A Century In Video - 1923

Probably one of the earliest (If not the earliest) examples of a "making of" featurette.

This short details some of the trials and tribulations of trying to film a feature film in Death Valley.

The film they were making was 1924 Erich Von Stroheim's movie Greed based on the book McTeague.

"The plot follows an honest dentist whose wife wins a lottery ticket, only to become obsessed with money. When her former lover betrays the dentist as a fraud, all of their lives are destroyed."
(From the Wikipedia entry)

Out of curiosity I also watched this bit from the end of the movie:



Now I have a few comments:

• Yellow?


• For crying out loud, cut the dead guy's hand off


• If the horse / mule is dead. So is the canary

It's Been a Thrill(er)

[DianesDigitals's Photos]

Michael Crichton - 1942 - 2008

My first Michael Crichton experience was watching the movie Andromeda Strain on TV around 1973 or so. It scared the shit out of me. Especially the scene where a dead guy gets his wrist cut open, and only powdered blood comes out. Ewwwwwwwh!

[The Andromeda Strain (1971) TRAILER]


Fun fact: Crichton has a brief cameo as a doctor in the original. The director made him sit down because his height (6'9") was too distracting.

(IMHO the remake sucked several different types of suckiness.)
Since that first viewing I've enjoyed most of Crichton's books. I first read the book Andromeda Strain when I was about 13 and loved it.

Yes I know he didn't write serious literature, and he got criticized for some of the science. But he knew how to write a engrossing thriller.

Your fans will miss your work Michael.

A Century In Video - 1922

Just in time for Hallowe'en I bring you a vampire classic.

Warning. This is the entire movie. So don't start if you don't have 1:25 to waste on a bald vampire.



Here is the Wikipedia entry.

And from IMDb.

Fun Fact!
If the lead actor Max Schreck was still alive, he'd be 129 years old. Of course since vampires are immortal, his age doesn't matter.

Happy Hallowe'en everyone, and watch out for the scary shit.

I'z In Yur Computerz, Racin Yur Bikes

[ Jimbo3DC's Photos]

Hey kids, remember Tron?

No? Why not, it's only been 26 years since it came out.



Well if you, like me, saw it when movies were still cranked by hand. And if you liked it. Then you have this to look forward to. The possibly a sequel, possibly a remake (depending on what you've read): Tr2n (Tron 2)



Here some info from firstshowing.net

And yes I know the trailer is pretty shitty (quality wise), but it's a Russian bootleg and the best I could find.

Also will probably disappear before too long. Disney already had the YouTube copies yanked.

A Century In Video - 1915

Here is another Edison short. This one is 3:42 of people coming out after a show in the Claremont Theater in NYC.

This is the type of film I love finding - a little slice of everyday life.



Many of the theatre goers seem to be aware of the camera filming them as they leave, but since they are watching Edison films (perhaps even a few of the ones posted in the series), they may have been told about the camera. You'll notice a few people wave at the camera as they leave.

The clothing is, of course, very different than today. For one thing ALL the young boys are dressed in knickerbockers and ALL the women are in long dresses. But everyone acts pretty well the same as they would now for the same sort of "event"

If you take a closer look at the clothing you may note as I did that the clothing seems rather formal. Keep in mind that going to the movies was a big deal in 1915. Most of these people probably had never seen a film before.

Good news - the building is still around: Remembering an Architect Who Shaped the West Side

Here is a comparison. The old one is a screen shot from the film and the new one is from the above NYT article. (click to embiggen)



More info about the film via the Library of Congress can be found here

Good News, Bad News...

First the bad news.

Us human people, we done gone bad!



The full story on this little slice of human life is explained at the ever delightful Mamapop! Thanks guys for almost bringing up my lunch...

And the good news.

One of my most favourite movies EVER is finally out on DVD. I pre-ordered my copy of Shirley Valentine this afternoon.

I dare you to watch it and NOT want to go to Greece