Jun 16
This is a quirky little Public Information Film from 1948 from the Prelinger collection. By turns modernistic or quaint, unintentially hilarious or bordering on creepy, this film presents a view of the modernisation of the poultry during American agriculture’s gritty post-World War 2 reboot. Of course, things have changed since then – their “new intensive …
Dec 29
D.O.A. is a film noir classic murder mystery with a twist – the victim solves his own murder.
Dec 26
In 2008, newly free from record company ties, Nine Inch Nails released a new album – “The Slip”. Critically acclaimed as a return to form, The Slip seems to be part of Trent Reznor’s new prolific period, seeing NIN produce more focused, stripped-down work, and focusing on what they do best: music.
Dec 25
1935′s Scrooge was the first adaption in sound, and featured Seymour Hicks, who had made the part his own on stage for many years.
Dec 18
Dishonored Lady is a psychological drama, and Lamarr proves that her day job as an actress was worth the game, and she could indeed act as well as inventing course-of-history changing radio elecronics in her spare time. While it’s perhaps a little more morally uptight than today’s standards, it’s still an interesting view – if perhaps only to see Margaret Hamilton when she isn’t being the Wicked Witch Of The West.
Nov 27
In support of local cinema, those nice folks at Volkswagen are sponsoring some screenings of classic films, near where they were shot. The next screening will be Get Carter (the original 1971 with Michael Caine, not the remake).
Nov 15
In celebration of Sebastian Vettel becoming Formula One’s youngest world champion of all time, I thought it would be nice to have a movie about motor racing. So for some reason, I thought about Charlie Chaplin…
Oct 31
George Romero’s 1968 “zombie” horror, Night Of The Living Dead, is rightly considered a horror classic. All zombies since (with the possible exception of recent “reboots” such as the excellent “Dead Set”) have taken their undead-brain-eating cues from Romero’s works: the shuffling, moaning, eating people – it’s all there.
Oct 23
Fritz Lang’s 1925 classic, Metropolis, is a masterpiece of German expressionist cinema. The most expensive silent movie ever produced, using over 37,000 extras and costing $2M US in 1920s money, it took a staggering sixteen months to film, and was released in 1927 with German intertitles, which were even animated – a sign of the attention to detail the film’s producers, UFA, took with the production.
Oct 22
What’s the first commercial film made anywhere in the world? Quick now, what is it? In 1891, Edison’s company first filmed a boxing match, under the name “Men Boxing”. That, however, was a fake fight between Edison employees; 1894′s match was the real deal. Well, sort of…
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