The upcoming summer movie season is about as dark and dreary as any we’ve seen. The product couldn’t be more finely tuned to the thoughtless months and I anticipate having to dig deep for positive accounts along the way. So it goes. Maybe, then, it would be a good idea to finally lap up those Criterion Blu-ray releases of Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator” and delight in the beauty and brilliance as a bit of a preemptive antidote?
In any case, Happy Birthday to The Tramp. If you head over to Google today, you’ll be greeted with the following video celebrating the occasion:
Comments
9 responses to “Happy 122nd, Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin”
I would really like a “what did you think of Scream 4?” or “Hanna” to get some movie conversation going again! It would be awesome!
Things will be picking up again shortly. Promise.
So we’re all agreed that City Lights is Chaplin’s best film?
As far as I’m concerned, most definitely.
No question City Lights is his masterpiece — love the little homage at the end of Monsters Inc to it when Sully opens the door and sees Boo and gives us that wonderful Chaplin smile….why movies were created.
did you hear about the bonafide time traveler (not a character)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiIrpEMbQ2M
Yeah, saw it last year. Totally absurd.
Modern Times is also pretty amazing.
Summer 2011 looks to be the most unoriginal summer yet.
The “time traveler” as it turned out, was using some sort of hearing aid device.