The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Women in Love.“British erotica” has long been considered an oxymoron, and this distinction is not entirely unfounded. While European auteurs like Jean-Luc Godard, Tinto Brass, Walerian Borowczyk, and Luis Buñuel were treating copulation as a springboard to philosophical ruminations, the British were paying to see Barbara Windsor’s bra popping off during an outdoor aerobics session in Carry On Camping (1969). Is this assessment fair? Well…yes and no. While many films point to a nation of buttoned-up prudes and furtive voyeurs, a deeper inspection reveals a colorful mosaic of sexual mores and shifting social values as film became an established part of life.Part of the challenge of defining British erotica lies with the difficulty of defining erotica itself. There’s enormous variability in the human response, and where some prefer explicit material,...
- 2/21/2023
- MUBI
Santa Claus first appeared on film all the way back in 1898, when he starred in a short film by George Albert Smith called, appropriately, "Santa Claus." In it, a silent Santa sneaks across a rooftop, climbs down a chimney, and leaves gifts for a little girl and boy who are nestled in their beds.
Ever since, holiday films have been stuffed with depictions of Father Christmas. Some are nice, and some are naughty. Some are jolly, and some are degenerate. Most are merry, but a few are murderous. Many films try to put their own spin on the Santa mythos, too, trying to make their St. Nick stand out from the pack of present-carrying holiday patriarchs. But others simply try to spread holiday joy, offering something jolly to put on while you sip hot cocoa and trim the tree.
With an eye toward giving you a little bit of everything...
Ever since, holiday films have been stuffed with depictions of Father Christmas. Some are nice, and some are naughty. Some are jolly, and some are degenerate. Most are merry, but a few are murderous. Many films try to put their own spin on the Santa mythos, too, trying to make their St. Nick stand out from the pack of present-carrying holiday patriarchs. But others simply try to spread holiday joy, offering something jolly to put on while you sip hot cocoa and trim the tree.
With an eye toward giving you a little bit of everything...
- 12/12/2022
- by Eric Langberg
- Slash Film
Later today, we have a Christmas-themed edition of Scenes We Love, in which you’ll find a number of favorite movie moments of varying genres and content. Some of them involve Santa Claus. So, in lieu of finding a short film made by or featuring someone related to a new film out this week, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the earliest cinematic appearances of the jolly old holiday mascot. If you want to go back further than your usual classics-honoring tradition of watching Miracle on 34th Street, definitely check out these five ancient shorts. One of the scenes I nearly chose for the forthcoming feature is the opening of City of Lost Children, which isn’t quite a Christmas movie but it does include Santa-infused dream sequences. And those sequences tend to remind me of the dreamy fantasies of early Santa films. For example, here...
- 12/23/2012
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
British cinematographer's footage of his children, Brighton beach and Hyde Park, pre-date Edwardians' Kinemacolor
There is not much of a plot – goldfish in bowl – but the scene and others from the same rolls of film were revealed on Wednesday as the earliest colour moving images ever made in a discovery that does nothing less than "rewrite film history".
The National Media Museum in Bradford said it had found what it contends are truly historic films from 1901/02, pre-dating what had been thought to be the first successful colour process – Kinemacolor – by eight years.
"We believe this will literally rewrite film history," said the museum's head of collections, Paul Goodman. "I don't think it is an overstatement. These are the world's first colour moving images."
The films were made by a young British photographer and inventor called Edward Turner, a pioneer who can now lay claim to being the father of moving colour film,...
There is not much of a plot – goldfish in bowl – but the scene and others from the same rolls of film were revealed on Wednesday as the earliest colour moving images ever made in a discovery that does nothing less than "rewrite film history".
The National Media Museum in Bradford said it had found what it contends are truly historic films from 1901/02, pre-dating what had been thought to be the first successful colour process – Kinemacolor – by eight years.
"We believe this will literally rewrite film history," said the museum's head of collections, Paul Goodman. "I don't think it is an overstatement. These are the world's first colour moving images."
The films were made by a young British photographer and inventor called Edward Turner, a pioneer who can now lay claim to being the father of moving colour film,...
- 9/13/2012
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
While hunting around in the archive, British Film Institute Silent Film Curator Bryony Dixon stumbled upon a short film called The Death of Poor Joe from director G.A. Smith which was released early in 1901 – making it the oldest movie featuring a Charles Dickens character. Smith’s career began in 1897, and he managed nearly 100 shorts in 13 years. His most famous work might be A Kiss In the Tunnel (which featured a man and woman stealing some time on a tunnel-darkened train for some romance), but the new recognition here might propel the minute-long Poor Joe to the top of the list. This is especially good timing because, as The Hollywood Reporter points out, because of this year’s celebration of Dickens’s work on the 200th anniversary of his birth. The movie itself features a small crossing sweeper child from the novel “Bleak House,” and it looks appropriately destitute.
