into another. We had an absolute blast playing this game. Each scenario from the provided scenario book created unique choices in how each player approached the game. Early on, our Downwood Militia player took some hard hits, allowing for the Vermin Raiders to obtain a bit of an edge. The added benefits of each game was minor though, and by scenario 3 the Downwood Militia gained a win through superior mission usage and action card selection. The final game was a tough one that lasted a bit longer than the estimated 60-90 minute time frame. Meticulous decisions were made, but in the end, the Downwood Militia was victorious. In all, we would highly suggest Tail Feathers as a strong selection for a competitive two player game! We would like to thank Plaid Hat Games for this great donation. If you would like to give Tail Feathers a try, or another selection from Plaid Hat Games, they are available for check out here, at the UNT Media Library.

Posted by & filed under Board Games, Movie Recommendations, Television Recommendations, Video Games.

Check out some of our newest video games, board games, and movies at the media library. No better time than the fall (and right before finals) to chill and relax with our cool brand new stuff!

Video Games

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Title Call Number
XCOM 2 PS4 718
Recore Xbox One 720
Bravely second: end layer 3DS 721
Forza horizon, 3 Xbox One 719
The king of fighters XIV PS4 714
NBA 2K17 PS4 717
No man’s sky PS4 715

Movies

movies  
Title Call Number
Zootopia DVD 17109 (Blu-ray 17108)
Chi-raq DVD 17093
Goosebumps DVD 17036
The Mermaid DVD 17078
Captain America, Civil War DVD 17076
The Walking dead seasons 1-5 DVD 17014, 16438, 16402, 14742, 13326
Reign Seasons 1-2 DVD 17015, 17016
The vvitch DVD 17038

Board games

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Title Call Number
Qubosity: name it & claim it Boardgame 481
Celebrity Name Game Boardgame 480
Killer snails: assassins of the sea Boardgame 478
Covalence: a molecule building game Boardgame 477
Zombie dice Boardgame 471
Tiny Epic Western Boardgame 470
 

Posted by & filed under Movie Recommendations.

This is quite literally just a list of movies we have at the Media Library with cats.

Yes. I know. Everything you’ve ever dreamed of.

1) Oliver & Company DVD 3944

That soundtrack tho.

2) The adventures of Milo & Otis DVD 3854

Okay in case you didn’t know this movie is well known for it’s adorable-ness and also the fact that it is accounted for multiple animal cruelty acts, leading to the death of over 20 cats. So… really this is on the list as a PSA.

3) Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey DVD 3899

Sassy is the epitome of exactly that:

4) That Darn Cat! DVD 5002

If you enjoy seeing people being outsmarted by a cat (pfft always) then this one’s for you.

5) Cats DVD 7970

Right, they’re not actually cats but you’re not truly a cat fan until you’ve memorized the opening Jellicle Cats song of this musical.

6) Miss Minoes DVD 13809

A cat that turns into a lady and does cute funny cat things. It’s adorable.

8) Harry and Tonto DVD 12770

A classic. If anything watch it in amazement at how cooperative Tonto is.

Posted by & filed under Movie Recommendations.

September is National Hispanic Heritage Month, so here’s a list of popular movies from various Latin American and Spanish speaking Countries:

**All of these movies are available at the Media Library, click the link to their call number to see their availability!

 

Mexico

El Laberinto Del Fauno = Pan’s Labyrinth DVD 7318

pans_labyrinth-hd Set in 1944 Spain, against the backdrop of the anti-Franco guerrilla warfare. When young Ofelia and her mother go to live with her new stepfather on a rural military outpost, she finds herself in a world of unimaginable cruelty. Soon Ofelia finds the creatures of her imagination in which she used to escape have become a reality and she must battle them to save both her mother and herself. In the terrifying battle that ensues, Ofelia soon learns that innocence has a power that evil cannot imagine.

Cuba

Ya– Kuba = I am Cuba DVD 565

SOy-cuba Four main stories show the rise of the Communist revolution in Cuba, including Battista’s Havana and the grinding poverty and oppression of the Cuban people.

