In Pictures

New Videos | New Feature Films | Other News

Welcome to the last issue of the year.  We have a lot of feature films this time.  There should be a lot more for the fall as we work on cataloging and processing all the videos we bought this year.  As always, we are open to suggestions on what to add to the collection - there's even a notebook by the collection for recording your suggestion.  Just remember that next year the library won't have nearly as much money to spend on videos.

New Videos

Journeys Into Islamic India (Film 297.09 J8269 2006 DVD v. 1) - Looks at the spread of Islam in India from the 13th century, as well as the Islamic heritage of the Indian subcontinent as evidenced by sites such as the Taj Mahal.

Journeys Into Islam Africa (Film 297.09 J8269 2006 DVD v. 4) - Examines the Islamic heritage of Africa, where Islamic countries cover more than half the continent.

Why We Fight (Film 956.70443 W6226 2006 DVD) - A look at U.S. foreign policy from the end of World War II to the Iraq War and how political and corporate interests have become combined in the business of war, at least partially fulfilling Eisenhower's warning on the military-industrial complex.

Thicker Than Water (Film 797.32 T3462 2003 DVD) - Jack Johnson and the Malloy brothers team up for this award-winning video of surfing around the world. 

The Women's Bank of Bangladesh (Film 332.742 W8427 2006 DVD) - The first part in a 2-part series (Micro Credit for Women: The Story of the Grameen Bank), this video looks at the Grameen Bank which makes small loans to women so they can open small, often home-based, businesses.  The video looks at the history and philosophy of the bank and follows three women with loans through their daily activities.

Small Change, Big Business: The Women's Bank of Bangladesh 10 Years Later (Film 332.742 Sm183 2006 DVD) - The second part in the series Micro Credit for Women: The Story of the Grameen Bank picks up ten years later by looking at the longer-term effects of micro credit to women in Bangladesh.

Quiet Rage: The Stanford Prison Experiment (Film 150.72 Q407 2004 DVD) - Documentary on the 1971 experiment Stanford prison experiment designed to test the question "What happens when you put good people in an evil place?"  Includes a 70-image slide show of archival photos from the experiment.

The Experiment: Power, Behavior, and Identity under Duress (Film 150.72 Ex715 2004 DVD) - A four DVD set of the four-part BBC series on the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment and the issues it raises.

Hallelujah!: Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir [and] the Vienna Boys' Choir (Film 781.723 H153 1999 DVD) - The subtitle says it all for these filmed concerts from the mid-1990s.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Film 333.790973 En73 2005 DVD) - Based on the book of the same name, this shows, often from an inside perspective, the story of one of this country's greatest business scandals.

New Feature Films

Stranger than Fiction (Feature Film St817 2007 DVD) - Will Ferrell stars as a man who hears a voice narrating his life, only to discover he is the main character in an in-progress novel and the voice belongs to the author (Emma Thompson).  Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Queen Latifah also star.

Kinsey (Feature Film K625 2005 DVD) - Liam Neeson and Laura Linney star in story of Alfred Kinsey, the Indiana University sex researcher.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Feature Film C6241 1977 2002 DVD) - Richard Dreyfuss and Terri Garr star in Steven Spielberg's classic film of a man obsessed with meeting the extraterrestrials who have made contact with him.

On the Waterfront (Feature Film On16 1954 2001 DVD) - Marlon Brando stars as the ex-fighter, who "could a been a contender," but now works on the docks as the enforcer for a boss.  The film won the 1954 Oscar for Best Picture and Brando won for Best Actor.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (Feature Film  B7642 2000 DVD) - William Holden and Alec Guinness star in this story of British POWs building a railroad bridge in Japanese-held Burma.  The film won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in 1957, but may be best known for its theme song, "Colonel Bogey March," an old World War I whistling song.

Amistad (Feature Film Am57 1999 DVD) - Steven Spielberg produced this film based on the true story of the slave revolt and capture of the slaver La Amistad.  Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins star.

Rocky (Feature Film R598 1976 2004 DVD) - The ultimate underdog story in which a club boxer gets his shot at the big time.  Who remembers that Rocky actually lost the fight?  Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, and Burt Young star in the 1976 Academy Award winner for Best Picture.

E. T., the Extra-Terrestrial (Feature Film E108 1982 2005 DVD) - The story of a young alien left behind on earth who befriends a 10-year old named Elliott.  Follow their adventures and efforts to get E. T. back to where he belongs.

Network (Feature Film N389 1976 2006 DVD) - Paddy Chayefsky's satire of American television news starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, and Robert Duval.  This is a two-disc edition and includes a six-part 30th anniversary documentary on the making of the film.

Girl, Interrupted (Feature Film G4435 1999 DVD) - Winona Rider stars as a young woman committed to a psychiatric hospital in the late 1960s.  Also stars Angelina Jolie (who won an Academy Award for Best Support Actress for her role) with Vanessa Redgrave and Whoopi Goldberg.  Based on Susanna Kaysen's autobiography of the same title.

The Opposite of Sex (Feature Film Op59 1998 DVD) - How can you not check out a film that stars the unique combination of Christina Ricci, Martin Donovan, Lisa Kudrow, and Lyle Lovett!

Boys Don't Cry (Feature Film B712 2000 DVD) - Based on real events, a teenage boy moves to a small town in Nebraska and immediately begins to fit it.  But, when people discover he is really a girl, he/she is beaten and then murdered.  Hilary Swank stars.

Smoke Signals (Feature Film Sm75 2000 DVD) - This Sundance Film Festival winner tells the story of the  journey of two Coeur d'Alene Indian boys from Idaho to Arizona.  Based on stories from Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven.



Other News

The Library has finished purchasing all of the films on the American Film Institutes 100 Best Movies of All Time, although films on VHS tape were not replaced with new DVD versions.  Several films were not available at this time, but we'll keep an eye out and try to add them later.  This issue lists several of those films, but most of these films are being cataloged in our outsourcing project (see the next News item) and should be processed and on the shelves by the start of classes next fall.

A number of films have the status of At Bindery in the online catalog.  These represent older videos (mostly VHS tapes) the library sent off-campus for full cataloging.  Many of these, however, have been returned and are simply waiting re-processing.  So, if you see a video you want/need with a status of At Bindery, please ask.  If it is here, we should be able to have for you in a couple of days.  Look for more tips on searching for videos in the catalog in one of next year's issues, as well as in Books & Bytes, the library's general newsletter.