A Movie From Every Year: 1900-1909

 I've gone into the depths of madness and it's not going to stop until I've watched a from every year since 1900. It seemed like something fun to do now that I have no more Best Picture Nominees to watch and I'm nearly out of Best Animated Feature Nominees.

Also, I had realized at some point these past few weeks that I have never seen a movie from the 1910s. So here is my journey so far through the silent film era. One criterion that I did have for this experience, is that it must be a movie that I have never seen before. That means A Trip to the Moon, and The Great Train Robbery were movies that were out for this section.

I was able to get through this decade rather quickly because most of these films are incredibly short. Here's what the dawn of filmmaking had to offer:

1900.)

Title: The Doctor and the Monkey

Runtime: 1 Minute

Director: George Melies

Plot: A doctor has trouble with a monkey that escapes from a cage.

What I thought: This is pretty straightforward, Melies makes a lot of appearances early on and this was based on how much I enjoyed A Trip to the Moon which none of these films came close to replicating.

Rating: 2.5/5

1901.)

Title: The Magician and the Human Pump aka Excelsior!

Runtime: 2 minutes 35 seconds

Director: George Melies

Plot: A magician performs tricks with the help of an assistant.

What I thought: This was pretty amusing and Melies has a lot of fun with his camera tricks that he employs.

Rating: 3/5

1902.)

Title: The Devil's Money Bags

Runtime: 3 Minutes

Director: George Melies

Plot: Some guy hides gold, but Satan finds it and the dude gets tortured.

What I thought: I can't say I was entirely sure what I was watching here.

Rating: 2/5

1903.)

Title: The Magic Lantern

Runtime: 3 Minutes

Director: George Melies

Plot: Clowns make moving pictures after assembling a magic lantern.

What I thought: First off, clowns are the worst, and secondly, this is dull.

Rating: 2/5

1904.).

Title: The Clockmaker's Dream

Runtime: 2 Minutes

Director: George Melies

Plot: A clockmaker falls asleep and some ladies show him how to make new clocks.

What I thought: A cure for insomnia, you might be asleep in just 2 minutes.

Rating: 2/5

1905.)

Title: The Enchanted Sedan Chair

Runtime: 3 Minutes

Director: George Melies

Plot: Another magician, some more mediocre magic.

What I thought: Even the title is less than thrilling.

Rating: 2/5

1906.) 

Title: The House of Ghosts

Runtime: 6 Minutes

Director: Segundo de Chomon

Plot: Three friends go on a trip and stay in an abandoned house where things get freaky.

What I thought: There are a lot of cool things going on here and it gives a creepy vibe. I accidentally watched this and The 400 Tricks of the Devil (Melies), but one site had this as a 1907 film, but IMDB (which is what I go by) listed it as 1906, and since I liked this one better, it's the highlighted film of 1906.

Rating: 3/5

1907.)

Title: Satan in Prison

Runtime: 5 Minutes

Director: George Melies

Plot: Satan is in jail and has to entertain himself.

What I thought: This has a slow start, but gets fun towards the end.

Rating: 2.5/5

1908.)

Title: The Broken Violin

Runtime: 4 Minutes

Director: George Melies

Plot: A cook hides a violin in a kitchen.

What I thought: It's not a complete film, but what's there isn't that compelling.

Rating: 2/5

1909.)

Title: Edgar Allan Poe

Runtime: 7 Minutes

Director: D.W. Griffith

Plot: Events that are based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe.

What I thought: I thought it was amusing and entertaining. I might be the exception than the rule.

Rating: 3/5

 

So Your Baseball Team Might Need A New Nickname

The Cleveland Indians have existed in Major League Baseball since 1915, but as Bob Dylan once crooned, "The times they are a changin'." So with Cleveland considering a change in its moniker, might I present some choices:

Formerly Known As: 

The Indians are not the original nickname for the franchise and perhaps they could revisit some of these other teams. The longest of the old teams was the Cleveland Napoleons, or Naps for short, which existed from 1903-14. This of course was based on former second baseman and manager Nap Lajoie, who was inducted into the second class of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. 

In 1902 they were known as the Broncos, the Bluebirds in 1901, the Lake Shores in 1900, and the Grand Rapids Rustlers from 1894-1899.

The Other Cleveland Baseball Team:

In the superior National League was a team known as the Cleveland Forest Citys/Blues from 1887-88, but in 1889 they changed their names for the better. Enter the Cleveland Spiders who featured six future Hall of Famers and none bigger than Cy Young. 

Surprisingly, Peek-A-Boo Veach was not one of those elite players. Also on this squad for three years was Louis "Chief" Sockalexis, who is considered by some to be the first player of  Native American ancestry and certainly the first in the NL.

Something that might make people reconsider this sweet nickname is how the team ultimately folded in 1899.  Because baseball was super shady in the early days, the owners of the Spiders bought another team and moved all their talented players to the St. Louis Perfectos. With Young, Jesse Burkett, and Bobby Wallace all in the "Show Me State", the Spiders limped to an embarrassing 20-134 record (the worst in MLB history). After finishing 84 games out of first and attracting just 199 fans per game, the Spiders folded.

Defunct Cleveland Sports Teams:

Cleveland Barons (NHL/AHL)

Cleveland Cobras (Soccer) 

Cleveland Crunch (Indoor Soccer) 

Cleveland Force (Indoor Soccer)

Cleveland Crusaders (Hockey)

Cleveland Jaybirds (Slo-pitch softball) 

Cleveland Lumberjacks (Hockey) 

Cleveland Nets (Tennis) 

Cleveland Rockers (WNBA) 

Cleveland Stokers (Soccer) 

Cleveland Thunderbolts (Arena Football) 

Other Ideas:

Cleveland Careys 

Cleveland Clevelands 

Cleveland River Fires 

Cleveland Not Detroiters 

Cleveland Off Nagy's Glove 

Cleveland Blew a 3-1 Lead 

Cleveland Byners 

Cleveland Fellers