If you haven't experienced Buster Keaton, this is the time to discover the greatest physical comedian since the invention of cinema. He could take a fall like nobody else, But he was more than that. He was a complete auteur, with a sense of what made a good story, and the feel of where to … Continue reading Buster Keaton at the Criterion Channel
Category: Comedy
Keaton at the BAMPFA
I've been writing a lot about Buster Keaton lately, thanks to BAMPFA's series Camera Man: Buster Keaton. I've been a fan of the Great Stoneface for more than 50 years now. but it's great to experience these films theatrically, with live music and other people laughing. I missed Sherlock Jr., so my first experience of … Continue reading Keaton at the BAMPFA
Much Ado About Shakespeare’s Comedy
Who would you expect to direct the better Shakespeare film: Kenneth Branagh or Joss Whedon? Sounds like a stupid question. Branagh is our generation's Laurence Olivier – the man who turns the bard into flesh and blood. Whedon makes sci-fi and runs a production company called Mutant Enemy Productions. Yet Whedon's film of Much Ado About … Continue reading Much Ado About Shakespeare’s Comedy
Sloan Science & Don’t Look Up
A huge comet will hit the earth and destroy all life within months. The good news: It's a movie, and a metaphor for the climate crisis. Rather than months, in real life we have a few years to fix the problem. This year's Sloan Science in Cinema Prize goes to Adam McKay, the writer and … Continue reading Sloan Science & Don’t Look Up
Finally! Wild rock comedy Get Crazy comes to Blu-ray
If you love the rock'n'roll of the 60s, 70s, and early 80s, and if you can laugh at your own absurdities, you'll get a kick out of Get Crazy. Never heard of it? This wildly absurd 1983 comedy came and went far too fast. The music is good too. Get Crazy takes place on New … Continue reading Finally! Wild rock comedy Get Crazy comes to Blu-ray
Soviet bureaucracy & Vietnam: Two nights at BAMPFA
Over the last weekend I watched two interesting films at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). Both presentations involved actual live people along with moving pictures. My Grandmother Friday night, my wife and I attended a screening of the 1929 silent Soviet comedy, My Grandmother, with musical accompaniment by a little-known jazz duet called … Continue reading Soviet bureaucracy & Vietnam: Two nights at BAMPFA
Three cinematic views of the Pray Away the Gay movement
Tuesday night I watched the new Netflix documentary, Pray Away, directed by Kristine Stolakis. It's a very good film, that won't be seen by as many who need to see it. This is the third feature-length film I've seen about gay conversion therapy, where Christian fanatics (I assume that in real life there are Jewish … Continue reading Three cinematic views of the Pray Away the Gay movement
The Producers on Blu-ray
A desperate has-been Broadway producer (Zero Mostel) and a timid, neurotic accountant (Gene Wilder in his first major role) plan a bit of larceny that will make them a fortune - if the play they produce flops. But if it's a hit, they'll go to jail. No wonder they select a play called Springtime for Hitler. … Continue reading The Producers on Blu-ray
Fun stuff on Criterion, Part 2: Chaplin & Méliès
Last week I told you about a Preston Sturges series available on The Criterion Channel. This week, I'm telling you about two other series on the Channel intended just to entertain. One is about the most loved comedian of all time. The other was one of the first filmmakers to use the medium to tell … Continue reading Fun stuff on Criterion, Part 2: Chaplin & Méliès
Fun stuff on Criterion, Part 1: Preston Sturges
Criterion offers the important works of Bergman, Tarkovsky, and Antonioni. But movies aren't entirely intended to make you feel miserable. In the middle of March, The Criterion Channel adds three series spotlighting great auteurs who used their genius to make people laugh. The first, and the only one yet streaming on the Channel, is Preston … Continue reading Fun stuff on Criterion, Part 1: Preston Sturges
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