WTOP movie critic donates entire DVD collection to Hyattsville branch of Prince George’s County Library

WTOP’s Jason Fraley donates DVD collection to Hyattsville Library (Part 1).

WTOP loves bringing you the information, however we additionally love giving again to the local people.

So, after a long time of watching my cabinets of DVDs and Blu-rays (organized in chronological order, of course), I made a decision to donate my entire collection to the recently-renovated Hyattsville branch of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System.

I’ll admit that I obtained a tear in my eye handing over 4 big totes of motion pictures to PGCMLS West Area Director Heather Jackson, who not solely supervises the Hyattsville branch, but additionally the Bladensburg, New Carrollton, Mount Rainier and County Correctional Center branches.

“We reopened the rebuilt-from-the-ground-up Hyattsville library at 6530 Adelphi Road, which is similar lot it was on earlier than, however we’re in a a lot nicer, extra fashionable constructing,” Jackson advised WTOP. “If you’re heading down Adelphi Road towards East-West Highway, you possibly can’t miss us, you will notice the large flying saucer on the suitable. … The new library is gorgeous, of us are all the time welcome to go to us, ask for me and I’ll fortunately present you the collection.”

Why did I select this location? When I lived on Adelphi Road throughout my first yr on the University of Maryland in College Park, I’d commonly go to this library to hire all of the classics with printed finest lists by the American Film Institute. I’d then go house with a pen and a pad to take copious notes making an attempt to determine what made the nice motion pictures nice, utilizing film-theory ideas taught by Professor Joseph Miller at Susquehanna Hall on campus.

“The Hyattsville branch used to be our flagship for our audio-visual collection,” Jackson mentioned. “As you keep in mind, we had an entire space downstairs that was fully devoted to A-V supplies … so it felt like a very excellent house in your collection. … It’s been a humiliation of riches for us as a result of we wouldn’t have entry. Some of these have lengthy been out of our collection, so having them again has been very nice, as a result of they’re classics.”

The motion pictures will used for packages like “Coffee and a Classic” in Hyattsville, Bladensburg and New Carrollton.

“Primarily we’re getting senior residents and retirees at these packages, however we’ve got a combination of everyone,” Jackson mentioned. “We serve gentle snacks, espresso, everybody watches the movie collectively, then a librarian leads a dialogue on the movie. … We had an excellent turnout for ’12 Angry Men.’ … We did a pair of your Hitchcocks at New Carrollton, so it’s been a very nice, sturdy program, we’ve had good attendance and people holding coming again.”

They’ll even be screened for adults with developmental disabilities in Hyattsville each Monday beginning May 6.

“We’re working with a number of organizations to convey shoppers out, together with the Arc of Prince George’s County and HealthTech, which runs group properties for adults not residing independently,” Jackson mentioned. “We’ll display the movie, we’ll even have a hands-on artwork station associated to the movie within the again of the room … then we’re going to attempt a dialogue. … Many are completely entranced with movie. We’ve obtained a pair of resident movie buffs in these teams already!”

The library may even host family-friendly screenings, notably the place English is spoken as a second language.

“We are a location the place households can come whereas college is out and nonetheless obtain college lunches for his or her youngsters,” Jacksons support. “Many of our households that attend which might be Spanish-speaking at house and we’re planning to provide some of the family-friendly movies within the collection. … It’s essential for folks to get the sound of English of their ears. … You have the scaffolding of the photographs, so even if you happen to’re not monitoring each phrase, you continue to get the emotion.”

While many of the donated motion pictures are actually out there on streaming, the library says that its bodily media collection advantages low-income of us who don’t have high-speed web or can’t afford streaming subscriptions.

“I believe of public libraries as the nice equalizer,” Jackson mentioned. “It’s one of the few neighborhood areas that’s fully free. You don’t have to have any form of {qualifications} to enter a public library and make use of our assets. You don’t have to have any cash. You will be anybody. So, having bodily media is admittedly essential to us as a result of we all know the digital divide is massive and really exhausting to cross except you’ve got means. … It’s a difficulty of entry and fairness, so it’s actually essential to have the ability to have a basic collection like this out there to everyone.”

