Reader’s & Watcher’s Advisory: So, You’re Graduating Soon?

Whether you’re sappy or psyched for commencement this year, we believe in you! No matter how you feel about graduating, we know you’ve got some feelings. We’ve got some materials for you to read and watch to deal with those feelings.

 

Commencement Advisory

What commencement story should you read or watch next? Check the flowchart to find out!

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Book: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

In this commencement story by Pulitzer Prize winner Jeffrey Eugenides, nothing is easy: Madeleine is unsure of her life goals except for that she loves Leonard, who experiences emotional rollercoasters she is unable to fully grasp. Mitchell, Madeleine’s college friend, pines for her while examining philosophical life questions during his travels abroad. But even for graduates of Brown University in the 1980s, the best laid plots may fail. This novel examines love in an unexpected (and not always happy) way and is not for a reader who loves a perfect ending.

 

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned” by Lena Dunham

Book: Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned” by Lena Dunham

If you ever feel like you’re awkwardly fumbling through life, you are not alone. Lena Dunham’s smash hit Not That Kind of Girl, similar to her tv show Girls, is a silly, but simultaneously gravely serious, memoir of what it feels like to not always know what you are doing. Although Dunham details her life from childhood to a few years after her college graduation, she captures the spirit of many young graduates embarking on their own self-discoveries.

 

Gilmore Girls Season 7

Gilmore Girls Season 7

Television Show: Gilmore Girls Season 7

Re-watching all of Gilmore Girls with your roommate during your final semester of college?!? Well, hurry up and get to the last season (even though it suffers because the creator was gone). Rory is starting (and finishing) her last year at Yale, all the while still in a long distance with Logan (obviously the greatest boyfriend she’s ever had), and Lorelai is doing what Lorelai does best…making questionable decisions. Will Lorelai and Luke end up together? Will Rory have the job of her dreams? What were the four words Amy Sherman-Palladino (the show’s creator) wanted to use for the ending of Gilmore Girls? What happens next? Luckily, you will find out! Sherman-Palladino and the rest of the Stars Hollow family are coming back for a series of four 90 minute Netflix episodes, due to be released in the near future.

 

The Graduate

The Graduate – Image from Amazon

Movie: The Graduate

In what is regarded as one of the best movies of all time by the American Film Institute, Dustin Hoffman stars as Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate, in this 1967 comedy-drama. Braddock has decided to spend the summer after he graduates lounging by the pool, ignoring any suggestion from the adults in his life about what to do after graduation. After engaging in an affair with one of his parent’s friends, Benjamin’s life takes a wild turn. This movie is based off the 1963 novel of the same name, that has also been adapted into a Broadway play. Will Benjamin figure out what he wants to do with his life? Will he get the girl of his dreams? Spend some time and find out, by watching the movie that Champaign native and University of Illinois favorite, Roger Ebert, called “funniest American comedy of [its] year.”

Did we miss anything? What are some of your favorite podcasts right now? Let us know on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages.

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International Science Fiction Film Festival

The University of Illinois Library is excited to announce the International Science Fiction Film Series, to be held February 23rd and 25th from 7 to 10 PM in room 66 of the Main Library. Each day of this fantastic cinematic event will consist of two films, one acclaimed short, food, and discussions. Check out the schedule below!

Tuesday, February 23rd from 7-10 PM:

International Science Fiction Film Festival

Come find your new favorite science fiction film at the International Science Fiction Film Festival!

Planeta Bur
The first film of the lecture series will be the Russian feature Planeta Bur (Planet of the Storms). Released in 1962, Planeta Bur follows two Soviet spaceships on a mission to Venus. After one ship is destroyed by a meteor, the remaining two ships land and explore the planet hoping to gather information about Venusian life. The trip takes another turn as the crew of the two ships encounter beastly aliens, mysterious rocks, and unforeseen dangers. Because of its groundbreaking, and often copied visuals by Pavel Klushantsev, Planeta Bur has had a significant influence on the genre, making it the perfect film to launch our lecture series. The film will be introduced by Richard Tempest, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

International Science Fiction Film Festival

Brainstorm
Have you ever wanted to experience someone else’s mind? Brainstorm features an all-star cast led by the incomparable Christopher Walken and Hollywood icon Natalie Wood, in her final role. A group of brilliant researchers have developed a system of recording people’s actual life experiences and thought processes with incredible detail. These events can then be experienced by others using a special device. The head researcher, played by Walken, loses control of the experiment as nefarious government agencies aim to manipulate the technology for their own agendas. This film will be presented with commentary by College of Media Professor and sci-fi effects expert Julie Turnock, whose Plastic Reality: Special Effects, Technology, and the Emergence of 1970s Blockbuster Aesthetics has just been published by Columbia University Press.

Thursday, February 25th from 7-10 PM:

International Science Fiction Film Festival

Yongary
The second night of this exciting film series will delight fans of kaiju on rampages. Yongary, directed by Korean filmmaker Ki-duk Kim, begins when an atomic blast causes massive earthquakes—or so it seems. The earthquakes are revealed instead to be a new and terrifying threat that was awakened by the blast: Yongary, an amphibious monster who shakes up Seoul. Often called the Korean Godzilla, Yongary is a definite popcorn movie that is sure to delight fans of classic monster tropes and effects. The film will be presented with commentary from Robert Cagle, the cinema studies specialist for the University of Illinois Library.

International Science Fiction Film Festival

Big Man Japan
The final film of the lecture series will bring humor and subversiveness to the genre. Big Man Japan follows the life of Daisoto, who is continuing his family’s long-standing tradition of defending Tokyo from monsters. Constantly belitted, and always lamenting his family’s history, Daisoto must conquer not only the monsters at Tokyo’s door, but his own negative reputation. If you are looking for a movie that offers excitement, a contemporary twist on super-monster films, and a hefty dose of weird, this is the movie for you. This 2007 film will be introduced by Richard Leskosky, a local legend in the film community and internationally renowned expert on animation film.

The Science Fiction Film Lecture Series will take place in room 66 of the Main Library. The series will be open to UIUC faculty, staff, and students only. Refreshments will be provided during the series. Have any questions? What are your favorite international science fiction films? Tweet at us (@askundergrad) or let us on know you’re coming on Facebook (Undergraduate Library at UIUC).

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