Fly Me to the Moon (1,000th Review!🌟)

A Trip to the Moon (also known as Le Voyage dans la Lune) is one of the most influential films in cinema history. Such an important motion picture felt like the perfect time to celebrate a major milestone of mine. Believe it or not, I’ve written one movie review everyday since January 10, 2017. As of today, I’ve officially reached my goal of 1000 reviews. So now I can honestly say that I have seen over a thousand movies in my life. I reached all the other milestones too, but this is the first time I’m mentioning it in my review.

A Trip to the Moon was released all the way back in 1902. It’s a French film made by influential early filmmaker Georges Méliès. Parts of his story are dramatized in the movie Hugo. Although technically 1 hour & 14 minutes long, the incomplete version is only about 12 minutes. There’s also a hand-colored print, but I’m no fan of colorization. A Trip to the Moon was mainly meant to be a French take on Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon. In it, a professor leads an expedition of astronauts on a trip to the moon. While there they encounter all sorts of unbelievable things. Like a group of dangerous moon aliens.

Although the story itself is not as memorable as its most iconic scene. One you’ll no doubt recognize if you’re as big a fan of movies as I am. It’s the moment when the bullet shaped rocket lands on the moon. It lands directly in the right eye of the “man in the moon.” It’s one of the most iconic shots ever put to screen. A Trip to the Moon is the movie we have to thank for the science fiction genre.

The Man in the Moon

P.S. Being public domain, I’ve supplied the entire movie underneath.

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Previous Milestones

1. Small Soldiers – 1st review
2. Straight Outta Compton – 50th review
3. Singin’ in the Rain – 100th review
4. The Shawshank Redemption – 200th review
5. V for Vendetta – 300th review
6. Forrest Gump – 1st annual review celebrating when I started
7. It Follows – 400th review
8. American Beauty – 500th review
9. Babe – 600th review
10. Metropolis – 700th review
11. Avatar – 2nd annual review celebrating when I started
12. Dunkirk – 800th review
13. High School Musical – 900th review

On the Right Track

The Great Train Robbery is responsible for so much in cinema. It was the first action film and the first western film ever made. Or at least the first one to be groundbreaking. It’s responsible for assuring in widely unheard of filmmaking techniques. Like editing in a composite way, shooting on location, and moving the camera around. Before, most short films had only one shot with no narrative structure. The Great Train Robbery is 12 minutes long. It features a group of bandits who rob a train and get stopped by a gun toting posse. The end title card says Thomas A Edison because he’s responsible for a lot of early filmmaking.

I’ve always known about The Great Train Robbery, but I never tried to watch it. Like many film students, it was my teacher who showed us the movie as a class project. He explained The Great Train Robbery to us in a way I might have missed, considering it’s both silent and grainy. Our assignment was to re-edit the movie. Since there are a lot of unnecessary scenes and lengthy shots. I got an A on the project and I think it turned out pretty good for what I had to work with. The Great Train Robbery is a movie everyone should see.

Bandits rob a train

P.S. Being public domain, I’ve supplied the entire movie underneath.

The Beauty of Film

Roundhay Garden Scene is a flat out masterpiece. I’m not going to give it away, but the ending is perhaps the greatest in film history. The cinematography is brilliant, the costumes are authentic, and the setting is perfect. So what’s the story, well it’s about four unique individuals who have come together to walk in various directions. I guarantee it will move you to tears. Honestly this movie changed my life. I’ll never look at life the same way again… April Fools! Roundhay Garden Scene is actually the first movie ever made. Or at least the oldest surviving moving picture. It’s only 2 seconds long and was made by a man named Louis Le Prince. A man considered to be the “Father of Cinematography.” So we all have him to thank for his contributions to film history. Honestly, I will always find it baffling how old film is. Where would we be without it. I’d tell you to check out Roundhay Garden Scene, but there’s no need. Here it is.

Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)