Spain

Volver DVD 7122

Volver-1 Raimunda lives in Madrid with her daughter Paula and her drunk husband Paco. Her sister, Sole, is separated and works clandestinely as a hairstylist for women. Years ago, in the sisters birth village, they lost their parents in a fire in La Mancha. Their aunt, Paula, still lives in the village and continues to speak about her sister Irene, mother of the two sisters, as if she were still alive. When the old aunt dies the situation changes and the past returns(volver).

Argentina

El Aura DVD 7354

el-aura-original A quiet, cynic taxidermist, who suffers from epilepsy attacks, is obsessed with committing the perfect crime. He claims that the police are too stupid to find out about it when it’s well executed, and that the robbers are too stupid to execute it the right way. He feels that he could do it himself by relying on his photographic memory and his strategic planning skills. He is invited on a hunting trip away from his home. Once there, an accident gives him the chance of a life time: the possibility to commit the perfect crime.

Ecuador

Crónicas = Chronicles DVD 5285

2166 The anchor of a popular news show flies to a small town in Ecuador to cover a story about a serial child killer. He saves a man after the town tries to lynch him. The man offers information about the case in exchange for a story about his innocence.

Peru

La Teta Asustada = The milk of sorrow DVD 12947

milkpic2 Fausta suffers from ‘The Milk of Sorrow, ‘ an illness transmitted through mother’s milk by women who’ve been raped during Peru’s civil wars. Stricken with the fear that she’s contracted the illness from her mother’s breast milk, Fausta goes to extreme lengths to protect her own sexuality and safety. After her mother’s sudden death, she finds herself compelled to embark on a frightening journey for re-awakening, freedom, and wholeness.

Guatemala

Granito DVD 16472

granito Gen.—Efraín Ríos Montt was a military leader in Guatemala during the early, 1980. s. He was responsible for over 200,000 deaths of Mayans. The filmmaker Pamela Yates was making the documentary “When the mountains tremble” there at the time, and her film was later entered as evidence by lead counsel Almudena Bernabeu during the genocide trials of seven Guatemalan military officials. This film tells the story of five main characters whose destinies collided in the Guatemala of 1982.

Chile

Machuca DVD 14632

machuca_big Explores Chile’s bloody 1973 coup through the coming-of-age story of a pair of 12-year-old boys. From opposite extremes of society, Gonzalo and Pedro form an unlikely friendship as politics rip their world apart.  

Posted by & filed under Board Games, Denton, Video Games.

Presented by the UNT Media Library:

 

check out our Facebook page to see our events!

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Game On

Game On! at First Flight

Media Library, Chilton Hall 111

Come learn new games or challenge others in friendly competition through video and table top gaming. Join us for free food, prizes and to learn more about the library.

Monday August 22nd

Tuesday August 23rd

Wednesday August 24th

4-9pm

Escape

Escape the Library!

Willis Library, Room 250N

Escape Room Adventure! When one of your group members for class doesn’t show up for your group meeting, you must hurry to recreate their research by finding clues, solving puzzles, and using library resources in order to “escape” the room! Join us for free food, prizes, and to learn more about the UNT Libraries.

Thursday August 25th

Friday August 26th

12-5pm

Posted by & filed under Movie Recommendations.

The UNT Media Library has hundreds Criterion Films in stock. Some of our most recent additions to the Criterion Film collection can be found in the table below. Don’t know what Criterion Films are?

“The Criterion Collection is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality, with supplemental features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film.”

-The Criterion Collection

If you’re interested in exploring more of our Criterion films, click here. Also, you can easily check availability of any movies below by clicking on their call number. Happy film watching!

