I'm not sure if Some Like It Hot really is, as the American Film Institute declared in 2000, the best American film comedy of all time. It certainly belongs in the top 10. There are comedies with a higher laugh-to-minute ratio, and others that have more to say about the human condition. But I doubt you could find … Continue reading Some Like It Hot: The Criterion Blu-ray
Category: Comedy
Chaplin Diary, Part 19: A King in New York
With his last starring film, A King in New York (1957), Charlie Chaplin finally remembered that he was first and foremost a clown. For the first time since The Great Dictator, he's made a movie that is more than sporadically funny. And yet he manages to give it a serious side as well. Which isn't … Continue reading Chaplin Diary, Part 19: A King in New York
The Big Lebowski on Blu-ray…and 4K
When I saw the Coen Brothers' Big Lebowski at the BAMPFA in 2014, I loved the movie but hated the horrible DCP. This exceptional comedy clearly needed a better digital transfer. I'm glad to say it now has one. More on that below. The Big Lebowski is a Raymond Chandler-type film noir story, except that the … Continue reading The Big Lebowski on Blu-ray…and 4K
A celebration of The Great Buster
B+ Showbiz documentary Directed by Peter Bogdanovich There's no question in my mind that film historian and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) considers Buster Keaton to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, physical comedian since the invention of the movies. I agree completely. I'm such a big fan of the … Continue reading A celebration of The Great Buster
Chaplin Diary, Part 18: Limelight
Charlie Chaplin dug into his family's history in what would be his last American film, Limelight - a drama about a washed-up comedian. I started this Chaplin Diary almost a year ago with films he made in 1914. Now he has made a film set largely in his home town of London in that very … Continue reading Chaplin Diary, Part 18: Limelight
Chaplin Diary, Part 17: Monsieur Verdoux
It took a long time for me to get to the next movie in my Chaplin Diary. I've been busy. I'm also not that enthusiastic about Chaplin's later work. By the time Monsieur Verdoux came out in 1947, Chaplin had not made a movie in almost seven years. He horribly altered and re-released The Gold … Continue reading Chaplin Diary, Part 17: Monsieur Verdoux
Comedy Weekdays at the Mill Valley Film Festival
I saw one Mill Valley Film Festival screening on Monday, and another two on Wednesday. Oddly, not a single documentary. Even odder, all three movies were comedies - a genre generally considered too frivolous for film festivals. In the order I saw them: A- Seder Masochism Nina Paley created this blasphemous and hilarious adult animation … Continue reading Comedy Weekdays at the Mill Valley Film Festival
