La Charcuterie mécanique

Probably the least impressive magic trick of all time, although it's interesting to watch something other than straight documentary from the Lumieres. I suppose it's technically science fiction thanks to the supposed role of technology, but it doesn't even hint at the possibility of something like the fantastic cinema magic in Melies' Trip to the Moon, which came out just seven years later.

leave animals out of it. gross.

I bet they ate that pig later

I can't decide if this is really cool or really messed up. It's obviously a gag, but the thinking behind it reveals some ideas on both mechanisation and the treatment of animals that are downright bizarre. It doesn't really work as a trick film.

A butcher who is a wanna be magician's version of sawing a lady in half.

Ah, Lumière comedy. A sobering reminder: when you watch their usual stuff (garden scenes, trains pulling into stations, etc.) and wish they'd tried more things with plots and such, be careful what you wish for.

Well I saw the cut....that wasn't really sci-fi. Kind of funny I guess but the joke felt long and the movie was only 44 seconds

ta da!

One of the few Lumiere films with an actual plot. However, I cannot see the fun in it, but the supposed science fiction elements.

No big deal.