Posted by Tucker Battrell on Thursday, October 8, 2009,
1912 - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
It's been a rather long October so far. Jynx is still in West Virginia helping out since her dad's accident, and I just got a message from her saying she had to have an ambulance come and take him to the hospital. It's hard not being able to lend a hand, and even harder to not know what's going on. Since she's been gone, the weather changed and it's been rather dour. But, I press on. I decided I should find a horror film since it is almost Halloween, and I foun... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Thursday, October 8, 2009,
1911 - Little Nemo
Billed as the first display of moving cartoons, Windsor McKay's film delivers on its promise. It starts as a live-action film with McKay announcing to his artist collegues his intentions to which they laugh heartily, but this does not deter Windsor, and soon enough we're watching a cartoon. Windsor tells his friends that he will make four thousand drawings that will move within the month. He has a shitload of ink and drawing paper delivered for the long road ahead... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Saturday, October 3, 2009,
1910 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
I am suffering from Otitis Externa, which is a form of swimmer's ear that manifests itself in severe ear pain and swelling. I feel like my ear is wearing a boxing glove, and I can't hear a thing out of my right side. So it's been a fun few days. Missed a few classes, laid in bed clutching the side of my head in agony, overdosing on Tylenol and throwing up what little food I could choke down through the nasuea. But I was prescribed some fancy 120 dol... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Tuesday, September 29, 2009,
1909 - The Airship Destroyer
My father-in-law was severely injured in a car accident a few weeks ago. He was hit by some schmuck going ninety in a fifty mile-per-hour zone, weaving in and out of traffic in his BMW convertible. What a piece of shit. Jim (my father-in-law) suffered two cracked vertebrae in this back and seven broken ribs while that asshole broke his collarbone and walked out of the hospital that night. Jynx (my wife) has gone to stay with him for a while and help ou... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Wednesday, September 9, 2009,
1908 - The Adventures of Dollie
It's not even noon and I'm exhausted. I really have been working hard at getting school done this year, and it's paying off, but I'm just tired already. I'm reading James Fenimore Cooper's mind-numbing classic The Last of the Mohicans, and Robert A. Heinlein's Libertarian sci-fi classic The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and several other short works for various classics. But I'm glad I finally got to my next film D.W. Griffith's directorial debut The Adventu... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Sunday, August 30, 2009,
1907 - Ben Hur You know, sometimes I'm glad they don't make 'em like they used to. 1907's Ben Hur jumps right into the action with a mob of people yelling about something then continues with the yelling and the fist-pumping and the chariot race. It's not much fun. Maybe I'm just tired. It's hard to watch a movie like this when you're out of patience and forgot to take your medicine. I will give this movie one thing: the chariot race is hilarious. It consists of one static shot of ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Sunday, August 30, 2009,
1906 - The Merry Frolics of Satan I'm only on my fifth movie and already I'm repeating directors. "The Merry Frolics of Satan" is another visually striking film from french filmmaker George Melies; director of "A Trip to the Moon". From what I can gather this movie is about a man whose horse and carriage are transformed by the devil and they take off with a bunch of chefs running after them. The skeletal horse leads him straight into an open volcano where they ride through stars and moon... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Saturday, August 22, 2009,
1905 - Baby's Toilet To graduate I have to take two years of a foreign language. I've been sitting in French class tonight, reciting a conversation between three students repeatedly. I feel confident that I can now introduce Nadine to Abdou without hesitation. Beyond that school's been rather dull. I've been reading Puritan poetry and a woman's account of her capture and captivity by Native Americans. It's all been a bit God-y and dry. Luckily I got to watch Baby's Toilet. Baby'... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Saturday, August 22, 2009,
1904 - Westinghouse Works In 1904 the companies making up the factories of Westinghouse Works opened their doors to movie cameras and recorded several films meant to promote their progressive labor policies. What was produced were some visually fascinating images of turn of the century industrial America. One film shows some two hundred women, all with their hair pulled up and their skirts to their ankles, clocking in for work. It's a static shot of this line going by, but it is mesmeriz... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Saturday, August 22, 2009,
 1903: The Great Train Robbery This movie is pretty violent. It's about a train robbery which may have been apparent from the title, but in these primitive days of early cinema one may need reminding that when the title says the film's about a train robbery that's all you get. Some desperadoes rob a train and that's it. They shoot a bunch of people who die hilariously over the top deaths and at one point one of the bandits beats a guy until he becomes a dummy then throws him right off the tr... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Wednesday, August 19, 2009,
1902: Voyage to the Moon aka A Trip to the Moon
I went back to school today. Thanks to my stellar class choices I have to read, among other fine works, The Last of the Mohicans and Bridget Jones's Diary. So that's really exciting. Yet even with my new reading list I managed to allocate ten minutes to watch Georges Melies' Une Voyage dans la Lune. Now, I've seen this silent sci-fi masterwork before under much better circumstances. I was fortunate enough to catch this at an old, historic ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Tucker Battrell on Monday, August 17, 2009,
I'm thirty-one years old, recently married and about to start a new year of school. I yearn to start work on several film projects if only I could get funding. I guess I'm like many film geeks whose love of the medium has made work in any other field a chore not worthy of my self-declared talents. So with only some minimal work in a few reality TV shows and local news to my credit I am attempting to better myself through school, but while hitting the books I decided I would also have a pro... Continue reading ...
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