A Vimeo user who goes by the handle Roman Holiday, but whose name is Matt and who lives in Vancouver, has put together a great video called “Cinematic Film Viewers” that’s very much relevant to this blog. It consists of one-to-three-second clips of people watching movies in no fewer than 128 different films. The editing is very cleverly done, as each film seems to visually lead into the next. And it’s just the visuals from the films; the audio is an affecting score — “Transformation,” by the Cinematic Orchestra — that reminds me of ones used for montages at the Oscars telecasts. In fact, I hereby propose that “Cinematic Film Viewers” be shown at the next Oscars ceremony, if there is one.
Matt has helpfully supplied a second-by-second breakdown of the movies:
00:06 – Sunrise (1927) / Interview With The Vampire (1994)
00:09 – The Wolf Man (1941) / The Sandlot (1993)
00:10 – King Kong (1933) / The Cider House Rules (1999)
00:11 – The Third Man (1949) / Heavenly Creatures (1994)
00:13 – Myrt And Marge (1933) / O Brother Where Art Thou (2000)
00:14 – Li’l Abner (1940) / The Notebook (2004)
00:16 – Double Indemnity (1944) / Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
00:17 – Apocalypse Now (1979) / Jarhead (2005)
00:18 – Seven (1995) / The Butterfly Effect (2004)
00:20 – Dirty Harry (1971) / Zodiac (2007)
00:21 – Problem Child (1990) / Cape Fear (1991)
00:23 – Wizard Of Oz (1939) / Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow (2004)
00:24 – South Pacific (1958) / Welcome To Woop Woop (1997)
00:25 – The Sound Of Music (1965) / The Postman (1997)
00:26 – The Shining (1980) / Twister (1996)
00:28 – Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) / Chicken Little (2005)
00:29 – The Evil Dead (1981) / Donnie Darko (2001)
00:31 – Raging Bull (1980) / Arizona Dream (1992)
00:32 – The Godfather Part II (1974) / The Freshman (1990)
00:33 – The Charge At Feather River (1953) / A Star Is Born (1954)
00:35 – The Birds (1963) / Twelve Monkeys (1995)
00:36 – Mon Oncle (1958) / The Illusionist (2010)
00:38 – Sunset Boulevard (1950) / Things We Lost In The Fire (2007)
00:39 – Enter The Dragon (1973) / The Tenant (1976)
00:40 – The Way Of The Dragon (1972) / Limitless (2011)
00:42 – The Lady From Shanghai (1947) / Ghostbusters II (1989)
00:45 – The Last Shot (2004) / Casablanca (1942)
00:48 – It Happened One Night (1934) / Sex And The City 2 (2010)
00:50 – Harvey (1950) / Field Of Dreams (1989)
00:52 – The Ref (1994) / It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
00:55 – To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) / One True Thing (1998)
00:58 – Miracle On 34th Street (1947) / Home Alone (1990)
01:00 – A Star Is Born (1954) / Hearts In Atlantis (2001)
01:01 – War Of The Worlds (1953) / Explorers (1985)
01:02 – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) / American Psycho (2000)
01:04 – The Sixth Sense (1999) / 50 First Dates (2004)
01:05 – Night Of The Lepus (1972) / The Matrix (1999)
01:06 – The Good The Bad And The Ugly (1966) / The Tiger And The Snow (2005)
01:08 – Audition (1999) / The Departed (2006)
01:09 – On The Waterfront (1954) / Friends With Benefits (2011)
01:11 – Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) / The American (2010)
01:12 – Dr Strangelove (1964) / Next (2007)
01:14 – Lethal Weapon (1987) / The Last Boy Scout (1991)
01:15 – The Ten Commandements (1956) / Rise Of The Planet of the Apes (2011)
01:17 – The Gold Rush (1925) / Jack (1996)
01:18 – The Thing From Another World (1951) / Halloween (1978)
01:20 – Vampires (1998) / Mystic River (2003)
01:21 – North By Northwest (1959) / Richie Rich (1994)
01:22 – The Princess Bride (1987) / Employee Of The Month (2006)
01:24 – Can’t Hardly Wait (1998) / Prom Night (2008)
01:26 – The Golden Stallion (1949) / Kill Bill Vol 2 (2004)
01:28 – Nam’s Angels (1970) / Pulp Fiction (1994)
01:29 – The Mad Dog Killer (1977) / Jackie Brown (1997)
01:31 – The Terminator (1984) / Encino Man (1992)
01:34 – The Criminal Code (1931) / Targets (1968)
01:37 – Roman Holiday (1953) / You, Me And Dupree (2006)
01:39 – Metropolis (1927) / Android (1982)
01:42 – Nosferatu (1922) / Vampire’s Kiss (1988)
01:44 – Battle For The Planet Of The Apes (1973) / Argo (2012)
01:45 – The Jazz Singer (1927) / Goodfellas (1990)
01:47 – The French Connection (1971) / Big (1988)
01:48 – A Fistful Of Dollars (1964) / Back To The Future Part II (1989)
