The Everyday Cinephile

The Cameraman (1928): Buster Keaton’s Last Great Silent Film

March 9, 2020June 10, 2023Shawn Hall4 Comments

There is a well-known story among Damfinoes that after Buster Keaton’s film’s debut in the Arbuckle vehicle The Butcher Boy (1917), he asked to take home a movie camera with him off the set. Buster took the camera apart and put it back together again …

Still from A Man with a Movie Camera (1929). The Everyday Cinephile

Why I Love Film

March 3, 2020April 23, 2023Shawn HallNo Comments

It’s quite hard to write about just exactly why I love film so much. Every time I’ve tried to it just sounds like a cheesy love poem you wrote to your crush on a school lunch napkin in fourth grade. I start speaking in hyperboles …

Off to the Pordenone Silent Film Festival
10 hours ago
I’m going to Italy! And while I will be taking in the sights and being a bit of a tourist, I am primarily going to the Pordenone Silent Film Festival, …
Josef von Sternberg from The Salvation Hunters to Anatahan
4 months ago
Whether in a close-up of the glamorous Marlene Dietrich or an alluring wide shot of the Morrocan desert, Von Sternberg’s ability to create a visually stunning image stands unmatched in …
Clara Bow: The Life and Career of Hollywood’s IT Girl Video
6 months ago
Not every day do silent film stars of yesteryear find their way back into the limelight. The namesake of the final title track on Taylor Swift’s upcoming album Tortured Poets’ …
Edmund Lowe: The Wisecracking Wonder
7 months ago
Fame is a fickle thing. Many of the biggest stars of yesteryear are now mere footnotes in pop culture history and remain largely unknown even to us classic film fanatics. …
The Saphead—Buster Keaton’s First Starring Vehicle
7 months ago
I recently finished Buster Keaton’s silent filmography—or so I thought. Focused on watching all Keaton’s appearances in Arbuckle shorts, the 21 shorts he directed, and his silent feature comedies, I …

Out of Sight, 1998 - ★★★★
Forgot how oozing with charm Clooney and J Lo were in their younger years. Cheadle is great too as a freewheeling criminal and Brooks is […]
M*A*S*H, 1970 - ★★½
The cast is undeniable. A look at the goofy side of war and soldiers with Altman’s trademark pans and amazing tracking shots make the film […]
Hallelujah, I'm a Bum, 1933 - ★★★
I’m gonna automatically like any 30s movie with a lovable comic communist. Al Jolson is beaming with charismatic (helps you does cover in his face […]
Summertime, 1955 - ★★★½
Really love how the movie captures the tragedy and romance found in the central relationship without descending into overwrought melodrama.Had to watch this before going […]
Midnight Cowboy, 1969 - ★★★½
Really appreciate the editing of the flashback scenes and really a good example of rhetorical innovation of the Nee Hollywood filmmakers.