AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

marsalone First off let me just say that this film is smack dab in the middle of my wheelhouse: I love typewriters (have a small collection) and love documentaries. With all of my predisposition to love this movie, I felt bored stopping it in the middle and watching the rest a day or two later. It just isn't very compelling.It's like every subject is just superficially addressed. There is not a lot of substance or depth here. This documentary could have been much better. Tom Hanks' enthusiasm is palpable and infectious, unfortunately he isn't in the film enough. John Mayer comes across really well but nothing he says is ever challenged. I'm thinking about how he just says you get nothing physical from writing lyrics in Word. Mayer could just hit the print button and have a hard copy. There has got to be something else driving him to use a typewriter. Plus he is using a daisy wheel electronic typewriter whereas just about all other machines in he film are manuals with maybe the mention of Selectrics.I would like to have seen talking heads debate between the usage of manual vs. electric vs. electronic typewriters. Some mention of Ted "Unabomber" Kaczynski who had a foreboding message about technology and used a manual Smith Corona to write his Manifesto. Seriously the most infamous typewriter lover of the past 20 years and no mention of him or his ideas which would've fit right in with this movie.Instead this is just a fluff piece on typewriters and their advocates that's really weak and boring even to someone who loves the subject matter.Truth be told the filmmakers should have just focused on the typewriter repair shop and maybe 5 or 6 of their clients. A lot of these typewriter lovers are freaks and weirdos with all sorts of craziness going on. Using the the repair shop as a hub to explore the lives of the wackiest of its clients would no doubt be very entertaining.Good production values, some nice jazz on the soundtrack and some decent talking heads bumps this up to a 6.

zkonedog One of the big reasons that "California Typewriter" showed up on my radar was likely because I happened to be reading a book at the same time called "Revenge of Analog". That book describes a movement back towards things such as records, paper, board games, and other physical (not digital) forms of leisure and commerce. That is the main theme of "California Typewriter" too...only focusing on the device listed in the title.This documentary basically focuses on a number of different human interest stories involving a piece of technology largely thought "obsolete": the typewriter. From Tom Hanks' typewriter collection to the actual California Typewriter story, to a sculpture artist and and a collector looking for his coup de grace (and even a little history thrown in), this doc attacks the typewriter's story from nearly every angle.Even above the human stories, though, is the notion present throughout the entire doc of that "return to analog" of sorts. As technology marches on, sometimes we don't stop to evaluate whether the physical experience of creation needs to take a back seat to the ease of creation. Don't get me wrong...I'm not exchanging my iPhone for a flip phone, nor am I turning in my MacBook for a desktop PC. I'm no Luddite. But it is a fascinating idea for me (old enough to remember a time before the Internet and mobile everything)...this notion that sometimes, say, the act of typing something on a physical device might be more satisfying than the ease of a word processor.So, even though I'm not really "into" typewriters (I can honestly say I've never used one in my life!), I can say that this doc fascinated me and connected with me on a nostalgic, but also intellectual level. A return to analog devices may not be for everyone, but docs like this prove that the newest technology may not be for everyone, either. There is room for both, and even a mixture of both.

thirtyfivestories Ideas are not birthed, they are captured. Elusive and fickle, thought frolics like a kid straight out of school. Machines did not equip us with ideas; they merely help us capture them. Spear them down with safety pins, a grotesque abdomen of exposed entrails. Our thought is repulsive but honest, instinctive and pure.The typewriter is the remaining bastion of expression hunting. Not reliant on electricity, the mechanical cornucopia smashes its appendages on a miniature canvas, splattering emotion in precise linear shapes. The machine asks no questions and is supremely subservient to its owner.Documenting ideas has become more efficient as technology trudges into the electronic age. The typewriter challenges efficiency by introducing an element of savoring. The process tactile and the sensation tangible, keys clatter with purpose. There are no aids, only obedient marks summoned by an uncensored consciousness.Those bathed in admiration of the typewriter prefer a partner in their creation, and not a lifeless red squiggle or an absolute backspace bar. Mistakes are reduced to creative quirks and ink elevated to spilled blood. A dialogue forms between person and machine, and incubation of meaning initiates.Obsession always has noble causes. To outsiders a person's passion might seem overtly sensual or nonsensical, but admiration's roots grow deep in sentimental soil. Faced with a chaotic existence, a focal point for creativity provides a saving grace for those manic and compulsive. Being particular is becoming less praised in a multitasking world. Satisfaction slowly aligns with speed. A hollow qualification of accomplishment, completion overrides process. The typewriter stands stoically in the stream of this devolution. The journey is the creation, and the creation is the sum of one's creative missteps. Concrete are the symbols of this machine's language: Romantic and dying.

Movie Watcher Unlikely, but well-done documentary which examines the history and current status of the lowly typewriter via commentary from people having diverse perspectives: the long-established but struggling repair shop operators; the antiquity collectors of the earliest models; the people, some famous, who still use and romantically embrace their antiquated machines; a small group who performs percussive 'music' with typewriters; and a super creative artist who turns unusable typewriters and their parts into incredible pieces of art.Filming, Editing, and musical soundtrack were superb.Intelligent and entertaining, a historical, sociological, and philosophical all-in-one study well worth the price of admission.