Sunnyside Is More Average But Still Pretty Humorous Charlie Chaplin Fare

Sunnyside, released 100 years ago this year, is about par for the course for a late 1910s Charlie Chaplin comedy featurette. Wacky physical comedy, Chaplin playing a kind of precursor to The Tramp character, a thinly-sketched love interest for Chaplin's protagonist to pine after, it's all here. That means Sunnyside offers little in the way of surprises but if one is watching Charlie Chaplin films from the 1910s, it's doubtful you're looking for a twisty-turny thriller on par with Se7en. If you're just looking for the kind of amiable comedy only Charlie Chaplin could deliver, Sunnyside will do alright.

Vincent D'Onofrio's Directorial Debut The Kid Is A Forgettable Trip To The West

Back in the early 1990s, Unforgiven was like a shot heard 'round the world for Westerns as it provided a more contemplative take on the once-omnipresent genre that saw Clint Eastwood do a realistic deconstruction of his fabled Man With No Name persona. Since then, most Westerns have used Unforgiven as a creative touchstone, especially in terms of being more conscious of the gruesome violence that transpired in the Old West compared to many classic Westerns. Such widespread imitations of Unforgiven have meant that the elements of Unforgiven that were once trailblazing are now themselves old hat. By contrast, the best recent Westerns have been films like Rango, True Grit and Slow West that have established their own unique identities rather than do their own variation on the somber contemplative mood of Unforgiven for the umpteenth time.

Charlie Chaplin's First Foray Into Feature-Length Storytelling Was A Delightful Film Called The Kid

Transitioning from short films to feature films is a daunting prospect that many filmmakers and production companies have faced over the years, among them being Charlie Chaplin, a star of silent short films that found himself trying his hand at a longer-form of storytelling with 1921's feature The Kid. The runtime may be longer, but Chaplin's character The Tramp is very much the same fellow audiences had come to know and love while the type of physical comedy and level of quality that had made Chaplin such a revered cinematic icon in the past were very much in hearty supply on this bold new step in Charlie Chaplin's fascinating career.