Things I Think Are Kinda Cool

Behold the first kiss ever captured on film.  It happened in 1896 thanks to Thomas Edison (yes, that Thomas Edison), and it’s as racy as you’d expect!

-via Brain Picker

Thanks to filmmaker Adam Abada, you can zoom up Broadway from Battery Place to 220th Street, without ever getting off your couch. (Lazy bum)

-via Gawker

Documentary filmmaker Heather Quinlan is working on a new film studying the infamous New York Accent.  ”If These Knishes Could Talk” charts the inevitable decline of the accent as New York becomes more diverse.  Visit Heather’s IndieGoGo fundraiser page if you want to donate some cash to help her finish her film.  I love New Yawk.

-via Doobybrain

It’s hard to deny the tiny visceral thrill you get when a character in a movie actually says the title of the movie on screen. Can you handle a few hundred of these thrills? You sure? OK…Press play:

-via Geekosystem

270 films of 2010, remixed into one fast moving reminder of the boundary-pushing power of cinematography.  (Don’t blink or you’ll miss Joan Rivers).

-via @CrackleDotCom (Click here for a full list of the films used)

Check out how George Lucas shot the opening text crawl for the original “Star Wars” series – I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I had no idea how low-tech the setup would be!

-Click here for more behind-the-scenes pics in Vanity Fair.

Vincent Falk, aka “Fashion Man”, likes wearing brightly colored neon suits and spinning around in a circles.  Around and around and around and around…so much so that he’s become a quasi-celebrity in Chicago and the subject of a new documentary taking the festival circuit by storm.   Just who is this distinguished gentlemen?  Where does he come from?  Where does he get his suits?  And most importantly, what’s the deal with all the twirling?

The channel 5 local news team loves him so much that they feature him regularly on their newscasts.  Have a look at him in action:

-via Everything is Terrible

Can’t get enough Vincent?  Check out the new documentary “Vincent:  A Life in Color” to get your bright-suit-spinning fix.  (Warning:  You might be surprised how heartwarming this film looks.)

-Find out more about “Vincent: A Life in Color” here.

I’d be insulting your intelligence if I told you this montage of the 100 Greatest Movie Insults of All Time was slightly NSFW.  Enjoy:

-via Kottke.org (who is 100% correct in pointing out the greatest insult of all time was left out of this video:  Corky St. Clair, from “Waiting For Guffman” – “I hate you and I hate your ass face”.  Works every time…)

Sit back and enjoy video artist Leandro Copperfield’s tribute to two of the most groundbreaking directors in filmmaking history.  (Full disclosure:  Little Danny still creeps me out every time…)

(via Kottke)

Full list of films used:
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Day of the Fight (1951)
Fear and Desire (1953)
Killer’s Kiss (1955)
The Killing (1956)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Spartacus (1960)
Lolita (1962)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
The Shining (1980)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Dir: Martin Scorsese
Mean Streets (1973)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
Taxi Driver (1976)
New York, New York (1977)
Raging Bull (1980)
The King of Comedy (1982)
After Hours (1985)
The Color of Money (1986)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Goodfellas (1990)
Cape Fear (1991)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Casino (1995)
Kundun (1997)
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Gangs of New York (2002)
The Aviator (2004)
The Departed (2006)
Shutter Island (2010)

Still hungry for another A-list Director Mash-Up?  Check out Copperfield’s “Tarantino Vs. Coen Brothers”.

BRAIN:  I’m exhausted.

YOU:  Been reading all your high-brow fancy-schmancy articles again, huh?  What’s that you’re reading now?

BRAIN:  Nothing.

YOU:  It’s obviously something.  What is it?

BRAIN:  …schmuss breechley…

YOU:  Huh?

BRAIN:  …frush kreakly…

YOU:  WHAT?

BRAIN:  Fine…US WEEKLY!  Happy now?!?  Are you KIDDING me, Jesse James?  That’s America’s Sweetheart, Acadamy Award winner Sandra Bullock!  We’re already on Mistress #4, and who knows when th-

YOU:  SHUT THE HELL UP!

BRAIN: —

YOU:  First you were obsessed with Tiger Woods, now this dude?  Put down the damn magazine and read these articles…NOW.

BRAIN:  thanks……i need help.

———————————–

* The honeymoon is over.  Digital media and the internet are creating some fascinating (and some would argue, negative) side-effects:  our ‘mash-up’ culture is challenging concepts of ownership, our political discourse is becoming even more intensely polarized, mediocrity is winning the battle against expertise, and the list goes on.  This article is chocked-full of compelling ideas. – NY Times

* Fun-fact:  By 2025, China will build TEN New York-sized cities.  Not-so-fun-fact:  China executes three times as many people as the rest of the world COMBINED.  Those are just 2 of 15 facts about China that will literally blow your mind. – Business Insider

* Have snarky movie review blogs killed legitimate film criticism, or are they simply adding more accessible ideas to ‘establishment’ opinions?  The evolution of film criticism has been long and winding, from it’s birth at the beginning of the 20th century, to it’s debatable death today. – The Chronicle

* Researchers studied 150 Hollywood films and recorded the length of every shot.  They then calculated the average frequency between shots, called “Pink Noise”.  Now here’s the trippy part – the specific characteristic of “Pink Noise” that they discovered is found all over our everyday life:  the beating of our heart, the ups and downs of the stock market, traffic patterns, how we focus/re-focus our attention, and so much more…woah.  – NY Times

* Apparently male mice are romantic little devils – they actually sing ultrasonic love songs to impress the ladies.  (Rats do this too, but no one wants to think about them). – MSNBC