Movie Time Capsule

10 Year Anniversary

2012-01-21T15:10:00.003-07:00

On January 21, 2002, NetFlix mailed me my first three discs (Brazil, Girlfight, and Sex in the City). Today, they mailed me my 1,175th disc (Toy Story 3).

Originally, NetFlix seemed (and was) forward thinking for it's innovative use of new technology and inventing a service most people didn't even realize they wanted. It seems strange now, that technology has made both DVDs and The Postal Service less relevant.

But I suspect I'll remain a loyal subscriber until the DVD by Mail service is as much a relic as the nickelodeon or the video rental store.

Top 3 Directors of 1931

2011-03-31T20:02:00.002-06:00

3. Fritz Lang

2. James Whale

1. René Clair

The Shining

2010-08-14T07:07:00.003-06:00

The opening scene is a small car driving on a curvy mountain road as seen from a helicopter. This match-cuts to long shots of characters moving through the cavernous rooms of a hotel as seen from a steadi-cam that is moving at the approximate relative speed as the helicopter. The effect is dwarfing; the character we're following is a small man in big world he can't control. He's there to interview for a job as a caretaker for a hotel that's closed and isolated from civilization over the harsh winters. He's a writer that plans to spend the winter there with his wife and son and use the isolation to focus on his writing.

While there, he goes a little crazy from the isolation (and perhaps the ghosts).

Director Stanley Kubrick maintains unnerving balances between sanity and madness, and between the real and the supernatural. The writer, Jack (played by Jack Nicholson) seems a little off even at his most sane, making it difficult to tell exactly when he becomes unhinged. Although there are definitely supernatural elements - the son, Danny, and the hotel cook (played by Scatman Cruthers) can communicate telepathically, and Danny has visions of the hotel's violent history - it's not entirely clear whether there are actually ghosts, or if these ghosts can physically harm anyone. Somebody does rip Danny's sweater, and somebody does unlock a door or two, but we never actually see these things happen. Every time Jack holds a conversation with a ghost, there's a mirror or reflective surface in front of him - might he actually be talking to himself?

Unlike other horror movies, the characters actually behave in a ways that real people might if they were in a similar situation - they make smart, well-reasoned decisions in their attempts to escape from harm. Also unlike other horror movies, the tension ratchets up higher than the body count. The Shining is a rare horror movie that stays with you for days after you've seen it, and is as frightening today as was 30 years ago.

Friday the 13th

2010-08-13T00:59:00.005-06:00

It's easy to understand why a formula would start to get stale after a dozen sequels, but how did they manage to make it seem so tired the first time out? The trailer tells you what to expect: 8 teenagers are isolated alone in the woods while an unknown psycho murders them one by one. The movie meets that expectation, and nothing more.

Perhaps if the characters had been interesting, I would have cared about whatever it was they were doing before they got killed, but they are all amiable-but-bland samey-looking stiffly-acted teenagers. Only one is given a personality - Ned, the goofy prankster - but it's such an annoying personality that I found myself hoping he would be the first one offed. I assumed the pranks were introduced to set up some misdirection and I waited for an actual death to be laughed off as a prank or a faked death to be mistaken for a real one, but nothing ever came of it. There're no interesting characters, no misdirection, just 8 kids getting murdered one by one, and nothing more.

I also hoped that there would be some mystery. Who was this killer? Was it someone we met? It seemed like they wanted to throw in some red herrings: The camp boss leaves the camp just before the teenagers start to die, maybe it's him? No, the very next scene establishes that the killer is driving a jeep different from the one the boss drove out on. The town crazy shows up at camp shouting that they are all doomed, maybe it's him? No, we see him in the very next scene getting away on a bicycle, not a jeep. Maybe one of the kids is actually the killer? No, the very first kill happens far away from any of them establishing all their alibis. There's no mystery to figure out, just 8 kids getting murdered one by one, and nothing more.

Strangely, nobody even realizes there's a psycho killer on the loose until moments before they're killed. The last two alive are the first to suspect something's happening when they can't find their friends, but nobody ever witnessed a murder or found a body until there was only one left alive. It wasn't 8 kids trying to outwit a psycho killer in the wilderness, it was just 8 kids getting murdered one by one, and nothing more (well, maybe the last one was trying to outwit a psycho killer).

The movie even fails at being just a shameless excuse to show nudity and gore. Only one couple has a very tame sex scene were very little is exposed. The others engage in a very PG game of strip Monopoly that ends before they get very far. There are two or three gruesome images, but half the murders take place off-screen.

There was only one scene that gave me a genuine fright. It was a tacked on bit at the end, and even though I'd seen the movie before and knew what was about to happen, it still got me. But one well-executed scene doesn't justify the rest of the surprisingly boring, mostly un-scary movie. It certainly doesn't justify its dozen sequels.

1. Van Morrison - Moondance

2010-07-31T11:59:00.001-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Van Morrison - Moondance

Van Morrison must have been in a fantastic mood when he produced this album - it's the most comfortable album ever recorded.

Stylistically, the songs on this album have a wide range of moods and genres (blues, jazz, country, folk, rock), but thematically, they all address the warmest, most natural, most universal human experiences: nostalgia for carefree youth ('And It Stoned Me'), the buzz of good times with good friends ('Moondance'), the giddiness of a new infatuation ('Crazy Love'), the sense of security and validation that comes with camaraderie ('Caravan'), the rapture you feel in the awesomeness of nature and your place in it ('Into the Mystic'), etc.

The Moondance vs. Astral Weeks debate divides Van Morrison fans. The critical concensus is that Astral Weeks is Van Morrison's best album; Acclaimed Music ranks Astral Weeks as the #15 album of all time with Moondance at #95. I'm in the Moondance camp. My defense is that the emotions this album evokes are so primal, so visceral, that it doesn't pose much challenge to the listener - it's simply not humanly possible to dislike this album. I suspect this makes the album seem slight or vapid, but this is deceptive; It's not as easy as it looks to make it look this easy.

2. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu

2010-07-30T11:51:00.001-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu

This album, their first (with Young), was highly anticipated and was a commercial and critical success. Each of the four contributed two songs each plus an additional Stills/Young collaboration (the closer 'Everybody I Love You'), and the Joni Mitchell cover 'Woodstock'.

They provide the vocal harmonies and signature sound their fans expect on the opening track 'Carry On', but they also expand their sound and appeal with the country-influenced 'Teach Your Children' and the Beatlesque pop of 'Our House'. By the end of the album, they give an indication of the direction they're heading; Stephen Stills' '4 + 20' sounds like the mellow blues songs he would explore on his first solo album later in the year, and Neil Young's 'Country Girl' suite would fit right in with the rest of his moody minor-key ballads on his After the Goldrush album.

1970 was definitely CSN&Y's year. A few months after the release of this album, they would record and release the classic song 'Ohio' inspired by and released a few weeks after the Kent State shootings. A few months after that, the concert film for the Woodstock Festival and the soundtrack on which they are prominently featured would be released. By the end of the year, both Stephen Stills and Neil Young would release excellent solo albums.

3. Santana - Abraxas

2010-07-29T11:45:00.003-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Santana - Abraxas

It's hard to imagine another era in the history of popular music where the prog-rock experimentation of Pink Floyd, the electric guitar idolatry of Eric Clapton, the world-beat exoticism of Ravi Shankar, and the jazz-rock fusion of Miles Davis could co-exist so comfortably in someone's LP collection. It's particularly hard to imagine another era when all these influences would co-exist on a single album.

4. John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band

2010-07-28T11:08:00.003-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon had released personal songs before before ('The Ballad of John and Yoko' and 'Cold Turkey' for example), but this album goes further; it's a therapeutic exercise where he lays bare all his neuroses and insecurities for examination and exorcism. It's almost as if he never intended an audience to listen to it; he doesn't seem to be trying to make any of it commercially appealing, or to conceal anything that might be embarrassing or reveal his vulnerabilities.

Because of it's unique nature, most of the tracks really don't stand alone out of context ('Working Class Hero' is an exception), but there's not one track on the album that shouldn't be there. The album as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

5. Nick Drake - Bryter Layter

2010-07-27T05:59:00.002-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Nick Drake - Bryter Layter

This album was a late bloomer. It started turning up on critics top ten lists and movie soundtracks in the 90's, but seems to have been more or less ignored when it was released in 1970 (basically the opposite of what happened with The Pretty Things' Parachute).

The album doesn't sound much like it's contemporaries. Richard Thompson and John Cale show up on the album, and their influence is recognizable, but the folk elements are more polished than the ramshackle style of Fairport Convention, and the art rock is more mannered and classical-leaning than the rougher sound of Velvet Underground. There's is also a distinct jazz influence - most notably on the fantastic 'Poor Boy'. I'm also a fan of the string arrangements on several of the tracks and the brass arrangement on 'Hazey Jane II', all arranged by Robert Kirby (I'm making a note to check out other albums he's worked on).

6. The Pretty Things - Parachute

2010-07-26T05:50:00.003-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Pretty Things - Parachute

This album is made up of hard rockers with a bitter edge ('Cries From The Midnight Circus' and 'Sickle Clowns') tempered with sweet ballads featuring lovely three part harmonies ('The Good Mr. Square'). The result is a multi-textured, but cohesive collection of great songs that ends up sounding like a hard rock Abbey Road.

The album was well-regarded by critics at the time; Rolling Stone named it the best album of the year. It's a mystery to me why it has faded into relative obscurity since. Perhaps it's because the album didn't produce any tracks that have become staples of classic rock radio, or because The Pretty Things subsequent work didn't live up to the promise of this album.

7. Dave Mason - Alone Together

2010-07-25T05:37:00.001-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Dave Mason - Alone Together

Along with George Harrison and Sandy Denny, Dave Mason contributed to a trend of under-appreciated sidemen that made striking solo debuts in 1970. This album, his first post-Traffic effort, is a model of economy: 8 tracks, 34 minutes, no filler, no throw-away tracks, no overlong solos. Each track is a solid original pop song that could stand alone as a single. He has an almost McCartney-esque knack for making pop songwriting look easy, whether it's a rocker like or 'Only You Know and I Know' or a sentimental ballad like 'Sad and Deep As You'.

8. Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman

2010-07-24T05:29:00.002-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman

The exploration of spiritual topics wasn't uncommon or unpopular at the time this album was released, but I can't think of any other artist that made his personal spiritual journey so central to his artistic identity. His spirituality is not the primary appeal to me, but I do appreciate that his lyrics are intellectually inquisitive, and not pedantic or trite. If there's one song with a whiff of sanctimony, it's 'On The Road To Find Out', but the song is so rockin' that it's easy to overlook the preachiness. That's what really makes the album great; every song is catchy and interesting. Stevens never forgets that he's a pop star not a priest.

9. The Beatles - Let It Be

2010-07-23T05:21:00.004-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

The Beatles - Let It Be

This album is much better than it has a right to be. Its troubled history is well documented: In early 1969, The Beatles decided to 'Get Back' to their roots and make an album in the style of their early albums, and to have film cameras document whatever happens - unfortunately, not much did. By the time the sessions dissolved, there were hours of film footage and audio tape of the Beatles tuning guitars, warming up with classic rock covers, and getting testy with each other. The project was abandoned, and only two singles 'Get Back' and 'Don't Let Me Down' were salvaged from it.

In 1970, Phil Specter was hired to make an album out of the mess. It would be the first Beatles' album not produced by George Martin, and Specter's 'wall of sound' production style didn't seem like a natural fit for the album's back-to-basics concept. Anyone who had heard the widely circulated 'Get Back' bootleg album that was generated from these sessions (which was also not produced by George Martin) would not have high expectations of this Specter-ized version.

Incredibly, the album is fantastic. Even the criticism of Phil Specter's overblown production on 'Long and Winding Road' seems unfair - could the song really be less sappy even without the choir of angels? The in-between-songs banter, and the loose and joyful mood really show through as originally intended; this is particularly remarkable considering the actual mood of the sessions (if the footage in the film is any indication) was often tense and joyless.

A particular highlight for me is the song 'I've Got a Feeling'. My favorite Beatles' songs are the ones where an unfinished McCartney song is mashed up with a complementary unfinished Lennon song (The earliest example being the appropriately titled 'We Can Work It Out' in 1965; Sgt. Pepper's 'A Day in the Life' is another memorable example). McCartney's 'I've Got A Feeling' shifts into Lennon's 'Everybody Had a Hard Year' and back again.

This is not the first or only time that Phil Specter was involved with the Beatles in 1970. He first produced the single 'Instant Karma' for John Lennon (easily my favorite song of 1970), and he also produced George Harrison's excellent solo album All Things Must Pass.

10. Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon

2010-07-22T05:03:00.003-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon

This one is a grower. On first listen, it's a pleasant and pretty folk album with the tone set on the folksy opening track, 'Morning Morgantown', with the fun 'Big Yellow Taxi' standing out near the end. After listening to it several times, I found the other tracks beginning to sink in. I was really hooked by the complex arrangements with a variety of instruments (the flutes in 'For Free', and the piano in several tracks) and her expressive vocals that tap into some authentic emotions not typically expressed in pop songs (the sympathetic jealousy in 'The Conversation' stands out to me).

It's 'Woodstock' that really gets me, though; the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young's cover was louder, more muscular, and more popular - and a fantastic interpretation to be sure - but Mitchell's own version of her song is intimate and soulful with effective non-lyric vocal sections and instrumental sections that highlight the song's haunting piano arrangement.

11. James Taylor - Sweet Baby James

2010-07-21T04:39:00.003-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

James Taylor - Sweet Baby James

I was familiar with the song 'Fire and Rain' before I ever listened to this album, so I had an idea of what to expect - smart, mellow, minor-key folk rock with enough of a melancholy edge to not be sappy. The album provides exactly that ('Sunny Skies' is an apt example), but this is not a follow-your-formula kind of album; it's more of a jazz-like riffing on a theme.

Without straying too far from his comfort zone, Taylor explores a variety of genres: the country waltz lullabye of 'Sweet Baby James', the bluesy 'Steamroller', the gospel 'Lo and Behold', and the vocal improvisation in 'Oh Susanna'. The final track, 'Suite for 20G', is a multi-textured combination of several of these elements, and it's a perfect, if disjointed, culmination of the tracks that precede it.

12. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory

2010-07-20T04:31:00.004-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory

This is CCR's 42 minute clinic on rock and roll music - it's history, and it's influence on the then current incarnation of the genre. For comparison sake, they provide two covers of classic rock songs ('Ooby Dooby' and 'My Baby Left Me') faithfully interpreted in the style favored in the last half of the fifties by the likes of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. They also provide two originals performed the same way ('Travelin' Band' and 'Lookin' Out My Back Door'), to show that the genre is durable. To prove the genre is flexible as well, they perform two additional covers in styles popular with their contemporaries: a rocking cover of a blues standard ('Before You Accuse Me'), and an epic length meandering rock jam ('I Heard it Through the Grapevine').

If there's one track that best exemplifies the band's authority on rock and roll, it's 'Ramble Tamble', the first song on the album. One critic (Steven Hyden from The Onion's AV Club) makes a convincing case for this song being the 'Most Rockin' Song of All Time'.

The album does have a few notable departures from its prevailing roots rock theme: the socially conscious folk rock song 'Who'll Stop the Rain', the menacing bayou blues of 'Run Through the Jungle', and the soulful "Long As I Can See the Light".

13. Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

2010-07-19T04:20:00.004-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

I find this a very difficult album to rate. It's one of the first albums I ever owned, and the first album I ever memorized all the lyrics to. It's probably the one non-Beatles album I've listened to most frequently, and I haven't grown tired of it yet.

This familiarity makes it difficult for me to be objective. On one hand, it's easy to overrate songs like "Baby Driver" and "Why Don't You Write Me" simply because I know them so well. On the other hand, the sheer repetition makes it easy to forget that songs like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "The Boxer" were once fresh.

In its cultural context, it was a phenomenally successful record: It's one of the best selling albums of the year, it spawned four hit singles, and it won the Grammy for best album. The fact that this album appealed to so many different people during such a culturally divisive era is an incredible feat. This broad appeal is, I think, attributable to it's timelessness; both thematically (no questions about what war is good for or references to Woodstock or tin soldiers and Nixon), and musically (no long jammy electric guitar solos or sitars). Ultimately, This album may sound "old" due to its constant radio airplay, but it doesn't sound "dated".

14. The Kinks - Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

2010-07-18T04:17:00.002-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

The Kinks - Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

I seems that every third song on this album is a Ray Davies' satire about the treachery of the music industry. If his lyrics weren't so clever and his music so catchy, it would sound pitiful. Fortunately, these songs are endearing enough not to distract from the rest of the album - which rocks. Some of my favorites: the crunchy "Rats", the sweet "This Time Tomorrow", the fun "Ape Man", and the acoustic-but-hard "Lola".

15. Fotheringay - Fotheringay

2010-07-17T00:46:00.001-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Fotheringay - Fotheringay

Sandy Denny's first project after leaving Fairport Convention consists mostly of her singing original ballads that sound like they could be traditional folk songs, plus a handful of actual traditional folk songs sung by guitarist Trevor Lucas. The album is at its best when it features Denny's ethereal vocals over a rolling cadence of syncopated bass-heavy guitars. Still, the hypnotizing Gordon Lightfoot cover "The Way I Feel" featuring Lucas on vocals has ended up on many of my playlists.

It's a wonder that this album wasn't more popular. Perhaps fans were expecting the looser, more ragged sound of Fairport Convention and found the classical perfectionism to be stifling. Maybe if the album had been directed to Joni Mitchell or Tim Buckley fans, it would have found a more appreciative audience.

16. James Gang - Rides Again

2010-07-16T03:59:00.002-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

James Gang - Rides Again

This album can loosely be separated into the heavy-funk Jim Fox side and the country-fried Joe Walsh side. But it's really Walsh's guitar and songwriting that lead the entire album. One thing I really like about Joe Walsh is that he doesn't take himself too seriously. Sure, he's a creative genius and a talented musician, and he'll throw a little Ravel's Bolero into "The Bomber", but he's not too snooty to hoot like a monkey in "Funk #49".

17. Elton John - Elton John

2010-07-15T03:58:00.003-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Elton John - Elton John

Elton John's second LP, but the first to become widely popular, features his first hit "Your Song".

One of the most distinctive traits of this album is the bold string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster that could overwhelm a meeker performer; fortunately, subtlety isn't one of Elton's faults. Another distinctive trait is Bernie Taupin's obtuse lyrics that only Elton has that audacity to sing as if they mean something. Listen to "Take Me To The Pilot" for the best example of all these traits - Elton John belts Taupin's absurd lyrics with conviction and out-duels Buckmaster's bombastic arrangement.

Not every track works out this well. "No Shoe Strings On Louise" is one of those mean songs the pairs a ridiculous lyric with a catchy riff intended to get stuck in your head and drive you nuts. The album would be better off without this track (but even Revolver had its "Yellow Submarine"); it's a bouncy country waltz that would be a better fit on John's other 1970 album, the country-themed Tumbleweed Connection.

18. Grateful Dead - American Beauty

2010-07-14T03:56:00.001-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Grateful Dead - American Beauty

The Grateful Dead released two albums in 1970; this one, and Workingman's Dead. I usually listen to them back-to-back, or put them both in the playlist and shuffle them. But American Beauty, is easily the Grateful Dead's most essential album. It starts strong with three classics: "Box of Rain", "Friend of the Devil", and "Sugar Magnolia". The album is a group effort; each of the first 5 tracks (i.e. Side A) features a different band member. The next five (i.e. Side B) reverts back to the Garcia/Hunter formula with the exception of the great final track "Truckin'" which is credited to the entire band and has become their signature tune.

This album also has my all-time favorite Grateful Dead song, "Ripple".

19. Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills

2010-07-13T03:55:00.004-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills

This album is just packed with great songs representing a wide range of styles and genres. Stills not only provides the rock, pop, and ballad he's known for ("Old Times Good Times", "Love the One You're With", and "Do for the Others" respectively), but proves he's capable at gospel ("Church (Part of Someone)"), Clapton-style blues-rock ("Go Back Home" - with Clapton himself contributing on the track, naturally), and old style acoustic blues ("Black Queen").

The song "Cherokee" is worth singling out as a personal favorite of mine. Three intruments that I don't think get utilized enough in rock music: the flute, the jazz organ, and brass; all appear in this one song - and an electric sitar, too! The only minor quibble I have with the track is that even though Booker T. himself plays the organ, he doesn't get a solo.

NOTE: I couldn't find any tracks from this album on YouTube, but you can check the album out on Amazon and listen to the previews.

20. Badfinger - No Dice

2010-07-12T03:49:00.001-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Badfinger - No Dice

The song "No Matter What" with it's crunchy guitar riff, sweet "ooh girl" harmonies, and catchy hand-clap percussion, sounds positively Beatlesque; Pete Ham's vocals could easily be mistaken for McCartney himself. The album is a diverse mix of straight-forward rockers, catchy pop tunes, and sweet ballads, each handled with surprising facility. In the year that The Beatles broke up, Badfinger stepped in looking like their heir apparent.

21. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

2010-07-11T11:07:00.002-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

As a big fan of George Harrison, it's hard for me to be objective in rating his music. When I first started listening to this album over 20 years ago, I would even defend the third record of this three record box set - a set of jam sessions that I now acknowledge is completely disposable. I'll even admit that the second version of "Isn't It A Pity" is unnecessary. But every other track on the album is indispensable, including the hits "My Sweet Lord" and "What Is Life", as well as the lesser known "Art of Dying" and "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let it Roll)".

22. Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

2010-07-10T10:46:00.002-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

Spirit is an inspired band at the peak of their creativity on this album. Although they have some fun experimenting on this album, they never wander into pretentious prog-rock territory. The most popular track on this album is the environmental ballad "Nature's Way", a sweet folk-rock melody that's atypical of the trippy psychedelia that makes up most of the other tracks, but since the album explores so many different styles and genres, it's impossible to define any one of them as typical.

23. Argent - Argent

2010-07-09T10:37:00.004-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Argent - Argent

I've always been mystified that The Zombies weren't more popular; their music was consistently good - literate, adventurous, but always accessible and pop-friendly.

Rod Argent's first post-Zombies album not only gives him a chance to show off his top-notch organ and piano skills, but also showcases his under-appreciated pop instincts; well timed riff changes, organ solos, breakdowns, and other stylistic flourishes keep the songs constantly interesting. The tracks "Free Fall" and "Lonely High Road" are particularly good examples of his Brian Wilson caliber popcraft.

With a few notable exceptions (particularly "Liar" which Three Dog Night would famously cover), the album's songwriting isn't on par with its music, but even then, the lyrics are merely unobtrusive, and allow the groovy jazz-influenced music to speak for itself.

24. Derek and the Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

2010-07-08T10:19:00.002-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

Three months before releasing this album, Eric Clapton released his first solo album. The self-titled album would set the standard for his subsequent 70s studio albums - mannered, mature, pop-friendly songs performed with impeccable technique. This makes the raw emotion with which he tears through the songs on this album all the more exciting by comparison. His vocals have never been this passionate, his guitar playing never this searing. He bares his soul on every track of this album, which includes two bona fide classics: Layla, and Bell Bottom Blues.

Critical consensus (according to Acclaimed Music) rates this album in the top 5 of 1970, and if I was making this list 20 years ago, I would doubtlessly agree. Back then I couldn't get enough of Clapton's long jammy versions of blues standards, and the three such songs on this album (Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, Key to the Highway, and Have You Ever Loved a Woman) are longer, jammier, and bluesier than usual. Listening to the album now though, I'm finding that these tracks, as great as they are, put an unwelcome damper on the intensity of the rest of the album.

25. Neil Young - After the Goldrush

2010-07-07T00:04:00.006-06:00

Counting down my favorite 25 albums of 1970:

Neil Young - After the Goldrush

The plaintive vocals and deliberate tempo sets a tone that's a little weary, a fitting allegory to the Woodstock generation that a few years prior believed they could change the world overnight, only to have the luster of their idealism fade as the Vietnam war continued its downward spiral, and the culture war escalated into bloody confrontations at Kent State and Jackson State. Yet Young's lyrics have a tendency to become stridently hopeful at unexpected times, as if to reiterate that it's not naive to believe you can change the world, it's only naive to think it would be easy.

This is exemplified by the albums best track and thematic core, Don't Let it Bring You Down, where Young starts by setting a squalid scene of an "old man lying by the side of the road", ignored by passersby and left to the elements, he ends up dead by morning. The initial refrain of "Don't Let it Bring You Down" at this point could be interpreted as cynical apathy, but later versus, when he sings "Blind man walking by the river at night with an answer in his hand. Come on down to the river of sight where you can really understand." reveal what (I think) is the intended interpretation: Don't lose faith, things will "turn around". He uses this formula throughout the album alternating the "bring downs" (Southern Man, Tell Me Why) with the "uplifts" (Till the Morning Comes, I Believe in You).

The consensus among rock critics (according to Acclaimed music, which compiles reviews from numerous sources and combines them) is that this is the best album of 1970. While that validates it's inclusion on my list, I think I need to explain why I don't rate it higher...

