#particularly fun—not sure if they’re the BEST (that’s subjective anyway) but they’re immensely entertaining

[ducktracy]

Watching Looney Tunes on HBO Max, and never realized just how fun his Porky and Daffies can be. Any shorts of his that you’re a fan of in particular?

OH GEEZ not sure who exactly you’re referring to here so i hope you don’t mind me being very general :’) I REALLY DO LIKE 99% OF PORKY AND DAFFY SHORTS i’m super biased but there’s like… only two or three i can think of that i DON’T like and it’s either because it’s racist or has made-in-the-mid-60s disease

SOME OF MY FAVORITES THOUGH… i’m particularly fond of Baby Bottleneck, Porky Pig’s Feat, Daffy Doodles, My Favorite Duck, Tom Turk and Daffy, You Ought to Be in Pictures, Yankee Doodle Daffy, Porky’s Last Stand, Daffy Duck Slept Here, Riff Raffy Daffy, Boobs in the Woods, Duck Soup to Nuts, Fool Coverage… IT REALLY IS HARD TO NARROW THEM DOWN. i feel they’re so versatile and every director has such a unique spin on the dynamic and there are so many WAYS in which the dynamic can be spun but is still anchored, and that versatility is WHY i like their cartoons so much.

guess it really depends on what sort of dynamic YOU prefer for them! Bob McKimson has quite a fun repertoire of more antagonistic cartoons towards each other, Chuck Jones’ dynamic duo interpretation of the ‘50s is nice, Friz Freleng strikes a great balance with his antagonistic/befuddled Porky and heckler/sophisticate Daffy… Bob Clampett’s Baby Bottleneck is my personal favorite team-up of the two because i think it strikes a really effective balance between the dynamic duo partnership and antagonistic heckling. likewise, Porky Pig’s Feat i think is one of the best cartoons put out by the studio and is easily one of Porky and Daffy’s best as a whole

their relationship as a whole has so many nuances and different interpretations that it’s hard to pin down as just “this director directs them THIS way and this way only”, but there are very few Porky and Daffy shorts that i’d tell people NOT to watch

[consumedkings-archive]

6, 9, 10, 23, 25, 35 + elliot & isolde xx

hello stella, light of my life, welcome to “questions getting answered 300 years later” (❁´◡`❁) thank u for sending this in AND i love u immensely!

under the cut for mentions of prenatal depression and ptsd.

detailed oc questions!

✤ ELLIOT HONEYSETT

6. what were they like at school? did they enjoy it? did they finish? what level of higher education did they reach? what subjects did they enjoy? which did they hate?

elliot was a pretty average student. high b’s across the board, because of course scarlet would have tolerated nothing below a b+, and elliot graduated high school and went straight off into the academy. that’s pretty much the extent of her “higher” education--she thought for the longest time that she was going to go to vet school, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to deal with animals being in pain, so THAT course of action was QUICKLY nixed.

9. do animals like them? do they get on well with animals?

she has always and will always have “snow white syndrome”--you know, animals flocking to her, bringing home strays, etc and so on. ell’s love for animals extends throughout the entire animal kingdom, and most bugs, exceptions the centipede/millipede family and earwigs (yuck). she even loves ocean-dwellers, even though she absolutely fucking hates the ocean.

10. do they like children? do children like them? do they have or want any children? what would they be like as a parent? or as a godparent/babysitter/etc?

she does! she likes kids a lot. she thinks they’re funny. i think kids tend to like elliot because she’s pretty straight forward and entertains them/talks to them as if they’re adults. she has never particularly thought or felt connected to the idea of having children--and even struggles with feeling connected to her and john’s first baby when she’s pregnant--but this does change drastically once nolan is born. after that, john manages to get one (1) more baby (faye) and then that’s IT. elliot is like a worry parent, constantly trailing after the babies and picking up after them and making sure they’re not getting hurt. john is the fun parent.

