Death, Humor, and Very Old Rocks: A Look at Life's Last Laughs No. 2

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on if you like the idea of spending ten minutes reading dusty jokes about dead strangers. If you get a kick out of morbid curiosity or have an interest in historical quirks, you’ll probably find this charming. If you’re looking for a plot, look elsewhere. People who hate black humor or feel weird about cemeteries should probably just skip this one entirely.

There’s something inherently bizarre about watching a film dedicated to what people wanted chiseled onto their final resting places. It feels like looking through someone’s private diary, but, you know, the diary is a rock. 🪦

Some of these lines are genuinely funny, in a dry, dusty sort of way. You can tell some of these folks were real pieces of work even before they kicked the bucket. It makes me wonder what I’d pick, but I probably shouldn't think about that too hard on a Tuesday afternoon.

The rhythm of the thing

The pacing is… well, it's just a list. It’s not trying to be a The Pilgrims-style epic. It just rolls along, showing one inscription after another. It’s the kind of thing that could have been a PowerPoint slide if it were made eighty years later, but it has that grainy, old-school flicker that keeps it from feeling too sterile.

There is a specific moment where they show a tombstone that’s clearly crooked. I don't know why, but I kept staring at the moss in the corner of the frame instead of the text. It’s those little, pointless details that make these old shorts feel more like a time capsule than actual entertainment.

Sometimes the movie lingers on a joke just a second too long. You find yourself done reading, just sitting there in the silence, waiting for the next stone to appear. It feels slightly awkward, like an uncle telling a joke he’s already told three times at dinner. But that’s part of the charm, I guess?

• The font choices are all over the place.
• Some of these people were definitely mean-spirited.
• The camerawork is as steady as a shaky hand.

It’s not as energetic as Roarin' Broncs, that's for sure. It’s quiet. It’s weird. It’s exactly the kind of stuff I dig up when I'm bored on a rainy day. Just don't go in expecting a life-changing experience. It’s just rocks with jokes on 'em. Sometimes, that's enough.