I inexplicably watched the typewriter documentary California Typewriter. Yes, that’s a documentary about typewriters and the people who love them. You’d think this would be deadly boring but the movie actually makes a convincing argument that typewriters are interesting, maybe even cool (ok, maybe not cool).
It covers a little of the history of typewriters and basically shows a lot of standard/familiar typewriters plus some wild, different styles from the early days of the machine. The hard, loud, chunky mechanical guts and (apparently) sexy exterior (they show how they were advertised back in the day) do eventually make you appreciate their construction.
The film interviews shop owners, repairmen, fans, and artists who make typewriter sculptures. It also interviews Tom Hanks (a famous typewriter aficionado), John Mayer, and writer David McCullough who wax eloquently about these machines.
What can I say. Odds are good you have no interest in this topic and don’t want to watch this film. I’m not a huge typewriter fan of any sort and I rented the film just to see if they could pull it off. I think they did, to my surprise.
Score: 81