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Here you will find two quick clips that show some early progress in film as a documenting tool. One of the first shorts ever in 1895 was of a train arriving at a station by the Lumière brothers. Compare that to this shot 18 years later when a train collision was caught on film. In the meantime, stor read more

What I had wanted to do with this series of posts initially was dust off some old posts that had not yet seen their moment on this blog. That’s easy enough to do when your topic is immutable and not really on a current event. A fictitious conversation among myself, Hitchcock and Truffaut that read more

Introduction With After Earth being released this week it struck me that the timing was good to revisit not only some of M. Night Shyamalan‘s films but also some old pieces I wrote about him or his works that have not yet made their way over to this site. This piece, however, is new and the th read more

Introduction With After Earth being released this week it struck me that the timing was good to revisit not only some of M. Night Shyamalan‘s films but also some old pieces I wrote about him or his works that have not yet made their way over to this site. This particular piece is brand new, h read more

When I learned of the Child Actor Blogathon at Comet Over Hollywood, I had two ideas for it almost right away: the Jackie Searl spotlight and this one. Not too long ago I argued for why the Juvenile Award should be re-instated. In this post I will follow up on that notion to augment my case. It̵ read more

I believe the last time I posted a trailer it was in conjunction with another short just so it wouldn’t feel like such a cheat. Here, however, the trailer is for a short, and since the story is cool and the film looks to be of significance; I will make another exception. This hit a number of w read more

When by chance I found that Comet Over Hollywood was doing this blogathon there were a number of options I could have selected. Quite frankly, I was a little late in noticing that it existed so some good options that I also would have liked to have covered were taken. However, I don’t regret i read more

So this is a fairly big day for the Movie Rat, through sheer coincidence. Not only is my contribution for the Children in Films Blogathon up but I also have a guest post on underrated comedies for Rupert Pupkins Speaks, Brian Saur‘s blog, which is a great reflection of the fact that he’s read more

Introduction Last year the character of Tarzan celebrated his 100th year in print. A serialized version of the story first appeared in 1912. A hardcover collection of Tarzan of the Apes first appeared in 1914. Being in the middle of the Tarzan centennial period it’s an opportune time to (re)visit read more

I enjoy attending MonsterMania Con because it allows me a periodical dousing in horror. Recently I’ve taken to finally viewing some of the selections that I acquired while there this last go-round. My most recent selection brought to mind, yet again, an issue that seems to be popping up more a read more

So here I am again with another of these posts that I plan on tossing up when I suddenly realize I knew someone who is far more familiar from an earlier role. This post marks the first actress included in the festivities in Sarah Paulson. However, it also is the first where I actually realized two e read more

There are a few things to note here: the first is that this is the second Griffith title I watched for this weekend. The first I felt, though more interesting in its construction, is not as effective a narrative. Also, interesting to note, and I haven’t seen too much of this even in the silent read more

Introduction The first full-length post on Django Unchained, my choice as Best Picture of 2012 was my first guest post and first translated post. However, owing to the accolades I gave it, and the wait, it was time to post my own thoughts on the film. This is the last of four posts. The first can be read more

The first time I did a piece labeled In Anticipation Of it was regarding Mercy the adaptation of the Stephen King short story Gramma, which was produced by Blumhouse and will be released by Universal Horror. With this one I have decided to go with something that I’ve watched off an on for a lo read more

One parallel I’ve recently noticed that exists between non-fiction writing and filmmaking is that the question of scope is very much relevant to both. If you want to truly convey your message and your narrative, you had better not lose the reins and have control of where you are taking your au read more

There are a few interesting things to note about The Show. Firstly, this is a silent and solo appearance by Oliver Hardy. I know both he and Stan Laurel both worked in the silent era, but they only truly excelled with one another and after the inception of sound. Hardy does fine but is not nearly as read more

It recently occurred to me that though one could think of many moments to associate with almost any film, especially one you particularly enjoy. Some films have that one iconic moment or element that stick in your mind, in some cases whether you saw them or not. For some of these films it’s a read more

From Time to time when a book should happen to overlap into the realm of film in some way I will take occasion to review it if recommended. I’m not one who is usually prone to reading memoirs. However, when doing research for a personal writing project, the very same one that inspired Poverty read more

Introduction The first full-length post on Django Unchained, my choice as Best Picture of 2012 was my first guest post and first translated post. However, owing to the accolades I gave it, and the wait, it was time to post my own thoughts on the film. This is the third of four posts. The first can b read more

In my recent Short Film Saturday post I talked of a perfect introduction to Bela Tarr. As I will discuss in these and other pieces that form the retrospective on his works, in light of my bestowing upon him the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award, such assimilation can prove to be rather difficult. My b read more