23. do they have a good memory? short term or long term? are they good with names? or faces?

elliot has...questionable memory. she somehow manages to remember certain things very well--like things that people have said to her, crucial moments--but even those memories should be taken with a grain of salt. part of her wildly untreated ptsd means that elliot has to be really mindful of everything that’s going on and things that she wants to commit to memory, such as the order of her books on her shelf or the few conversations she’s had with her father that she can remember.

she is, however, very good with faces. names, not so much.

25. what do they find funny? do they have a good sense of humour? are they funny themselves?

it’s very hard not to make elliot laugh. she’s got a whip-sharp sense of humor (and thinks herself very funny) and when she’s not under constant duress she’s the kind of person who’s quick to laugh or find some way to lighten a situation with a joke. in fact, humor is usually how elliot deflects any kind of seriousness, and deals with most things. outside of getting blisteringly angry, of course. : ‘ )

35. what’s their guilty pleasure? what is their totally unguilty pleasure?  

guilty pleasure would be cheesy hallmark movies. unguilty pleasure is bringing home stray animals all the time. you know those videos of like that little old man feeding a herd of raccoons? that would be elliot’s life if john wouldn’t come absolutely unglued. 

✤ ISOLDE KHAN

6. what were they like at school? did they enjoy it? did they finish? what level of higher education did they reach? what subjects did they enjoy? which did they hate?

i’m sure this won’t come as any surprise, but isolde was AGGRESSIVELY the best student in class and also a huge trouble-maker. her parents like to say, half-joking, that she was always meant to be a lawyer because she’s so fucking obtuse and argumentative. isolde would play devil’s advocate for absolutely no reason. but she was too smart, and her grades were too high (and, isolde would argue, she was too cute) to ever get into any real trouble. her parents were very strict about her education, so she went to the best private schools in turkey, was tutored in plenty of electives, and then went to an ivy league law school where she, of course, eventually met john (poor thing) and opened up a business with him.

her favorite subject was debate. HATES english lit. what, you want her to like...feel stuff?

9. do animals like them? do they get on well with animals?

uhhhhh hm. isolde is like not a huge animal person. it’s not like she dislikes animals--she likes them fine--but she doesn’t go out of her way to have them around her all the time. she does have a rosy boa named cordelia who is the light of her life.

for some reason, even though isolde is very hesitant to engage animals she is unfamiliar with, they really like her. john thinks it’s her perfume.

10. do they like children? do children like them? do they have or want any children? what would they be like as a parent? or as a godparent/babysitter/etc?

nope! isolde hates kids. sticky hands. messes. screaming. for what? she should be the one screaming, have you seen her life? she has a really really hard time connecting with children and i think, in part, it’s because she was such a little adult as a child anyway, it’s hard to connect with creatures you can’t empathize with. like with anything, of course, her marriage with joseph is a transaction that is based and founded on mutual love, but a transaction nonetheless; joseph wants kids, and isolde doesn’t, so they come to a compromise. one child, and isolde gets to pick the first name (”no more biblical shit, joseph”). way way way way down the line, they have one baby--a boy, who they name eren, a turkish name meaning saint!

soli is an assertive parent, to say the least. joseph is definitely the more relaxed of them, where she takes a much more traditional route; because she was so thoroughly educated, she has no problems homeschooling. the two of them strike a pretty fair balance as parents.

23. do they have a good memory? short term or long term? are they good with names? or faces?

bro you KNOW, you KNOW she has the absolute most bomb memory. for better or worse. joseph likes to say, fondly, that isolde is incredibly smart, and for nobody’s benefit but her own, which is absolutely 1000000% true. isolde will recall with perfect memory the exact thing someone said to her, the exact date, and time that they said it, and almost always to hold it against them. 

names, faces, dates--it don’t matter. she’ll remember it. and that’s a threat!

25. what do they find funny? do they have a good sense of humour? are they funny themselves?

making john squirm is her favorite past time. she really, really enjoys picking on him, and it’s pretty obvious that isolde gets a pretty marked, singular joy out of making people in general squirm. she’s got a dry sense of humour and it usually translates as quite grim. she also thinks she’s very, very funny--and she is, but i think it’s a pretty particular brand of humour that not everyone will appreciate, lol.