Not every track on the album works for me. The tone of the album is consistent throughout and the lesser songs don't interrupt the flow, but they certainly don't stand on their own, either. Particularly the album's highest charting single, Only Love Can Break Your Heart. I find the lyrics a little trite, and when the piano thunks out a dirge-tempo waltz with easy rhymes on the downbeat, I can't help but think of Sesame Street's Prairie Dawn playing the song for a muppet pageant. Another miss for me is another of the album's most popular songs, Southern Man. Even though I sympathize with the sentiment (the history of racial intolerance in the South is an easy target), I find the tongue clucking a tad sanctimonious.

On Deck for 1960

2010-06-03T12:18:00.018-06:00

Movies in my NetFlix queue this month:

Spartacus - This is one of those classics that I somehow never got around to seeing. It's directed by Stanley Kubrick and features Kirk Douglas.

The Apartment - The year's best picture winner is a Billy Wilder comedy featuring Shirley MacLaine. It's another classic I hadn't gotten around to seeing yet.

Inherit the Wind - I saw this movie years ago, and I don't remember it very well. If anything, I remember it being talky and pedantic (that it is to say, directed by Stanley Kramer). But this impression doesn't reconcile with it's popularity and high rating on IMDb, so I think it deserves a refresher viewing.

The Time Machine - I'm a sucker for science fiction. I'm also a fan of the special effects of George Pal.

Purple Noon - I'm particularly looking forward to seeing this one. I've never read the Patricia Highsmith novel from which this is adapted (The Talented Mr. Ripley), but I loved the Anthony Minghella version.

Virgin Spring - I always like Ingmar Bergman films. I'm also intrigued by the fact that this is the inspiration for Wes Craven's shock/gore film The Last House on the Left.

Testament of Orpheus - The third film in Jean Cocteau's Orpheus trilogy (conveniently spaced in ten or twenty year increments so I could watch them in the same calendar year). I never get tired of Cocteau's distinctive otherworldly mood.

Never on Sunday - I was really impressed with Night and the City last month. Director Jules Dassin was on quite a streak with his fourth fantastic movie in four consecutive years (1947 - Brute Force, 1948 - The Naked City, 1949 - Thieves' Highway, 1950 - Night and the City). This film is a departure from those noir films and might not have caught my attention if it wasn't for my recent Dassin obsession.

Can-Can - I always try to put a musical on my queue each month. This one has several things going for it: it was the second highest grossing film of 1960 after Ben Hur; it features songs written by Cole Porter; it features Frank Sinatra singing those songs; and it stars Shirley MacLaine so it would make a good double feature with The Apartment.

Primary
Jazz on a Summer's Day - I always try to put a documentary on my queue each month, too. This month, I couldn't narrow it down to just one. Primary is a political documentary following John F. Kennedy's campaign for the Democratic nomination for President in 1960. Jazz on a Summer's Day is a concert film of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival featuring Louis Armstrong. Both films are in the National Film Registry.

If time permits:

Psycho is definitely the most famous movie from 1960, but I've already seen it several times, and there are several other horror films from 1960 that appeal to me, including:

Peeping Tom - I've only seen two other movies by Michael Powell, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, both had impressive color cinematography. The trailer for this one promises more of the same.

Village of the Damned - I've seen so many spoofs and other references to this movie, I feel like I've already seen it. There must be good reasons why this film has endured.

TV Shows in my NetFlix queue this month:

The Flintstones - This animated classic debuted in 1960.

Danger Man - Secret agent drama starring Patrick McGoohan who would follow this show up with his iconic role in The Prisoner.

Although I couldn't find a way to squeeze it into my schedule this month, The Andy Griffith Show was another notable TV debut this year.

Novels I loaded onto my Kindle:

Eight Keys to Eden - A science fiction novel by Mark Clifton. From the reviews I read, I expect it to be somewhat philosophical with a libertarian slant.

Deathworld - Another science fiction novel. This one promises to be more action oriented than cerebral. It's the first of Harry Harrison's Deathworld trilogy.

There's no Kindle edition of To Kill a Mockingbird - what's up with that?

Radio Programs I downloaded:

The Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney Show - By 1960, the Golden Age of Radio was well into it's twilight, but Bing Crosby, who had had a series of radio shows continuously since 1931 was determined to be the last to leave the party. This 20 minute weekday morning program with Rosemary Clooney would be his last. It began in February 1960 and ended in 1962.

1930 Playlist

2010-03-28T12:54:00.001-06:00

I put together this playlist for 1930. If I figure out how to upload the audio, I'll do so.

01 - Ring Dem Bells - Duke Ellington

02 - Happy Days Are Here Again - Ben Selvin Orchestra
This song was first recorded by Leo Reisman weeks after the 1929 stockmarket crash. This recording would be the biggest hit of 1930 and would become a hopeful anthem for recovery from the Great Depression. It would be used as a campaign song for FDR in 1932.

03 - Three Little Words - The Rhythm Boys with the Duke Ellington Orchestra
This is nice. The Rhythm Boys were the vocalists from Paul Whiteman's orchestra and included a not-yet-famous Bing Crosby. Here they are singing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in the earliest recorded Ellington/Crosby collaboration. Considering how prolific and prone to collaboration these two were I was surprised that I can only find a couple other recordings of them together (St. Louis Blues in 1932, and several tracks from a radio show broadcast May 29, 1941).

04 - China Boy - Red Nichols

05 - Georgia On My Mind - Hoagy Carmichael
06 - Stardust - Isham Jones
Both of these songs were written by Hoagy Carmichael. This is the first hit version of Stardust which would become a jazz standard.

07 - Oh, Lady Be Good - Red Nichols
A nice dixieland rendition of the Gershwin classic.

08 - Puttin' on the Ritz - Jan Garber
I like to think this is what the Mos Eisley Cantina Band's version of this Irving Berlin classic would sound like.

09 - Exactly Like You - Louis Armstrong

10 - The Count - Bennie Moten
I don't actually know if this song's title is a reference to the band's piano player, William James Basie.

11 - Happy Feet - Paul Whiteman with The Rhythm Boys

12 - I Got Rhythm - Red Nichols

13 - What Is This Thing Called Love - Leo Reisman

14 - Jungle Nights in Harlem - Ellington, Duke

15 - Tiger Rag - Louis Armstrong
16 - Bessie Couldn't Help It - Louis Armstrong

17 - After You've Gone - Red Nichols
Red Nighols' orchestra again. This time with a different vocalist - Wingy Manone I think.

18 - Mood Indigo - Duke Ellington

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On Deck for 1930

2010-03-01T01:20:00.003-07:00

These are the movies in my queue this month:

All Quiet on the Western Front - It's a consensus "film of the year". It won the Best Picture Oscar. It's the highest rated and the most popular film from 1930 on IMDb and the only film from that year in the IMDb 250. It was also the first film from 1930 to be inducted into the National Film Registry, and the only film from that year to be listed on the original AFI 100 years, 100 movies list.

Hell's Angels - This was, at the time, the most expensive movie ever made. The many trials of it's production were well documented in The Aviator. Another WWI fighter pilot movie from 1930 that I would like to see is The Dawn Patrol, but it is not available on DVD.

City Girl - I have never been disappointed by a Murnau movie.

Blue Angel
Morocco - I couldn't decide between these two von Sternberg/Dietrich collaborations. Blue Angel is a classic and is more highly-rated and popular, but Morocco is in the National Film Registry, and it's, well, gayer.

Blood of a Poet - I've already seen this Jean Cocteau movie (loved it), but I need a refresher since I'll be seeing the other two films in his Orphic trilogy - Orpheus (1950) and Testament of Orpheus (1960) - later this year (in May and June respectively).

Monte Carlo - I'm a sucker for musicals, even though I wasn't exactly blown away by any of the early talkie musicals I saw last year (Applause, Broadway Melody, or Hallelujah!). Maybe the Lubitsch touch will help.

Animal Crackers - The Marx Brothers' classic.

and if time permits:

L'âge d'or - Before I saw Un chien andalou last year, I had never seen a Luis Buñuel film. I thought the 1928 adaptation, Fall of the House of Usher, where he was the writer and assistant director to Jean Epstein, was fantastic, but I was ultimately disappoint by Un chien andalou. I want to give Buñuel another look, but my expectations are lower this time.

Earth - I've enjoyed a lot of Soviet cinema from this era; Man With a Movie Camera rates as one of my all-time favorite films. The only reason why this film is so low on the list is that I've seen Dovzhenko's Arsenal two years ago and was underwhelmed by it. But this one is considered his best, so I'm curious.

Douglas Fairbanks Does Parkour

2010-02-26T21:31:00.003-07:00

This is awesome:

This is my favorite movie scene from 1920, It's from The Mark of Zorro. Douglas Fairbanks does parkour.

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On Deck for 1920

2010-02-01T03:39:00.003-07:00

The movies I've added to my Netflix queue this month:

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - 1920 was the first great year for horror films. I've seen all three (this one and the next two on the list), they're all excellent, and I'm looking forward to rewatching them. This one is easily the most popular (and my personal favorite) film of 1920.

The Golem - James Whale credits this film as an influence on his classic 1931 version of Frankenstein. The stylistic similarities are undeniable.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - I originally saw this in Boulder at Chautauqua's great silent film series. John Barrymore's hamminess is way over the top in this one, but it's still a fun film worth re-watching.

The Mark of Zorro - I've already seen this one once before, too. It's one of Fairbanks' best films. Doug buckles with more swash than usual in this film.

The Last of the Mohicans - This film is in the National Film Registry, and I try to watch as many NFR films as I can.

One Week
Neighbors - Two shorts from Buster Keaton, my favorite silent comedy actor. One Week is also in the NFR.

High and Dizzy - Harold Lloyd also made the excellent comedy short Number, Please? this year which I've seen several times. I haven't seen this one yet.

The Parson's Widow - I was impressed with Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer when I watched his Passion of Joan of Arc a couple of years ago. So I'm interested in seeing this, his earliest film available on Netflix.

Anna Boleyn - Last year's The Doll was unexpectedly good, so I decided to see this early Ernst Lubitsch film as well.

The Penalty - I was also pleasantly surprised by last year's Lon Chaney thriller Victory, so I decided to add this film to the list.

These are the films I will definitely see this month, but I always add a few additional titles to the list just in case I have time to watch more. These two films are on the cusp:

Way Down East - I added this melodrama directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish to the list because it is popular and highly rated on IMDb, but I was really disappointed by last year's Griffith/Gish film, Broken Blossoms, so I added it to the bottom of the list.

Why Change Your Wife? - I added this morality play directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson to the list because it is popular and highly rated on IMDb, but I was really disappointed by last year's DeMille/Swanson film, Male and Female, so I added it to the bottom of the list.

Not on DVD

Within Our Gates - I saw this film on a DVD back in 2003 (and wrote a small, negative, review of it here), but that DVD is now out of print. I didn't particularly care for the film when I saw it, but then I noticed it was on the National Film Registry, and I wanted to give it a second viewing.

Movie Highlights of 1959

2009-05-31T00:01:00.002-06:00

My favorite movies I saw this month:

Sleeping Beauty

Black Orpheus

Suddenly Last Summer

Ben Hur

Anatomy of a Murder

Compulsion

Our Man in Havana

Pillow Talk

The Mouse That Roared

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Movie Highlights of 1949

2009-04-30T00:01:00.002-06:00

9 Great movies from 1949:

The Heiress

The Third Man

Kind Hearts and Coronets

On The Town

All The Kings Men

White Heat

The Set-Up

Thieves' Highway

Pinky

Radio Highlights of 1939

2009-03-31T00:01:00.004-06:00

I discovered that The Internet Archive has lots of Old Time Radio programs that are in public domain. Here are some of the highlights I found from 1939:

The Aldrich Family

A sitcom.

Arch Obler's Plays

A Twilight-Zone-like anthology drama specializing in horror and other unusual stories.

Captain Midnight

Captain Midnight was an adventure serial intended for kids. This is the first 15 minute installment of a story arc called "The Perada Treasure". You can listen to the other 58 installments at the Internet Archive.

Complete Broadcast Day

Radio station WJSV in Washington, D.C. recorded it's complete broadcast day on September 21, 1939. The Internet Archive has all 16 hours. Here's a few highlights:

Chapter 1 - President Roosevelt's address to Congress
Chapter 2 - Major League Baseball: Cleveland Indians at the Washington Senators
Chapter 3 - "Ask It Basket" quiz show
Chapter 4 - Ten O'Clock News
Chapter 5 - Louis Prima

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1929 on Canvas

2009-02-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

I intended to review Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, but I got distracted and started looking at paintings from 1929 instead.

