I've just got about half an hour left of this one, should have some thoughts tomorrow.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 17 April 2023 20:59 (one year ago) link
For UK readers, this is on Netflix, as part of that weird deal between Netflix and the Swedish Cinematheque.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 17 April 2023 21:18 (one year ago) link
does the one on Netflix have a soundtrack? the criterion dvd rips on YouTube are completely silent, this is the only one with sound and it seems to have been tacked on
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 17 April 2023 21:33 (one year ago) link
No soundtrack, no. Nice looking copy tho.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 17 April 2023 21:38 (one year ago) link
Some good tunes on that YouTube one tho
― nxd, Tuesday, 18 April 2023 17:06 (one year ago) link
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 17 April 2023 bookmarkflaglink
Good stuff lol, always wanted to check Sjostrom..
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 18 April 2023 19:51 (one year ago) link
Well that was relentlessly grim.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 19 April 2023 18:43 (one year ago) link
I mean, it was still good. I think. but really not what I needed to see when I'm worrying about how to support my family over the next year, that's for sure.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 19 April 2023 18:47 (one year ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Buster_keaton_one_week_poster.jpg
One Week, Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline, 1920
Morbsies #947
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 25 April 2023 07:11 (one year ago) link
I went through the Keaton shorts a while ago and this was really a big jump in quality when you watch 'em chronologically, one of his best imo.
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 25 April 2023 08:53 (one year ago) link
Here's the youtube linkYeah, a very enjoyable 25 minutes, every joke felt extremely well-crafted. Not really as ambitious as his longer films, obviously, but for what it is, it couldn't be much better.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 25 April 2023 08:59 (one year ago) link
It's been
― formerly abanana (dat), Friday, 28 April 2023 02:14 (one year ago) link
you know I don't think I've ever heard that song. and yet I got the reference somehow.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 28 April 2023 13:37 (one year ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/The_High_Sign_%281921%29_-_Ad_1.jpg
The High Sign, Buster Keaton & Edward F. Cline, 1921
Morbsies #630
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 1 May 2023 21:39 (one year ago) link
I found this one to be a bit of a step back from One Week, which makes sense as it was actually filmed earlier and held back for some reason. A boilerplate silent comedy short plot - Buster is hired to protect a man from the mob and also hired by the mob to kill him, but of course there are plenty of brilliant stunts and set pieces to keep you entertained, and as it's less than 20 minutes there's no danger of boredom. Still nothing here as inspired as Sherlock Jr, The General or even One Week.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 2 May 2023 08:10 (one year ago) link
here's a youtube link
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 2 May 2023 08:11 (one year ago) link
Tantalised by the 101 films on @SightSoundmag’s Hidden Gems list? @_edb’s pick, Claudia von Alemann’s ‘Blind Spot’ (1981), is now on @mubiuk. Here’s what Erika had to say about it: https://t.co/b59rDtKdqV pic.twitter.com/ql1eU1TTlc— Arjun Sajip (@ArjSaj) May 2, 2023
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 2 May 2023 09:15 (one year ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/Nosferatuposter.jpg
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, F. W. Murnau, 1922
Morbsies #833Sight & Sound Critics #196
Youtube link
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 8 May 2023 13:52 (one year ago) link
Would anyone be interested in some kind of watch-along stream for the public domain movies?
― formerly abanana (dat), Monday, 8 May 2023 13:56 (one year ago) link
how would that work? like a twitch stream?
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 8 May 2023 14:58 (one year ago) link
i don't know, to be honest.
― formerly abanana (dat), Wednesday, 10 May 2023 10:01 (one year ago) link
Ok, so Nosferatu then. I had already seen this, a few times I think, but in memory it is much less absorbing than I found it this time. Think the restoration job and the soundtrack on the link above really make a lot of difference here. It succeeds where other Dracula adaptations fail because Murnau wisely cuts the interminable gentlemen's meetings, in fact the much weaker second half of the story is cut to less than 30 minutes, and that includes the famous bedroom scene. I don't think it's at all scary, think perhaps due to overfamiliarity. What I have noticed this time around is the antisemitism, and am not sure how I missed it before. it's not just Orlok who's uncomfortably like a hideous Jewish caricature, the estate manager Knock (who doubles as Renfield) is also obviously coded as Jewish. so yeah, that's not great.still there's a lot if great art here, most scenes are intricately set up and lit. shocked to find out that the restoration was needed because a court ordered every print destroyed, and it's a miracle it survived that when the majority of films from this era are gone forever. is this the first ever victim of a copyright troll (in the form of Stoker's estate)? probably someone can think of an earlier one.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 10 May 2023 20:06 (one year ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Safety_last_poster.jpg
Safety Last, Fred C Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923
Morbsies #1133
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 15 May 2023 21:58 (one year ago) link
I have a blu-ray of this! But for some reason my allegedly region-free Chinese DVD/blu-ray player is insisting that it's the wrong region, so here I am watching it on youtube with the plebs, present company excluded of course.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 15 May 2023 22:01 (one year ago) link
Whole film is apparently embedded on the Wikipedia page as a webm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Safety_Last_(1923).webm
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 15 May 2023 22:05 (one year ago) link
Heard something along the lines of Harold Lloyd's work was exhibited on TV less (I think due to rights issues?) and this accounts for his lower profile when compared to Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel & Hardy.
