Media Beat Film reviews, collection updates, and more from Media Services

This blog post is one of a series that highlights Media Services’ online streaming databases. More information and a full list of streaming databases is available here. Visit our department home page to discover the many ways we support teaching, research, and learning with both streaming and physical formats!

Among the many online streaming resources IU offers is Films On Demand’s Master Academic Collection, which houses over 17,000 titles in disciplines such as Anthropology, Communications, Criminal Justice & Law, History, Music and Dance, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and more.

Its home page, which can be accessed through the Media Services Online Streaming Databases webpage, has a familiar and easy-to-navigate array of films and videos arranged based on topic, producer, popularity, etc., much like Netflix. While educational, most of the videos seem far from purely academic or dry. Here, one can watch the entire Planet Earth II series, learn key leadership skills, and discover how soup cans and pop art changed the world.

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Something unique to this resource is its variety of formats: it lists individual videos as well as video series, and it collects a variety of formats (from news segments and TED talks to full-blown documentary series). In the upper left hand corner, users will find a drop down menu that lists subjects, popular categories (such as Best of Ken Burns, Biographies, Exclusive to FOD, and Great Artists), and Featured Producers (including the American Museum of Natural History, Frontline, and PBS).

Featured this month are videos related to women and gender equality, in honor of International Women’s Day. Showcasing this resource’s attention to variety, the videos are quite varied–from a six-minute documentary about London’s domestic slaves to a series called “The Ascent of Woman: A 10,000 Year Story.”

The internal search engine is also very easy to use. One can search based on format, subject, type, copyright dates, language, and producer. It is quickly apparent when searching for a specific topic that this site can isolate segments from longer videos that address what is being searched for, which is a unique feature that could be very useful for writing research papers or targeting interest areas without having to comb through an entire series.

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In honor of April being National Poetry Month, I typed “poetry” into the search box, and an astonishing 4,315 results were found. The first result was a series called “Poetry Heaven” that includes segments titled “Why We Write” and “The Lure of Poetry.” In addition to exploring questions of why we write, the videos feature contemporary poets–as well as Allen Ginsberg who has since passed away–reading and discussing their work. Poetry is as much an oral art as it is written, so videos like this are key to our full experience of the poem (if we are not lucky enough to hear Joy Harjo or Robert Hass read in person).

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Scrolling down, there are short segments on how to appreciate poetry, an educational series that teaches literary terms such as rhyme and meter, and even an clip of Amiri Baraka in conversation with Maya Angelou about how Marxism influences his search for concrete reality in his poetry.

There are 105 search results for Maya Angelou herself, among them a recent feature-length film about her life and words, several hour-long interviews with Bill Moyers, and a video of Dr. Angelou reading at President Clinton’s second inauguration.

All in all, Films on Demand’s Master Academic Collection is a stunning collection of videos and films on every subject imaginable. Whether you’re looking for a way to unwind from a long day, amp up your research, or just curious about the connections between Handel and hip-hop, this streaming resource has something for you. AL

Media Services staff member Anni Liu is a graduate student in Creative Writing at IU, published poet, and essayist.

This blog post is one of a series that highlights Media Services’ online streaming databases. More information and a full list of streaming databases is available here. Visit our department home page to discover the many ways we support teaching, research, and learning with both streaming and physical formats!

Swank is an online platform where IU students, staff, and faculty can watch feature films. Online streaming services are a modern convenience, but the St. Louis-based Swank company has actually been active since 1937. The founder, P. Ray Swank, got his start offering projection service “on demand” and on location. There were plenty of movie theaters back then, but, just like today, people also needed to show films outside the theater environment (think classrooms, churches, union halls). That’s where Swank’s service filled a gap. Back in the day, the Swank company would show up with a 16-mm projector, some film canisters, and a human being to roll film, change reels, and fix breakdowns. Today’s Swank service does a similar thing, minus the canisters and projector. Nowadays, the company works with universities, hospitals, and even cruise ships, providing a digital platform and taking care of the legal side of distribution and licensing for feature-film content.  

At IU, many different departments use feature films as teaching tools. The Media School is an obvious example. But because feature films can help shed light on practically any aspect of human experience, films are used in history and arts courses, cultural studies, gender studies, and others. Classes in the hard sciences can use Swank as well, to discuss ideas like how science is depicted in Frankenstein (1931), or the implications of artificial intelligence as shown in Ex Machina (2015).

