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If I could impart just one aspect of my enthusiasm for movies to my readers, it would be my love of Buster Keaton. I wish I could turn all of my readers into Damfinos- the moniker that hardcore Keaton fans use to refer to themselves. Because there’s no other actor or filmmaker that’s brought me as much hardcore laughter and happiness as Keaton has. One of the best parts of Youtube is that there are a multitude of mashups. Amateur movie editors all over the place have squished their favorite movie clips, music, movie dialogue, and TV clips together. Because of Keaton’s popularity (and since he was a silent comedian whose work was perfect for the addition of sound), there are several mashups involving his films. Here are my five favorites, one for each finger inside of a fist. I didn’t create any of these but I wish I had:
The Chariots of Buster
This clip combines the epic soundtrack from Chariots of Fire with my all-time favorite comedy scene- Keaton’s chase scene from Seven Chances (1927).
Paul Simon’s Kodachrome
The cheerful nostalgia of the song meshes so well with Keaton’s antics:
Radiohead Buster Keaton Style
In my opinion, this is the best of the bunch. Whoever created this put an immense amount of time into editing it because the lyrics and action blend seamlessly. Plus, it’s Radiohead, whose depressive lyrics are a fantastic match for Keaton’s stone face.
A Buster Keaton Montage (The Pixies)
This mashup also has some good editing and I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for The Pixies.
Don’t Stop Me Now
I would never in a million years have thought that Freddie Mercury and Buster Keaton would work as well as they do here, but it’s commendable.
There are quite a few more and if you liked these, I’d highly recommend checking them out. A quick Youtube search for “Buster Keaton Montage” will lead you down the rabbit hole.
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Awesome Mash up Action!!
I love the first one, reminds me of 28 Days later meets Indiana Jones meets a free running film!! Genius!
Great find!
My friend Marty always goes nuts when he sees Buster running. If I remember right, he says it’s one of his favorite things in movies.
These are pretty great. I’ve seen the Radiohead mashup before, and I want to say it was here, but I can’t quite remember. I think my favorite is the Kodachrome one because it made me laugh out loud. Now, I’m going to spend my day off watching more mashups on YouTube. Thanks, John! (BTW, have you seen all of the Lebowski ones?)
Awesome! I have posted the Radiohead one here awhile back- great memory.
I love the Lebowski mashups but I haven’t checked them for awhile. I remember there being a He-Man one, and a Ninja Turtle version.
I recently wrote about ‘The General.’ I thought it was more of an action movie than a comedy. Keaton could give any of today’s action stars a run for their money and he doesn’t even look like a typical action hero!
That’s definitely a part of the Keaton charm- he performed all of the stunts himself. So when you’re watching a daredevil leaping from train to train, that’s Keaton- a star, with lots of money and lots to lose- risking life and limb… to make people laugh. I can’t even describe how fantastic I think that is.
Personally, I think ‘The General’ works on both levels. I know I laughed pretty hard at a lot of things in that movie. The ‘Oh shit!’ reaction he has when the cannon slowly tips and points at him put me in tears. And the early sequence where he’s been turned down by the military but he’s still trying to fool them into taking him. Or when he’s at Union headquarters hiding under the table, trying to keep a straight face despite the fire caused by the cigar.
(sorry, I could blather on forever about this; Buster is my favorite actor, movie icon, whatever you want to call it)
The Radiohead mash-up is brilliant, of course. I enjoy the “Tronified” Charlie Chaplin video as well, for those of you who have seen it.
I LOVE Keaton! I always appreciated him, but I never really got the “Keaton is a genius” thing until I saw Sherlock Jr.
Stick around here long enough and I’m sure I’ll touch more on the genius of Keaton. I tend to never shut up about it.