35. what’s their guilty pleasure? what is their totally unguilty pleasure?  

hmmmm. i think her guilty pleasure is food. isolde is a big foodie, a great cook, but it definitely feels like an indulgence for her because she’s usually so efficient about everything else that taking a long time to make or enjoy food instead of just eating the necessary nutrients to survive can feel greedy, lol. her totally unguilty pleasure is clothing. she looks so good in them, how could she feel guilty about shopping?

[citizenscreen]

I’m sure you know by now that Buster Keaton started his movie career a century ago, in New York City in 1917. There have been – and probably will be – several projects commemorating this special anniversary given Keaton is one of the greatest talents to ever appear on screen. I want to give a shout out to one of those celebrations, The Third Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon hosted by Silent-Ology a few weeks ago. You’ll find terrific entries on all things Buster there so be sure to visit. I had all intentions of submitting this entry to that event, but life interfered.

When I learned about the Silent-Ology Buster Keaton celebration I decided to watch three of Buster’s short subjects, rather than a feature because I watch the shorts less often. I mean…not that I go around watching his shorts. Um…anyway, of all the possible entries to choose from – and Keaton made a lot of shorts – I went with two I’ve enjoyed immensely in the past and one I’d never seen in hopes of encouraging all of you to give them a look. So here goes…three cheers for our Buster!

  The Cook (1918) – Roscoe Arbuckle, director

The first cheer goes to The Cook, the last film starring Buster Keaton released in 1918, his second year in movies. This is one of the many shorts Keaton made with friend and mentor, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle who’d began his own career in 1909. Arbuckle was the first star in America to systematically direct his own films from 1914 forward and in 1920 became the first actor to be paid $1 million a year with a contract he signed with Paramount Pictures. Needless to say, Roscoe played a big role in helping Keaton fully develop his own genius, a talent yet unequaled. Arbuckle was no slouch in the funny department, however, and it’s important people know that given the notoriety he is (sadly) best remembered for today.

In The Cook Roscoe Arbuckle plays the title character, a short order cook to Buster Keaton’s assistant chef/head waiter. Arbuckle directed, wrote and stars in this gem of a short, which was thought lost for decades until its discovery in 1998. Also in The Cook are Al St. John, Alice Lake, Glen Cavender and Luke the Dog.

Arbuckle, Luke the Dog and Keaton in THE COOK

The premise of The Cook entails little more than I’ve already mentioned, but as far as a vehicle to spotlight the physical prowess of both Arbuckle and Keaton it’s tops. The two exhibit extraordinary juggling abilities as they maneuver the orders in the kitchen. Some of the magic comes by way of perfectly orchestrated camera trickery, but it’s supremely entertaining fare.

As the story progresses, the cook and the waiter are merrily doing their jobs with dancers’ precision when things start going awry. Distracted by the music the band’s playing all hell breaks loose as the cook and the waiter join in the festivities with full-blown dance routines that result in havoc throughout the restaurant.

There is a lot to enjoy in Arbuckle’s kitchen. I am particularly partial to a running gag where the same hot liquid serves as coffee, soup and dressing for all manner of dishes. Arbuckle also manages to pull all sorts of different food from the same vat. Buster in turn is enjoyable as a ladies man in several instances although his efforts are hilariously catastrophic. In other words, if you want 20 minutes of silent fun delivered by two masters you can’t go wrong with The Cook.

  One Week (1920) – Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, directors

The second cheer goes to 19 minutes of unadulterated fun, rather than 20. One Week is one of my favorite Buster Keaton shorts, his first effort after his work with Arbuckle concluded. This movie is testament to Buster’s extraordinary physical talent and the sweetness that accompanied it. Keaton co-wrote and co-directed One Week with Edward F. Cline, but it’s Buster’s brand of charm that you get from start to finish.