All you need to access this resource is an internet connection. Just enter your IU login credentials at this link: https://libraries.indiana.edu/resources/swank. There are over 200 films that you can watch from all sorts of genres and decades. As the collection expands, there is more to browse through. However, if you are looking for something in particular, Swank also has an advanced search tool, plus an option for searching by genre.

IU provides the Swank service so that instructors can require feature films in their course curricula. But you can also watch films on Swank for their sheer entertainment value! There is some crossover between the titles on Swank and other services (like Netflix), but Swank has some content not found elsewhere. If you want to use film resources to enrich a class research project, be sure to check Swank!

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Mexico Remixed: Swank highlights

Throughout Spring 2019, IU continues to celebrate Mexico Remixed. There are classic and contemporary Mexican and Mexican-American films available for viewing on SWANK! Check out this sampling below, browse in IUCAT, or go directly to the Swank platform itself.

American Me

IUCAT summary: Inspired by a true story, this is the story of a vicious Latino prison gang leader, doomed by his past to a life of harsh, unforgiving violence after his release from jail. He grows up in East Los Angeles, joins a street gang and is in prison while he is still of an age to be in high school. By the time he is back on the streets again, he is a skillful, educated criminal.

 

 

 

 

 

Frida

IUCAT summary: The life of artist Frida Kahlo, from her humble upbringing to her worldwide fame and controversy that surrounded both her and her husband, Diego Rivera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bread and Roses

IUCAT summary: A group of immigrant workers takes a stand against the million dollar corporations who employ them.

More titles:

Like Water for Chocolate

Pan’s Labyrinth

Sin Nombre

Born in East L.A.

Fatima Coulibaly is a student and Media Services staff member at IUB with an eclectic taste in film who enjoys playing the piano. Except Jingle Bells.

This blog post is one of a series that highlights Media Services’ online streaming databases. More information and a full list of streaming databases is available here. Visit our department home page to discover the many ways we support teaching, research, and learning with both streaming and physical formats!

Mental illness has been a subject in the entertainment industry for decades and, much like the field of psychology, it has been evolving—in my opinion, for the better. However, better does not mean perfect, and in honor of Mental Wellness Month, I will talk about a couple of movies that depict mental illness with varying degrees of success, as well as offer suggestions for further information about mental illness and wellness.

In Iron Man 3, we see Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, dealing with the trauma brought on by the first Avengers movie. We see this manifest in many ways throughout the movie. One of the first scenes we see is one of his suits of armor reacting to the panic brought on by a nightmare. Iron Man 3 also has a good example of how triggers  work. Triggers can be anything from a smell, to an image, to a few words. They remind the traumatized party of the event and cause a mix of reactions such as short tempers, panic attacks, and anxiety disorder. In Iron Man 3, we see drawings done by children, small conversations, and dreams of past events all triggering these reactions in Tony throughout the movie.

When looking at Tony’s friend Rhodes, his romantic partner Pepper, and a child named Harley, many of us in the audience will see a little of ourselves. Rhodes mentions that he is worried about Tony, because he has not been acting like his usual self. Pepper sees his behavior as reckless and dangerous. The child, Harley, picks at Tony’s psyche. Harley is very much there for the progression of the plot, but he is also a perfect visual of how some people react to those with a mental illness. While one party (Rhodes) tries to push for the truth, the other (Pepper) pushes Tony away for their own safety and well-being, and yet another (Harley) is just along for the ride. But no party is painted negatively for their role or responses. If you can find yourself in any of these characters, you can start to understand how your response to a person with mental-health issues might affect their mental state, either positively or negatively.

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Split is a psychological thriller about teenage girls who are kidnapped by a person with an identity disorder. The antagonist has 24 personalities that are slowly counting down to the most violent one. Each personality has different mannerisms, clothes, and speaking patterns. While this is extremely common in persons with the disorder, it is also extremely ­uncommon for these identities to talk back and forth to one another.

 

 

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Split and some of M. Night Shyamalan’s other movies such as The Visit are unfortunate examples of mental illnesses being played up for the sake of entertainment and drama. This can be a disservice to viewers and real-life disorder sufferers alike, since the audience may not be well educated in various types of mental illness and might take some or all of the movie’s portrayal as truth.