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 16 May 2023 10:29 (one year ago) link
i do remember harold lloyd on tv in the uk, specifically watching it around my gran's. seemed to be always on. "hooray for harold lloyd"... possibly a clip show.
yeah, these, from 1977 - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2yaO_4_FwpkWNviqJsyrKIw16fVFT9YO
― koogs, Tuesday, 16 May 2023 10:41 (one year ago) link
Yes, I believe that came up in the convo as well, the UK being an exception.
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 16 May 2023 10:57 (one year ago) link
can't believe it took me so long to watch this in full.the building climbing scene, of course this is just fantastic, just the sheer planning and imagination needed, nothing is wasted. enjoyed it as a thriller more than as a comedy.the rest of the film is fine, if a bit weak. I know I've been spoiled a bit with all this Keaton & Chaplin, but Lloyd just doesn't quite have the same charisma, or the same quality of writing.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 18 May 2023 21:32 (one year ago) link
I dispute the notion of Lloyd lacking charisma
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Thursday, 18 May 2023 21:53 (one year ago) link
oh he has it, just not quite as much
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 18 May 2023 22:03 (one year ago) link
ok, back to the main plot
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 22 May 2023 16:46 (one year ago) link
https://i.postimg.cc/HL8sYCqW/18574.jpgMan With A Movie Camera, Dziga Vertov, 1929Morbsies #193Sight & Sound Critics #9Sight & Sound Directors #30
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 22 May 2023 16:50 (one year ago) link
Should really post a youtube link. Very nice post-rock/jazz soundtrack from The Cinematic Orchestra.Should also post some thoughts as I've now watched it three times, but that can wait for tomorrow.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 26 May 2023 22:39 (one year ago) link
I was looking forward to this as I've already used Dziga Vertov's sound collages in my mixes (in fact I structured my 1925 mix entirely around one) but was not ready for how deeply and immediately I would fall for it. I could say it's the way he frames the film with the audience / the orchestra / filming himself filming / his eye / stopping the action and showing the editing of the film we're watching / the intercuts of birth & death - but all of these I'm sure have been talked about a lot already, and are enough to make me admire the work. What I absolutely love about it though is the feel he has for editing at pace, the way the cuts build up and crash down like a symphony. So many shots feel so wildly ahead of their time too, every few minutes there's something I could swear I've seen referenced in 50s/60s/70s cinema.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 27 May 2023 08:21 (one year ago) link
Started watching The Unholy Three (1930), and think I will substitute this for All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) which will surely be a bit less shit.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 27 May 2023 22:01 (one year ago) link
This short can represent 90% of Hollywood films in 1930.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH7XlG9j0xs
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 27 May 2023 22:06 (one year ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front_%281930_film%29_poster.jpg
All Quiet on the Western Front, Lewis Milestone, 1930
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 29 May 2023 10:08 (one year ago) link
Apologies to ILX user J.Lu, whose vote got The Unholy Three to #434 in the Morbsies, I couldn't sit through it.No votes for All Quiet on the Western front in Morbsies or Sight & Sound polls, but it's the top rated film of 1930 in a number of places, and I haven't seen it before.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 29 May 2023 10:11 (one year ago) link
Gave this one a spin.
It's certainly visually impressive for a sound feature from 1930. Obviously showy are those tracking shots following the boys as they run through the field, explosions around them, but often it's also just a matter of making the blocking and general visual information onscreen aesthetic and interesting enough that you don't mind the static camera. Lots of smart editing as well.
I've read a couple of Remarque novels but not this one, still feel I can say the film mostly does a good job of capturing his mix of cynicism and romanticism. I'd like to think the corniest moments from this read different in the novel but tbh Remarque wasn't above a cheap tear jerker moment or two.
