FS 201 Films

***Note: I never saw this itself, but a selection of films by Edison that include: Monkeyshines No. 1 (1889), Blacksmithing Scene (1893), Edison Kinetoscope Record of a Sneeze (1894), Annie Oakley (1894), Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895), The Boxing Cats (1895), The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895) and The John C. Rice - May Irwin Kiss (1896). A later film was The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903). Considering these were the first films ever made I cannot criticize them but mearly comend them for being so experimental, daring and ground breaking. To see the first films flixer to life is amazing and I can only imagine how Edison and his workers felt upon first seeing and creating these works!

The First special effects and fantasy movie is daring, hillarious and completly hard to believe! I loved it! Again the special effects for the time are amazing even if the story is out of this world (hee hee) bad! Loved it!

Not nearly as good as 'A Trip to the Moon'. Really good visual tricks (the editing is amazing) but the story is kind of dull and pointless!

Excellent proof of modern storytelling and editing! Very well done!

I liked 'Fireman' and 'The Lonedale Operator' better!

Excellent camera use! Leads the way to modern day use!

While the visuals are very good for it's time, overall, not as good as the previous Porter films.

I don't know why I like this so... but I do! Plus modern editing to boot!

I'm giving this the benifit of the doubt- I sort of have to, the KKK were the heroes and all the black people died! Otherwise this film is monumentally great and clearly why! The greatness, the boldness and the modernity of it is why it is a classic piece of history. Without it no modern epic could exist and seen that way, this film is exceptional!

I loved it! I had seen parts of Chaplin before and never quite liked it. Seeing a whole film was wonderful and I loved it! What more can I say!

I didn't think I would love anything more than when I saw 'The Kid' when it came to silent comedy- I loved this better! Too funny to explain, Buster Keaton is a master of his art! A wonderful comedy I would recomend to anyone!

With the exception of the dull parts near the start where I fell asleep and the inserted titlecards to explain what was lost :-(, I really, really liked this. I didn't think I would, but I really, really did. It was so smart and so clever. But what really takes the cake, what I really loved, was Brigitte Helm. She does the real Maria well, but the robot Maria- blows my mind! If they had had Oscars back then she should have won! Her facial expressions! Her naked (very naked for the 20's!) dance! Perfection! And in case you missed it: 'The mediator between the head and the hand... IS THE HEART!!!!!" Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!

It may have been that I was in a rush or that the screen was really tiny, but I really didn't like this movie! It was boring, it was slow and the twist at the end was kind of lame. Visually it's great and importnat as it is the forerunner and creator of expressionism, modern horror and Tim Burton- but otherwise the acting was the only other upside to me.

I think I know what was wrong with the USSR... their movies sucked! I saw one and thought it was awful. This one had a story and it was still pretty bad! The ending however was great! Some of the shots not too bad. The music was alright... but the ending was good- very Hollywood! However without this movement we wouldn't have the montage so we have to thank it. Even if it isn't very good!

I loved it! And it was the first movie to win best actress ever! She deserves it- she was nominated twice that year! Plus while subtle good, its really only that, subtle good. But still good (Did any of that make sense?). Either way the few actors are great! And say what you want about the story, I loved it! First it was drama, then a comedy, then a drama. Sure it was see through, but who cares! The film looks wonderful and is so sophisticated for that time (it also deserved the Oscars won for that). And the soundtrack is wonderful- quite 'Mad Men'! All in all I was throughly enjoyed!

Okay, so every line that's ever been quoted comes from here- plus the movie itself is a woking parody. Plus its a huge Oscar winner and AFI sings it praises more times than not. Sadly it just isn't that good! I think I know why I think so. There's too much politics in it, too many character that I don't know and most importnatly, the romance is kind of lame. So apperantly they had some hot affair in Paris- I've seen hotter. If the movie took place today it would be a situation comedy, that's how poor the relationship was! Otherwise, it was good: very well acted- the actors do very good jobs (and they had their actual accents, that's rare!), the characters were great as well! Musical score is nice- again "As Time Goes By" is so well known and quoted! The film looks great- which is common of the era. Its just not well written- except for the quotable lines! What I do love is how this film has fit so well into popular culture and its still relavent. As well I love that it was written during the war and they didn't know what was going to happen. Likely the audience at the time saw it as more suspensful thus. But overall, kind of a disapointment!

I loved this movie! I knew 'You've Got Mail' was based on this and while 'Mail' was good- this is so much better! Sweet, subtle and very, very smart, the writing is genious; witty, quick and overall lovely. The characters created were awesome- belivable and clear characters, clear individuals. They were my favorite part. Overall, one of the best movies seen this term, and a wonderful old comedy!

I need to state first: I love that cover! So I knew that 'Gosford Park' was inspired by this- it clearly is: the upstairs, downstairs, the ensemble cast, the story (a hunting trip to the country house), even the looming war! Either way, I think that while this is a good film; at times brilliant, I liked 'Gosford Park' better and here are some reasons why: first I wasn't always sure what was going on, partly because I didn't know who was who. This I think is because its in blac-and-white and a few people look alike. Secondly, I had trouble in general figuring out what was going on- who was with who etc. However, the soundtrack is great, the shots are amazing (I love the long takes) and the characters are perfect- so are the actors!

This only won one Oscar why?! And for writing no less! Agreed, this is a VERY well written script- maybe not now, but when it was first made, this was new and very odd! Either way I liked it! And the visuals! OMG! The cinematography was AMAZING! The man was robbed of an Oscar! ROBBED!!! Very well acted! Dorothy Comingore never got an Oscar nomination why?! Lots of robbery here! Either way, a classic and clearly why! Everything is near perfect and very, VERY modern!

I didn't think I would like this; it was Italian Neorealist- I don't get Italian Neorealism! But I really liked it! I tried to think of it not as a realist film but as a film and I enjoyed it much more that way! The actors were great- I loved the Priest and Pina. The music was great (regardless of what some say) and it looked really good- very realistic. But that comes from being shot on location. As well, the story was really good too, unlike other realist films like 'The Bicycle Theif"!