Features
Monday, January 9 2012
The Best DVDs of 2011
With the continuing rise of Blu-ray, this year sees a lot of repeat entries. Just because they're here again, however, doesn't mean they're any less special.
Columns
Wednesday, September 21 2011
Buster Keaton the Inventor and Charlie Chaplin the Conjurer
The films of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin share a fraternal vitality and invention.
Thursday, January 13 2011
Charlie Chaplin, Tramping Step by Step
The tremendously popular Charlie Chaplin movies were played until they fell apart and flaked off the nitrate, and time's warping and woofing did the rest.
Reviews
Friday, July 13 2012
Extracting Melancholy Comedy Out of Dire Human Tragedy: 'The Gold Rush'
Charlie Chaplin's ability to make falling down look like ballet came from the darkest parts of his past.
Wednesday, June 15 2011
'Dead Funny: Humor in Hitler’s Germany' Is a Bleak, Disturbing and Well-Argued Book
Rudolph Herzog’s chilling assertions show that the presence of humor describing such events as the burning of the Reichstag building and the Night of the Long Knives means that these happenings were common knowledge and German citizens understood their meaning.
Monday, January 31 2011
In 'Modern Times' the Little Tramp Steps Out of the Past and Into the Future One Last Time
This film features incisive social commentary, a charming relationship of equals, some of Charlie Chaplin's most iconic slapstick, and it looks ahead with playful speculation and scintillating savvy to the future.