Here are some of my favorites:

The Treachery of Images by René Magritte

Girl on a Hill by Prudence Heward

Chop Suey by Edward Hopper

Two of the movies I watched from 1929 (Applause and Broadway Melody) involved young women trying to make a living in show business in New York. In both movies, they make a reference to going out for some chop suey. This stuck out to me because although I've heard of the dish, I don't think I've ever tasted it. I've eaten Chinese food plenty of times, but I can't recall if chop suey was ever even on the menu.

The Musician by Tamara de Lempicka

This one is my favorite. It looks like the cover of an Ayn Rand novel.

Lugubrious Game by Salvador Dalí

"I'll send flowers" - Al Capone

2009-02-14T12:38:00.006-07:00

It's not movie-related, but today is the 80th anniversary of the Valentine's Day Massacre, the infamous gangland killing in Chicago. The most common theory is that it was masterminded by Al Capone, but I think it was just manufactured by Hallmark to sell flowers for funerals.

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Movie Highlights of 1919

2009-01-27T00:01:00.007-07:00

Best Movie:

South

Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated 1914-1916 expedition to the South Pole is a remarkable story that's been recently recounted in a feature length documentary, presented as an IMAX feature, and re-enacted for a television mini-series. But photographer Frank Hurley was on board, and his amazing first hand footage has the immediacy not found in the recollections of the crew's grandchildren 80 years later; his stark images capture the sense of desperate isolation better than those projected on a five story screen; and his authentic depiction of the challenges faced by these men provides more drama than even Kenneth Branagh. No human lives were lost during the ordeal on the Endurance, but little else survived. Incredibly, this film did.

Most Pleasant Surprise:

The Doll

The gimmick is established in the opening scene: we see a miniature set with a dollhouse on a grassy hill with a painted walk to the front door. We see full-sized arms dressing the set with miniature cardboard cutout trees and two dressed-up dolls. The arms place the dolls in the dollhouse, and then we cut to the identical full-sized set and two actors walk out of the house dressed in the exact same costumes as the original dolls.

The audience has been told what to expect; we are watching puppet theater. Characters are excused from behaving believably, and there's a different set of physics controlling this world. The fun set design carries the film a long way on it's own, but director Ernst Lubitsch injects some satire into the fairy tale.

Most Underrated:

Victory

Axel Heyst lives alone on an island, but he breaks his solitude when, out of pity, he agrees to harbor a young woman from her abusive domestic situation. She's frustrated by his lack of passion. "I have never loved a woman or killed a man" he tells her, and adds "I hope I never shall". But naturally, circumstances conspire to make sure he does both by the end of the movie.

"To Love, to slay - the greatest enterprises in life" says a title card early in this film. And the film delivers on the sex and violence it promised; the sex scenes are surprisingly frank, and the fight scenes are shockingly brutal. The film is the first adaptation of a Joseph Conrad novel (the only one Conrad himself would ever see), and it shows the same dark estimation of human nature that he would explore further in Heart of Darkness.

Most Overrated:

Broken Blossoms

The only film from 1919 deemed significant enough to be inducted into the National Film Registry is this melodrama from D.W. Griffith. It's a typical Griffith downer: the helpless heroine is pitiful and downtrodden; the villain is an irredeemable brute; the hero is stoic and principled; and there's a good chance that most or all will meet a tragic end.

Most Disappointing:

Different From the Others

I was excited to see what was probably the first movie to feature a gay lead character. Naturally, cultural attitudes towards gays have evolved a lot in the last 90 years, so I didn't expect to relate much to even a sympathetic portrayal. That wasn't the problem, the film was unexpectedly progressive, but the film only survives in fragments, and the version that's available has been patched together with stills and long expository title cards to fill in the gaps.

^

D. W. Griffith on Race

2009-01-25T00:01:00.001-07:00

In 1909, D.W. Griffith made Red Man's View, a sympathetic portrayal of Native Americans which was, at the time, atypical. In 1919, he made Broken Blossoms, an interracial love story, which was daring considering interracial marriage was illegal at the time. In between these racially progressive films, he made Birth of a Nation, a glorification of the KKK and a defense of their intimidation tactics.

These examples suggest that Griffith's racial attitudes are nuanced or complicated, but in fact, they are deceptively simple; Griffith has an intellectually lazy algebra that equates certain virtues with the race that epitomizes it. In both Red Man's View and Broken Blossoms the white characters are violent brutes who can stand to learn the values of kindness, honor, and humility from the other noble non-white characters. In Birth of a Nation, the black characters are uncivilized imbeciles that are better off deferring to their intellectually superior countrymen and not being tricked into voting for the wily carpetbaggers that are only trying to exploit their gullibility.

If Griffith was simply suggesting that we'd all benefit from a healthy exchange of ideas informed by our cultural backgrounds, he'd be making a compelling argument. But this interpretation is undermined by how inauthentic the portrayals of non-white characters are; the Chinese character in Broken Blossoms is an opium addicted shopkeeper and the Native American characters in Red Man's View are also broadly drawn stereotypes that don't add any insight into their cultures beyond what mainstream white culture perceives it to be, which makes the argument that "we ought to learn from their example" self-serving.

The Dragon Painter was another film with Asian characters made the same year as Broken Blossoms. It was directed by and stars Sessue Hayakawa as the lead, and almost the entire cast was ethnically Japanese, whereas Griffith had white actors playing all the Chinese roles in his film. In his defense, this was a common practice at the time. Hayakawa, a frequent leading man, was an exception.

Smoke and Mirrors

2009-01-11T00:01:00.002-07:00

Many of the films from 1909 used trick cinematography, such as the matte shot in D.W. Griffith's Those Awful Hats or the stop-camera and double exposure techniques that create Puck's magic effects in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

These early filmmakers pushed the limits of their technology in innovative directions, but they were movie makers dabbling in magic; their primitive special effects were fun, but sometimes gimmicky and distracting. In contrast, Georges Méliès was a magician first, and his techniques are executed with the polish and timing of an experienced stage performer, as demonstrated in his film The Devilish Tenant.

The Devilish Tenant

Another significant special effects film was Princess Nicotine. What's unique about this film is it's use of old-fashioned stage magic in addition to the imaginative film tricks. The fairy on the desktop is not super-imposed using a matte shot or double exposure; there's an actual mirror on the desk with an actor playing the fairy at some distance on the other side of the camera to create the illusion that she's small.

Princess Nicotine

If you want to watch more films that feature trick cinematography from 1909:

Those Awful Hats - the "Please silence your cell phones" equivalent 100 years ago.
A Midsummer Night's Dream - an early adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
Airship Destroyer - A remarkably prescient speculation on how the new airships may be used in war.

These films have survived and can be viewed and/or downloaded on YouTube, Google Video or The Internet Archive.

A CORNER ON WHEAT

2009-01-09T00:01:00.003-07:00

In this 14 minute movie, D.W. Griffith depicts three separate but connected story lines. The main story follows a commodities speculator as he maneuvers to gain a corner on wheat. It is told in parallel with the story of a baker and his customers who have to pay more for their bread. These are bookended by images of a poor farmer and his family sowing seeds.

Griffith contrasts the scenes of the mogul's festivities with the hardships caused by his actions by cross cutting them with scenes of the baker's customers. The effect is a bit ham-fisted by today's standards, but the technique was innovative at the time (as was almost all film technique at this early stage).

An artistic flourish that I thought was notable occurs at the 8 minute mark; it's a 15 second scene of a motionless breadline that is so still you have to watch closely to see that it wasn't actually a photo. I also like how the scenes of the farmer sowing seeds is an intentional reference to the painting, The Sower, by Jean-François Millet.

The novel the film is based on, The Pit, by Frank Norris was published in 1903, but it was the Panic of 1907 that would make the film seem timely to its audience. The panic was triggered by a failed attempt to corner the market on copper. The subsequent crisis led to the establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913.

1909

2009-01-05T00:01:00.001-07:00

Time Capsule Year: 1909

February 12 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded, commemorating the 100th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination."

March 4 - William Howard Taft succeeds Theodore Roosevelt as President of the United States. The popular president Teddy Roosevelt opted not to seek another term in the 1908 elections. Instead he promoted the candidacy of his Secretary of War, William Taft.

March 18 - Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter, becoming the first radio broadcaster.

March 24 - In his first Post-Presidential excursion, Teddy Roosevelt embarks on an African Safari sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society. The trip is a popular sensation.

August 10 - Alice Huyler Ramsey drives into San Francisco amid great fanfare after leaving Manhattan 59 days earlier and becomes the first woman to drive across the country.

Auguste Marie François Beernaert and Paul Henri d'Estournelles de Constant are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in promoting international arbitration in foreign affairs.

Orville and Wilbur Wright spent the year demonstrating their flying machines and setting several aviation speed and distance milestones. One passenger in a demonstration in Italy in April was a cameraman who filmed the first motion picture from an airplane. That summer, they were invited to the White House to receive awards from President Taft. In October, Wilbur flew for over 30 minutes up and down the Hudson river and circling the Statue of Liberty in front of a million spectators at Manhattan's Hudson-Fulton celebrations.

1909 in Popular Music

"Take Me Up With You, Dearie" by Billy Murray

"Down in Jungle Town (Parody Version)" by Nat M. Wills

"Let's Go Into A Picture Show" by Byron G. Harlan

The above tracks come from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project. The phonograph cylinder was the most popular format for recorded music from the turn of the century until the disc format became more popular in the 1910s.

1899

2009-01-01T00:01:00.005-07:00

Time Capsule Year: 1899

Scott Joplin publishes the Maple Leaf Rag. It would become his most popular piece, one of the most popular ragtime songs of all time, and the first instrumental to sell a million copies. It sparked a cultural appreciation of ragtime music that lasted through the next decade.

On February 6, The United States Senate ratified the peace treaty officially ending the Spanish Amercan War.

Falsely accused French officer Alfred Dreyfus is retried and pardoned as a result of the controversy caused by Emile Zola's J'Accuse.

Newsboys in Brooklyn go on strike in response newspaper prices going up 10 cents a bundle.

The Second Boer War breaks out between the British empire and the Boer republics of South Africa.

Gold is found in Nome Alaska; it is the first of two major gold rushes in Alaska.

Among the future luminaries of film that are born in 1899: Alfred Hitchcock, Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart, and James Cagney.

Film Highlights of 1899:

A Turn of the Century Illusionist

Georges Méliès always seems to be a few years ahead of his time. Here we see his typically playful style as he pushes the limits of the technology he's using.

King John

Notable for being earliest adaptation of Shakespeare on film. This is the last of four scenes, and the only one that survives.

Admiral Dewey Landing at Gibraltar

One of over a dozen films the Edison Co. made of the Spanish-American War admiral over the course of the year.

ERASERHEAD

2007-07-06T22:47:00.000-06:00

Humans are essentially wet and gooey. Our bodies contain up to 60% water, and our biological processes, from digestion to circulation to reproduction, all basically involve slippery organs slushing soupy liquids from place to place. And although we're often too vain to acknowledge it, we all leave a trail of oily fingerprints, stray nose hairs, clipped toe nails, and dead skin cells everywhere we go. Civilization could be defined by everything that tries to conceal our basically messy nature: band-aids, underwear, deodorant, electric shavers, etc.

In David Lynch's Eraserhead, the rigid facade of smooth surfaces and right angles fits awkwardly over the undulating globs of flesh that make up the basis of our biology. A man and woman falling in love, having sex, and raising a baby, should be the most natural thing in the world, but in this movie, it's monstrously repugnant.

Early in the film, our protagonist, Henry, accepts an invitation to dinner with his girlfriend and her parents. All the social implications and arbitrary etiquette create an itchy discomfort. This mood is permeated by the sound of the family's puppies suckling; loudly demonstrating how uncomplicated the basic act of eating ought to be. The main course is man made chickens, presumably manufactured by white-coated technicians in an antiseptic laboratory instead of farmers with dirty fingernails or hunters with blood up to their elbows. Appropriately, the mechanical cuckoo clock signals when it is permissible to eat.

The father, is the only character not alienated from his nature. As a plumber, he's not fooled by the my-shit-don't-stink pretense of the rest of society. He's "put every damn pipe in this neighborhood", he says, and he's seen it change "from pastures to the hell-hole it is now". Every time his conversation veers toward his body - his bad knees, or his numb left arm - he is quickly shushed by his wife.

According to Eraserhead, we have more in common with the primordial ooze we crawled out of than the civilized society we pretend to live in.