In addition to many fiction films on mental illness, including classics like Psycho, A Beautiful Mind, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Media Services has non-fiction films on the subject, including many psychology-related streaming databases. Some resources, such as Counseling and Therapy in Video, allow patrons to research therapies for different mental disorders, or learn about the last century’s most important psychological experiments and breakthroughs. Others, such as this video on PTSD, help users understand a specific mental health problem and how it works. There are also hundreds of compelling documentaries that offer a window into social, or sometimes highly personal, experiences of mental illness and/or mental healing. TL

Tamara Lane is a recent graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in Japanese Language and Culture and a minor in Studio Art. Current obsessions: Kingdom Hearts 3 and comic making.

 

This blog post is one of a series that highlights Media Services’ online streaming databases. More information and a full list of streaming databases is available here. Visit our department home page to discover the many ways we support teaching, research, and learning with both streaming and physical formats!

When it comes to streaming, IU has an embarrassment of riches. The university has long recognized online streaming access as a valuable resource and, to the good fortune of the IU community, has committed to maintaining and increasing that access as new resources become available. In December, 2015, the Media Studies department announced the addition of the DocuSeek 2 streaming database to the family of resources available at IU Bloomington.

As noted on the Media Services web page, “[t]he DocuSeek 2 online streaming platform hosts over 700 films in over 20 subject areas from such renowned distributors as Bullfrog (Environment), The Collective Eye, Fanlight (Health Sciences), Icarus (award-winning feature and documentary films), Kartemquin, National Film Board of Canada, Scorpion, Terra Nova, and more.”

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The DocuSeek 2 website is well designed and user friendly, whether you are  searching for something specific or just casually browsing. The home page has a slide show featuring new releases, plus scrollable ribbons for popular films and featured subjects like sustainability, as shown below. It also has a list of its distribution partners—Icarus Films, Bullfrog Films, Media Storm, etc.—and the top subjects in which they specialize.

Pro tip: When using the DocuSeek 2 search box, start with general terms: after the first search, users are given the option of filtering by subject, distributor, date range, etc., so you can narrow it down later. 

DocuSeek 2 is a great place for discovering fascinating documentaries from filmmakers all over the world. Many of the titles run about an hour long, but in that short time you can be completely transported into a microcosm of life experience, often in a subject area you never knew could grip you!

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Mind: Blown (aka, what do disco and the atomic bomb have in common?)

One advantage of DocuSeek 2’s ever-growing documentary film library is that you can get wildly different perspectives on a single topic. As just one example, using the search term “atomic,” I happened upon a wide variety of films pertaining to atomic energy, the history of the atomic bomb, and cultural histories of the “atomic age.” One of these films, Hiroshima Bound, explores the various narratives that linger in the American imagination about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Filmmaker and visual artist Martin Lucas examines the role of archives, photography, and oral histories in shaping a “counter-history to the official record” of events. A child of the atomic age, Lucas also seeks to understand the “trauma and myth surrounding the culture of Hiroshima representation.”

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In contrast to the profound and personal nature of Hiroshima Bound, Disco and Atomic War takes a more whimsical approach to a serious topic, exposing the absurdity of repressive regimes’ attempts to control human curiosity and spirit, and their ultimate failure to do so. The film won Best Documentary at the 2009 Warsaw Film Festival and was featured in many other festivals.

With great care and humor, filmmakers Jaak Kilmi and Kiur Aarma create a highly entertaining picture of their youth in 1980s Estonia. After neighboring Finland erects a powerful television antenna, many Estonians begin to secretly access forbidden Western television programs like Dallas. Quickly hooked on the glitz and intrigue, and their colorful contrast with the drab propaganda on late-Soviet television, Estonians begin to imagine different futures for themselves, something beyond Cold War hardships and threats of nuclear apocalypse. The film provides a wild and wacky look at how transnational cultural exchange—even with dubious ambassadors like J.R. Ewing—can help ignite movements for human rights and expressive freedom.

There are so many talented filmmakers creating thoughtful and entertaining films that it can be overwhelming: What to watch? Where to start? DocuSeek 2 gathers up some of the best and brightest from all over the globe. This unique streaming service helps you connect with people and perspectives that will stimulate, challenge, and inspire you to engage with the cultural kaleidoscope that is Planet Earth. And who knows? You might even up your disco game in the process! HS

Heather Sloan is the Media Services and Maps Assistant at Wells Library. Her research is focused on exploring interdisciplinary connections between popular culture, media, social justice, gender, and the environment. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance and is currently pursuing an MLS degree with a specialization in Digital Humanities.

