1220 - A King in New York

I'm glad to finally be watching these Chaplin films. And this one, despite having filmed it under circumstances outside of his usual way of working, I quite enjoyed it. Chaplin has a lot of targets in this film. From politics, to advertisement, to the private school system, it's almost too much, and the film doesn't really hit any of it's messages well enough. Dawn Addams (above) is lovely here, and for my money, under-used. Charplin's own son Michael practically steals the film as a young communist boy. Their scenes together are flawless, and probably the inspiration for those between Candy and Culkin in "Uncle Buck".
A really fun little film that could be better if tighter and more focused. Good regardless.

1216 - The Gold Rush

Slowly but surely I'm giving myself a Chaplin education. Seems that I'm starting with what's known as his best work and going backwards. There's a lot of fun stuff in this film, from the picture above, to the dinner roll-dance, the boot eating, the chicken fantasy. Some really great and inspired stuff. I watched the revival version with Chaplin's narration and I thought it was a different and interesting way to watch one of his films. I quite enjoyed it that way. A nice little story of rags to riches and finding true love. I liked it quite a bit!

1167 - Chaplin

It's been years since I've seen this, but because I've decided that Chaplin will become my new obsession I had to watch it again. It's a nice little film, full of some great actors giving great performances, but the storyline plays pretty straight. No great theme to tie it all together. Some nice little trivia bits about his life, all with a wonderful performance by Robert Downey Jr., but it only gives a little glimpse into his apparent genius. Not sure I'll need to see this again, but I look forward to seeing more of his work.

1166 - City Lights

I hate to admit this, being the cinema lover that I am, but I think this is the first Chaplin film I've ever seen in it's entire length. What a shit I am. Better late than never though. What a treat of a film. I don't know much about the content in this era of cinema, but I do know the history, and it's amazing that this film made it out as a silent film, although Chaplin makes excellent use of sound. Each sequence is really quite clever and has a lovely beginning, middle, and end. The boxing scene is a lot of fun. Just the way that the ups and downs work. You really feel horrible when he loses the boxing match. And then when the millionaire once again forgets who he is, especially after he's given him the money to help the girl. It's official, I need to watch more of his films. Great story, real smart and clever laughs. Great film.