Film historians, and survivors from the nearly 30-year struggle to bring sound to motion pictures take the audience from the early failed attempts by scientists and inventors, to the triumph of the talkies.
2007-09-02
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7.8A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.
6.0Madrid, Spain, 1949. The Circo Americano arrives in the city. While the big top is pitched in a vacant lot, the troupe parades through the grand avenues: the band, a witty impersonator, the Balodys, acrobats, jugglers, acrobatic skaters, clowns and… Buffallo Bill.
This film records the vast public response to the early death of Vera Kholodnaya, the first star of Russian cinema.
5.2Just as Galeen and Wegener's Der Golem (1915) can be seen as a testament to early German film artistry, The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) symbolizes both the birth of the Australian film industry and the emergence of an Australian cinema identity. Even more significantly, it heralds the emergence of the feature film format. However, only fragments of the original production of more than one hour are known to exist, preserved at the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra; Efforts at reconstruction have made the film available to modern audiences.
On a market day in Kernascleden, two Breton women exchange their hair for a few coins. The hair becomes hairpieces. Last scene, an elegant Parisian removes her hat and exposes her generous wig skillfully coiffed.
3.8A method soldier boys have for amusing themselves in their leisure moments. New comrades are frequently initiated by the old-fashioned sport of tossing in a blanket. The newly arrived recruit, who is the victim of their sport, enjoys himself, perhaps, less than the other participants.
A short, early documentary work showing insects exhibiting extreme strength and agility.
9.0An adventure film with Benshi performers. Sometimes considered the 'first Japanese feature film', it survives today as a compilation of scenes from various different 1910s adaptations totaling nearly three hours in length. The bulk of the content comes from the 1911 adaptation by legendary Japanese filmmaker Makino Shozo.
3.0Scientist Galileo Galilei was engaged in his studies, but a servant of his attempts to seduce his daughter, and denounces Galilei to the Holy Office.
A troupe of gypsies takes a traveler along with them on their day trip.
Surfing at Waikiki Beach, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. Most surfers are human, one is a dog. The educational documentary is part of the Bruce Scenic Novelties series.
0.0Life on the breadline in the 1930s was hard enough, but times were desperate when you fell beneath it. Hunger marches organised by the National Unemployed Workers' Movement drew attention to the cause, but this left-wing collective picked up a cine-camera. The fictional story at the heart of the film is somewhat melodramatic, but the authentic surroundings give its message realism and weight.
5.5An appreciative, uncritical look at silent film comedies and thrillers from early in the century through the 1920s.
7.2Young Cabiria is kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in Carthage. Just as she's to be sacrificed to Moloch, Cabiria is rescued by Fulvius Axilla, a good-hearted Roman spy, and his powerful slave, Maciste. The trio are broken up as Cabiria is entrusted to a woman of noble birth. With Cabiria's fate unknown, Maciste punished for his heroism, and Fulvius sent away to fight for Rome, is there any hope of our heroes reuniting?
7.0The inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town bartender, Jan Vokes. With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream and compete with the racing elites. Their investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks and becomes a beacon of hope in their struggling community.
7.6Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
6.7Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab.
7.7With the price on his head ever increasing, John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.
6.3Rich and powerful Simon Qing has been schooled in the ways of sex by his virile father, but is still a virgin. That is, until he meets his first love Violetta who has fun with him all over his father’s estate. Their love does not last, so Simon embarks on a journey. Along the way he meets the comely nun Moon whom Simon deflowers and then marries. He then becomes enamored of Golden Lotus but she is married to dwarf Wu Da-Lang.
6.2A young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension.
4.9Liza scores an invite to one last wild party before the world ends. But making it there won't be easy, as her car has been stolen, and the clock is ticking on her plan to tie up loose ends with friends and family. Accompanied by her younger self, Liza embarks on a hilarious journey across Los Angeles, running into an eclectic cast of characters.
5.1When Jason Dyson refuses to make his prized fighter throw an MMA match, a notorious gangster collects his debt by killing the fighter and kidnapping Jason's daughter. Now he must train a prisoner to endure five consecutive underground fights to save her.
6.1Fuelled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince assemble a team of metahumans consisting of Barry Allen, Arthur Curry and Victor Stone to face the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf and the Parademons who are on the hunt for three Mother Boxes on Earth.
6.4A legendary secret service agent comes out of hiding and returns to France to help the son he's never met get out of trouble.
5.9A female FBI agent holidaying in Eastern Europe with her family gets her life upside down when her daughter is kidnapped. She has to team up with a criminal on the run to save her daughter before time runs out.
5.6Eight horror-loving friends fight for their lives when a killer clown who seems to know the grim secret they share begins to pick them off, one by one.
6.9Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.
5.5Armored truck security guard James Brody is working with his son Casey transporting millions of dollars between banks when a team of thieves led by Rook orchestrate a takeover of their truck to seize the riches. Following a violent car chase, Rook soon has the armored truck surrounded and James and Casey find themselves cornered onto a decrepit bridge.
6.4In this prequel to the animated series The King's Avatar, Ye Xiu enters into the pro gaming world of Glory, and competes in the first Pro League series tournament.
6.3Covert security company Vanguard is the last hope of survival for an accountant after he is targeted by the world's deadliest mercenary organization.
6.1Story of trailblazing American rock singer-songwriter Suzi Quatro, who helped redefine the role of women in rock 'n' roll when she broke out in 1973.
6.3When twin brothers arrive home to find their mother’s demeanor altered and face covered in surgical bandages, they begin to suspect the woman beneath the gauze might not be their mother.
7.8A recap of Kimetsu no Yaiba episodes 6–10, with new footage and special end credits. Tanjiro ventures to Asakusa, Tokyo for his second mission with the Demon Slayer Corps.