In celebration of Mexico Remixed at IU Bloomington (Spring 2019), here is just a sampling of the wide array of Mexico-related documentaries available via DocuSeek 2*:

Borderline Cases (social justice/environment): “…investigates the environmental impact of the nearly 2,000 factories – maquiladoras – that have been built in Mexico at the US-Mexico border by multinational corporations from the US, Asia and Europe.”

 

Tina in Mexico (arts/culture): “…follows the tumultuous and epic story of Tina Modotti, revolutionary, bohemian spirit and renowned photographer, acclaimed for her innovative and impassioned depiction of social issues.”

 

The Hand That Feeds (migration studies/social justice): “…[b]ehind the scenes…of a popular bakery cafe…undocumented immigrant workers face sub-legal wages, dangerous machinery, and abusive managers…Mahoma Lopez…convinces a small group of his co-workers to fight back.

 

The Monarch (nature): The monarch butterfly is at once the most familiar and the most mysterious butterfly in the world. It amazes us for what we know about its life and it tantalizes us for the secrets it still holds within its delicate frame – secrets that scientists and lay people in North America have been trying to unravel for decades.

* Synopsis text courtesy DocuSeek 2 website—see individual title links above.

 

This blog post is one of a series that highlights Media Services’ online streaming databases. More information and a full list of streaming databases is available here. Visit our department home page to discover the many ways we support teaching, research, and learning with both streaming and physical formats!

Technology in Movies: Real vs. Reel

In recent years, Hollywood has taken a shine to technology. Whether it’s hackers appearing in almost every heist or mystery movie now, artificial intelligence taking control of the world, or maybe robots that will eventually turn against us – we see its influence in almost every movie these days. But how realistic are these movies, anyway? Sure, it’s Hollywood – an industry that doesn’t shy away from exaggeration – but it’s still an interesting concept. In fact, some movies have even predicted the future pretty accurately.

In this post, we look at a few examples of technology seen in movies and their counterparts, if any, in real life. The post concludes with ways to explore technology, both the “reel” and the “real,” using Media Services’ online streaming platforms.

THE MATRIX (1999)

Let’s start with the big one – artificial intelligence, or AI. The best example of AI seen in movies is probably The Matrix, which is a phenomenal movie (when you finally understand it). In the movie, the world we live in is actually a computer program created by AI machines in the future.

It’s the year 2190, where the machines are farming humans as their primary energy source and placing human consciousness in the Matrix so that we don’t rebel. Obviously an unrealistic scenario, or maybe we are all in the Matrix and the machines want us to think that….

AI in real life – SIRI

Every single iPhone these days has Siri, our very own AI virtual assistant, and other personal devices have their equivalents. Helpful and intrusive, they can also be destructive, like when you ask it to find the best local restaurant but it texts your ex instead.

BLADE RUNNER (1982) 

The Harrison Ford movie showcases the future “2019” as a dark, dystopian world with humans crammed into cities and living with genetically engineered android robots that look exactly like humans.

The city is saturated with technology, with huge screens blasting advertisements and news in every corner.

REAL LIFE

Well, it’s 2019 and there’s no sign of androids that look exactly like humans (then again, Jennifer Aniston hasn’t aged at all in like 50 years), but the movie was pretty spot-on in terms of the direction in which our infrastructure is going.

Digital billboards are everywhere now, replacing traditional posters and paper advertisements. Even daily news is delivered right to our smartphone. Unfortunately, Blade Runner was also accurate in predicting the overpopulation in cities today.

I, ROBOT

If the movie ends up predicting the future correctly, in 20 years we’ll have robots available to us to do whatever mundane task we order them to do.

That would be really cool, until they decide to rise against us with the destruction of the human race as their only goal. I mean, I would understand though – I would not want to be the robot in charge of cleaning the toilets in Taco Bell.

REAL LIFE

Robots are already a reality in 2019, from automated factory machines to humanoid robots that can do whatever tasks humans can do, but better. As technology continues to progress, we might actually see ourselves living the plot of I, Robot soon.

A sampling of Media Services streaming documentaries on the subject of human/robot interaction is available here. (The link takes you to an IUCAT results page for streaming video sources; from there, simply click on any title and then click on the Bloomington url in the item record. If not already logged in, you will be prompted for your IU login to begin viewing.)

Interested in learning more? Check out the 25 best tech movies of all time. Many of these titles are available at Media Services!