Time Capsule Year: 1977

2007-07-02T22:37:00.000-06:00

Academy Award for Best Picture Winner:
Annie Hall

Cannes Golden Palm Winner:
Padre Padrone

National Film Register:
Star Wars
Annie Hall
Powers Of Ten
Killer of Sheep

Time Magazine Person Of The Year:
Anwar Sadat

Nobel Peace Prize:
Amnesty International

Timeline of News Events:
January 20 - Jimmy Carter inaugurated as 39th President of the United States.
January 23 - Television mini-series Roots airs.
June 7 - Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" crusade successfully repeals Miami-Dade County's gay rights ordinance, leading gay activist to launch a nationwide boycott of Florida Citrus for whom she advertised.
July 13 - A blackout in NYC lasts 25 hours and leads to looting and disorder.
August 10 - Serial killer David Berkowitz (aka Son of Sam) is arrested in New York. (see Summer Of Sam)
August 16 - Elvis Presley Dies.
September 12 - South African activist Steve Biko dies in police custody. (see Cry Freedom)
October 1 - Pele plays his last professional soccer game as member of the New York Cosmos (see Once In A Lifetime)
October 20 - 3 members of the rock group, Lynyrd Skynyrd, die when their chartered plane crashes.
November 19 - Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel.

In Queue:
Annie Hall
Padre Padrone
Saturday Night Fever
The Late Show
New York, New York
Amar Akbar Anthony
Slap Shot
Soldier Of Orange
The Duellist
Allegro Non Troppo
Eraserhead
Kentucky Fried Movie
The Consequence
Equus

MIA on DVD:
Killer Of Sheep
Madame Rosa
A Special Day

Already Seen:
Star Wars
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Suspiria
The American Friend
High Anxiety
The Hobbit
Oh, God!
Jubilee
Semi-Tough
Powers of Ten

Top 10 Movies of 1967

2007-06-30T22:12:00.000-06:00

1. Point Blank - Instead of a muscle-flexing line-growling action hero, Lee Marvin's revenge obsessed thug is more menacing for his economy of movement and relative silence. And director John Boorman gives this ultra-cool (and ultra-violent) vengeance film a non-linear new wave treatment that leaves enough ambiguity to invite an intriguing supernatural interpretation.

2. Le Samourai - Jean-Pierre Melville's film introduces a meticulous hit man, played by Alain Delon, who unexpectedly invokes our sympathy as an extremely competent professional whose attention to detail is so impressive we almost forget how unsavory those details are. Our respect is validated when his basic decency is revealed in the film's unforgettable ending. Also, check out Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai; a film that seems to be directly influenced by this one.

3. Cool Hand Luke - A fiercely independent prisoner bucks authority everywhere he encounters it (appropriately, he is incarcerated for vandalizing parking meters), first he challenges his alpha-male prison mate, then the prison bosses, and ultimately, God himself. Each defiant action, both successful and failed (mostly failed), earn him the admiration and loyalty of his fellow prisoners. Biblical allusions that liken him to both Moses and Jesus suggest a sort of anarchist Messiah, or a Christ-as-Libertarian parable.

4. Reflections In A Golden Eye - A year after Liz Taylor played the bratty, defiantly trampy wife in the overwrought Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, she played a similar role in John Huston's depiction of repressed sexuality and dysfunctional marriage. The ensemble of quirky characters (the tramp, the closet case, the nut case, the voyeur, and the eunuch) keeps the story so lurid that the promise of murder in the opening scene is quickly forgotten (one of several similarities between this film and American Beauty).

5. In Cold Blood - A near-documentary recreation of a well-documented murder of an entire family. It's disturbingly immersive; enough to make me question the ethics of watching it. Is it really appropriate for this very real atrocity be offered up as entertainment? Is it insensitive to the friends and family of the victims for us to be rehashing every sensational gory aspect of the crime? Maybe so, maybe not, but no other film has ever brought me to this place, albeit a chilly and unpleasant place.

6. The Young Girls of Rochefort - Jacques Demy's unapologetically romantic old-school musical is a love letter to the very same cheery, brightly-colored Hollywood tradition that his contemporaries in the French New Wave (including his wife Agnes Varda) react against. Ballet influenced choreography and light jazz give the standard formula a classy and unmistakably French flair - sort of like what Cirque du Soleil does for Vegas glitz.

7. Play Time - Few filmmakers have a cinematic voice as unique and distinctive as Jacques Tati's. It's physical comedy that unfolds at a deliberate and rhythmic pace with little or no dialogue. The gags are often subtle, or develop slowly over time. Play Time is set in a modern Paris, and Tati's protagonist, Mr. Hulot, is a throwback to a simpler era who is baffled by the alien world he finds himself wandering through. It makes a good companion to Chaplin's Modern Times.

8. Two For The Road - As The Graduate and Bonnie And Clyde ushered in a new generation of movie-making, Stanley Donen's innovative romantic comedy proved that the old guard wasn't entirely irrelevant yet. It features standard classic movie elements: it's shot on exotic European locales with glamorous A-List movie stars, the banter is quick and witty, and Audrey Hepburn's designer fashions are always crisp even while road tripping across Europe. Despite its breeziness, it has some insightful things to say about the way real life married couples interact, and it demonstrates this brilliantly through clever non-chronological editing.

9. The Graduate - This influential coming-of-age story is somehow dated and timeless at the same time. The conventional wisdom of the time was that this film heralded a new generation's rejection of their parent's out-dated values and hypocrisies. 40 years later, this same generation is working in plastics, and driving their SUVs to their homes in the suburbs. But this doesn't invalidate the movie; it just proves that the alienation and insecurities of youth are not unique to Boomers.

10. How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying - A fun and surprisingly cynical take on corporate culture. Set on the same campy sixties planet that Austin Powers came from, and featuring some typically jazzy choreography by Bob Fosse, and a pitch-perfect comic performance by Robert Morse as the naive-yet-scheming J. Pierpont Finch (that's F-I-N-C-H).

Films set in 1927

2007-03-23T13:31:00.000-06:00

For Goatdog's 1927 Blog-A-Thon, I'm departing from my established formula. I'll resume discussing movies of 1937 after today's brief return to 1927.

Since I've already blogged about the movies of 1927 throughout the month of February (see all my posts here), I decided to list some films from other years that were set in 1927.

Events of 1927

May 20-21, Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1957, Jimmy Stewart portrayed Lucky Lindy in The Spirit of St. Louis, which focused on this historic event.

August 23, Anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed in Massachusetts after being in convicted of murder and robbery in a controversial and highly publicized case. Their case was dramatized in the 1971 Italian film Sacco and Vanzetti.

October 6, The Jazz Singer opens and becomes a sensation. The motion picture industry has to transition to this new standard of synchronized sound with unforeseen consequences. This was memorably demonstrated in 1952's Singin' In The Rain.

The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a flourishing of African American art and culture centered in Harlem, New York. The movement produced an expansive list of inspiring and influential artists, one of whom is the innovative dancer Josephine Baker whose life story was made into the movie The Josephine Baker Story in 1991. Harlem in the 20s was also the setting for Francis Ford Coppola's 1984 classic The Cotton Club.

Prohibition, Speakeasies and Gangsters

Prohibition led to speakeasies, the covert establishments that served liquor. Organized crime prospered by running these clubs and by supplying the bootlegged booze. Al Capone became the most notorious of these gangsters. This provided a rich source of inspiration for movies (The Untouchables, Road To Perdition, Scarface, Some Like it Hot, Miller's Crossing, Idlewild, etc.), but most of these take place after Capone's Valentine's Day massacre in 1929, or during the Depression in the early 30s. Two notable examples of this genre that span the time before the Depression are Sergio Leone's epic Once Upon A Time In America (1984), and Cagny/Bogart crime thriller The Roaring Twenties (1939).

DEAD END

2007-03-18T01:22:00.001-06:00

In Dead End, notorious gangster Baby Face Martin (Humphrey Bogart) returns to his childhood home in the slums of East Side Manhattan to see his mother (Marjorie Main) and his old sweetheart (Claire Trevor, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance).

The film follows a variety of characters who try to cope with life in a slum squeezed between the East River and the upscale high-rises of the wealthy. Sweet and hardworking Drina tries to keep her little brother Tommy from falling in with a gang of delinquents. Dave, an unemployed architect, tries to make an honest living painting signs while trying to impress Kay, the mistress of a wealthy man torn between love and security.

THEN

1937 was a hopeful time for New York City. Following a period of political corruption and economic depression, their former Governor, Franklin Roosevelt, was elected President, and popular reformist mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, was elected mayor. Democrat Roosevelt's New Deal programs greatly benefitted New York City, and Republican LaGuardia was a strong supporter of it.

The movie was based on play by Sindey Kingsley which explores how adult crime is linked to juvenile delinquency, and how both are exacerbated by poverty and social inequality. In this era of growing socialist idealism, the play was eagerly received on Broadway and ran for almost two years (Oct 1935 - June 1937)

NOW

The film's politics may have seemed progressive at the time, but after 70 years of labor unions, minimum wage, social security, and welfare programs, they don't seem so radical.

The movie featured a gang of juvenile delinquents that proved so popular that the "Dead End Kids" spun off a series of movies of their own. Although this was probably Bogart's most acclaimed role at the time (after the previous year's Petrified Forest became his breakout hit), many of his subsequent movies easily overshadow this one.

PEPE LE MOKO

2007-03-14T10:11:00.000-06:00

The Casbah is a walled-in mazelike section of the city of Algiers where notorious French jewel thief Pepe Le Moko hides from the Authorities. The police know they can never catch Pepe while he's in the Casbah; there are too many hiding places, and he has too many friends. Pepe knows he can never leave the Casbah or he would immediately be captured.

A beautiful diamond covered French tourist represents everything Pepe has been isolated from: love, home, and country, and he becomes obsessed with her. Inspector Slimane, Pepe's nemesis and admirer, sees an opportunity; would the thief risk everything for this jewel?

THEN

The Casbah of Pepe Le Moko is exotic and romantic - much different from the horrific and violent Casbah that we would see in The Battle of Algiers 30 years later.

Although there had been tensions between the indigenous Muslims and the European settlers throughout the 100+ years of French rule in Algeria, the conflict wouldn't come to a head until the start of the Algerian War of Independence two decades later.

NOW

This film is stylish and dense with atmosphere. It practically invents the noir genre, and there are many great classics (Casablanca for example) that influenced by it.

This movie would be remade as Algiers one year later in an English language version starring Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr. Algiers would be a faithful translation, mimicking exact shots from the original, and even editing in some of the original's footage. A decade later, a musical version would be made starring Peter Lorre. But perhaps its most familiar influence today is Pepe Le Pew, the famous cartoon skunk that was based on the character of Pepe Le Moko.

THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA

2007-03-12T17:37:00.001-06:00

Paul Muni plays the title role in The Life of Emile Zola, the biographical film of the 19th century French writer, social activist, and general dust-kicker.

Unevenly paced and choppily edited, the first act efficiently checks through the list of necessary milestones of Zola's early career. The second act abandons Zola altogether and focuses on a simplified and incomplete version of The Dreyfus Affair.

It's in its third act that the film justifies its Best Picture Oscar. The movie becomes a first rate courtroom drama with surprise witnesses, withheld evidence, testy lawyers objecting, and irritable judges overruling. Zola's on trial for libel after publishing J'accuse, the controversial essay critical of the French government. In the climatic speech by Zola to the jury, Muni pours his considerable reserves of passion into his fist pumping and jowl shaking monologue.

THEN

The story of anti-Semitism in France in the late 19th century, and its probable role in sending an innocent patriot into exile, was timely considering the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, particularly Germany. Or at least it would have been had the film mentioned it.

Bafflingly, the most relevant and compelling part of the Dreyfus affair was completely left out of the movie! It wasn't until after I saw the movie and researched its accuracy that I learned that Zola and Dreyfus were Jewish, and that this was a significant part of the case.

NOW

Although I criticize this movie for simplifying the facts of the Dreyfus case, it's this generalization that makes this movie eerily relevant today. In the movie's version of the case, the army falsely convicts Dreyfus, and after they discover their error, they cover it up to save face. Zola's meddling threatens to divide the country just when they need unity the most, so he is branded a traitor. In this sense, Zola is like modern muckraker Michael Moore in that his attempt to hold the government accountable for its actions is considered a treasonous act by some, and a patriotic act by others.

THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER

2007-03-08T22:06:00.001-07:00

Tom Canty is a dirt poor beggar boy who lives with his abusive father. He was born on the same day and has an uncanny resemblance to Prince Edward, son of King Henry VIII and next in line of succession to the throne.

