Category Archives: Movies

Favorite Film: Magnolia

Posted on Tuesday 11 August 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Sunday night we caught, on one of the cable channels, the 1999 film by Paul Thomas Anderson, Magnolia (all but the first few minutes; we caught up on those the next night, since I have the DVD). It’s one of … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: Destination Moon

Posted on Saturday 8 August 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

This 1951 film was the first prestigious science fiction film, its script inspired or perhaps partially written, by Robert A. Heinlein. The credits say “from a novel by” Heinlein but that’s not accurate. Heinlein had written a juvenile novel about … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: Rocketship X-M

Posted on Thursday 23 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Now the fun starts. Having dutifully watched the precursors of science fiction films in the mostly horror films of the 1930s and ‘40s (with just two SF films from before 1950, Metropolis from 1927 and Things to Come from 1936), … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: Things to Come

Posted on Friday 17 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

This is an ambitious film from 1936, based on a treatment by H.G. Wells depicting future history from 1950 to 2036. Again, Wikipedia has a fairly detailed plot at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_to_Come. I’ve read that for decades after, Things to Come was … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: Son of Frankenstein

Posted on Wednesday 15 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

This third Frankenstein film, Son of Frankenstein, from 1939 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Frankenstein), again features Boris Karloff as the monster. I saw this film decades ago, likely in the 1990s when there was a fine, independent video rental store around the corner from … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: The Wolf Man

Posted on Saturday 11 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

As I’ve said, the basis for these posts, and for my taking the time to watch these rather primitive films from the dawn of the movie era, is to revisit the predecessors of the earliest science fiction films; I have … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Posted on Wednesday 8 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

In the Fall of 2019, September and October, I began a systematic review of early science fiction films, and adjacent horror films, going all the way back to the beginning of modern film, so to speak–excepting the many silent-movie era … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: Modern Times

Posted on Friday 25 October 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

Skiffy? Science fiction? Well, not quite, but the theme of the first part of the film, in which the main character works in a dehumanizing factory, echoes Metropolis and similar dystopias. That’s why I watched it. While I think I … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: The Invisible Man

Posted on Friday 25 October 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

This one is copyright 1932 but was released November 1933, says Wikipedia. It was produced by Carl Laemmle, stars Claude Rains, a high-profile actor at the beginning of his career (he was later in Casablanca, Notorious, and many others), and … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: Island of Lost Souls

Posted on Friday 25 October 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a 1932 film, starring Charles Laughton and directed by Erle C. Kenton. All these films from the early 1930s are based on novels (or are sequels to previous films) but this time they changed the title: it’s based … Continue reading →

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