CONCLUSION

Movies haven’t been that far off in predicting the future. While the potential prospects of technology are exciting, it does lead to certain concerns as well.  Applications of AI like Siri are undoubtedly convenient but little thought is given to what we are willing to sacrifice for that convenience. It’s well known that companies aggregate user data to track everything about us, from preferences to personal information and interests. Besides companies, governments have used advancements in technology to increase surveillance power on citizens as well. It can be challenging to keep up with developments in the privacy sphere, but being informed can help protect you, and IU Libraries offer lots of resources to do just that.

Nothing To Hide is a great documentary that questions the growing and confusing public acceptance of corporate and governmental intrusions into individual privacy rights. Access the book on which the film is based here, via IU’s subscription to E-Book Central.

Another great documentary is Zero Days (available through our Films On Demand streaming database), which covers malicious activities like computer viruses that can be perpetrated by unscrupulous people with bad intentions.

Streaming databases and other access options at IU: Spotlight on Alexander Street Press

There are a lot of ways to access these titles and more at IU. Alexander Street Press (ASP) is an online database for use by current IU students, staff, and faculty to stream a wide variety of learning, teaching, and research titles. Users can search ASP directly or via IUCAT (IU Libraries’ main catalog search tool—see instructions below*). ASP provides access to 30 online streaming databases containing music, film, documents, and more. Subject areas include, but are not limited to:  Anthropology, Art & Architecture, Black Studies, Dance, Education, Fashion, Health, American and World History, LGBT, Music, News Archives, Nursing, Opera, Psychology, Theatre, Silent Film, Sports Medicine and much more. In other words, it’s a major (but useful!) rabbit hole, the Matrix “red pill” of online databases. Do you dare? DM

Dhruv Madappa is a Media Services student staff member pursuing a Masters in Cybersecurity at IU.

*IUCAT search instructions for online resources: Using IUCAT, you can search by title, subject area, etc., and then use the search limit menus (located on the left-hand side of the screen) to narrow your format to “streaming video.” If you prefer to see all online media options (such as digitized text, audio files, photographs, video, etc.), you can use the more general “online resource” category. Further tips, including a link to the Knowledge Base IUCAT entry, can be found here.

*This blog post is one of several that will focus on topics relating to IU’s Mexico Remixed activities.

I love Hip-Hop. I also love Mexican food (both the authentic and the Taco Bell). My appreciation for these things grew as I searched our catalogs and online streaming databases for something I could write about. One of those databases, Alexander Street Press (ASP), has a nearly overwhelming amount of information on both Hip-Hop and Mexican food (yes, even Taco Bell). So, using ASP, I decided to search for things that contained both. At first, I found mostly documentaries on different aspects of Mexican culture, along with CDs of Mexican folk music (Alexander Street Press contains items in different media). After some digging, I discovered a documentary on the Mexican Hip-Hop group Spanish F.L.Y.

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The documentary starts off in a typical manner, setting up some background, with snippets of the group’s DJ and emcees elaborating on what hip-hop meant to each member, and how the culture was different for them as Mexicans in the rap game.They talk about being humiliated or experiencing prejudice based on their families, the way they sounded, etc. The (original) members of Spanish F.L.Y—DAZ, Rich Roc, and DJ Tricks—persevered. As lovers of music, they would hang out, write, produce, and perform just because. Although money and fame always seems to be an interest of young and budding artists, these guys stayed true to their roots and their sound.

And people loved their sound. Paramount decided to pick up Spanish F.L.Y to produce their debut album. However, the album never came. Instead, their story was cut short by the mysterious disappearance of the group’s front man, Rich Roc. The documentary lasted only about twenty minutes, and in it we do not hear the story behind Spanish F.L.Y’s drama and Rich’s exodus. I was left with a desire to know more about this group and Mexican hip-hop in general.

I took to our own collection and found the movie Piñero, a film about the Latino icon Miguel Piñero. I don’t want to spoil the film, but I do want to say that as a poet and a lover of hip-hop, I can see authentic connections between his art and the early styles of hip-hop and rap.

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There are great moments in the film depicting Latino culture, as well as the artistic influences of Piñero’s work. For any hip-hop lover, or anyone trying to start the season of Mexico Remixed off right, Media Services has just the resource or film for you. DH

Duncan Hardy is an IU Bloomington sophomore looking to pursue dual degrees in Arts Management and Creative Writing. His favorite musical artists are Frank Ocean, Kanye West, and Andre 3000. Favorite movie: Robots. Any music or movie recommendations can be sent to duhardy@iu.edu.