Below is a chronological record of the over 300 donated motion pictures, if you would like to watch a flick totally free on the library. You’ll discover that it begins to tail off round 2011 after I grew to become the WTOP movie critic and commenced receiving disposable awards screeners every year, however it’s a place to begin for anybody who needs to research movie historical past:

• The Birth of a Nation (1915)
• Intolerance (1916)
• The General (1926)
• Sunrise (1927)
• Frankenstein (1931)
• City Lights (1931)
• M (1931)
• Little Caesar (1931)
• Scarface: Shame of a Nation (1932)
• King Kong (1933)
• Duck Soup (1933)
• forty second Street (1933)
• Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
• Footlight Parade (1933)
• It Happened One Night (1934)
• A Night on the Opera (1935)
• Top Hat (1935)
• Swing Time (1936)
• Modern Times (1936)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
• The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
• Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
• Bringing Up Baby (1938)
• Stagecoach (1939)
• Gone With the Wind (1939)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• The Rules of the Game (1939)
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
• The Philadelphia Story (1940)
• His Girl Friday (1940)
• The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• Rebecca (1940)
• Citizen Kane (1941)
• The Maltese Falcon (1941)
• Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
• Casablanca (1942)
• Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
• The Palm Beach Story (1942)
• Woman of the Year (1942)
• Double Indemnity (1944)
• Laura (1944)
• To Have and Have Not (1944)
• Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
• Notorious (1946)
• The Big Sleep (1946)
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
• Miracle on thirty fourth Street (1947)
• Out of the Past (1947)
• Rope (1948)
• Red River (1948)
• Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
• The Red Shoes (1948)
• The Third Man (1949)
• Adam’s Rib (1949)
• White Heat (1949)
• The Heiress (1949)
• All About Eve (1950)
• Sunset Boulevard (1950)
• A Place within the Sun (1951)
• An American in Paris (1951)
• A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
• The African Queen (1951)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
• A Christmas Carol (1951)
• Singin’ within the Rain (1952)
• High Noon (1952)
• Tokyo Story (1953)
• The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
• From Here to Eternity (1953)
• The Naked Spur (1953)
• Shane (1953)
• The Band Wagon (1953)
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
• Rear Window (1954)
• Dial M for Murder (1954)
• A Star is Born (1954)
• The Seven Samurai (1954)
• On the Waterfront (1954)
• East of Eden (1955)
• Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
• Diabolique (1955)
• Guys and Dolls (1955)
• Night and Fog (1956)
• The Searchers (1956)
• Giant (1956)
• Written on the Wind (1956)
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
• 12 Angry Men (1957)
• Paths of Glory (1957)
• The Seventh Seal (1957)
• Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
• An Affair to Remember (1957)
• The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
• Houseboat (1958)
• Touch of Evil (1958)
• Vertigo (1958)
• North By Northwest (1959)
• Imitation of Life (1959)
• Ben-Hur (1959)
• Rio Bravo (1959)
• The 400 Blows (1959)
• Some Like it Hot (1959)
• The Apartment (1960)
• Psycho (1960)
• La Dolce Vita (1960)
• Breathless (1960)
• Spartacus (1960)
• The Alamo (1960)
• West Side Story (1961)
• The Hustler (1961)
• Jules and Jim (1962)
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
• The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
• The Great Escape (1963)
• 8 1/2 (1963)
• My Fair Lady (1964)
• Goldfinger (1964)
• Dr. Strangelove (1964)
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• The Sound of Music (1965)
• Doctor Zhivago (1965)
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
• The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966)
• Closely Watched Trains (1966)
• The Jungle Book (1967)
• Cool Hand Luke (1967)
• Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
• The Graduate (1967)
• In the Heat of the Night (1967)
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
• Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
• Targets (1968)
• The Producers (1968)
• Night of the Living Dead (1968)
• Planet of the Apes (1968)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• Once Upon a Time within the West (1968)
• Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969)
• The Wild Bunch (1969)
• Easy Rider (1969)
• Midnight Cowboy (1969)
• Love Story (1970)
• Five Easy Pieces (1970)
• Patton (1970)
• M*A*S*H (1970)
• McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
• The French Connection (1971)
• Dirty Harry (1971)
• Harold and Maude (1971)
• A Clockwork Orange (1971)
• The Last Picture Show (1971)
• Cabaret (1972)
• Frenzy (1972)
• The Godfather (1972)
• Deliverance (1972)
• The Exorcist (1973)
• The Sting (1973)
• The Way We Were (1973)
• Mean Streets (1973)
• Robin Hood (1973)
• Don’t Look Now (1973)
• American Graffiti (1973)
• The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
• Young Frankenstein (1974)
• Blazing Saddles (1974)
• Chinatown (1974)
• Nashville (1975)
• Jaws (1975)
• Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
• Monty Python & The Holy Grail (1975)
• Rocky (1976)
