The shortest of Buster Keaton’s features, the 45-minute Sherlock Jr. is only five minutes longer than the Oscars’ stated limit for short films (not that they existed back then). It had been conceived and shot as a six-reel feature, but Keaton deleted two of those when the film tested poorly. […]
Buster Keaton
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) So overambitious it’s amazing it doesn’t fall apart (Review)
Where, But In America? asked an early working title for Stanley Kramer’s extravagant Ultra Panavision progenitor of the ‘epic comedy’ genre. Scotland is the sensible answer, the planned location of a wacky race that the transatlantic writing duo of William and Tania Rose, famous for Ealing comedies such as The […]
Film / NotFilm (1965/2015) Samuel Beckett only foray and Buster Keaton’s final one (Review)
Playwright Samuel Beckett’s only foray into filmmaking, the aptly titled Film is a 1965 silent short starring the famed movie clown, Buster Keaton. Before anyone makes any assumptions, no, this is not a comedy that made Keaton famous during the golden age of silent cinema along with Charlie Chaplin and […]
Charlie Chaplin: The Essanay Comedies (1915-1916) (Review)
Commenting on the ease of writing a review never needs to be brought up because it isn’t relevant. However, any notion of hardship from writing such an article typically comes from a need to evade spoilers. BFI’s Chaplin Essanay’s comedy set is different purely because of how uniform and similar […]
Buster Keaton: Complete Short Films – 1917-1923 (Review)
The history of cinema is fascinating when journeying back to its origins, illustrating how much has changed over the course of time. Take science fiction and horror as the prime examples, both are worlds away from their respective zeitgeists – almost as if comparing night with day. Comedy is different […]