They're back!! Shorts, all sizes, types, genres. I found all of these on YouTube and I have added them to a playlist on YouTube, so you can go here and find these and others I have watched and reviewed. Everything except Mighty Times: The Children's March is from the National Film Registry list.
9/11/16 Mighty Times: The Children's March, Best Documentary Short, 2004
The Children's March took place in Birmingham, Alabama, over a several day period in 1963, and during that time, thousands of children were arrested, shot at by high power water hoses and attacked by dogs, for the simple action of walking for equal rights for blacks in America. The documentary looks at what led to children, some as young as 8 (maybe younger) to march under dangerous and frightening circumstances. The Civil Rights movement reached a stopping point, when even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. getting arrested could not create momentum. The adults, who probably had more understanding of the risks, were reluctant to march; the children, fearless, naive, bold, stepped up to the challenge. Several of the children, now adults in late middle age, are interviewed and reflect on what they did, why they did it and how they felt about it. I was amazed and shocked at their bravery, conviction and brazenness in the face of white authority figures, and the actual punishments they received. I have been looking for this documentary in some format for about a year, and have not had any luck. The timing, with everything happening in the U.S. right now, was serendipitous. People are angry at Colin Kaepernick and other professional athletes for speaking out against the blatant inequalities that black Americans continue to experience, yet all he is doing is taking a knee during the national anthem. Pretty harmless when you think about it. He and the others are expressing their opinions and asking for equal treatment for everyone and people are angry and vitriolic, as if these inequalities don't exist (I think their indignation confirms otherwise). At least Bull Connor isn't around to set off the dogs. I think it's really important for people to look at the current issues in the context of the historical events. It's very easy to sit behind a keyboard and spew racist filth; it's a whole other thing to get out there and risk losing your job or worse, your life. Peaceful protest is one of the most American things a citizen can do.
9/11/16 The Inner World of Aphasia, 1968, National Film Registry
Aphasia is the inability to comprehend and formulate language because of something that has happened to the brain, like a stroke or significant brain injury. As frustrating as it is for those close to the person with aphasia, imagine what it is like for the patient. This film, made by Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, and other Cleveland institutions, gives us that perspective. We see two patients, one of whom was a nurse with no patience for one of her patients who had a form of aphasia. The film lets us 'hear' their thoughts; it's like the ideas are there and other brain functions may be unimpaired, but they can't communicate. There are no awards here for acting or dialog or anything, but if you think back to 1968, getting this topic out their for medial students, doctors or families with someone experiencing aphasia, it was probably very groundbreaking. My dad had a stroke, and he was a very communicative person, so to be unable to talk, or talk quickly, was probably the most frustrating thing for him.
9/12/16 National Film Registry
Newark Athlete, 1910 - this is about 24 seconds of footage, and it's nothing special in 2016, but over 100 years ago, capturing moving images, and experimenting was a big deal.
President McKinley - Inauguration Footage, 1901 - this is the first moving picture footage of a sitting (or soon to be sitting) president. McKinley is hard to see, but there is footage of the parade. It's a little over a minutes.
Little Nemo, 1911 - If you are a fan of animation, especially old school hand-drawn animation, I recommend watching Little Nemo. Winsor McCay was a cartoonist at the New York Herald, and he made this film using some of his characters, as well as himself. There are some scenes that are colorized (hand colored by McCay), and apparently he went back and hand colored more or most of the film. It's funny, it's innovative and it's short, at under 12 minutes.
Steamboat Willie, 1928 - I don't really have to tell you about this, do I? If you know anything about Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney and/or early animation, you know about Steamboat Willie. It sees an early incarnation of Mickey Mouse on a steamboat, playing with his cargo, much to the chagrin of the captain. Using my 21st prude-vision, there are a few inappropriate scenes, including Mickey playing a mama pig as an accordion (you can see for yourself what he uses for the buttons). I don't think I have seen this in its entirety before. You definitely get a taste of what Disney would do with giving animals human-like qualities and the humor we all grew up with.
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend, 1906 - Winsor McCay's hand is in this short as well, as it was based on his comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (seriously, a whole comic strip?). I love Welsh Rarebit, and I can actually conceive of a scenario where I would gorge myself on it and get dizzy. The Rarebit Fiend is almost gluttonous in his consumption of rarebit and what I think was beer, and he pays the price when he suffers from some pretty trippy hallucinations. The hallucinations are an excuse for the directors to include crazy (for this time period) stunts and special effects. Watching the Fiend stuff his maw with rarebit gets old after what seemed like 5 minutes (the movie is less than 10 minutes), but there are some funny moments, and when you think that this is really the infancy of film, it's pretty impressive.
Edison Kinetographic Record of a Sneeze, 1894 - My complaint about movies being too long does not apply here since the running time is all of 5 seconds. Yep, five seconds. Meet Mr. Fred Ott, who takes a pinch of snuff and (spoiler alert) sneezes. This is from 1894, it uses a Kinetoscope and was the first film to be copyrighted. Gesundheit!
