A Century In Video - 1924

The MGM lion understood in 1924 that there was no point in roaring. Who's going to hear it?



Except for the roar, the logo hasn't actually changed much over the years:



Leo the MGM lion actually started out in 1917 as the mascot for the predecessor company Goldwyn Pictures.

Here he is in 1923 the year before Goldwyn Pictures, Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures merged. I'm not sure if it's a half yawn or half assed snarl in this clip:



The lion logo has been parodied many times, mostly by MTM Enterprises:

The Mary Tyler Moore Show



Remington Steele



Newhart



St. Elswhere



And the depressing end credits for the last episode:

Don't. Fall. Asleep!

For completely incomprehensible reasons Michael Bay has remade A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The original 1984 version scared the shit out of me. But somehow I can't picture this 'new' Freddy Krueger having much of an effect on me. I mean for crying out loud - this is Freddy?



OK, he's a bit older now:



And they do give him a bit of makeup:



But still...

And to all you kids out there who don't know what I'm rambling about. Jackie Earle Haley was originally famous for a amazingly popular 1976 film: The Bad News Bears.

Sweet dreams...

Out of Context Theatre

Too busy playing to post....





Sorry!

I wanted to do a scene from Dracula, but 2 characters is the max allowed in Xtranormal.

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.

One Wiener To Rule Them All

Brat would probably lay down in the middle of the track and look @ us like we were nuts.

More here

In A World....

...Without an announcer.

Voiceover actor Don LaFontaine died last night at the age of 68.

And yes you do know who he was.

He was:



And:



But mostly he is known for movie trailers. This one is particularly fine!



How did I manage to miss that spiffy film.

Better:



Seems he did many previews for Cannon Films. One of the finer film companies out there.

And to finish. A short documentary about him.

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 - 1920 (A Departure)

I couldn't find anything I liked for 1920. But I did find this:
(sound not really needed, music in background is The Entertainer most famously from The Sting.)



Maybe I'm twelve, but I really loved this piece.

It's a high school project, but amazing good for such. Although I suppose high school kids are a hell of a lot more technically savvy than I was back in the 1880's1980's.

Genießen!

Graphic Humour

I'm afraid that even at my advanced age I'm a big fan of I Has A Hotdog! and I Can Has Cheezburger?

Well the producers of those two sites have another site that I just discovered: GraphJam: Pop culture for people in cubicles.

Basically it's a site full of graphs. Bar graphs, Pie Charts, String charts, charts that I don't have a clue what they are called. But unlike your economics 101 class, these charts are entertaining.

Most refer to pop culture (hence the name), such as song lyrics, or movies. Others seem to be created by people that are pissed off at something.

If you're anywhere around my age it should take you all of 5 seconds to figure this one out:



Looks like this person spent the night at a really dull party:



I couldn't agree more!:



Many of the charts have a "See Cheat Sheet" link that leads to a helpful video. Good thing too as it's the only way I got this one: (clicking on charts will take you back to source)



have a look, it's an enjoyable time waster.

Go Indy, Go

[mediaatmidnight's photos]

Ok, sing along...

Da da da DA! Da da daaaaaaa. Da da da DaHHHHHHH! Da da da da DA.



I think this one will be worth going to the theatre for.

Official site and IMDb page.

And from the National Post: Indiana Jones and the Internet Marketing Campaign.

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

How Old Are You?

As long as you're still on this side of the packed earth, any age is pretty good.

Anything New on TV?

Well there may not be anything new come the new year.

The Writers Guild of America went on strike last week.

About the guild:

"We are the Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw), a labor union composed of the thousands of writers who write the television shows, movies, news programs, documentaries, animation, CD-ROMs, and content for new-media technologies that keep audiences constantly entertained and informed."
From "Who We Are"

So this strike will put on hold pretty well all the American shows that you are currently enjoying, including news programming.

I found this handy chart that lists many of the network shows and how many episodes they have in the can:

LA Times T.V. Grid

So this could potentially really suck depending on how long it drags on. But having been on strike myself recently (in case you were unaware), I wanted to know a bit more about what the writers are fighting for.

I think this video pretty well explains it all:



Unfortunately it looks like SAG members will not bet able to fully participate in the strike if they wish. Although they will be doing some picketing some members are restricted by this clause:

"If you are contracted to work on a television series or motion picture that continues to produce while the WGA is on strike, you are obligated by your personal service agreement and the “No Strike” clause in our collective bargaining agreements to go to work."
From the "picketing" link above.

I guess it's ultimately up to each individual if they want to cross any of these many picket lines.

The United Hollywood site is probably the best site I've found so far to read about how to help, what the issues are, and other related material. You can also sign This petition.

I Think My Brain Just Melted!

Under the heading of things I never thought I would see!

Click on the image for all the "fun" details

And it's playing in Vancouver:

Pickled Productions presents Debbie Does Dallas

Here is a promo from the L.A. run of the show. Make sure you have a bottle of bleach handy after you watch it (Pretty well safe for work)







And for the 4 of you who have never heard of it. Here's the Movie reference

Dear god I'm never writing about porn again

100 to 1

Brilliant!

The title basically says it all. Shows clips from 100 movies counting down from 100 to 1. See how many you know.



I love the onscreen note:

"My sincere thanks to every person who's ever been involved with making movies...

... especially the studios.

Please don't sue me"

And if you want to know what all the movies are, here is the entire list

Hollywood Librarian

CUPE 391 presents a special showing of the Hollywood Librarian this Saturday, November 3rd. There are two shows (6:30 & 9) at the Rio Theatre. Admission is by donation.

A quote from the film website:

"Ann Seidl's 'The Hollywood Librarian' is an engaging, often humorous look at the disparity between the simplistic depictions of bun-wearing, finger-shushing, spinster librarians served up in Hollywood feature films and the far more complex reality of today's savvy information navigators—of both genders, with or without tattoos and/or piercings."

Randy Pitman
Publisher/Editor
Video Librarian Magazine

And here is the trailer:



All the details about this Saturdays show can be found here

Booooo!

 
 

Happy Hallowe'en

A Century In Video - 1912

Some days I just don't feel like myself...



Blurb from the YouTube page:

"Dr. Jekyll transforms to Mr. Hyde, and back again...from Thanhouser Company's 1912 production of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 classic novel 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.'"

The Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc is a company dedicated to preserving old silent film with an emphasis on the films made by the Thanhouser Company. It is run by Edwin W. Thanhouser the grandson of filmmaker Edwin Thanhouser founder of the Thanhouser Company.

Here you can read a brief history of the Thanhouser Company, but basically it was a New York Film company that made over 1000 films between 1909 and 1918.

According to IMDb there have been 44 different versions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde made between 1908 and 2009. The 2009 version is currently in production and there isn't much info given, except (dear god) that's it's a musical.

And yup, it's based on a Broadway musical - here it is.

Wanna be tortured?



You couldn't pay me to sit through this.

<tangent>

I don't hate all musicals. I would love to see this one.

</end tangent>

Also: Have you ever seen the word Thanhouser used so often in one place? Any place?