A feast of Georges

More doormat joy last week, with the arrival of Flicker Alley's five-disc box-set Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema. As you may well know, this magician-turned filmmaker blazed a trail in the art of fantasy and science fiction cinema while others were happy filming parades and folks leaving factories. It's been very difficult to get hold of any of his work in a decent condition for home viewing but now, thanks to Flicker Alley, we have thirteen hours of the stuff. 173 films, including the likes of Trip to the Moon, Impossible Voyage and The Man With the Rubber Head. As you'd expect there is a fair bit of repetition on there, but this is a wonderful thing to dip into and also includes a halfhour biopic by Georges Franju (made slightly creepy by the fact that Méliès' widow plays herself while he is played by his son) and a tribute written by Norman McLaren.

Tipoff on this came from the terrific early cinema blog The Bioscope, responsible for a number of additions to our Christmas wishlist including an Emile Cohl dvd and a book called The Haunted Gallery.