• Taxi Driver (1976)
• Network (1976)
• All the President’s Men (1976)
• Carrie (1976)
• The Omen (1976)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
• Annie Hall (1977)
• Star Wars (1977-1983)
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
• Suspiria (1977)
• New York New York (1977)
• Grease (1978)
• The Deer Hunter (1978)
• Halloween (1978)
• Animal House (1978)
• The Jerk (1979)
• Manhattan (1979)
• Alien (1979)
• Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
• All That Jazz (1979)
• Being There (1979)
• Mad Max (1979)
• Apocalypse Now (1979)
• Raging Bull (1980)
• The Shining (1980)
• Airplane! (1980)
• Caddyshack (1980)
• Friday the thirteenth (1980)
• Ordinary People (1980)
• The Evil Dead (1981)
• On Golden Pond (1981)
• Body Heat (1981)
• An American Werewolf in London (1981)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981-1989)
• The Thing (1982)
• Tootsie (1982)
• Diner (1982)
• Annie (1982)
• Blade Runner (1982)
• Poltergeist (1982)
• E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
• Sophie’s Choice (1982)
• The Verdict (1982)
• A Christmas Story (1983)
• Scarface (1983)
• Sudden Impact (1983)
• This is Spinal Tap! (1984)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
• Ghostbusters (1984)
• Amadeus (1984)
• Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
• Pale Rider (1985)
• Back to the Future (1985)
• The Goonies (1985)
• The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
• The Fly (1986)
• Blue Velvet (1986)
• Top Gun (1986)
• Hoosiers (1986)
• Stand By Me (1986)
• Platoon (1986)
• Wall Street (1987)
• Fatal Attraction (1987)
• Full Metal Jacket (1987)
• Evil Dead 2 (1987)
• Broadcast News (1987)
• Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Die Hard (1988)
• The Naked Gun (1988)
• Dead Ringers (1988)
• Cinema Paradiso (1988)
• Bull Durham (1988)
• Field of Dreams (1989)
• Major League (1989)
• Batman (1989)
• Do the Right Thing (1989)
• Sex, Lies & Videotape (1989)
• Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
• When Harry Met Sally (1989)
• Say Anything (1989)
• Dances with Wolves (1990)
• Goodfellas (1990)
• Total Recall (1990)
• Ghost (1990)
• Home Alone (1990)
• Father of the Bride (1991)
• Boyz within the Hood (1991)
• Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
• Thelma and Louise (1991)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Jacob’s Ladder (1991)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• Unforgiven (1992)
• Visions of Light (1992)
• The Fugitive (1993)
• Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
• Rudy (1993)
• The Sandlot (1993)
• Dazed and Confused (1993)
• Menace II Society (1993)
• Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
• Groundhog Day (1993)
• Jurassic Park (1993)
• Schindler’s List (1993)
• Philadelphia (1993)
• Three Colors Trilogy (1993-1994)
• Forrest Gump (1994)
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Quiz Show (1994)
• Clerks (1994)
• Dumb and Dumber (1994)
• The Lion King (1994)
• Toy Story (1995)
• Apollo 13 (1995)
• Braveheart (1995)
• Before Sunrise (1995)
• Se7en (1995)
• Billy Madison (1995)
• Happy Gilmore (1996)
• Scream (1996)
• Fargo (1996)
• Secrets and Lies (1996)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Titanic (1997)
• L.A. Confidential (1997)
• Good Will Hunting (1997)
• Boogie Nights (1997)
• Austin Powers (1997-2002)
• After Life (1998)
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)
• Shakespeare in Love (1998)
• The Big Lebowski (1998)
• There’s Something About Mary (1998)
• American Beauty (1999)
• Fight Club (1999)
• The Matrix (1999)
• The Sixth Sense (1999)
• The Green Mile (1999)
• The Hurricane (1999)
• Magnolia (1999)
• Office Space (1999)
• Erin Brockovich (2000)
• Memento (2000)
• Gladiator (2000)
• The Patriot (2000)
• Meet the Parents (2000)
• Requiem for a Dream (2000)
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
• Remember the Titans (2000)
• Training Day (2001)
• Mulholland Drive (2001)
• The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
• Amelie (2001)
• Spirited Away (2001)
• The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
• Road to Perdition (2002)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Anchorman (2002)
• Elf (2003)
• Lost in Translation (2003)
• Million Dollar Baby (2004)
• Friday Night Lights (2004)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
• Before Sunset (2004)
• Saw (2004)
• The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
• Wedding Crashers (2005)
• Cinderella Man (2005)
• Crash (2005)
• Dreamgirls (2006)
• The Departed (2006)
• Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
• Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
• Casino Royale (2006)
• There Will Be Blood (2007)
• No Country For Old Men (2007)
• Let the Right One in (2008)
• The Dark Knight (2008)
• Synecdoche New York (2008)
• The Wrestler (2008)
• The Hangover (2009)
• Black Swan (2010)
• The Social Network (2010)
• The Tree of Life (2011)
• Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
• Captain Phillips (2013)
• 12 Years a Slave (2013)
• Gravity (2013)
• 42 (2013)
• Mud (2013)
• Ida (2013)
• Boyhood (2014)
• Birdman (2014)
• Trainwreck (2015)
• Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
• Deadpool (2016)
• Zootopia (2016)
• La La Land (2016)
• Moonlight (2016)
• Get Out (2017)

WTOP’s Jason Fraley donates DVD collection to Hyattsville Library (Part 2).

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