After escaping a downpour, Tom finds shelter on the palace grounds where Prince Edward saves him from the palace guard and befriends him. While playing, the prince and the pauper exchange clothes and marvel at their similarities. Edward is mistaken for Tom by the palace guard and sent from the palace.

Neither boy can convince anyone that they are not who they appear to be, but Prince Edward is befriended and protected by Miles Hendon who is initially skeptical about Edward's royal claims, but humors him anyway. Once convinced, he tries to help Edward return to the palace before Tom is mistakenly crowned King.

THEN

King George VI's coronation was May 12, 1937. This movie's release date was scheduled to coincide with this (after its May 5 premier, it opened widely May 8).

Errol Flynn's popularity after his breakout performance in Captain Blood two years earlier led to him being top billed despite not being in the lead role. He makes his first appearance in the film halfway through.

Although Twain's novel was a social satire about class inequities, it's doubtful that this swashbuckling film version had such a political agenda. But the fact that these social issues could fit so unobtrusively in a family movie is an indication of how pervasive these ideas were. The Depression had caused an increased involvement in organized labor and a general national shift toward socialism as demonstrated by President Roosevelt's social programs of the New Deal. These social issues were more overtly promoted in such movies as Winterset in 1936.

NOW

As a classic work of literature, the story is timeless and has lent itself to several remakes, including versions starring Mickey Mouse, Barbie, and the up-coming Sprouse Brothers modern version.

STAGE DOOR

2007-03-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

Stage Door is about The Footlights Club, a boarding house for aspiring actresses. When a confident rich amateur (Katharine Hepburn) moves in, her snobbery immediately provokes the derision of the other tenants, particularly the wisecracking and insecure dancer (Ginger Rogers) who is assigned as her roommate.

The other residents run the gamut from the old grand dame who's underappreciated in her advanced age, to the teenager who's never even been in a theater except as a spectator. Andrea Leeds (in her Oscar winning performance) plays last year's sensation desperate to get another role before people forget who she is. Gail Patrick plays a scheming social climber trying to date her way to fame. The cynical and sarcastic Eve Arden, and the jaded Lucille Ball round out the impressive ensemble.

THEN

Stories of star struck young women becoming disillusioned by the reality of show business was becoming popular theme in the films of the time as demonstrated in another 1937 film, A Star Is Born.

Audiences were already familiar with Katherine Hepburn as she had already won an Oscar in Morning Glory four years earlier. Earlier in her career, she had starred in a Broadway play called "The Lake" which had famously flopped. Hepburn playfully references this in Stage Door when, as a bad actress set up to fail, she woodenly recites a line from The Lake: "The calla lilies are in bloom again. Such a strange flower, suitable to any occasion..." This line would become one of her more memorable catchphrases.

Audiences were also familiar with Ginger Rogers. Although usually associated with Fred Astaire, she had a career of her own, and was known to typically play strong and sassy characters.

NOW

The movie was the big break for Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, and Ann Miller, and it was fascinating to see early performances from these women who would become household names years later

The feminism holds up well 70 years later. Despite all the mean-spirited wisecracking, these women are there for each other when it counts. They're independent, tough, and smart.

SHALL WE DANCE

2007-03-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

In Shall We Dance, Fred Astaire plays a ballet dancer who wants to be a tap dancer. He falls in love with a picture of a broadway performer played by Ginger Rogers and decides to meet her. He follows her from Paris to New York on an ocean liner. His publicist starts a rumor that the two are secretly married which causes a sensation as they arrive in New York. After a series of unlikely but not unexpected events, the two naturally end up together in the end.

THEN

Fred and Ginger musical comedies were nothing new in 1937. This was a follow up to a string of hits that included Top Hat in 1935 and Swing Time in 1936. These movies never pretended to be anything more than escapist entertainment where Depression era audiences could forget their troubles for a couple of hours.

Shall We Dance was an attempt to class up the Astaire/Rogers musical. They replaced the popular Irving Berlin songs with the more classical George and Ira Gershwin compositions, and brought a ballet influence to the dance. But it still seemed stale. Maybe they had they had exhausted the formula by this film, or perhaps the recovering economy left less of a market for the escapist entertainment.

NOW

Like any other Astaire/Rogers musical, the stories are hackneyed situation comedies that today's audiences have seen enough of on television. So the best way to watch them now is to fast forward to the song-and-dance numbers.

This movie has a few highlights in this regard: In "Slap That Bass", Fred dances on a stylized set version of an ocean liner's engine room to the rhythms of the machines; In "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off", Fred and Ginger dance on roller skates in a Central Park set; and "They Can't Take That Away From Me" is great classic Gershwin song.

Unfortunately, the movie also has more than its share of misses, particularly the final "Shall We Dance" number where Fred hardly dances with Ginger at all, but initially with a disturbingly flexible Harriet Hoctor, then with a chorus line of women wearing creepy Ginger Rogers masks.

WAIKIKI WEDDING

2007-03-02T15:04:00.001-07:00

In Waikiki Wedding, The Imperial Pineapple Company hires Bing Crosby, a layabout former Navy man, to come up with marketing ideas. His latest idea is to have a contest on the mainland and crown the winner "The Pineapple Girl" and award her with an all expense paid vacation to Hawaii. In exchange, she would publish her experiences in the newspaper.

The plan backfires when the Pineapple Girl finds she doesn't like Hawaii and threatens to publish this fact. It's up to Bing to show her a good time to ensure she publishes a positive review. A moonlight boat ride while crooning the Oscar winning song, Sweet Leilani, just might do the trick.

THEN

In 1937, Hawaii was a strategic American military base, a popular tourist destination for wealthy Americans, and the pineapple capitol of the world.

Hawaii was not a state, but a territory. The most significant differences being that the agriculture industry was not required to pay the same tariffs as the mainland plantations, nor were they obligated to uphold the same labor laws. The sugarcane industry prospered under this situation and wielded considerable political clout. Second to sugarcane, was pineapple. Dole pineapple, which produced 75% of the world's pineapple, was clearly the model for the "Imperial Pineapple Co." in this movie.

There was an attempt in 1937 by Congress to grant statehood to Hawaii, but it failed over issues of race as Hawaii would be the only state with a non-white majority. If this attitude was prevalent at the time, it's not apparent in the movie; the Hawaiian culture is portrayed respectfully. Plenty of dialogue and song lyrics are in the native language without subtitles, and the Hawaiian roles are played by native actors (or at least non-white actors). I don't know if Bing had a hand in ensuring that the Hawaiians were depicted with dignity, but it wouldn't surprise me. He had been insistent on the casting and prominent billing of Louis Armstrong in the previous year's Pennies From Heaven, the first time a white and black actor shared top billing on a major film.

NOW

Martha Raye and Anthony Quinn are familiar faces to today's viewer, although they were relatively unknown at the time. Martha Raye's performance is particularly over-the-top, but it was uncharted territory for a female comic at the time and a possible influence on Lucille Ball. It's hard to laugh at her humorous song about binge drinking when you know how hard her life would become due to her alcohol problems later in life.

1937

2007-03-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

Time Capsule Year: 1937

Academy Award Best Picture Winner:
The Life of Emile Zola

National Film Register:
The Awful Truth
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs
The Prisoner of Zenda

Time Magazine Person of the Year:
Chiang Kai-shek and Soong May-ling

Nobel Peace Prize:
Robert Cecil

Timeline of News Events:
January 20 - Franklin D. Roosevelt starts his second term after being re-elected in a landslide.
April 26 - Guernica, in the autonomous Basque region of Spain but sympathetic to the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War, is bombed by the German Luftwaffe allied with Franco's Nationalists.
May 6 - German passenger zeppelin, The Hindenburg, bursts into flame while landing in New Jersey, killing 36 passengers.
May 27 - The Golden Gate Bridge opens.
June 7 - Blonde bombshell Jean Harlow dies from kidney disease.
June 22 - Joe Louis "The Brown Bomber" defeats James J. Braddock "The Cinderella Man" to become the heavyweight boxing champion.
July 2 - Amelia Earhart disappears over the Pacific during her attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.
July 7 - Japan invades China launching the Second Sino-Japanese War and starting WWII in Asia.
September 21 - JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit published.
December 21 - The premier of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, considered the first full length animated feature by people who willfully ignore Lotte Reiniger's stunning 1926 film The Adventures of Prince Achmed.

In Queue:
Titles I've added to my GreenCine and NetFlix queues to see this month.
Waikiki Wedding
Shall We Dance
Stage Door
The Grand Illusion
The Life of Emile Zola
The Awful Truth
You Only Live Once
Big Fella
Drole de Drame
In Old Chicago
Dead End
The Prince And The Pauper
Pepe Le Moko
A Day At The Races

MIA on DVD:
Movies I would have added to my queue, but are not available at GreenCine or Netflix.
The Prisoner of Zenda
Angel
The Spanish Earth
On The Avenue
Saratoga

Already Seen:
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs
Lost Horizon
A Star Is Born

Top 10 Movies of 1927

2007-02-28T00:02:00.001-07:00

1. Metropolis
The influence of Fritz Lang's sci-fi epic can still be seen almost a century later in future-dystopia cyberpunk films like Blade Runner and The Matrix. It presents a future where technology outpaces social advances, and soulless machines threaten to overwhelm the human experience.

The irony is that the gee-whiz factor of hot robot babes, impossibly tall building and flying cars overshadows Lang's humanist social allegory. What gets lost is a surprisingly optimistic message that humans can overcome their tendency to react violently against oppression and peaceably reconcile their differences. In the Soviet films of the time, the class struggle would end in glorious revolution; instead, Lang subversively depicts the worker's revolution as benefiting the ruling class by providing a justification for violent retaliation.

2. Sunrise
In his Hollywood debut, F.W. Murnau doesn't abandon the style that he perfected in his German films. His films are more narrative photography than filmed plays. He tells stories through carefully composed shots with elaborate sets and precise lighting. He doesn't bog down his narratives with superfluous details (such as names for his characters) that would hinder his pacing or require more intrusive title cards.

The story is basic: a married man falls for another woman who suggests he murder his wife so they could be together. Despite (or perhaps because of) this simplicity, the plot is extremely tense.

3. The Love of Jeanne Ney
Set during the Russian Civil War, I expected more political intrigue. Instead, the politics are more or less wrapped up early in the first act and it becomes a suspenseful and twisty crime story that's a little bit Mr. Ripley and a little bit Blood Simple.

4. Chang
An exciting adventure story about surviving in an untamed jungle teeming with predators and other dangers - and that's just the making of. This is a DVD to watch with the commentary on as the story behind how the movie was made is more intriguing than the movie itself.

5. The Chess Player
An epic historical drama set in 18th century Poland under the rule of the Russian Empire. A young revolutionary is on the run after a failed coup attempt. His ally, an Austrian inventor who creates automatons, plans to smuggle him to safety inside his chess playing machine. Some stylish montage sequences keep the political storyline engaging, but it's the downright creepy automaton scenes that leave a lasting impression.

6. The General
Adapting a serious Civil War incident into a slapstick comedy is risky, especially considering the cost of sending an actual train off a cliff. Since the plots of many Buster Keaton movies just serve to tie together stunt sequences, this is easily his most ambitious movie. It works, but I wonder if it was all worth it; I still find the cheaper and less cohesive Sherlock Junior to be the most enjoyable of all Keaton's movies.

7. Berlin: Symphony Of A Great City
An inspired montage of images of Berlin edited together to capture the rhythms of the city over the course of a day. An invaluable historical document that permanently captures the mood of the day in the same way a newsreel might capture the events of the day.

8. The Lodger
A family begins to suspect that the quirky man they rent a room to might just be the serial killer that's been evading the police. Hitchcock's first suspense thriller doesn't sustain the tension as relentlessly as his subsequent work, but it has its moments of brilliance.

9. Bed And Sofa
A couple decides to share their small apartment with an old army buddy. The intimate quarters leads to strained relationships. The husband's tolerance of a developing affair between his wife and friend seems surprisingly open-minded, but tensions still mount over little things, particularly who gets to sleep in the bed and who has to sleep on the sofa. The story focuses on individuals which is a departure from typical Soviet film of the time which usually focused on communities. There was probably an allegory to communism in there somewhere, but it was lost on me. The sexual attitudes were remarkably progressive for any film of the time from any country.

10. The Gaucho
Not the typical Douglas Fairbanks movie where he plays the athletic hero who goes on chandelier swinging, sword fighting, horse riding adventures to save the beautiful woman. This time he plays an athletic bandit who goes on chandelier swinging, sword fighting, horse riding adventures to save the beautiful woman - and his soul.

MIA Movies:
These are some significant films that I was unable to see as they are not available on DVD (at least not on GreenCine or NetFlix):

Napoleon
Wings
The Jazz Singer
Seventh Heaven
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg

Had I seen these, this list most probably would have been different.

