Sunday, April 11, 2010

Earliest known single lens motion picture, 1888



Nearly as amazing as watching movie footage (inch-age?) from the time of Jack the Ripper is reading the not-so-subtly sarcastic IMDB comments about Roundhay Garden Scene's epic cinematic story economically rendered within its two-second length.  The public demands sequels and Blu-ray releases post-haste. 

However, I believe the true measure of this film's power is that its shocking nature so gripped one viewer's mind that he was compelled to butcher Whitechapel prostitutes, going so far as to write to a local paper, "I shan't quit ripping them till I do get buckled."  Newspapers, then as today, hyped the belief that new technologies in mass media produce serial killers (which in turn sells more newspapers).

People are funny.

via IMDb :: Boards :: Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Internet Archive: Carl Martin - Farewell to You Baby





Clicking around the Archive is time well spent.  In his formative years, Bob Dylan may have stolen some of his friends' records in the 60s because they contained extremely rare tracks.  Many are probably available now here for free.

This Carl Martin track reminds me a bit of Larry Johnson's Fast and Funky. 



"It's a dog eat dog world, Sammy



...and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear."

If you had given up on American Movie Classics when they started taking commerical breaks during movies that are only five years old, they may win you back online.  AMCTV B-Movie Classics makes available great trash from years gone by, on demand and shareable.  For instance, now you may land on planet Jayne Mansfield in 1966's Dog Eat Dog and discover a couple reasons for her popularity.