Hang, harder.

Losing Ground Writer(s): Kathleen Collins Year: 1982 A comedy-drama about a Black American female philosophy professor and her insensitive, philandering, and flamboyant artist husband who are having a marital crisis. When the wife goes off on an almost unbelievable journey to find “ecstasy”, her husband is forced to see her in a different light. - (IMDB) Written by Leslye Allen (L. J. Allen-2)

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Thelma and Louise Writer(s): Callie Khouri Year: 1991 An Arkansas waitress and a housewife shoot a rapist and take off in a ‘66 Thunderbird. -IMDB

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Beaches Writer(s): Mary Agnes Donoghue Year: 1988 A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years. -IMDB

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A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Writer(s): Ana Lily Amirpour Year: 2014 In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire. -IMDB

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MATATU Festival of Stories The spectacular walk of ordinary people | ‪#‎MATATU15‬ 

September 23-26 Oakland, CA 

matatufestival.org Tickets $12-20 

Beaches Writer(s): Mary Agnes Donoghue Year: 1988 A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years. -IMDB

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The Big Sleep Writer(s): Leigh Brackett, William Faulkner, and Jules Furthman Year: 1946 Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family. Before the complex case is over, he’s seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love. - IMDB

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E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial Writer(s): Melissa Mathison Year: 1982 A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home-world.

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Whip It Writer(s): Shauna Cross Year: 2009 n Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin. -IMDB

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Scandal

Writer(s): Shonda Rhimes Year: 2012 A young lawyer starts a new job at a crisis management firm. - IMDB

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9 Writer(s): Pamela Pettler Year: 2009 A rag doll that awakens in a postapocalyptic future holds the key to humanity’s salvation. - IMDB

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Shutter Island Writer(s): Laeta Kalogridis Year: 2013 In 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding near-by. - IMDB

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Before Sunset Writer(s): Julie Delpy, Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke Year: 2004

Nine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse’s book tour. - IMDB

“In terms of speed and the breadth of material now accessible to anyone in the world, this is really revolutionary,” says audio curator Greg Budney, describing a major milestone just achieved by the Macaulay Library archive at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All archived analog recordings in the collection, going back to 1929, have now been digitized and can be heard at www.MacaulayLibrary.org

“This is one of the greatest research and conservation resources at the Cornell Lab,” said Budney. “And through its digitization we’ve swung the doors open on it in a way that wasn’t possible 10 or 20 years ago.”

It took archivists a dozen years to complete the monumental task. The collection contains nearly 150,000 digital audio recordings equaling more than 10 terabytes of data with a total run time of 7,513 hours. About 9,000 species are represented. There’s an emphasis on birds, but the collection also includes sounds of whales, elephants, frogs, primates and more.

“Our audio collection is the largest and the oldest in the world,” explained Macaulay Library director Mike Webster. “Now, it’s also the most accessible. We’re working to improve search functions and create tools people can use to collect recordings and upload them directly to the archive. Our goal is to make the Macaulay Library as useful as possible for the broadest audience possible.”

The recordings are used by researchers studying many questions, as well as by birders trying to fine-tune their sound ID skills. The recordings are also used in museum exhibits, movies and commercial products such as smartphone apps.

“Now that we’ve digitized the previously archived analog recordings, the archival team is focusing on new material from amateur and professional recordists from around the world to really, truly build the collection,” Budney said. “Plus, it’s just plain fun to listen to these sounds. Have you heard the sound of a walrus underwater?  It’s an amazing sound." 

Sample some fascinating Macaulay Library sounds:

A Room With A View Writer(s): Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Year: 1985 When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. -IMDB

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American Splendor Writer(s): Shari Springer Berman Year: 2003 An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar. - IMDB