 
  DVD13360 And Everything is Going Fine DVD 13360 After the death in 2004 of American theater actor and monologist Spalding Gray, director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) pieced together a narrative of Gray’s life to create this documentary.
 DVD15379 Blue is the Warmest Color DVD 15379 The colorful, electrifying romance that took the Cannes Film Festival by storm courageously dives into a young woman’s experiences of first love and sexual awakening.
 dvd15832 Boyhood DVD 15832 A story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a boy named Mason, who ages from six to eighteen years old on screen.
 DVD13015 Carlos DVD 13015 An epic, intensely detailed account of the life of the infamous international terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez – also known as Carlos the Jackal.
DVD13947 The Forgiveness of Blood DVD 13947 In northern Albania a teenage brother and sister are physically and emotionally trapped in a cycle of violence, a result of their father’s entanglement with a rival clan over a piece of land.
dvd15067 Frances Ha DVD 15067 A woman in her late twenties living in contemporary New York tries to sort out her ambitions, finances, and above all, her tight but changing bond with her best friend Sophie.
DVD13794 Le Havre DVD  13794 Marcel Marx, an old bohemian living in the French harbor city of Le Havre, stands up for a young African refugee when officials begin to pursue the boy for deportation.
DVD15414  Inside Llewyn Davis DVD 15414 Follows a week in the life of young folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Issac) as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. He struggles to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles- some of them of his own making.
DVD13151  Life during wartime DVD 13151 With her ex-husband Bill a convicted pedophile and in jail, Trish is happy to remarry and provide a normal father figure for her two sons, but when Bill is released, Trish and the boys must decide whether or not to forgive him.
dvd15874 Like someone in love DVD 15874 Over a period of two days, a young prostitute and a widower develop an unexpected connection.
DVD13521 Moonrise Kingdom DVD 13521 Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness.
DVD13170 Tiny Furniture DVD 13170 A recent college graduate named Aura returns to New York and moves back in with her mother and sister. As painfully confessional as it is endlessly amusing, Tiny Furniture is an authentic, incisive portrait of a young woman at a crossroads.
DVD13425 Weekend DVD 13425 A one night stand develops into a weekend-long idyll for two young men in Midlands, England in an emotionally naked film. An invaluable snapshot of the complexities of contemporary gay living, and a universally identifiable portrait of a love affair.
 

Posted by & filed under Board Games, Movie Recommendations, Video Games.

It’s smack dab in the middle of summer right now, and I know some of us could use some sweet relief.

In order to keep on keepin’ on, we’ve got some awe-inspiring winter themed movies and games just for you to beat the heat. And we kept out the obvious (no Frozen… let it go) to keep ya on your toes!

Movies:

winter movies 1 The day after tomorrow winter movies 12 The Chronicles of Narnia, winter movies 4 30 Days of Night winter movies 5 Serendipity winter movie 3 Hanna

Video Games:

mario & sonic at the olympic winter games sochi 2014 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Wii U Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2 Call of duty, Modern warfare 2 Xbox 360, PS3 Star Wars Battlefront Star Wars Battlefront PS4, Xbox One The Last of Us The Last of Us PS3 Uncharted 2, Among Thieves Uncharted 2, Among Thieves PS3

Boardgames:

Boardgame379 12 Days Boardgame371 Hey, that’s my fish Boardgame48Europe Ticket to Ride Europe boardgame51 Arctic Scavengers Boardgame207 Dead of Winter
 

granted, today has been one of the wettest summer days, this list gives you all the more reason to chill inside.

Posted by & filed under Video Games.

With Pokemon GO now out for everyone’s pleasure, the Pokemon fever is just starting! We have over 10 Pokemon games at the media library to fuel the fever fire!

3DS games

Pokemon Art Academy Game 550 3DS Pokemon Alpha Sapphire Game 548 3DS Pokemon Omega Ruby Game 629 DS Pokemon X Game 554 3DS Pokemon Y Game 642 3DS

DS games

Pokemon, Black Version, 2 Game 629 DS Pokemon, White Version, 2 Game 623 DS Pokemon Heartgold Version Game 129 DS

Gamecube

Pokemon, Colosseum Game 444 Gamecube

N64

Pokemon Stadium Game 382 N64 Pokemon Snap Game 449 N64 poke 3DS DS poke

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