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No. 73: It's hard to really believe him when he sneezes

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It's hard to really believe him when he sneezes

First | Previous | 2015-04-08 | Next | Latest

Permanent URL: https://mezzacotta.net/dinosaur/?comic=73

Strip by: Colin Foster

T-Rex: T-Rex's movie reviews!
T-Rex: This week: "Fred Ott's Sneeze!"
T-Rex: Not enough setup, poor cinematography, barely delivers on promise. Two and a half stars out of five.
Utahraptor: Also not a long movie!
Utahraptor: In fact, your review's nearly as long as the movie itself!
T-Rex: Just wait until my 15-hour review of "Berlin Alexanderplatz!"

The author writes:

"Fred Ott's Sneeze" is one of the first films ever made, from lesser-known auteur Thomas Edison. It is about five seconds long and depicts exactly what the title says. It's notable for being the first film to be copyrighted in the United States; however, because the copyright was filed in 1894, it is now in the public domain and you can watch it for free as a GIF on its Wikipedia page. (Sadly, they seem to have removed the amusing caption underneath it, which read "The whole film.")

"Berlin Alexanderplatz" is a 15-hour* miniseries about a criminal in Weimar Germany. It is considered a fine film/miniseries, in contrast to "Fred Ott's Sneeze" (which I am totally writing out every time I can because the title amuses me so much). A GIF of the whole thing would probably be unmanageably large, even at a smaller resolution.

* Actually, due to technical differences in video and film between Europe and the USA, the American DVD release of "Berlin Alexanderplatz" is a half-hour longer despite there being no difference in content. Which I'm sure has dissuaded a lot of potential viewers; fifteen hours is one thing, but fifteen and a HALF?! Do they think we've got nothing but time on our hands?!