Friday, June 7, 2013

Old Reviews: Paper Moon and Our Hospitality

If you're a 2 on the adventurous scale this week, try Peter Bogdanovich's 1973 "Paper Moon," which stars Ryan and Tatum O'Neill. It's a beautiful black and white film with great use of long takes and deep focus. It's about a con man (Ryan O'Neill) who sells "personal" and, so, expensive, bibles to widowed women. He meets little Addie (Tatum O'Neill) at her mother's grave site. There is a suspicion that he is her father, and the two decide to join up as a team of con artists. Peter Bogdanovich, a critic turned filmmaker, is a master behind the camera.

If you're feeling even more adventurous toward your movie selection this week (a score of 3 on the adventurous scale), I recommend Buster Keaton's 1923 "Our Hospitality." As with all Keaton movies, this one is hilarious. The premise is that two feuding families have been feuding so long that they don't even remember what they're feuding about. Hilarity ensues. They can't just kill each outright though. That would be boring. A southern gentleman must respect the code of southern hospitality! This is the only Keaton film to contain three generations of the Keaton family.

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