A big problem is none of the lads we follow have much charisma, they all seem basically interchangeable and none of the actors exude much star power. The semi-comedic grizzled veterans are much better, and much closer to how we think of grunts now.
A scene featuring extensive dialogues in French, spoken by native speakers! Classic Hollywood was so much more cosmopolitan than modern Hollywood. Helps to have a couple world wars provide a torrent of talent from all over I guess.
I'll also admit that on a shallow level, I don't find modern warfare scenes exciting. My hippie parents never encouraged me to play with toy soldiers or watch military-related stuff. I did read fantasy though, so give me some orcs and a dragon or two and suddenly it's a different story. I can't get enough of those LOTR battles.
There's certainly a lot of cheese here, though obv allowances have to be made, a lot of the stuff that registers as total cliché wasn't so much so when this came out.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 31 May 2023 11:07 (one year ago) link
How crap must the recent version be? I don't think the current scene has much of a way with hard boiled gallow's humour, which I think is the best part of the story.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 31 May 2023 11:09 (one year ago) link
Just finished watching and yes! agreed with you on almost all of that. These early sound films are all so hokey, they haven't figured out how to do dialogue on screen, so you get these looooong two-shots of actors unconvincingly going through this stagey dialogue which also sounds muffled and hard to make out - honestly feels like film has stepped back a decade in terms of artisty. It also doesn't help that Lew Ayres (and the rest of the young cast to be fair) are clearly not up to the job of portraying the horrors of war.The best thing here is definitely the battle scenes, which are as beautiful as they are terrifying. Some of those tracking shots are absolute works of art. Just a shame the majority of the film is so deeply average.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 3 June 2023 12:12 (one year ago) link
Dunno if I would extend this to early talkies as a whole - checking my letterboxd for 1930, this came out the same year as Lubitsch's "Monte Carlo" and the Marx Bros movie "Animal Crackers", both of which do fine on dialogue. Slightly more comparable to "All Quiet..." from this year is Hawk's "The Criminal Code", which has its fair share of corny moments but manages much better due to the star power of Walter Huston and Boris Karloff. The technical limitations you mention def play a part but I think it's also to do with the specific brand of oscarbait-y drama that this film is.
― Daniel_Rf, Saturday, 3 June 2023 21:06 (one year ago) link
Well yes, I might have been a little hyperbolic there, but I think it holds up as a general rule for most of the 1928-1931 talkies I've seen. Even Animal Crackers and Monkey Business suffer from these problems, though both still great, the jump in quality when you get to Horse Feathers is huge (let's not even talk of The Cocoanuts). Haven't seen Monte Carlo or The Criminal Code, may take a look. The "Tomatos Another Day" video I posted upthread is a brilliant parody of early talkies, and sums all of this up really well.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 3 June 2023 22:29 (one year ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/City_Lights_%281931_theatrical_poster_-_retouched%29.jpgCity Lights, Charles Chaplin, 1931Morbsies #160 Sight & Sound critics #36 Sight & Sound directors #46
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 5 June 2023 07:44 (one year ago) link
youtube linkafraid I have a bit of a challops on this one
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 5 June 2023 07:46 (one year ago) link
so this was, what, fine? OK? a bigger budget version of the longer silent comedies from the late 20s, and I enjoyed watching it well enough, but that's kind of it. the cinematography was nothing special, the comedy scenes were neither funny nor spectacular (apart from the first one where he was sleeping on the statue) - the story with the rich drunk could have been developed a little. most importantly I'm afraid i found the central love story just kind of mawkish and basic, and the famous last scene just left me cold. think I have to conclude that I am Just Not Into Chaplin.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 5 June 2023 08:48 (one year ago) link
Think Keaton works better for a modern audience than Chaplin does, the latter often gets mawkish.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 5 June 2023 09:10 (one year ago) link
I don't like how transactional the romance feels. she loves him because he paid for the operation which restored her sight, but there's very little to show she really knows who he is. what if, having found out he's a penniless tramp and the money was stolen, she finds she isn't really into him? Kindness towards people you pity isn't romance, surely. of course this is entirely my reading and she may actually be really into him, but it was a surprise that I didn't feel completely on-board at the end.
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 5 June 2023 09:50 (one year ago) link
https://i.postimg.cc/hGCj1LB8/lf.jpgM, Fritz Lang, 1931Morbsies #70Sight & Sound Critics #36youtube link, English subs
― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 12 June 2023 21:06 (one year ago) link