Paul and Corey Cross the Streams: S6E01 [CITY LIGHTS (1931)]

Welcome back for Season 6, everyone! Having amassed more than 100 episodes in its run, PACCTS' sixth season will focus its sights on "the greatest films of all time" (both in the US and internationally), as assembled by the British Film Institute's 2022 Sight and Sound Poll of industry critics. Corey will be choosing American films from the list, and Paul will be choosing international ones.  Our goal is to examine the films that are considered great, and why that may be the case.   For the first episode, Corey chose the Chaplin classic – and arguably the greatest romantic comedy of all time – City Lights (1931), ranked at number 36. From a Dickensian childhood to becoming the most recognizable character on earth, Charlie Chaplin was able to mine his personal demons and interests into comedy that has transcended space and (ultimately) time. City Lights is his masterpiece, and we had a blast discussing it.