‘Round Midnight Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Perhaps the Greatest and Most Compelling Jazz Film Ever Made
By Davy |
The late, great Bertrand Tavernier wasn't just a highly influential film critic/writer, he was also an incredible filmmaker with vast ...
Read More 
Bringing Up Baby Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Bone up on a Comedy Classic
By Gordon S. Miller |
Directed by Howard Hawks and based on Hagar Wilde's short story, which Criterion includes in the booklet, Bringing Up Baby ...
Read More 
The Piano Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Jane Campion’s Sublime Masterpiece
By Davy |
Despite all the accolades and acclaim, director Jane Campion still seems to be continuously undervalued and taken for granted. That's ...
Read More 
High Sierra Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Raoul Walsh Tells a Story Twice
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on W. R. Burnett's second novel, director Roaul Walsh's High Sierra (1941) is a captivating crime drama notable for ...
Read More 
The Learning Tree Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Semi-Autobiographical Story from Gordon Parks
By Davy |
There have been so many films about growing up where characters (mostly youth) deal with first love, family issues, peer ...
Read More 
Throw Down Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Brawl Room Blitz
By David Wangberg |
Johnnie To’s Throw Down is a titular double entendre. Not only is it a film about martial arts (kind of); ...
Read More 
The Incredible Shrinking Man Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Giant-Sized Fun
By Mat Brewster |
I wonder what it is about stories of humans being shrunk down to tiny size or living in a land ...
Read More 
Ratcatcher Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Definite Punch to the Gut
By Davy |
Despite only having four feature-length films and a handful of shorts, filmmaker Lynne Ramsay has crafted a compelling body of ...
Read More 
Love & Basketball Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Love Story That Feels Fresh
By Davy |
There are so many cinematic tales of young love that spans time that are riddled with clichés. They usually have ...
Read More 
Mona Lisa Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Neo-noir with a Mystic Smile
By Mat Brewster |
The first time I remember seeing Bob Hoskins was as Eddie Valiant the hard-boiled, yet ultimately soft-hearted detective working for ...
Read More 
The Damned Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Demonstrative Descent into Family Destruction
By Davy |
In almost every family, there is, arguably, a hidden sense of evil. When the soul gets twisted and corrupted, so ...
Read More 
Beasts of No Nation Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Not Soon Forgotten
By Davy |
I may have used the phrase "War is Hell" in one my previous reviews, but you can't describe war as ...
Read More 
Ashes and Diamonds Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Polish Masterpiece
By Mat Brewster |
A little over a decade ago my wife and I lived in Shanghai, China. At the time, and probably still ...
Read More 
Deep Cover Criterion Collection Blu-Ray Review: Neo-Noir with a Message
By Mat Brewster |
Russell Stevens (Laurence Fishburne) is a good cop. He's also a black man. And a good, black cop is exactly ...
Read More 
Pickup on South Street Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Sam Fuller Blends Film Noir with a Cold War Spy Thriller
By Gordon S. Miller |
Samuel Fuller directed and wrote the screenplay for Pickup on South Street, a movie that blends film noir with a ...
Read More 
Visions of Eight Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Octathlon of Olympic Shorts
By Davy |
I'm not what you'd call an enthusiast of sports. Honestly, I don't like, watch, or play sports. I've never been ...
Read More 
World of Wong Kar Wai Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: What a Wonderful World
By Steve Geise |
Wong Kar Wai burst into the international film scene in the 1980s and has remained an icon ever since. While ...
Read More 
Trances Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Beautiful Audiovisual Journey
By Darcy Staniforth |
During a four-month period, filmmaker Ahmed El-Maanouni followed the politically and peace-minded avant-pop band Nass El Ghiwane on their tour ...
Read More 
Flowers of Shanghai Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Mise-ry en Scene
By Steve Geise |
This Taiwanese movie was based on a novel about “flower houses” of 19th century Shanghai, high class establishments where courtesans ...
Read More 
Fast Times at Ridgemont High Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Standout Comedy
By Gordon S. Miller |
Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High was written by Cameron Crowe, who went undercover at a San Diego high ...
Read More 
Masculin Feminin Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Tres Chic
By Steve Geise |
Jean-Luc Godard’s study of young love in Paris pulses with style but doesn’t have much of a story. The film ...