- 3/9/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
A 111-year-old film which depicts a character from Bleak House, was found by an archivist at the British Film Institute
An archivist at the British Film Institute has stumbled across a 1901 movie just one minute long which turns out to be the earliest surviving film featuring a character from the works of Charles Dickens.
Bryony Dixon was researching early films of China when she noticed an entry in a catalogue referring to The Death of Poor Joe, which she realised could refer to a character in Dickens' Bleak House.
Not expecting to find a film to match the catalogue entry - most movies this old have not survived - Dixon says she was astonished to discover the film was actually in the BFI's collection, albeit under a different title.
The discovery was announced on Friday, just over a month after the bicentenary of Dickens' birth was celebrated around the world.
An archivist at the British Film Institute has stumbled across a 1901 movie just one minute long which turns out to be the earliest surviving film featuring a character from the works of Charles Dickens.
Bryony Dixon was researching early films of China when she noticed an entry in a catalogue referring to The Death of Poor Joe, which she realised could refer to a character in Dickens' Bleak House.
Not expecting to find a film to match the catalogue entry - most movies this old have not survived - Dixon says she was astonished to discover the film was actually in the BFI's collection, albeit under a different title.
The discovery was announced on Friday, just over a month after the bicentenary of Dickens' birth was celebrated around the world.
- 3/9/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
*full disclosure: a screener of this film was provided by Gravitas Ventures.
Director: Bruce Reisman.
Writer: Bruce Reisman and Kris Black.
Here is another entry into the worst films for 2011 here at 28Dla. The title of this latest nomination is The House That Jack Built and this is more of an ego project for actor Kris Black than anything else. Poor acting, lack of rehearsals, a small budget and the use of one set make this film feel cheap, while the script is seriously uninspired. As a little backstory, "The House That Jack Built" was originally a poem from 1755 and there have been at least eleven films made with this title, beginning with George Albert Smith's experimental 1910 film. Without having seen the other ten films, this version is by far the worst. Although this film was technically released on DVD in August of 2010, The House That Jack Built releases this month through video-on-demand.
Director: Bruce Reisman.
Writer: Bruce Reisman and Kris Black.
Here is another entry into the worst films for 2011 here at 28Dla. The title of this latest nomination is The House That Jack Built and this is more of an ego project for actor Kris Black than anything else. Poor acting, lack of rehearsals, a small budget and the use of one set make this film feel cheap, while the script is seriously uninspired. As a little backstory, "The House That Jack Built" was originally a poem from 1755 and there have been at least eleven films made with this title, beginning with George Albert Smith's experimental 1910 film. Without having seen the other ten films, this version is by far the worst. Although this film was technically released on DVD in August of 2010, The House That Jack Built releases this month through video-on-demand.
- 9/25/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
Experiments in the British seaside town were among the most significant early attempts to bring colour to the film industry
The first thing you see on entering Capturing Colour is Loïe Fuller, or one of her imitators, performing the "Serpentine Dance" on the earliest kind of colour film, hand-tinted frame by frame. Fuller's act, which involved her whirling her silky costume about the stage of the Folies-Bergère with arms and sticks, while bathed in multi-coloured light, transfixed the poets, painters, and sculptors of fin-de-siècle Europe, who saw in the dance a return to the primitive and intuitive, a manifestation of "Art, nameless, radiant", as one of them had it.
Though the film is, conventionally speaking, a relic, the very unnaturalness of the colourist's splotchy handiwork is, speaking otherwise, true to Fuller's literary reputation, taking us a shade closer towards understanding what Mallarmé, intoxicated by her "limelit phantasmagoria", meant by "the...
The first thing you see on entering Capturing Colour is Loïe Fuller, or one of her imitators, performing the "Serpentine Dance" on the earliest kind of colour film, hand-tinted frame by frame. Fuller's act, which involved her whirling her silky costume about the stage of the Folies-Bergère with arms and sticks, while bathed in multi-coloured light, transfixed the poets, painters, and sculptors of fin-de-siècle Europe, who saw in the dance a return to the primitive and intuitive, a manifestation of "Art, nameless, radiant", as one of them had it.
Though the film is, conventionally speaking, a relic, the very unnaturalness of the colourist's splotchy handiwork is, speaking otherwise, true to Fuller's literary reputation, taking us a shade closer towards understanding what Mallarmé, intoxicated by her "limelit phantasmagoria", meant by "the...
- 3/2/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.