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What better way to celebrate a boys’ weekend than with Georges Méliès’ 1902 work A Trip to the Moon? Jessica couldn’t make it this week, but we’ve got Executive Producer Adam Gobeski in the co-host chair with TWO returning guests, Doug Gobeski and Paul Wilcox! We talk about the history of cinema, the innumerable soundtracks available for the film and why Thomas Edison is kind of a jerk. Paul comes to the startling conclusion that maybe we’re not smarter than people from the early 20th century…
Clarifications:
There is really no excuse for you not to watch this film. Versions are available here or here or a ton of other places. You won’t find a better use of your next 16 minutes, I assure you. And here is the accompanying transcript as well!
We mention jump cuts. Charlie also accidentally refers to a “dissolve” as a “cross cut”, blech. You may not know the names, but you already know what they are!
We never got to one of our standard questions which was the following: “Why did you pick this film?” (Answer: because it was short and we had another podcast to record!)
As if that whole AC vs. DC nonsense wasn’t enough, here’s more proof that Thomas Edison was a monster.
Here’s a great deal more info on the (relatively) recent color restoration of the film, with the Air soundtrack. And some Internet dwellers arguing about it.
Somehow Charlie got through the whole thing without mentioning the 2011 Martin Scorsese film Hugo. What a model of restraint! You should watch it though, it’s very good.
Things We Reference:
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
The Cocoanuts (1929)
The Astronomer’s Dream (1898)
“Minnie the Moocher” (1932)
Moon (2009)
Safety Last! (1923)
“From the Earth to the Moon” (1998)