THE LODGER

2007-02-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

London is terrorized by a serial killer that violently murders a pretty young blonde every Tuesday, and leaves a calling card that says simply "The Avenger" at the scene. At the home of one pretty young blonde named Daisy, a mysterious stranger decides to rent a room. As she starts falling for The Lodger, her boyfriend Joe, a cop assigned to the Avenger case, gets jealous. And suspicious.

THEN

Audiences who saw The Lodger in 1927 probably didn't know who the director was; although he had directed a film or two before this, Alfred Hitchcock hadn't had a substantial hit until this one. He has said that he considers this his "first true film". Audiences may have recognized the influence of German Expressionism that Hitchcock probably picked up from his two previous German co-productions. His use of light and shadow to convey ideas in lieu of dialogue is decidedly Murnau-esque.

It was Ivor Novello that people paid to see. He was already a successful singer and composer before appearing in movies. He was at the peak of his matinee idol status when he starred in two Hitchcock features in 1927 (this and Downhill). Novello's homosexuality was a something of an open secret, so perhaps Hitchcock was knowingly playing to pop culture with the dialogue:

JOE: Does this lodger of yours mean any harm to Daisy?
MRS. BUNTING: Don't be silly, Joe. He's not that sort.
JOE: Even if he's a bit queer, he's a gentleman.

NOW

Audiences in 1927 didn't know who Alfred Hitchcock was, but he's the primary reason we watch this movie today. It's impossible to watch it without being reminded of Hitchcock's subsequent work. It already has many of the elements that are associated with his signature style: mistaken identity, incompetent police, a tormented blonde, and relentless tension that threatens to break into violence at any given moment.

IT

2007-02-26T00:08:00.000-07:00

Cyrus inherits his father's department store, and Betty Lou, a perky young salesgirl, falls for her dashing new boss. Monty, Cyrus' foppish friend, is obsessed with finding a girl with "It".

What is "It"? Writer Elinor Glyn, who coined the term, makes a cameo appearance to explain. "It" is "That strange magnetism which attracts both sexes... entirely unself-conscious... full of self-confidence... indifferent to the effect... she is producing and uninfluenced by others." In short, sex appeal. And, as Monty observes, Betty Lou is "positively top-heavy with 'It'".

Betty Lou's and Cyrus' attraction to each other is mutual, but naturally there are a series of misunderstandings that threaten to prevent them from being together. Will the poor but pretty girl will end up with the rich and handsome man? I wouldn't bet against it.

THEN

Sexual attitudes were loosening during the 20s, and Clara Bow personified the new attitude: higher hemlines, lower necklines, and more assertive and shameless flirting. But some of the movie's progressive elements are tempered with concessions to more traditional values. Betty Lou brashly comes on to her boss and tricks him into taking her on a date, but when he kisses her after the date, she slaps him. She supports a friend who is an unwed mother, but when she finds out Cyrus believes the baby is hers, she's offended that he would think she was that kind of woman.

The attitude toward the unwed mother seems particularly quaint today. Apparently being unmarried is not only grounds for having your baby taken away by meddling social service workers (didn't I see these same busybodies taking the baby away from a woman who had a bottle of wine in the house in Intolerance?), but it's also newsworthy enough to be published in the newspaper.

NOW

Modern workplaces are more sensitive to issues of sexual harassment. Monty scoping out the salesgirls trying to find who has "It" would by condemned today. We also wouldn't find such gender specific wording in our employment ads as: "Female worker wanted... neat appearance"

The First Best Pictures

2007-02-25T00:02:00.000-07:00

January 11, 1927 - Louis B. Mayer hosts a banquet for 3 dozen VIPs from 5 branches of the motion picture industry (producers, directors, actors, writers, technicians) to promote an organization to be called The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All 36 sign on and become the Academy Founders.

May 4, 1927 - The Academy becomes a legal corporation. 300 eligible industry professionals are invited to a banquet where the Academy's newly elected first president, Douglas Fairbanks, convinces over 200 of them to become new members.

He also announced that the Academy will give awards of merit. These awards were not initially voted on by the Academy members, but determined by a panel of judges. Each member was allowed to vote for a nominee in their own branch. A panel of judges in each branch would count the votes and narrow the nominees down for a central board of judges. This board would have 5 members, one from each branch, and they would decide the winners.

Initially there was two best picture categories: Best Production was awarded to "the most outstanding motion picture considering all elements that contribute to a picture's greatness"; and Artistic Quality of Production was given to "the most artistic, unique and/or original motion picture without reference to cost or magnitude." Because The Jazz Singer was such a sensation, the Awards Committee decided to rule it ineligible for either of the best picture awards and gave it its own special award.

Wings won for Best Production and Sunrise won for Artistic Quality of Production, but there was some controversy. The Central Board of Judges initially decided to award the Artistic Quality of Production award to King Vidor's The Crowd, but Louis B. Mayer, who was there despite not officially being a judge, persuaded them to give the award to F.W. Murnau's Sunrise. One of his arguments was that if they gave the award to a Fox production, it would prove there was no collusion between Mayer, The Academy, and MGM. After arguing until 5:00 am, the Central Board relented.

February 18, 1929 - The winners are announced in the Academy Bulletin.

May 16, 1929 - The banquet is held and the statuettes are handed out. Douglas Fairbanks presented all the awards, and they were all distributed in less than 5 minutes.

This would be the only time that there would be two best picture categories. I think it's interesting to consider what might have happened if they continued to award art movies in a separate category from big productions. It seems inappropriate to compare Good Will Hunting with Titanic, or Lord or the Rings: The Return of the King with Lost in Translation. But I supppose that's what The Independent Spirit Awards are for.

Inexplicably, Wings and The Jazz Singer are not available on DVD (at least not on GreenCine or NetFlix), so I've not been able to see either of them. I did find these clips of Wings on YouTube:

THE LOVE OF JEANNE NEY

2007-02-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

Jeanne Ney is the daughter of a diplomat in the Crimea, the last stronghold of the White Army in the Russian Civil War. The Love of Jeanne Ney is Andreas, a soldier, and, secretly, a Bolshevik. When the Red Army takes over, and Jeanne's father is shot, Jeanne returns to her family in Paris. Andreas also goes to Paris on a mission to organize a communist revolt.

Once in Paris, Jeanne gets a job working for her uncle's detective agency. A missing diamond and the appearance of Khalibiev, an unscrupulous scam artist who also escaped the Crimea, sets in motion a series of twists and schemes that leaves Andreas wrongfully accused of murder, and Jeanne looking for Khalibiev to clear his name.

THEN

Director G.W. Pabst's politics lean decidedly left. This is evidenced by his sympathetic portrayal of the Bolsheviks in the film. This is not surprising considering that he was a founding member of the Dacho, a German film workers organization. What is remarkable is that the production company, UFA, allowed it. In March 1927, the UFA was taken over by Nazi sympathizer Alfred Hugenberg.

Curiously, Pabst would return to Nazi occupied Austria and remain there during the war making three propaganda films for the Nazis. He would later claim that he was pressed into this service. A claim supported by his subsequent anti-Nazi postwar movies.

NOW

From a technical standpoint, Pabst was ahead of his time. Most films of the silent era are static medium shots, like a filmed play. Pabst's camera work is very dynamic (panning, dollying, and zooming) with lots of close-ups. I was also impressed by the depth of his shots; action or composition in the foreground, middle ground, and background, and frequent use of mirrors and other reflecting surfaces. This style would become the signature of Orson Welles decades later.

1927 Blog-A-Thon

2007-02-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

This is almost perfect for my blog. Apparently there's a blog-a-thon for the films of 1927. I found this on goatdogblog, and it will be March 23-25 when I will be blogging about the movies of 1937. Since I'm blogging about the films of 1927 throughout the month of February, I suppose I could blog about them for one additional weekend in March, too. It's only fair; February is too short a month for such an important year in film history.

THE SIREN OF THE TROPICS

2007-02-22T00:08:00.001-07:00

In The Siren of the Tropics, Josephine Baker plays Papitou, a childlike and impulsive Caribbean native. The first half of the film is set in the Antilles where Papitou becomes devoted to Andre, a French engineer. The second half is set in Paris where Papitou sets out to find Andre, and during the course of her adventures, she becomes a celebrated dancer.

The plot is a melodrama of little interest - the movie is a vehicle for Josephine Baker. With the exception of a couple of regrettably overacted dramatic scenes and an ill-fitting comic bit in the middle, Baker shows off her considerable natural appeal in her film debut. She somehow manages to be naive and sophisticated, primitive and modern, playful and sensual all at the same time.

THEN

Josephine Baker was a performer at the height of the Harlem Renaissance in the mid-20s. She was an innovative dancer that helped popularize Jazz Dance, particularly the Charleston, the dance most associated with the era. Although black culture and art was flourishing in Harlem, racism was peaking in other parts of the nation. The popularity of the Ku Klux Klan was at its peak in 1927; Alabama had elected a Governor and a Senator who were Klan members.

By this time, Baker had relocated to France where she was a sensation as an erotic dancer.

NOW

A black woman dancing half-naked in a banana skirt today would not be considered progressive, but Baker's reputation is untarnished; her brash sexuality comes across as more liberating than degrading. Her involvement with the French Underground resisting Nazi occupation during WWII and her involvement with the American Civil Rights Movement assure that history will always see her as an inspirational figure.

THE THREE-SIDED MIRROR

2007-02-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

The most remarkable thing about Jean Epstein's The Three-Sided Mirror is it's non-linear structure. The narrative involves a man's relationship with three different women. Each woman is given a confessional segment where she describes their relationship in flashback effectively creating six distinct storylines which are tied by an arc in which the man dumps each one in sequence and drives off. Instead of being confusing, this outline actually tells a complex story quite succinctly.

THEN

Besides his films, Jean Epstein's most enduring legacy is his mentorship of surrealist film maker Luis Bunuel. The two would collaborate on Epstein's most well-known work, the outstanding Fall of the House Usher in 1928.

NOW

Although the non-linear timeline was innovative for the time, they are not unusual now; Memento, The Singing Detective, and Pulp Fiction are three examples that come immediately to mind.

CHANG

2007-02-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

Chang is an anthropological documentary with a staged narrative in the style of Nanook of the North. Adventurers Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, last seen documenting the remarkable migration of the Baktyari tribe of Iran herding their goats over mountain passes in Grass, bring their cameras to a remote Lao tribe in the untamed jungles of Siam. Marty Mapes at Movie Habit has this excellent review of both films.

THEN

It's not entirely clear to me just how much of this was staged; the cameras always seem to be in the right place to catch some remarkable footage, suspiciously, from a variety of angles. This isn't detrimental. In fact, it's quite impressive - just how would somebody, logistically, stage a herd of wild elephants trampling a village?

The actual killing of exotic animals in this movie gets a bit hard to stomach after awhile, but I don't doubt that hunting for food and protection was a certain necessity for these people.

NOW

Merian Cooper considered remaking this movie a few decades later, but civilization had already crept in and permanently altered this culture preventing that possibility and making this film an indispensable record of a now non-existent culture.

Although I'm sure there were plenty of people in 1927 that were offended by the animal cruelty, I think it's fair to say that it is less tolerated today than then. A large part of this is no doubt due to the efforts of the American Humane society that has been monitoring the treatment of animals in movies for over 65 years.

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

2007-02-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

This epic adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin takes many liberties with Harriet Beecher Stowe's influential abolitionist novel.

Relatively kind slaveowner, Arthur Shelby, has financial difficulties, so he decides to sell two of his slaves: The child Harry, and old loyal Tom. Eliza, Harry's mother, takes her son and tries to escape north to Ohio. Tom, separated from his family is sold down the river where he is bought by a benevolent master in New Orleans before being auctioned off to the violent Simon Legree.

THEN

The novel was a cultural phenomenon. It was the best selling novel of the nineteenth century, and proved to be a flashpoint of the social divisiveness between the American North and South in the lead up to The Civil War. It spawned spoofs, pro-slavery versions, and "Tom Shows" (various staged versions of the novel). Since there was no official stage version, Tom Shows varied greatly from the novel; some even being pro-slavery. The black characters were usually played broadly, and always by white actors in blackface.

Given that this movie was made 75 years after the book, the fact that they cast an actual black actor as Uncle Tom hardly seems progressive considering they used white actors for many of the other black roles. This was often confusing (the mulatto characters were played by white actors without makeup so it was hard to tell who was "supposed" to be black) and sometimes offensive (a blackfaced Mona Ray's over-the-top buffoonery as Topsy was particularly degrading).