The premise of One Week is simple. A newly married couple is given a vacant lot and a house as wedding gifts from the groom’s uncle. The problem is that the house has to be built from scratch, by the numbers, if you will. It’s sort of like Ikea furniture would have been in 1920. Buster, who plays The Groom (Buster), is sure he’ll have no problem putting the pieces together given the straight forward directions available in the box. Except…that the jilted ex-boyfriend of The Bride (Sybil Seely) re-labels the pieces to get back at the couple for marrying. The outcome is pure silent bliss.

I had the good fortune of watching One Week at Grauman’s Chinese Theater as part of the last night’s program when I attended my first Turner Classic Movie Film Festival in 2013. One Week was followed by Buster’s The General and I couldn’t tell you which I enjoyed more. Although the short doesn’t have the powerhouse, signature Buster Keaton physical attributes the longer movie exhibits, the special effects are charming and quite impressive with plenty of pratfalls to go around. I call them “special effects,” but they’re really stunts, which were done with a full-house and sets, not miniatures as one would think. The precision it took to make a few of these stunts come off without a hitch is astounding to think about.

One Week is the one I usually recommend to people who have not seen a Buster Keaton movie before because it has heartwarming qualities as well as his special brand of comedy. The simplicity of the plot lets Buster newbies enjoy the magic while Keaton aficionados stare in wonder at the details that surface during repeated viewings. My mother laughed heartily when The Groom bolts his car to the house in hopes of pulling it over the train tracks and again when she saw a hand come over the camera when The Bride is bathing.

At least a few accolades for One Week must go to Sybil Seely who at 18 years of age (when she made the film) is a perfect match for our star. Seely starred in 18 movies in her short, 5-year career several of which she made with Buster. It’s really too bad she made so few films because hers was a substantial talent as well. Seely retired from films in 1922 after marrying and died in 1984 at the age of 84.

  The Playhouse (1921) – Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton, directors

I chose to include The Playhouse in this post because I’d never seen it, but it turned out to be the loudest cheer I have to offer. Well, in the sense that I think it’s an astounding piece of filmmaking. In this vehicle Keaton plays multiple Keatons in a series of sketches in a playhouse. While The Playhouse falls short in the traditional, acrobatic Keaton stunts we know and love, there is a lot here that’s new as far as gags go. The concept of The Playhouse came about after Buster busted his ankle during the filming of another short. Worried about not missing his monthly release schedule, Keaton conceived of this movie in which the laughs come by several other means other than pratfalls. The result is as innovative a movie as I’ve ever seen.

Several Keatons can be seen on camera at once thanks to nifty trick photography. While this is perhaps a fairly routine gimmick, the fact that it is done so seamlessly in 1921 is a great accomplishment. Buster also plays a variety of characters in The Playhouse. He is every member of the orchestra, several members of the audience of all genders and ages, he is a monkey, the leading act and the stagehand to name a few. The Playhouse is essentially separated into two distinct stories after we find out the first half is but a dream. In short, this is a terrific vehicle for all to be reminded that Buster had quite the vast acting talent, which is often overlooked.

With the completion of The Playhouse Buster Keaton fulfilled his original 8-picture contract with Joseph Schenck. The movie was such a hit that he was immediately signed for another dozen movies.

Before I go, a little side note – My mother stayed with me for a month during which time we watched several silent movies together. Silents are perfect for people of all languages for obvious reasons and my mom enjoys them immensely. As you may know she doesn’t speak English and these vehicles allow me more time to actually watch the movies with less translating interruptions. In any case, my mom’s a big Charlie Chaplin fan having seen many of his movies in her youth in Cuba. I was quite surprised to learn, however, that she was not familiar with either Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd. She’d never even heard of them. I find that so interesting. And sad. You can bet I’ll be doing a little research to find out why Keaton and Lloyd movies may not have made it to her small home town. If you know anything about the travels of Keaton and Lloyd movies versus the travels of Chaplin outings leave me a comment below. Thanks!

Three Cheers for Buster Keaton I'm sure you know by now that Buster Keaton started his movie career a century ago, in New York City in 1917.