I think just the oppositeВ вЂ¦' In other words, MГ©liГЁs's trick films were now documentaries while the LumiГ©res' actualities were science-fiction вЂ“ both equally uncanny. But there was also MГ©liГЁs, who made fiction. The first films of the LumiГ©re brothers were simple recordings ('actualities') that established the photographic basis of the medium those produced by the stage magician Georges MГ©liГЁs, the subject of Martin Scorsese's impressive 3D spectacle Hugo, were fantastic and predicated on special effects вЂ“ namely stop-motion, the simple technique that made animation possible.ДЇilm history, as conventionally taught, begins with the opposition of LumiГ©re and MГ©liГЁs вЂ“ truth and illusion вЂ“ although, in his 1967 film La Chinoise, Jean-Luc Godard wittily reversed the equation: 'They say LumiГ©re invented current events. Is there a phrase more hackneyed than 'the magic of the movies'? From the moment of their invention at the end of the 19th century, motion pictures have been perceived as simultaneously hyper natural and supernatural. S hould you stay up for the Oscars, here's a surefire way to be hammered by the end: pour yourself a drink each time you hear the word 'magic', and you'll be watching the winner's tearful acceptance speech in an alcoholic haze.

Movie magic cinemas