Contemporary comedy film is in decline. Big budget studios are reluctant to provide major financial backing due to poor overseas performance – the “lost in translation” effect. Some funny films have fallen out of favor due to shifts in cultural sensitivity. Academia has long ignored the craft of cinematic comedy (an interesting thesis on the topic here). When choosing to, the concentration is often limited to the canon of Chaplin/Keaton/Marx and other pioneers, with a focus on the foundations of comedy in the medium but rarely progressing into modern works. The recent explosion of television/streaming content has pushed the majority of comedic talent towards the more lucrative, small-screen arena. Given these formidable challenges, it seems all the more important to highlight achievements of this genre, films that have provided endless ill-advised watercooler reenactments, quote fodder, and intellectual maturity stunting milestones. To that end, the IMC brings you the best contemporary comedy films in our collection, starting in 1970 because that is this author’s arbitrary dividing point. But if you want a pseudo-cultural-generational definition, it’s something about post-60s social commentary in 70s cultural ennui, combined with a paradigm shift in censorship, and the U.S. film rating system of 1968.
Category: Announcements
Digital Loeb Classical Library now available
The Digital Loeb Classical Library is now available online for the Reed community. This important archive complements the library’s print offering of classical Greek and Latin texts.
Key features include:
• Single- and dual-language reading modes
• Sophisticated Bookmarking and Annotation features
• Tools for sharing Bookmarks and Annotations
• Greek keyboard
• User account and My Loeb content saved in perpetuity
• Intuitive Search and Browse
Some of the site’s most useful tools are features of “My Loebs,” the personal accounts available to all authorized users. You can create your own account (via the “Sign up” link at the top of each page on the site) so as to utilize the digital Loeb Classical Library’s full capabilities.
iPads available in the IMC
We have iPads available for checkout in the IMC (also available at the PARC). You can check availability in the catalog. IPads checkout until the end of the day. For a complete list of IMC equipment available to students, staff, and faculty, click here. And if you have equipment or movie suggestions, let us know!
The new Summit is here!
As of this month, all Summit libraries have completed the migration to a shared, unified library catalog. Reed completed this migration in December 2013.
All libraries will begin using the shared system for Summit requests on Tuesday, January 20. The experience of finding and requesting books and other library resources has been streamlined, but the actual process of “Summiting” is nearly identical. You’ll be able to view the status of all of your Summit requests in the new system. Please see the Library website for more information.
The old Summit system, http://summit.worldcat.org, will not be available after Wednesday, January 21.
Please contact Dena Hutto, College Librarian, or your department’s librarian if you have questions or concerns about the new Summit.
Library Paideia Sessions 2015
Library staff are leading a number of informative sessions on library topics, collections, and beyond! See below for a full list of all sessions being led by library staff, or see full online Paideia schedule (Reed login required) for more offerings!
Emilio Pucci: Fashion Impressario Reed MA ’37
January 15 – April 15, 2015
Flat Library Cases
The world-renowned fashion designer, Emilio Pucci, had a special relationship with Reed College, having attended Reed in 1936/37. President Dexter Keezer traded tuition, room, and board for Pucci’s time and expertise as a ski instructor, giving Reed the first ski team and, incidentally, giving the world the first of Pucci’s designs with the ski uniforms. On display are items, photos, and documents that connect Pucci to Reed and follow his long association with the college.
Library hours winter break
The library and all branches will close at 5p on Friday, 12/19. Library hours for winter break are as follows.
| Winter Break, 12/19 – 1/25 | ||||||||
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Exceptions | |
| Library | 8:30 – 5 | 8:30 – 5 | 8:30 – 5 | 8:30 – 5 | 8:30 – 5 | CLOSED | CLOSED | Closed: 12/24, 12/25,12/31, 1/1, 1/19 |
| Reference | 10 – 5 (on call) | 10 – 5 (on call) | 10 – 5 (on call) | 10 – 5 (on call) | 10 – 5 (on call) | CLOSED | CLOSED | Closed: 12/24-26, 12/31-1/1, 1/19 |
| IMC | Noon – 5 | Noon – 5 | Noon – 5 | Noon – 5 | Noon – 5 | CLOSED | CLOSED | Closed: 12/24, 12/25,12/31, 1/1, 1/19 |
| Special Collections | 10am – 12pm, 1pm – 4pm, or by appt. |
by appt. | 10am – 12pm, 1pm – 4pm, or by appt. |
10am – 12pm, 1pm – 4pm, or by appt. |
by appt. | CLOSED | CLOSED | Closed: 12/22-26, 12/31-1/2, 1/19 |
| VRC | 9 – 5 | 9 – 5 | 9 – 5 | 9 – 5 | 9 – 5 | CLOSED | CLOSED | Closed: 12/24, 12/25,12/31, 1/1, 1/19 |
| PARC | 1 – 5 | 1 – 5 | 1 – 5 | 1 – 5 | 1 – 5 | CLOSED | CLOSED | Closed: 12/20-1/2, 1/19 |
IMC Feature – Happy Holidays!?
This holiday season IMC feature comes with help from guest annotator Robin Tovey ’97. In addition to classics of the Christmas variety, the Reed College library has quite the collection of odds and ends, documenting the multifaceted holiday season. Some of these are musical selections, which are now housed in the PARC (the branch library in the Performing Arts Building). As always, if you notice any glaring omissions from this list and wish to correct such an injustice, please email me your suggestions. Enjoy!
Jim Holmes
Books at JSTOR now available!
Library hours fall break
The library will be open regular hours during fall break with the following exceptions.
Main library – closes at 8p on Friday 10/17 and Saturday 10/18.
IMC – closed 10/18-10/19. Open noon-5p, 10/20-10/24. Closed 10/25.
VRC – closed 10/24
Reference service will be unavailable Saturday 10/18 & Sunday 10/19, will be available 10 am – 5 pm Monday 10/20 – Friday 10/24, and resume regular hours on Saturday, 10/25.
PARC and Special Collections will be open regular hours.