More about Alexander Street Press. One advantage of the ASP service is that there is an incredible number of resources to choose from, and if you use the Advanced Search fields, you have lots of options for narrowing the results to exactly what you want, from time period to title to genre and beyond. Or, you can keep the results broad and discover something interesting that you weren’t looking for…. HS

 

 

 

Winter Break is finally here! It’s time to relax and spend some time with family. After such a long semester, we all deserve it. If you find yourself twiddling your thumbs with nothing to do, check out some of the comedic holiday movies below!

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OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY (2016)

Summary: CEO (Jennifer Aniston) of Zenotek threatens to shut down her brother’s (T.J Miller) branch. In order to keep the branch open and save his employees, branch manager, Clay, throws a wild Holiday party to try to impress a potential client.

Watch if: You enjoy movies about partying or love SNL’s Kate McKinnon as much as I do.

Available at residential libraries on the IUB campus.

A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS (2017)

Summary: This sequel to Bad Moms (2016) follows Amy, Kiki, and Carla through the stress of the holidays when their moms come into town. They attempt to create the perfect Christmas for their kids while trying to keep a stable relationship with their own mothers.

Watch if: Your family is a little crazy or you relate to an imperfect mother-daughter relationship.

Available at residential libraries on the IUB campus.

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 DADDY’S HOME TWO (2017)

Summary: Father (Dusty) and Stepfather (Brad) are determined to give their children the perfect Christmas. That is, until their own fathers show up. They end up in a luxury cabin with their families after a sudden change in plans and have an adventurous holiday.

Watch if: Your dad never let you touch the thermostat in your house growing up.

Available at residential libraries on the IUB campus. IS

Also, holiday classics and art films abound at the Media Services department! Here’s a list of selected titles (links will take you to IUCAT records):

It’s a Wonderful Life

Charlie Brown Christmas

Nattvardsgasterna (Winter Light)

Winter Solstice

Frozen

Miracle on 34th Street

Isabella Salerno is a sophomore studying Political Science, American Studies, and Sociology. In her free time you can probably find her in a coffee shop around Bloomington.

The relationship between humans and animals is indescribable. The bond created between humans and animals is mutually beneficial and dynamic to the health and well-being of both.  This bond can be traced back between 15,000 and 20,000 years, ever since humans began living in groups (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-wolves-really-became-dogs-180970014/). Today in the United States, over 48% of households have a pet dog (https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/07/17/1047437/0/en/United-States-Pet-Population-and-Ownership-Trends-Report-2017-Focus-on-Dogs-Cats-and-Other-Pets.html). Dogs become attached to their owners, creating a special bond between the two. Have you ever heard the saying, “A dog is man’s best friend?” Well, in addition to being popularly held as true, science increasingly backs up the saying as factual: dogs have a huge impact on the emotions of a human, as well as giving humans a healthy lifestyle (http://time.com/5028171/health-benefits-owning-dog/.

With this in mind, whether you own a dog or not, there are plenty of films in Media Services that allow you to see the special relationship between humans and dogs. Here are just two examples:

Marley and Me (2008)   

 

Max (2015)

These are just a few that I would recommend, but there are many more films pertaining to human and dog relationships. When something bad happens in life, it is often reflected in the behavior of both the humans and their dog(s). Humans and dogs rely on each other for happiness, and having that relationship can get both through some tough times.

Want to learn more? Check out this list of the Top 15 Best Dog Movies Media Services has many of these titles! KG

Kayla Greenwald is a Media Services student staff member pursuing a BFA in graphic design, with a minor in creative advertising. 

When most people think of Disney movies they tend to think of the classics such as The Lion King, Aladdin, and films of that variety. The company’s decade of filmmaking from 1989-1999 is commonly known as The Disney Renaissance. This name derives from the view that there was a renewal of the Disney identity and that the “Renaissance” period was the source of their best works to date. While this may be true, I think that there is a real underdog that outshines a good portion of these films: Lilo and Stitch. To place this movie on the Disney timeline, Lilo and Stitch was released in the post-Renaissance era, when there was a definite lull in animation box-office successes. However, to me this film is a diamond in the rough.

