It Takes a Pork Pie Hat to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
83 years ago this Friday marks the release of one of the greatest films of all-time, Buster Keaton's The General. Upon release it received miserable reviews--the LA Times, and no, not a young Kenny Turan, called it "neither straight comedy nor is it altogether thrilling drama"--and it performed horribly at the box office.
Today we have Avatar.
Taste, appreciation for brilliant popular art, justice--that's the real unobtanium. (Footnote: Not only is it a clunky term, Cameron nicked it. Even his bad ideas are stolen.)
If you have never seen The General, see it at once for the beauty of Matthew Brady photos and the humor that only a daredevil like Keaton could pull off. And if you've seen it, see it again, as it endlessly rewards--try to find a screening someday with live musical accompaniment.
Here's a cool little clip that discusses Keaton's clever, risky stunt-work:
Today we have Avatar.
Taste, appreciation for brilliant popular art, justice--that's the real unobtanium. (Footnote: Not only is it a clunky term, Cameron nicked it. Even his bad ideas are stolen.)
If you have never seen The General, see it at once for the beauty of Matthew Brady photos and the humor that only a daredevil like Keaton could pull off. And if you've seen it, see it again, as it endlessly rewards--try to find a screening someday with live musical accompaniment.
Here's a cool little clip that discusses Keaton's clever, risky stunt-work:
Labels: buster keaton, film
posted by George at 3:12 PM
1 Comments:
A great post, a great site. I have done blogs, but I could not match this one.
Keep on keeping on.
Gary Cortese
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