Stuff that occurs to me

All of my 'how to' posts are tagged here. The most popular posts are about blocking and private accounts on Twitter, also the science communication jobs list. None of the science or medical information I might post to this blog should be taken as medical advice (I'm not medically trained).

Think of this blog as a sort of nursery for my half-baked ideas hence 'stuff that occurs to me'.

Contact: @JoBrodie Email: jo DOT brodie AT gmail DOT com

Science in London: The 2018/19 scientific society talks in London blog post

Sunday, 15 March 2020

Free cheering or inspiring films to watch online from the Internet Archive - options for isolation during Coronavirus

The Internet Archive has lots of films and programmes. Some of them perhaps shouldn't be there (not out of copyright) so I wouldn't normally draw much attention to them, but... it's all a bit unprecedented at the moment. I've picked things that I mostly discovered through watching with my parents.

Films are added by people and they either give useful tags or not so searching by genre isn't always that helpful, it's all very much pot luck. Also, there doesn't seem to be an obvious filter and there is random pornographic material there - search at your peril :-) https://archive.org/search.php?query=

The quality might be a bit variable and some of them can take a while to buffer (I'm on nearly 60mbps and Blazing Saddles kept stopping and starting). You can also make the film go full screen on a laptop.

I've checked the first few minutes of these to see that they seem to be what they say they are but as always watch at your own risk! 

The Ten Commandments (1923)
Cecil B De Mille's epic which entered public domain (copyright free) in the US in 2019.
https://archive.org/details/ptp_the-ten-commandments_cecil-b-demille_blu-ray_x264_mkv_720p_180770

Oliver Twist (1933)
A delicious Sunday-afternoon-ish black and white film with pleasing audio hiss.
https://archive.org/details/oliver_twist

Yes Minister - complete series
Peerless. I hadn't realised that the very first episode had a different theme tune, pick the 2nd episode if you are looking for comforting familiarity. I've not been through all the episodes to check but it looks like it's the complete series.
https://archive.org/details/WishYouWereHere2/1x01+-+Open+Government.avi
(a list of all episodes is beneath the link)
https://archive.org/details/WishYouWereHere2/1x02+-+The+Official+Visit.avi  <- br="" familiar="" theme="" tune="">

In Which We Serve (1942)
https://archive.org/details/In_Which_We_Serve

Passport to Pimlico (1949)
https://archive.org/details/PassportToPimlico1949 

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
https://archive.org/details/KindHeartsAndCoronets1949

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
https://archive.org/details/TheLavenderHillMob1951

Hobson's Choice (1954)
Charles Laughton and John Mills.
https://archive.org/details/HobsonsChoiceZo

Tom & Jerry cartoons
Quality varies
https://archive.org/search.php?query=tom%20and%20jerry
This one is good (quality of recording), and this one

Bugs Bunny - complete set of cartoons
https://archive.org/details/CompleteBugsBunny/001+-+A+Wild+Hare.mp4 

The Ladykillers (1955)
Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom - wonderful
https://archive.org/details/TheLadykillers1955
https://archive.org/details/the-ladykillers_202105


School for Scoundrels (1959)
Alistair Sim, Ian Carmichael and Terry Thomas
https://archive.org/details/SchoolForScoundrels1959

I'm All Right Jack (1960)
Lovely comedy with Ian Carmichael and Peter Sellers
https://archive.org/details/ImAllRightJack1960  

Summer Magic (1963)
https://archive.org/details/summer-magic-1963

The Moon Spinners (1964)
https://archive.org/details/the-moon-spinners-1964_202205

Blazing Saddles (1974)
Needs no introduction :)
https://archive.org/details/RecordedMoviesfromTV497/Blazing+Saddles.mp4 - I found it hard to get it to stop buffering, so it may need to play for a bit to 'spool' then rewind to watch it and let it carry on downloading in the background.

The Dish (2000)
Utterly delightful comedy from Australia, celebrating the role of one of their massive radiotelescopes in receiving the signals from the 1969 Moon landing. I've screened this film at an open air screening in Blackheath and it was magic.
https://archive.org/details/TheDish2000




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