For contrast, see Scar of Shame, a 1927 movie made by a black director with a black cast for a black audience.

NOW

As influential as the novel may have been in changing America's attitudes toward slavery, it was a book by a white person for white people. As such, the portrayal of black culture, however well-intentioned, was not well-informed. Some of these characterizations have endured through popular media. The "pickaninny" stereotype of black children and the "mammy" character may not be as common today, but the term "Uncle Tom" to negatively characterize a black person who is eager to please white people is still commonly used.

By The Way: D.W. Griffith was originally announced as the director on this film. What were the producers thinking? The guy adapted The Clansman - he must be good at adaptations!

BATTLE OF THE CENTURY

2007-02-18T00:04:00.000-07:00

This Laurel and Hardy comedy short has two distinct and loosely related halves. In the first half, Stan is a skinny and inept boxer in a match against a much braunier and skilled boxer. In the second half a baker slips on a banana peel and it starts a series of pies-in-the-face that escalates to include an entire city block. It's not clear which fight is considered The Battle Of The Century.

THEN

Jack Dempsey was one of the most popular sports figures of the 20s. In September 1927, he faced Gene Tunney in an attempt to regain the World Heavyweight Championship; Dempsey had lost the title to Tunney a year earlier. The fight had garnered a lot of interest, and there were over 100,000 spectators at Soldier Field in Chicago.

The match would end in controversy and would be known as "The Long Count Fight". Tunney out-boxed Dempsey for 6 rounds, but in the 7th, Dempsey knocked Tunney to the mat. A new rule had been implemented prior to the fight that required a fighter who dropped his opponent to move to a neutral corner before the referee would begin counting. Dempsey was apparently unaware of this rule. It took 3 to 7 seconds for the referee to get Dempsey to a neutral corner before he began his count. Tunney got up on the count of 9. He regained his composure and won the remaining rounds and the match.

Laurel and Hardy not only took advantage of boxing's popularity, but specifically spoofed The Long Count incident.

NOW

Seriously - Slipping on a banana peel? A pie in the face? This movie must have seemed stale even then (Charli e Chaplin resorted to a pie fight in Behind The Screen 10 years earlier). Today, this 80 year old movie is as fresh as a 90 year old movie.

Person of the Year - Clara Bow

2007-02-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

There were archetypical movie stars: America's Sweetheart Mary Pickford, The Great Lover Rudolph Valentino, The Swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks, and others; but Hollywood never had the shameless sex symbol before Clara Bow set the precedent for future Mae Wests and Marilyn Monroes.

Clara Bow was in 6 films in 1927. Besides Wings, the first Best Picture Oscar winner, she was in Get Your Man, Hula, Rough House Rosie, Children of Divorce, and her defining role: It.

"It" simply refers to sex appeal. This euphemistic use of the word was coined by romance writer Elinor Glyn, and the movie adaptation of her novel was a showcase for Clara Bow's perky and flirtatious personality. It was a manufactured phenomenon, perhaps, but it's hard to imagine just any pretty face pulling this off with as much sincerity and charm as Bow.

The Jazz Age was a period of social liberalization, despite (or perhaps because of) Prohibition, and the flapper lifestyle flourished. Flappers were young women of the time who embraced progressive ideals and modernity and were characterized by their short skirts, bobbed hair, and frank sexuality. They hung out at speakeasys, drank, smoked, and danced provocatively. Clara Bow had a significant influence on this culture, particularly her look: her clothes, her hairstyle, and, in particular, the distinctive way she wore her lipstick.

See the The Clara Bow Page for her detailed biography and tons of photos (That's where I got these photos - thanks!)

THE CHESS PLAYER

2007-02-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

This historical epic, set in partitioned Poland of 1776 is told in two distinct acts. The first is a political intrigue melodrama that follows the uneasy truce between Russian and Polish forces as it devolves into a full scale revolt. The second act finally introduces The Chess Player, a creation of a genius inventor who specializes in making elaborate humanlike machines (automatons). But it's all part of a clever deception to smuggle a fugitive revolutionary to safety. But the plan hits a snag when the Russian Empress, Catherine II, hears about the sensational chess playing automaton, and requests that it be brought to St. Petersburg so she can play it. (see the scene of the match between Catherine II and The Turk)

THEN

Historical films often say as much about the era they were made as the era they were set. Good Night and Good Luck, for example, was more than just Senator Joseph McCarthy's dispute with Edward R. Murrow; its message "you can't defeat the enemies of freedom by becoming one" was a warning obviously inspired by current events.

So the question is, why would 1920s France be interested in 1770s Poland? Perhaps because Europe between the world wars was factious and rife with revolutions. so France, being caught between Germany's political unrest and Spain's civil war, could relate to Poland's position amid their neighbor's power struggles.

NOW

The Turk, the chess playing machine, did actually exist. It's popularity at the time attests to the universal desire of humans throughout history to understand the nature of cognition. Can a machine be constructed that's self-aware? If so, would it differ from humans only in degree, or does the human machine have a ghost in it?

The documentary Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (into which several scenes of The Chess Player were edited) explored this territory quite effectively.

THE KID BROTHER

2007-02-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

Harold Lloyd plays the scrawny youngest son of the town sheriff. Although he can usually outwit his burly older brothers and the local bully, he doesn't have the toughness to earn his father's respect. When out-of-town con men take off with the townspeople's money, The Kid Brother has the opportunity to show up his brothers, prove himself to his father, and impress the girl. If he can only apprehend the thug, recover the money, and avoid the mischievous monkey.

hehe... funny monkey.

THEN

Anyone going to see this film in 1927 knew what to expect. The typical Lloyd everyman has lots of dreams and little else, but with good natured persistence, sharp wits, and a little luck, he manages to endure the barrage of gags and end up on top. And just like the clock tower scene in Safety Last, or the football scene in The Freshman, Lloyd heaps on the gags in the climatic sequence at the end that's worthy of rewinding and rewatching.

But The Kid Brother does distinguish itself from the rest of Lloyds filmography; it has a more cohesive story than most, and that story has a lot of heart. It also has Chicago, the monkey, who steals the show.

The Academy Awards' notorious tendency to reward drama disproportionately over comedy started with the very first Oscars: Although Chicago's performance was far superior, the award for Best Performance by a Monkey went to Bimbo for his role in Chang.

NOW

Monkeys are always funny.

THE GIRL WITH THE HATBOX

2007-02-12T04:16:00.000-07:00

A Soviet comedy by Boris Barnet. The Girl With The Hatbox is a rural girl who makes hats for a shop in the city. In order to have a bigger house than they're entitled to, the greedy shopkeepers convince the housing authority that the hat maker rents a room there. The girl decides to help out an unemployed artist she befriends by marrying him so he could live in 'her' room. The shopkeepers become resentful, and pay her with a lottery ticket instead of cash. Predictably, the lottery ticket pays off. Wackiness ensues.

THEN

Soviet films of the 20s were controlled by the state and had to conform to communist ideology. So their movies tended to be rousing stories of the common peoples' triumph over their bourgeois oppressors - basically, the films of Sergie Eisenstein. Another Soviet film from 1927, Pudovkin's End Of St. Petersburg about the 1917 revolution exemplified this.

I have no reason to doubt that Boris Barnet's commitment to communist ideals was anything less than enthusiastic, but this movie certainly doesn't have the same revolutionary zeal that can be found in the films of Eisenstein, Pudovkin, or Vertov. This movie is charming, light, and basically apolitical (maybe the bad guys who want more than they're entitled to are allegorically capitalists?).

NOW

It's refreshing to see a Soviet film that's not so serious minded, but it's this lightness that causes the film to age so gracelessly. Unapologetic propaganda such as Battleship Potemkin or Triumph of the Will maintains it's relevance as an historic document if nothing else.

COLLEGE

2007-02-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

In College, Buster Keaton plays a physically clumsy egghead who tries out for every sport his college offers in an attempt to impress a pretty coed. Naturally, he fails spectacularly at all of them, but in the climatic segment, he needs to use all these skills to rescue the girl.

THEN

The General was an ambitious and expensive project, and although it's now recognized as Keaton's masterpiece, it wasn't well-received at the time. So it's understandable that Keaton would fall back on a tried-and-true formula. Unfortunately, Harold Lloyd covered this territory quite successfully two years earlier in The Freshman, and Keaton's version is a little too similar.

Of course, Buster Keaton movies don't have to be as inspired as The General to be enjoyable. The story just needs to provide an excuse for Keaton's marvelous stunt work. By this standard, the movie was a definite success.

NOW

Aside from the obvious time capsule elements that can be found in any 80 year old film (fashion, hairstyles, cars, etc.), there's very little difference between this movie and modern nerds-vs.-jocks films. Some stories are timeless like that.

Buster Keaton's appeal lies in the simple fun of watching an athletic performer execute well-timed acrobatic stunts. In this sense, I can't think of any modern performer that better exemplifies his legacy than Jackie Chan.

Just for fun: This YouTube video of scenes from College edited to fit "Eye of the Tiger" made me laugh out loud.

BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A GREAT CITY

2007-02-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

Walter Ruttman was an architect and a graphic designer before becoming an experimental film pioneer. Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, is an impressionistic montage of images from the city as it quietly wakes up in the morning, has a busy day of work, then lets its hair down at night.

THEN

Berlin in the 20s was characterized by its innovative art scene: Bauhaus architecture, Expressionist film, dadaism and new objectivist painting. By 1927, Berlin had become the largest industrial city on the continent, and the intellectual center of Europe. But there was also a political divide; radical ideas on both sides of the spectrum (left wing communists vs. right wing fascists) found adherents here, and the economic depression that started in 1927 would deepen these conflicts.

Ruttman strikes a distinctly different tone in this movie than in the art of his contemporaries. There is a darkness and cynicism in George Grosz' paintings, and the social criticisms of Fritz Lang's films. But Ruttman's film is celebratory and affectionate.

Ruttman's loyalties don't appear to be in question yet. His glorification of the vibrant nightlife of Berlin's cabarets are not in line with the nationalists who tended to look down on Berlin's decadent lifestyle, and he had a cooperative relationship with his more jaded peers (he worked with Fritz Lang as a cinematographer on Metropolis).

This difference in attitudes, however, may explain their divergent paths. Five years later would find Fritz Lang suddenly fleeing the country leaving his wife and possessions behind, while Walter Ruttman would be making propaganda films for the Nazis.

NOW

Experimental film existed before this, but this is the earliest example of a feature length montage movie that I can find. It's certainly the most influential having inspired several imitations. Notable examples include Dziga Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera, and more recently Koyaanisqatsi.

KING OF KINGS

2007-02-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

Cecil B. DeMille's epic retelling of the Jesus story is a devotional film that's faithful to the source material. It's probably best appreciated by believers, but non-christian movie buffs and film historians will also want to give it a look.

The Criterion Collection has restored the original 2 1/2 hour "roadshow" version, and the Bright Lights Film Journal has an excellent review of this DVD. (thanks to BLFJ for these photos too)

THEN

Although it wasn't the first movie about the life of Jesus, it was certainly the biggest at the time. It was promoted, successfully, as an event movie, and ended up becoming the highest grossing movie in history at the time.

The movie had undeniable mass appeal; I haven't found any indication that this movie was controversial in any way. Why would an overtly religious movie be so universally accepted? Was it because religion, specifically Christianity, was so ubiquitous that there was almost nobody to disapprove? Or maybe religion was so separate from public life that non-Christian didn't feel threatened by it? America was, at the time, in the midst of Prohibition (a decidedly religion-based movement), so the former seems a more likely theory than the latter.

NOW

When you list the most significant movies of 1927, you'd probably list Metropolis, Sunrise, The General, Berlin, The Lodger, It, Chang, and perhaps a half dozen others before King of Kings. Why did it's stock plummet so steeply? Perhaps it's because the story has been told a dozen times since - with sound and in color.

1927

2007-02-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Eighty years ago, movie buffs probably didn't realize that movies as they had come to know them would never be the same again. Cinema had grown progressively more sophisticated (technologically and otherwise) for thirty years, and there was no reason to suspect that it had peaked in 1927.

While movies obviously didn't peak in 1927, they certainly hit "a" peak. It was the year that the most popular (Metropolis) and the highest rated (Napoleon) films of the silent era (according to IMDb) were released.

Wings and Sunrise were recognized by the first Academy Awards as "Best Picture" winners (The first Oscars had two separate best picture categories; Wings won for "Production", and Sunrise won for "Unique and Artistic Picture")

This was also the year that Buster Keaton made his most popular movie, and Hitchcock released his "first true film".

But even as 1927 marked the peak of the silent era, it was also the beginning of the end for silent film as The Jazz Singer, famously, became the first "talkie".