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4.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 4.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Nickelette remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, only if you’re a total nerd for the stuff that came before sound. If you think the average silent flick is a masterpiece, this might annoy you. It’s got a weird, jagged energy that makes fun of the very thing it’s showing. 🍿
It’s perfect for people who like their documentaries short, punchy, and a little bit mean. If you want a dry, academic lecture, look somewhere else.
The whole thing feels like someone grabbed a stack of old reels and just started talking over them while nursing a lukewarm coffee. It’s not polished. It’s not trying to win an award at some fancy festival.
There’s this one bit where they show some melodrama that makes Satan Sanderson look like a high-budget epic. The narration just calls it out for being silly, which I appreciated. It takes the pedestal away from the 'classics' and just treats them like the cheap entertainment they were.
I found myself wondering if they actually went to a theater to film this or if it was all pieced together in a basement. The audio mix is a bit of a disaster, honestly. It’s like the voiceover was recorded through a tin can, but somehow that makes it feel more authentic.
It’s refreshing to see someone skip the “profound impact on culture” talk. Nobody talks about how the projector sounds like a dying lawnmower in this, but they should. That’s the real experience, right? Just noise and flickering lights.
It’s definitely not as smooth as Songs of Scotland, but then again, it’s not trying to be. It feels like a quick note scribbled on a napkin. You watch it, you smirk at a few jokes, and then you move on. That’s enough.
I wouldn’t watch it twice. But for those fifteen minutes, it was a pretty good way to avoid real work. 🤷♂️