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Poll

What's your favorite film by Buster Keaton?

One Week
1 (3.3%)
Convict 13
0 (0%)
The Scarecrow
0 (0%)
Neighbors
0 (0%)
The Goat
0 (0%)
The Play House
0 (0%)
The Boat
0 (0%)
The Paleface
0 (0%)
Cops
0 (0%)
The Blacksmith
0 (0%)
The Balloonatic
0 (0%)
Three Ages
0 (0%)
Our Hospitality
0 (0%)
Sherlock Jr.
6 (20%)
The Navigator
0 (0%)
Seven Chances
0 (0%)
Go West
1 (3.3%)
Battling Butler
0 (0%)
The General
12 (40%)
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
1 (3.3%)
The Cameraman
5 (16.7%)
other (please specify)
0 (0%)
haven't seen any
4 (13.3%)
don't like any
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 29

Author Topic: Keaton, Buster  (Read 9912 times)

pixote

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Re: Keaton, Buster
« Reply #40 on: July 06, 2017, 03:01:48 AM »


The Three Ages  (Edward F. Cline & Buster Keaton, 1923)

This debut feature from Keaton plays like what it essentially is: three lesser shorts with variations on the same comedic setup. For the first two-thirds of the film, Keaton and the rest of the cast are secondary to the props and costumes, in terms of comedic value. Keaton's hair in the Stone Age is funnier than most everything else in that sequence; and in the Roman Age, it's less the costumes than the props, as with the two very different but effective "spare tire" gags. There are also a handful of standout special effects, like the dinosaur and Keaton plummeting down to a river. Overall, though, the laughs are too intermittent, with maybe too much attention played to the Intolerance-inspired sets. The film finally hits its stride near the final reel, with the lion's pedicure providing the best sustained hilarity in the entire film; and the very last gag about starting a family in the Modern Age is among the best exclamation points on any Keaton film.

Grade: C

pixote
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colonel_mexico

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Re: Keaton, Buster
« Reply #41 on: July 06, 2017, 03:45:33 PM »
College is solid and for baseball fans Sam Crawford is the coach, legendary Tigers player, played outfield next to Cobb. The General is probably my favorite and an essential.
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Knocked Out Loaded

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Re: Director's Best: Buster Keaton
« Reply #42 on: July 11, 2017, 03:55:49 AM »
The Cameraman, 70°
One Week, 65°
The General, 50°
The Scarecrow, 40°
Cops, 35°

Better than Chaplin.  Just throwing that out there.
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« Last Edit: November 19, 2018, 01:51:33 AM by Knocked Out Loaded »
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pixote

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Re: Keaton, Buster
« Reply #43 on: November 06, 2017, 10:01:20 PM »


The Saphead  (Herbert Blaché, 1920)

Keaton's first foray into feature films was as an actor on loan to Metro (reportedly on the recommendation of John Barrymore, who originated the role on stage but was unavailable for the film), and that's the best thing about The Saphead: the chance to see Keaton performing just as an actor and not as the complete filmmaker that he was. It's easy to imagine another timeline where he abandons direction altogether and just enjoys life and fame as an A-list actor in good-hearted comedy-dramas.

Aside from the joy of seeing Keaton perform in a different milieu, The Saphead doesn't have much to offer. There are a few cute moments but mostly this is just middling filmmaking. The final reel has the most redemptive moments, but they arrive too late. It's cool, though, that Hal Halbrook was able to travel back in time to play the father.

Grade: C-

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pixote

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Re: Keaton, Buster
« Reply #44 on: June 27, 2018, 12:07:28 AM »


Our Hospitality  (Buster Keaton & Jack Blystone, 1923)

This film improved slightly on this latest rewatch. Although I'm always anxious for Keaton to dive into his comedy, I nonetheless enjoyed how straight he plays the prologue of Our Hospitality, setting up the family feud in Griffith-esque fashion. But it's really with the introduction of the train — and the pliant tracks on which it rides — that Our Hospitality starts to shine. It's an endlessly enjoyable prop that calls back to the technical wizardry of One Week, though in the midst of a feature I'm not sure Keaton explores the full limits of the train's comic potential the same way he might have in a short. That's okay, though, because Our Hospitality has plenty else to offer, like the great stuntwork and special effects of the river rescue; the genial comedy of Buster's taking sanctuary in the house; and the irony of the title. (I had much more to say, but I took too long to get to this review, and my memory sucks.)

Grade: B

Up Next: Sherlock Jr.

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Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Keaton, Buster
« Reply #45 on: June 28, 2018, 07:09:27 AM »
I watched The Scarecrow the other day and from the opening scene I was hooked. A great little film.

Antares

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Re: Keaton, Buster
« Reply #46 on: June 28, 2018, 02:55:29 PM »
Up Next: Sherlock Jr.

That's where Keaton starts to hit his stride. One of my favorites by him.
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pixote

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Re: Keaton, Buster
« Reply #47 on: June 29, 2018, 10:40:08 PM »


Sherlock Jr.  (Buster Keaton, 1924)

This film had me worried early on that it wasn't going to live up to my previous experiences of it. It takes a couple reels for it to find any sort of groove. The gags involving the lost money in the theater trash are rather middling, and the subsequent scene that sets up the story doesn't have a lot of bite to it either. Things certainly improve when Keaton starts playing detective. I could watch him shadow suspects all day, and that water tower stunt is amazing (brutal, but amazing). The classic sequence where he enters the movie scene is classic for a reason, perhaps equaled in excellence by the long sequence of Keaton's riding on the handlebars of a driverless motorcycle. The shot where he passes in front of the train remains one of my favorite shots of all time.

Grade: B+

Up Next: The Navigator

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BlueVoid

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Re: Keaton, Buster
« Reply #48 on: May 16, 2019, 11:13:29 AM »
The General
Sherlock Jr.
The Cameraman
Our Hospitality
Seven Chances
The Navigator
The Goat
The High Sign
My Wife's Relations

One Week
The Scarecrow
The Haunted House
The Playhouse
The Boat
The Electric House

Steamboat Bill Jr.
Cops!

The Balloonatic
« Last Edit: May 16, 2019, 11:23:21 AM by BlueVoid »
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1SO

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Re: Keaton, Buster
« Reply #49 on: May 16, 2019, 12:17:44 PM »
The two Jr.s have never been so far apart.