In light of this momentous weekend in movie history, we here at DCist would like to take a brief look back at some of the seminal events in moving pictures. Ever since the dawn of the 20th century, the transmission of images on celluloid has captivated people around the world. Silent films, such as Georges Melies' Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon), Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin and Charlie Chaplin's varied oeuvre pioneered many of the elements that are integral to today's big budget extravaganzas -- special effects, tracking shots, jump cuts, and more. With the advent of talking films, both directors and politicians began to see films' value as a tool of propaganda. As World War II dawned, Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will portrayed Adolf Hitler and the German troops in a positive light, while across the ocean, American filmmakers struck back with their own allegory of the struggle between good and evil, the 1942 classic film, Star Wars.

Quote of the Week

American History Museum, Americans at War Exhibit:
Young tourist couple pushing baby stroller. They see a propaganda poster with a soldier in a black helmet.
Husband: "Wow, that really looks like Darth Vader."
Wife: "Whoa, that is weird..... So, did Star Wars come out before or after World War II?"

After the jump, new names for old serial killers, the state of American educational attainment, and the latest threat to the flying public.

Image courtesy of DCist staff writer and all-around great guy Jeff Beam.

------

He's even more malicious than the Haines Point Tickler.

H4 bus, crossing Rock Creek Park:
Semi-ditsy girl: "So, it must be really nice to live near Rock Creek Park."
Very ditsy girl: "It is. Like, the path crosses over trail but, like, I'd never go on it alone."
Semi-ditsy girl: "Why not?"
Very ditsy girl: "Like, it's not safe, like, women get kidnapped there all the time. Like Chandra Levy."
Semi-ditsy girl: "Really?!"
Very ditsy girl: "Yeah, like, she got kidnapped by the Rock Creek Rapist."

------

And people say the No Child Left Behind Act is not working...

Frederick, MD:
Girl: "Quiz me!"
Guy: "OK. Who gave the Gettysburg Address?"
Girl: "Umm... history sucks!"
Guy: "Fair enough. How many Jolie-Pitt kids are there?"
Girl: "Well it depends. There's one by them together and two adopted by Jolie before Pitt entered the picture."
Guy: "Oh dear."

------

Aren't they banned under the new TSA security guidelines?

Stadium/Armory station before a Nats game:
Elderly woman: "My plane was full of them."
Elderly gentleman: "Full of what?"
Elderly woman: "Evangelicals"

------

Oh, right, the yacht. I always forget that's an option.

Sequoia:
Preppy Guy 1: "Are we walking?"
Preppy Guy 2: "We could always call your yacht..."
Preppy Guy 1: "Yeah, you're right."

------

Hey, we must be from the same city!

Yellow Line heading north from Crystal City:
(This guy gets on, looks around for a seat, doesn't' see one, shrugs and sits on the floor. We hit Pentagon and people push and shove on. He just sits there.)
Very large woman whispering to her friend while pointing to man on floor: "Where I come from we call that an inconsiderate bastard"

------

They can't even handle a freshwater aquarium.

On the Red Line:
Girl #1: "I cannot tell you how petrified I am to swim in the lake this weekend."
Girl #2: "Haven't you been in a lake before?"
Girl #1: "My family only does salt water."