Hate Raising Arizona, and Harvey breaks my heart every time.

OK, I think I've used up my allotment of Buster-fangirlish glee for the day....

I'll take up that mantle. He was still doing stunts past 50, and bruising the hell out himself in the process. He must have had a huge tolerance for pain. When he was working on Sherlock, Jr., he broke his neck, but didn't bother to get it checked out for years. When he did, the doctor was astonished that Buster was a) alive and b) walking. Buster said he hadn't really noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Heh. One thing I noticed was that were no close-ups. But that was a 1927 thing.

Those cameras were very heavy, and unlike todays cameras they didn't really have variable focal length lenses. So doing a close up would have required that they move the camera in closer, after the establishing shot, and moving the camera was something they desperately tried to avoid doing at all costs.

I lean more toward Harold Lloyd for my silent comedy (Safety Last being unbeatable), but I don't turn down Keaton. Did anyone else see College on TCM's Silent Sundays last week?

Some brilliant sight gags in the crew scene (though you may want to skip the restaurant scene).

When he was working on Sherlock, Jr., he broke his neck, but didn't bother to get it checked out for years. When he did, the doctor was astonished that Buster was a) alive and b) walking. Buster said he hadn't really noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Damn. That's hardcore.

So doing a close up would have required that they move the camera in closer, after the establishing shot, and moving the camera was something they desperately tried to avoid doing at all costs.

Yeah, I also noticed there were very few moving shots.

Y'all've said most everything I would say, but damn straight on the Keaton. Looking forward to Hec's story, too.

I like Raising Arizona, too, but it's not my favorite of the Coen's movies. I never saw the Ladykillers, either, and I think I never will.

I worship Keaton and can't wait to hear Hec's story.

It's not so much a story as a little observation (not mine), but it relates to...

Did anyone else see College on TCM's Silent Sundays last week?

The premise of the movie is that Buster's character is a nerdly bookworm who takes up college sports. This premise is almost entirely undone by the fact that when you see Buster in his shorts and tank top he's fucking ripped. He was in unbelievable shape. It's sort of like the way you keep looking at Angela Basset's arms in What's Love Got To Do With It and wondering why she doesn't beat Ike Turner to the ground.

Raising Arizona doesn't even make my Coen Brothers list. I much prefer Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?

It's sort of like the way you keep looking at Angela Basset's arms in What's Love Got To Do With It and wondering why she doesn't beat Ike Turner to the ground.

Ouch. Way to not get abusive relationships.

Ouch. Way to not get abusive relationships.

C'mon, I'm talking about the meta of the actress not the character.

Where do you stop the meta? I mean, I might wonder why Angela Bassett would let Laurence Fishburne beat the crap out of her...but she didn't. It wouldn't occur to me to wonder why a muscular woman would let her husband beat her. I can't yank halfway out of the picture like you did, because just starting to makes the fiction fall apart.