Recognized as a comic genius equal to Chaplin, Keaton had a style that assembled as much mechanical grace and Rube Goldberg gags as the Tramp's, but without the sentimentality or didacticism. His final visual pun in "The General" -- kissing his sweetheart while they use the horizontal wheel-joints of

Classic hollywood, Funny, Illusive, In-your-face, Kinetic, Trippy, Wise assy

The next time you watch a Howard Hawks film, look for the seams -- they won't be there. An unobtrusive, quietly gifted director, writer, and producer, Hawks constructed films that seem as effortless and artless as the films of his contemporaries seem idiosyncratic. With a background in mechanical eng

Classic hollywood, Contemplative, Film noir and neo-noir, Layered, Pathos, Subtle

His artistic avocations were many -- poet, novelist, painter, playwright, set designer, actor -- but Jean Cocteau's work as a filmmaker distilled his creative vision with a special lucidity. In film he could bring his Surrealist language and imagery together, making the dreamlike palpable and present

Existentialist literature, Horror, Surreal, Surrealist film, Surrealist literature, Surrealist photography, Trippy