settima

@settima@zirk.us

Egged On (Charles R. Bowers, Harold L. Muller + Ted Sears, 1926)

Jan

17

inventions

Egged On (1926)

Charley working his Rube Goldberger-esque egg-rubberizing contraption.

An invention for Benjamin Franklin's birthday. Inventor Charley (Charles R. Bowers) comes up with an ingenious method to make eggs break-proof for transport by rubberizing them.

“… as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”

– Benjamin Franklin in his autobiography

Bowers was an almost-forgotten silent era comedian, filmmaker, and animator. In more recent years, his groundbreaking stop-motion comedy has found a new, well-deserved, interest.

The Cameraman (Edward Sedgwick + Buster Keaton, 1928)

Jan

14

National Dress Up Your Pet Day

The Cameraman (1928)

Buster (Buster Keaton) with Josephine the monkey on his shoulder. DPs: Reggie Lanning & Elgin Lessley.

A funnily dressed pet for National Dress Up Your Pet Day (USA) (please don't!).

– Now, see! You kill-a de monk! – Pay him for that baboon… or I'll run you in!

After cameraman Buster accidentally knocks over a monkey, he has no choice but to take the sailor-suited simian along on his movie shoots.

Libahunt [Лесная легенда / Werewolf] (Leida Laius, 1968)

Jan

13

wolf moon

Libahunt (1968)

Tiina (Ene Rämmeld) walking through the forest. DP: Algimantas Mockus.

Wolves for Wolf Moon, the first full moon after Yule. In Livonia, which covers modern day Estonia, the 17th century was when the werewolf trials reigned.

“Better to be with wolves in the forest, than with people like you!”

Tiina, a young liberated woman taken in by a family of farmers after her mother was put on trial for witchcraft, is accused of hunting with the wolves as a werewolf by her half-sister with whom she shares a lover.

The Professionals (Richard Brooks, 1966)

Jan

12

1812

The Professionals (1966)

The sheriff jolts something down next to a wall calendar that reads January 12, 1812. Just visible through a window, Jake (Woody Strode) approaches. DP: Conrad L. Hall.

“Right now, I don't know if it's me or the dynamite that doin' all that sweatin'.”

– Jake Sharp

El año de la peste [The Year of the Plague] (Felipe Cazals, 1979)

Jan

12

El año de la peste (1979)

Armed police wearing gas masks in front of the Palacio Nacional, Mexico City. DP: Xavier Cruz.

“It has been a good day for everyone, even for God. No sign of rain. No evidence of disease or blood.”

նռան գույնը [Sayat Nova / The Color of Pomegranates] (Sergei Parajanov, 1969)

Jan

11

journeys

նռան գույնը (1969)

A nun holds up an embroidered cloth depicting a dead Christ surrounded by mourning saints. Next to her a monk in black, resembling poet Sayat-Nova. Screenshot via Screenmusings. DP: Suren Shakhbazyan.

Garnets for January. The garnet is supposed to protect the traveller on his journey, and is named after the pomegranate with which it shares its bloodred colour.

“We sought asylum for our love, but the road led us out to the land of the dead.”

նռան գույնը tells the story of a poet's spiritual journey. The poet, and poems the film is based on is ashough [lover, or travelling musician] Sayat-Nova (b. Harutyun Sayatyan).

The Trip Back (Ralph Weisinger, 1970)

Jan

11

The Trip Back (1970)

Florrie Fisher telling the kids about her highs and lows in the gutter. DPs: Donald Shapiro & Ralph Weisinger.

“Twenty-three years of living with nothing but gutter hypes and junkies!”

– Florrie Fisher

Kinoautomat: Člověk a jeho dům [Kinoautomat / One Man and His House] (Ján Roháč, Radúz Činčera + Vladimír Svitáček, 1967)

Jan

10

Representation of the People Act 1918

Kinoautomat: Člověk a jeho dům (1967)

The audience about to vote for one of two scenes, with two presenters on stage.. DP: Jaromír Šofr.

Voting for the Representation of the People Act 1918, UK.
Made for the Czechoslovak Pavilion at #Expo67 in #Montréal, Kinoautomat was the world's first interactive film. During nine moments in the story, a moderator would appear on the stage, and ask the audience where the story should go now. Depending on the votes, one of two reels would play.

“The Kinoautomat in the Czechoslovak Pavilion is a guaranteed hit of the World Exposition, and the Czechs should build a monument to the man who conceived the idea, Radúz Činčera.”

– The New Yorker

After its very successful performance at Expo 67, and a one year run in Prague, Kinoautomat was banned by the Czechoslovakian government.

Times Square (Allan Moyle, 1980)

Jan

10

1967

Times Square (1980)

A bus on Times Square with a large (expensive) ad asking people to be on the lookout for a Pamela Pearl, born January 10, 1967. DP: James A. Contner.

“Yes, it's story time on WJAD in the heart of Times Square, New York, New York. The city so nice, they named it twice.”

– Johnny LaGuardia, on the air

Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man (John Reardon, 1978)

Jan

10

Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man (1978)

Tarry-Dan (Paul Curran) observing kids at the school's gate. DP: Peter Bartlett.