I am sorry for teasing about this review and then taking forever to write it but here you go.
It was about 2AM and I was channel surfing (via an antenna) and I see this movie listed. Description says. “A look at the people who remain loyal to the typewriter as a tool and muse, and a portrait of California Typewriter, a typewriter service and sales company in Berkeley that has been in business since 1949.” Sounded odd enough that I decided to give it a go. Actually watched the entire thing til` like 5 in the morning. Shoot I even sat through countless Call 800-For-SEX! commercials (Do people still call those? lol). Needless to say, I liked it, it was different. While I don’t think I’d use one too often, I will be keeping my eyes open for an ol` manual typewriter at yards sales etc.
As for the enthusiasts they interviewed, I won’t tell you all their stories (wouldn’t want to spoil your entertainment) but the 2 I related to were Tom Hanks and John Mayer.
So Tom, he for sure loves typewriters. He collects them and gives them out as gifts. Initially I felt he comes off a bit eccentric. However, after thinking about how he discusses the tangibility of a typed letter and the fact that it’s highly unlikely any more typewriters will ever be made, he doesn’t seem that wacky after all. I feel that way about old cameras/lenses and old guitar gear. There’s just something about it.
What I totally related to the most was John Mayer. He talks about how he has stacks of hard drives with music and songs that he never even looks at. They just sit in a box. He also mentions how a typewriter had changed the way he writes songs, as opposed to copy, paste, delete .. etc. It’s been a while since I wrote or recorded any music but I too have a stack of hard drives. Shoot I have a box of Backup CDs, Zip Drives and even some floppies in there too. LoL, I don’t even have a way to access that data but I keep them.
All in all, the movie gave me something to think about. In the end it’s about creativity and finding the inspiration to create.
Last I have to give props to Jeremy Mayer (a sculptor). I think what he does with old typewriters is fantastic.
That’s it, thanks for reading and here’s a link to the trailer.