Have any of you seen any Buster Keaton films? I got two from Wal-Mart, and I have to say that I think he’s the greatest comic genius of all time. I’ve seen a bunch of Chaplin stuff, and it just doesn’t compare. Keaton has an amazing knack for physical comedy and can emote so much without even changing facial expressions. The guy is brilliant. ‘The General’ was filmed in my home town (a few years ago) and is a great film. “Steamboat Bill Jr.” has some of the most amazing (and dangerous) stunt sequences ever caught on film. There’s a scene where there’s a huge storm and Buster Keaton stands there as an entire wall comes down and he ends up in the second-story window. If they had miscalculated that by a foot, he would have been crushed.
Anyways, if you haven’t seen any of his stuff, ya gotta see it. A lot of Charlie Chaplin’s material seems antiquated and melodramatic, but Buster Keaton still is fresh comedy.
Correction: It was a 3rd story window.
Re: Buster Keaton is my Hero
Don’t forget, for the most part, Chaplin did it first.
Not the characterization; Keaton owns that. But many comedic and cinematic techniques, which we now consider “standard,” were pioneered by Charlie Chaplin.
Keaton was indeed awesome. The stunt with the building facade falling. That one’s only dangerous if you’re not standing in the right place 
I remember a great film clip from my friends in high school. Attemping to imitate that famous stunt, the guy is standing on the stage with a much smaller piece of scenery behind him. It falls forward, and the top of the doorframe goes KONK! Right on his head.
In another classic (can’t remember if it was Keaton or Chaplin), he is being chased by a bunch of cops (could be Chaplin’s “Cops”). He runs down an alley toward the camera, with busy traffic passing left and right in the forground. A streetcar comes by, and he grabs a post on the back of it, with his feet flying up in the air as he is yanked off the side of the screen, like a cartoon character. I tried doing it with a relatively slow-moving car, and nearly ripped my arm out of the socket. Those were the days…
Hmm, while reading this post an advertisement for Buster Keaton movies appears.
And they say Big Brother isn’t watching.
My ass, he isn’t.
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ
yeah whats up with that add?
Ahh Steamboat Bill Jr… top notch cinema I must say.
Yeah, Buster Keaton is awesome… I’ve only seen one of his things, unfortunately.
TRUE STORY: Charlie Chaplin himself got third place in a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest.
if u wanted to get re-elected u’d be watching too…
if i go away for a while, tell my mother i loved her and divide my unis among yourselves…
Wait a minute, the only ads I get on here are the text ones at the top of the page. Where are you guys seeing these ads?
In any case, Big Brother is probably some “smart” ad software that tries to give you ads based on the content of the pages you’re looking at. Keywords: Buster Keaton. Can’t get much more targeted than that!
Scary.
John
That ad is right there on the top right of the Unicyclist.com page in between the Home - Support Us! line and the User cp - home buttons.
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ
Now I’ve seen the Buster Keaton ad. And at the moment, up there I have two text ads:
Health Administration Ed
and
Become Hospitality Admin
Both of those seem pretty far from this topic.
For Keaton, the ad software must somehow be privvy to what’s on the page. Those folks at Google are pretty smart!
I’m getting Charlie Chaplin DVD ads now, too.
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ
I think it’s something in the way the Unicyclist.com is set up. I quite often get ads for unicycles or juggling on the original page, but this one is showing Buster Keaton Ads. This would be an interesting concept to toy with in the Test Forum. Type in other words and see what ads you come up with.
And back to the original post, has anyone else seen any Buster Keaton films? I was reading about him, and in a scene from one of his movies, he cracked his vertebrae, but since it was still being shot, he got off and ran away like he was supposed to. He only realized a year later (after suffering from terrible headaches) that he had a broken neck.
Yes, my brother owned a 16mm copy of The General.
Buster Keaton was probably an early pioneer of doing dangerous stunts and getting injured while starring in movies. Of course he was one-upped by Harold Lloyd…