History of the Movies - 1903: "Alice in Wonderland"

July 24, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

This thing is weird as shit!

History of the Movies - 1902: "A Trip to the Moon"

July 23, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

One of the best-known silent films, right? It's as good as its reputation and solidified Melies' status as the greatest director of his era. Everything about this film was masterful, from the elaborate costumes and makeup to the mechanical moving sets to the backdrops that turned into props to the politically subversive script to the long-as-hell 15-minute runtime. It really has to be seen to be believed. It's currently streaming in HD on Netflix in both black & white and hand-painted color versions. Go watch it right now. It's one of the coolest things you're ever gonna see.

History of the Movies - 1901: "Kansas Saloon Smashers!"

July 22, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

So begins Hollywood's obsessively racist misogynist lunkhead period that continues in earnest to this day. No surprise it comes straight from the Edison Lab. Fuck Thomas Edison.

History of the Movies - 1900: "The Enchanted Drawing"

July 21, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

An early Vitagraph jawn from the Edison Laboratory gang, who were like the Elephant 6 of the dark ages of Cinema.

History of the Movies - 1899: "The Devil In A Convent"

July 20, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

The 19th century goes out with a bang.

History of the Movies - 1898: "Santa Claus"

July 14, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

Your boy Georgie again!

A typically creepy depiction of the Elf King Santa Claus, Smith was a pretty inventive old chap and basically upped his game every time he got behind the camera. I don't even know how Cinema really even got very far between what he was doing and the sheer insanity of what Melies was up to at the same time.

History of the Movies - 1897: "The X-Rays"

July 13, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

British nerds on a date get hit by an x-ray machine (?) that looks like a tv camera. They turn into skeletons.

History of the Movies - 1896: "The Haunted Castle"

July 12, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

Your boy GM burst onto the scene a year earlier with his first film, a remake of a Lumiere jawn about a bunch of old nerds playing cards. So stop complaining about all these remakes. It's nothing new.

History of the Movies - 1895: "Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory"

July 11, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

1895 was the year the Lumieres had their first public screenings of their short films. This is basically the Beginning of the Movies.

History of the Movies - The 1880s: Eastman and Hijinks

July 10, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

The 1880s were a time when every joker thought he was gonna be the first to do everything, and the ones with enough money could just pummel their competitors into oblivion.

History of the Movies - 1878: "The Horse in Motion"

July 09, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

Uh oh! Curveball!

Not only do we jump back a full ten years on our trip through the History of This Stuff, the truth is this goddammer ain't even a movie!

History of the Movies - 1888: "The Roundhay Garden Scene"

July 08, 2015 by Guest User in francis friel, history of the movies

by Francis Friel

The oldest movie in existence, this joint is basically a dude walking in a circle, in a garden, for two seconds. Not even "basically," really, it just is that.