01:50 – A Christmas Carol (1938) / Rocky (1976)
01:52 – Starman (1984) / Pulse (1988)
01:54 – Young Frankenstein (1974) / Big Daddy (1999)
01:56 – One-Eyed Jacks (1961) / Jimmy Hollywood (1994)
01:58 – Fight Club (1999) / Drillbit Taylor (2008)
02:00 – Forbidden Planet (1956) / Firewall (2006)
02:02 – Point Break (1991) / Hot Fuzz (2007)
02:04 – Night Of The Living Dead (1968) / World’s Greatest Dad (2009)
02:05 – La Dolce Vita (1960) / Lost In Translation (2003)
02:07 – Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) / About A Boy (2002)
02:09 – Sweet Smell Of Success (1957) / Rain Man (1988)
02:12 – Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956) / Gremlins (1984)
02:14 – Frankenstein (1931) / Weird Science (1985)
02:16 – 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968) / The Cure (1995)
02:18 – Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) / I Love You To Death (1990)
02:21 – Sleepless In Seattle (1993) / The Cable Guy (1996)
02:23 – Saturday Night Fever (1977) / Short Curcuit (1986)
02:25 – Singin In The Rain (1952) / Legal Eagles (1986)
02:26 – The Quiet Man (1952) / E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
02:28 – Hello, Dolly! (1969) / Wall-E (2008)
02:32 – Vertigo (1958) / Stuart Little 2 (2002)
02:35 – Planet Of The Apes (1968) / Dunston Checks In (1996)
02:37 – The Lady Eve (1941) / Road To Nowhere (2010)
02:39 – From Here To Eternity (1953) / 13 Going On 30 (2004)
02:42 – The King And I (1956) / The Iron Lady (2011)
02:44 – Christmas Vacation (1989) / Rocky V (1990)
02:46 – Rebel Without A Cause (1955) / Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
02:48 – It Came From Beneath The Sea (1955) / The Big Chill (1983)
02:49 – Bullitt (1968) / US Marshals (1998)
02:50 – Scrooge (1951) / Lethal Weapon (1987)
02:53 – An Affair To Remember / Sleepless In Seattle (1993)02:54 – Wall Street (1987) / Boiler Room (2000)
02:55 – Alien (1979) / Clay Pigeons (1998)
02:57 – The Exorcist (1973) / The ‘Burbs (1989)
02:59 – Benji (1974) / Garfield (2004)
03:00 – A Better Tomorrow 2 (1987) / True Romance (1993)
03:02 – The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) / In America (2002)
03:04 – Twelve O’Clock High (1949) / Baby’s Day Out (1994)
03:06 – Gone With The Wind (1939) / All Over The Guy (2001)
03:08 – Brief Encounter (1945) / Truly Madly Deeply (1990)
03:10 – Rambo (1985) / Gremlins 2 (1990)
03:11 – The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939) / When Brendan Met Trudy (2000)
03:13 – White Heat (1949) / Ricochet (1991)
03:15 – Fort Apache (1948) / The Apartment (1960)
03:17 – Scarface (1983) / Meet The Fockers (2004)
03:18 – Die Hard (1988) / 30 Minutes Or Less (2011)
03:19 – The Circus (1928) / Mr Popper’s Penguins (2011)
03:22 – The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1939) / Easy A (2010)
03:25 – Titanic (1997) / This Means War (2012)
03:28 – Ghostbusters (1984) / Zombieland (2009)
03:31 – Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) / Prometheus (2012)
03:34 – Gilda (1946) / The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
03:37 – Father Of The Bride (1950) / The Last Picture Show (1971)
03:40 – The Sting (1973) / A Little Romance (1979)
03:43 – The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) / The Majestic (2001)
03:47 – A Trip To The Moon (1902) / Hugo (2011)
03:52 – Gold Diggers Of 1933 (1933) / Bonnie And Clyde (1967)
03:54 – Goldfinger (1964) / Catch Me If You Can (2002)
03:57 – Manhattan Melodrama (1934) / Public Enemies (2009)
04:01 – Woodstock (1970) / The Omega Man (1971)
04:05 – Citizen Kane (1941) / Suburban Girl (2007)
04:08 – Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961) / Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
04:13 – The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad (1958) / Radio Flyer (1992)
04:16 – This Gun For Hire (1942) / L.A. Confidential (1997)
04:20 – Jaws (1975) / Gray Lady Down (1978)
04:25 – Bicycle Thieves (1948) / The Player (1992)
I’ve covered maybe 20 percent of the 128. I’m definitely not going to pursue a lot of these, including most of the many cases where the “host” movie is so clearly inferior to the one seen it. (I’ll call this the South Pacific / Welcome To Woop Woop syndrome.) But there are a lot of good ideas there. Clearly, my work is cut out for me.
Movies in Other Movies 
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