Pie Eating Contest (1897)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. Two men have a pie eating contest.
Low image quality on this one, definitely hard to make out what is happening. Even when you can make something out it is not that great. Has potential but does not live up to it.
2/5
Admiral Cigarette (1897)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. A thirty second advert for cigarettes.
Not a huge amount to this, just a blatant advert for smoking. Lacks a bit in plot or action. Image quality not the best.
2/5
Ambulance at the Accident (1897)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film staring John Tierney. An ambulance picks up a man who has been hit by a trolley car.
I assume this is staged rather than documentary. Pretty decent for what it is, short is well framed to get all the action. Image quality is fine for the age of the short.
3/5
Tomb Raider (2018)
Directed by Roar Uthaug this film based on the video game franchise stars Alicia Vikander, Dominic West and Walton Goggings. A daughter of a missing English lord sets off to find him to save him being legally declared dead.
I have not played the video games so I have no idea how closely this sticks to the lore. As an action adventure it is adequate, there are some nice action moments but that is about it. Not much to write home about in terms of plot or character arc.
3/5
Parade of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show No. 1 (1898)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. We see part of Buffalo Bill's show pass the camera.
Image quality is just about good enough to make out what is going on but it is a bit ropey. On its own as a single short there is not a lot of variety to this short. Likely works better in the full version.
2/5
Fisherman's Luck (1897)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. A slapstick comedy involving two men fishing.
Not the best in terms of image quality, kind of hard to make out the details on the version I saw. Fine for a simple comedy. Not a huge amount to this one.
2/5
Hockey Match on the Ice (1898)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. A short clip of men playing hockey on the ice.
A nice little moment in time captured on film. There is not a huge amount to this one but it does have a little bit of charm to it. Makes you wish there was more.
3/5
Joy (2019)
Directed by Steve Oen this film stars Elodie Hooftman, Perla Thissen and Shane Redondo. A woman on a date is not all she seems.
Nice little twist on the familiar robot on a date theme which I have seen a few shorts on. Fairly fun with a decent surprise at the end. Well made for what it is.
3/5
Black Diamond Express, No. 1 (1897)
Directed by James H. White and William Heise this is an early short film. A train goes past the camera.
Well framed this short does a good job of capturing the action. We get both the train and the people waving as it passes by. A nice little sort for the period.
3/5
Remote Control (2025)
Directed by Tom Bohan & Andrew Mckee this short stars Marcus Christopherson and Craig Edwards. In the future on a barren planet a man tries to salvage water from a downed craft while another is ordered to kill him.
Nothing ground breaking here really, a familiar warning about resource scarcity and corporate indifference. Decently made for what must have been a small budget. Fine for what it is.
3/5
Original Skin (2022)
Directed by Mdharmiri a Nkemi this short film stars Olive Grey and Sorcha Groundsell. A world where having sex with someone ends with swapping bodies with them.
A premise with promise does not really go anywhere. I could see a lot of ways this could have gone but I am not sure anything interesting happens here. A missed opportunity.
2/5
Nuremberg (2025)
Written & directed by James Vanderbilt this film based on real events stars Rami Malek and Russell Crowe. A psychiatrist exams the remaining Nazi high command ahead of the first Nuremberg trial.
Unfortunately the writing is not up to the subject matter here, too much of the script is too simplistic. You also do not need to be a history export to be able to tell where events have been spiced up to fit the narrative. I also found the score somewhat overbearing for the serious subject matter.
2/5
Charity Ball (1897)
Directed by William Heise this early short film stars James T. Kelley and Dorothy Kent. A couple dance for the camera.
Fairly nice dancing, pretty jaunty. The framing of the shot is not the best and neither is the image quality on the version I saw. Not too bad considering the age of the film.
2/5
28 Years Later (2025)
Directed by Danny Boyle this sequel stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams and Ralph Fiennes. Living in a zombie apocalypse a 12 year old boy tries to find his mother a doctor.
Fine for what it is, you can see what the film is trying to do but I am not sure it fully connects with the deeper themes. Pretty standard film for the genre. Always love a good Ralph Fiennes performance.
3/5
Honor's Half-Life (2024)
Directed by Robert Flowers this short film stars Kyra Wellington, Alex Petrovich and Greg DeHetre. A former soldier and his daughter go into the woods hunting a man.
You can see what this short is trying to do it just does not do it very well at all. The acting and action are especially weak in this one. Sorry to say not worth watching.
1/5
Bowery Waltz (1897)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. Two people dance imitating being a drunk couple.
Plenty of space is left for Jesus here. May be loses a little bit in the medium and age. I am sure the act was more entertaining in its time.
2/5
A Street Arab (1898)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. A boy proto-break dances.
Pretty cool dancing for the period. A fun little short for sure. Decent image quality.
3/5
Fifth Avenue, New York (1897)
Directed by William Heise and James H. White this is an early short film. A simple shot of a busy street in New York.
Similar to many other street films of the era. Image quality is not as sharp as it could be, forgivable given the age of the film. Fine for what you expect.
3/5
What Demoralized the Barber Shop (1898)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. Women showing off a bit of leg disrupt the activities of a barber shop.
The framing of the shot for this short is not great, the woman are too small in the background to make it clear what is happening. Image quality is not the greatest on the version I saw which does not help matters either. Not that great.
2/5
The Ball Game (1898)
Directed by William Heise this is an early short film. We see a clip of a baseball match.
Due to the poor image quality and placement of the camera relative to the action it is a bit hard to make out what is going on at times. Too much happens in the background while larger shapes are in the foreground. Not the best.
2/5
Amy Muller (1896)
Directed by William Heise this short film stars Amy Muller. A woman dances for the camera.
Not the most intricate of dance sequences, still pretty decent. A fun little piece of personality captured for posterity. Solid for the era.
3/5
