I'm impressed that you have followed through on this idea !-- I have been doing a similar project (the watching part of it, not the blog/podcast part) and have seen many of these same films. I'm looking forward to hearing what you had to say, and finding links to the films that I somehow missed .
I'd like to see the list of what you've watched so far. I haven't found any sort of definitive list of must-see films of the early silent era, and despite my research I'm sure I've passed over some great films. Do you have a list of what you've watched somewhere? I use Letterboxd for that.
Hi Greg -- thanks for your interest -- and do i ever have a list ! Or more accurately, lists -- the problem is that i have so many separate lists -- many of them on paper, believe it or not -- but i would love to share with you some version of these. I haven't gotten very far yet in your blog/podcast but I did notice that you have some lists mentioned part way up the road, and i plan to click on that later today and see what you have put together.
Fun to see someone engaged in a similar project. By the way, i think it took me about 2 yrs to get from 1896 through about 1913 -- after which the feature length films start to kick in. I could share a google doc with you if that works for you. I have a few films on Letterboxd but i was finding the ads too distracting, altho i like that site for seeing what others are saying/watching.
I don't think I've seen ads on Letterboxd, though now that I type that I realize I'm a patron of the site, so I may not see them for that reason. Yes, please share a link to your account there. I'm always curious to see what others are watching!
Do you mean the silent films? Many of those I have on Blu-ray or DVD, and the rest I find online. In each podcast I share where or how I watched, and give links to the physical media or YouTube video. All the silents I'm watching are in the public domain, so they are usually easy to find online.
If you mean old films in general, on each Letterboxd diary entry I tag the name of the theater where I watched it, or where I streamed it, or if I watched on a Blu-ray or DVD. For those films, it's a case of me going to the movies a lot. Yesterday I caught a silent Rin Tin Tin movie at the theater, tonight I'm going to a theater that's playing The Jerk, which will be the 97th film I've seen in a theater so far in 2024.
Thank you. I was not aware that most of the earliest silents were available online. Seemed too good to be true. Appreciate that you are using Substack as your log. Great medium for that. To undertake something this massive you better keep good notes!
I have a spreadsheet where I track the films I intend to watch, and a Filemaker database where I track data about each film I watch. The latter allows me to cross-reference, and see what actors, directors, writers, etc. have worked on other films I've seen.
Strictly speaking, access to the full list of movies is limited to paid subscribers, but I suppose I can let you know that yes, that's in the list of films from 1927 I hope to watch.
I'm impressed that you have followed through on this idea !-- I have been doing a similar project (the watching part of it, not the blog/podcast part) and have seen many of these same films. I'm looking forward to hearing what you had to say, and finding links to the films that I somehow missed .
I'd like to see the list of what you've watched so far. I haven't found any sort of definitive list of must-see films of the early silent era, and despite my research I'm sure I've passed over some great films. Do you have a list of what you've watched somewhere? I use Letterboxd for that.
Hi Greg -- thanks for your interest -- and do i ever have a list ! Or more accurately, lists -- the problem is that i have so many separate lists -- many of them on paper, believe it or not -- but i would love to share with you some version of these. I haven't gotten very far yet in your blog/podcast but I did notice that you have some lists mentioned part way up the road, and i plan to click on that later today and see what you have put together.
Fun to see someone engaged in a similar project. By the way, i think it took me about 2 yrs to get from 1896 through about 1913 -- after which the feature length films start to kick in. I could share a google doc with you if that works for you. I have a few films on Letterboxd but i was finding the ads too distracting, altho i like that site for seeing what others are saying/watching.
I don't think I've seen ads on Letterboxd, though now that I type that I realize I'm a patron of the site, so I may not see them for that reason. Yes, please share a link to your account there. I'm always curious to see what others are watching!
Well, I went to Letterboxd but I still don’t know HOW you were able to find and watch most of these very old movies. What is the secret?
Do you mean the silent films? Many of those I have on Blu-ray or DVD, and the rest I find online. In each podcast I share where or how I watched, and give links to the physical media or YouTube video. All the silents I'm watching are in the public domain, so they are usually easy to find online.
If you mean old films in general, on each Letterboxd diary entry I tag the name of the theater where I watched it, or where I streamed it, or if I watched on a Blu-ray or DVD. For those films, it's a case of me going to the movies a lot. Yesterday I caught a silent Rin Tin Tin movie at the theater, tonight I'm going to a theater that's playing The Jerk, which will be the 97th film I've seen in a theater so far in 2024.
Thank you. I was not aware that most of the earliest silents were available online. Seemed too good to be true. Appreciate that you are using Substack as your log. Great medium for that. To undertake something this massive you better keep good notes!
I have a spreadsheet where I track the films I intend to watch, and a Filemaker database where I track data about each film I watch. The latter allows me to cross-reference, and see what actors, directors, writers, etc. have worked on other films I've seen.
That’s impressive. I love the epiphanies of discovering cast members, and certainly connections with history, and so forth.
Speaking of which, is Abel Gance’s Napoleon on your list?
Strictly speaking, access to the full list of movies is limited to paid subscribers, but I suppose I can let you know that yes, that's in the list of films from 1927 I hope to watch.