The Phantom of the Opera (1925) dir. Rupert Julian. USA. "The Phantom of the Opera" is not a great film if you are concerned with art and subtlety, depth and message; "Nosferatu" is a world beyond it. But in its fevered melodrama and images of cadaverous romance, it finds a kind of show-biz majesty. And … Continue reading Film 11: The Phantom of the Opera
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Film 10 : Greed
Greed (1925) dir. Erich von Stroheim. USA. 'Indeed the film is realistic. Opening scenes were shot in the very gold mine that Norris wrote about; it was reopened for the movie. The San Francisco dentist's office was not a set but a real second-floor office, which still exists. Von Stroheim could have shot his desert scenes … Continue reading Film 10 : Greed
Film 9: The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush (1924) dir. Charlie Chaplin. USA. 'The Tramp—small, innocent, beleaguered, romantic, oblivious, resourceful, idealistic—lives inside everyone, but Charlie Chaplin made him manifest, with humor that is never cruel, never aggressive, and always speaks to our best selves. The Gold Rush takes the Tramp, in his longest outing to date, from rags to riches, … Continue reading Film 9: The Gold Rush
Film 8: The Last Laugh
The Last Laugh (1924) dir. F. W. Murnau. Germany. 'F.W. Murnau's "The Last Laugh" (1924) tells this story in one of the most famous of silent films, and one of the most truly silent, because it does not even use printed intertitles. Silent directors were proud of their ability to tell a story through pantomime … Continue reading Film 8: The Last Laugh
Film 6: Souls For Sale
1 Souls for Sale (1923) dir. Rupert Hughes. USA. 'This is a prime example of the mid-range entertainment Hollywood was producing so skillfully at the time. Filled with actors who were then stars, fast-moving, entertaining, with a spectacular circus action sequence at the climax, it is drama, melodrama, romance and satire all at once -- … Continue reading Film 6: Souls For Sale
Film 1: Cabiria
Cabiria (1914) dir. Giovanni Pastrone. Italy. [As we work our way through our film history docket, we'll post (very) short write-ups of each movie, along with a piece of insight.] "The movie feels old, and by that I mean older than 1914. It feels like a view of ancient times, or at least of those … Continue reading Film 1: Cabiria
Film History Docket
Here it is! 365 films for 365 days. These are all significant movies that we haven't seen, taken (largely) from one of three lists. First, the 2012 Sight & Sound Best Films list, as voted on by prominent critics and directors. We combined the critics list and the directors list, eliminated duplicates, and eliminated films … Continue reading Film History Docket
Post Mortem Video Q&A
We sat down to do a little one-on-one interview with one another, to go over our thoughts and takeaways from the project. If you're looking for 13 minutes of two people talking about a script they wrote, look no further.
Our Previous Film Docket
This idea of making a docket of films as a sort of informal film history crash course isn't a new one. We did it a couple of years ago, albeit on a smaller scale, before we moved to LA. The movies on our first docket were pretty arbitrary. We basically sat down and said, "What … Continue reading Our Previous Film Docket
Thoughts on the Weekend
So -- we've slept (a little) and now we're back to real life. Abigail's at work and I'm...looking for work. (The life of a freelancer.) We're both pretty exhausted, but while it's still fresh in our minds we're each trying to type up a post-mortem post. Just a look at how the whole thing went, … Continue reading Thoughts on the Weekend
Movie in a Weekend 