the great buster movie

I saw the movie 'the great buster', a documentary about silent film star buster Keaton,  this afternoon at the lagoon in uptown Minneapolis. I know these 'art films' don't last long, so I figured it was best to get there during the first week. I learned something as usual, how he had a career after the silent film era ended, but of course had to re-invent himself. he went all the way into the TV era, doing some commercials such as for northwest orient airlines and Alka-Seltzer. as a fan of 'the simpsons' I recall one time when he was name-checked, when his Hollywood walk of fame star was taken out to make way for someone else's. there was a 'simpsons' clip in it, a parody of one of his stunts. much like some other profiles of famous people, it had some lowlights in it such as mental health issues and a drinking problem. we comedians understand how mental health is a delicate thing. I even recall an episode of 'family ties' when he was name-checked, that one made sense since the family on that show was known as the keatons. this may have been a reference to buster. there were interviews with various entertainers, such as dick van dyke.
   it wasn't the only movie I saw today, but the other was a DVD on loan from the library that I watched at home. it was 'the grifters', starring john cusack. this was a conman movie I recall seeing part of on a movie channel when I was in high school. but I told myself I probably hadn't seen all of it. this was more of a character study than actually covering con games, since the characters were inter-related and all con artists- the mom, the son, and the son's lady friend. I saw how martin Scorsese was listed as a producer of the movie, but he did not direct it. the movie is all right, but I would have enjoyed it more had I seen more about how they pull off their con games. I have seen some other conman movies such as 'American hustle' so I had some to compare it to.
   I watched some pro football this afternoon, since the bears-lions game was on fox. the bears won 34-22, despite four missed kicks. it is a reminder of how I haven't seen a game at Chicago's soldier field in a while. there was plenty of things on TV about the centennial of the ending of world war one, which explains why the game in Chicago got plenty of attention as it is a war memorial. I saw the football game on TV and then left for the movie theater about an hour after it ended.