Lilo and Stitch is the story of a young girl being raised by her older sister—and trying to find her own place in the world—and a hyper-intelligent, little blue alien, bent on destruction, trying to escape capture while masquerading as a dog. While dealing with an intergalactic force closing in and a deadline set by a strict social worker, the misfits seem to find something that neither had had before: true friendship. This is a tale filled with all the makings of a great story: action, comedy, drama, and suspense. Audiences deeply relate to the character Nani as she scrambles to apply for jobs all over the city, and is willing to go to hell and back for her sister. *SPOILER ALERT* There are not many dry eyes when Stitch is being led off to the ship and he says, “This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It’s little, and broken, but still good. Yeah. Still good.”*END SPOILER*

Disney is known for their great classic romances, so for them to create such a refreshing, relatable (other than the aliens!), feel-good film, makes this one of their best that, to me, beats out any of “the greats” any day of the week.

What’s your favorite Disney movie? Character? Soundtrack? Find a list of Media Services Disney titles here!

Sydney Morrow is a Junior majoring music education with an emphasis in choral education. In her free time, she likes reading ebooks on her phone and singing with the Singing Hoosiers on campus.

In life, we all make mistakes. We all have misjudgments and harbor less-than-perfect behaviors. At the end of the day, however, we can all use this trusty phrase to exonerate ourselves: “I’m only human, after all.”

But what if this isn’t the case? What if you had to grapple with all of the terrible actions and thoughts you have executed but not even have that comforting phrase to turn to? What if, in fact, you’re not human?

The ideas of humanity, guilt, and evil are explored in the show Being Human (2011-2014). The series follows a vampire (Aidan), a werewolf (Josh), and a ghost (Sally) as they struggle with their humanity in their shared Boston apartment. Like anyone else, they make errors and fall victim to their own impulses, but considering their individual monstrous natures, the effects of such normal (human) missteps can be dangerous and even deadly.

Each of the main characters in Being Human has a unique backstory, an expansive community, and undeniable capability to commit evil acts. Aidan is a veteran (of the Revolutionary War) who runs with the most powerful and dangerous vampires in town, although no longer by choice. Josh was on track to attend medical school and marry his high school sweetheart until an attack in the woods, leaving his friend dead and Josh as a werewolf. Both work as nurses in a hospital in Boston and decide to room together as part of an “experiment,” with the ultimate goal of restoring their humanity. Upon move-in, the two meet Sally, a ghost who recently died in the apartment, and the rest is history.

Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and all supernatural creatures enjoy some sort of separation from human laws and customs. However, whenever Josh, Aidan, or Sally do something evil, the act is never simply accepted by the others. What makes these three unique is a consistent moral compass. Certainly, each of the roommates falls prey to their supernatural nature more than once, from committing mass murder to using black magic. However, the cohabitation experiment certainly yields positive results for all of those involved, especially Josh, the most troubled of them all.

I found Josh’s story to be the most interesting, and ultimately the most uplifting, among the three original roommates. According to legend, a werewolf is an otherwise normal human until the full moon is risen. Only then do they morph into wolves and act on their purely animal, often violent instincts. Josh, however, carries the guilt of his wolf (the werewolves of the show treat lycanthropy almost as an alter ego) all days of the month. Unlike Aidan and Sally, Josh had some degree of separation from his supernatural identity and yet felt that he was the ultimate monster among them. Perhaps such close proximity to humanity makes him feel guiltier for his actions, although of the three he has the least control over his actions. As the series goes along, he begins to understand himself better, and even though he makes major mistakes along the way, he maintains a great amount of personal accountability. Only once he grapples with this personal struggle can he open himself up to the wonders of human life, such as having a werewolf wife and werewolf children.

Amazingly, the three maintain the same accountability and goals as when they first moved in, even when things go catastrophically wrong. Although they make tragic mistakes, Aidan, Josh, and Sally are all aware of the impact of their actions and never stop trying to make up for and ultimately change their ways. And isn’t that what being human is all about after all?

The first three seasons of Being Human are available at Media Services, in the basement of the Herman B Wells Library. If you are interested in shows that explore both self-reflection and the supernatural, I highly recommend it!

Click the links below for the IUCAT records for Seasons 1 through 3:

1 2 3

Leah Ashebir is a business major at the Kelley School. She speaks German and spent last summer gaining valuable business experience through an internship at a firm in New York City. She is scheduled for a return engagement in NYC during Summer 2019, after participating in a study abroad program this spring.