Read More 
Irma Vep Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Great Milestone in Olivier Assayas’s Body of Work
By Davy |
There have been so many films about the often chaotic circumstances and behind-the-scenes drama about the making of a film. ...
Read More 
The Furies (1950) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Fascinating Film of Familial Conflict
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on Niven Busch's 1948 novel of the same name, which Criterion has included in paperback, Anthony Mann's The Furies ...
Read More 
Memories of Murder Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The South Korean Zodiac
By Mat Brewster |
A woman has been brutally raped and murdered. Her body was shoved into a drain ditch. Detective Park Doo-man (Song ...
Read More 
History Is Made at Night (1937) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Love Crosses the Atlantic
By Kent Conrad |
Director Frank Borzage, who grew up with Hollywood, making (and acting in) silents from 1916 and remaining active up to ...
Read More 
Secrets & Lies Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Cinema at Its Best
By Davy |
Legendary British director Mike Leigh is one of cinema's greatest and most profound humanists. He crafts beautifully painful portraits of ...
Read More 
Céline and Julie Go Boating Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Long, Strange, Riveting Film
By Mat Brewster |
Julie (Dominique Labourier), a young woman with big, curly red hair, sits on a park bench distractedly reading a book ...
Read More 
Touki bouki Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Deserves to be Seen and Discovered
By Davy |
I must admit that African cinema usually goes way over my head. I mostly gloss over it in favor of ...
Read More 
The Parallax View Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Second Entry in Pakula’s Political Paranoia Trilogy
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on Loren Singer's 1970 novel of the same name, Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View is the second entry ...
Read More 
Smooth Talk Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Teen’s Roller Coaster Ride from Innocence to Harsh Reality
By Elizabeth Periale |
1985's Smooth Talk, directed by Joyce Chopra (Murder in a Small Town, The Lemon Sisters, Blonde), follows restless teenager Connie ...
Read More 
Chop Shop Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Miracle of Independent Cinema
By Davy |
With his wonderful 2005 Man Push Cart, filmmaker Ramin Bahrani beautifully captured the grim circumstances of being an immigrant in ...
Read More 
Man Push Cart Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Essential Cinema
By Davy |
Foreigners in a foreign land express the often grim, depressing, but sometimes hopeful studies of immigrants desperate to survive a ...
Read More 
Mandabi Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Unexpected Money Leads to Lots of Problems
By David Wangberg |
One of the things that Ousmane Sembène’s second feature film does that so few films do is, take lesser-known actors ...
Read More 
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review
By Gordon S. Miller |
Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour was in support of his album Desire, released January 5, 1976 between the two ...
Read More 
The Ascent Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Larisa Shepitko’s Masterpiece
By Davy |
The Ukranian-born Larisa Shepitko (one of the greatest female filmmakers of all-time) had only made a few features and short ...
Read More 
Three Films by Luis Buñuel Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Don’s Swan Songs
By Steve Geise |
As Luis Buñuel neared the end of his life, he swore each time he made a film that it would ...
Read More 
Crash (1996) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Anti-Erotic Film
By Kent Conrad |
"Prophecy is dirty and ragged", says Vaughan, while complaining about the cleanliness of the tattoo he gets on his chest. ...
Read More 
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Two Takes Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review
By Davy |
As a passionately dedicated lover of film, I really enjoy that not every film has to be a cliche, meaning ...
Read More 
Mouchette Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: So Beautiful, So Sad
By Mat Brewster |
The opening scene to Mouchette, Robert Bresson's 1967 drama, finds a young man tying little loops of wire to branches ...
Read More 
The Irishman (2019) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Welcome Addition to Martin Scorsese’s Filmography
By Gordon S. Miller |
Martin Scorsese's epic The Irishman makes a fitting bookend to his gangster films as one mobster tells his story while ...
Read More 
The Hit Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Gem of Film by Stephen Frears
By Davy |
The action film always comes with cliches, meaning that they usually contain car chases, explosions, and non-stop action. Sometimes these ...
Read More 
Parasite (2019) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Rich Fam, Poor Fam
By David Wangberg |
One of the hardest things for a filmmaker to do is blend multiple genres together and do it so seamlessly. ...
Read More 
The Gunfighter Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Price of Fame
By Gordon S. Miller |
Set in the Southwest Territory of the 1880s, a Texan named Jimmy Ringo (Gregory Peck) was known the fastest gun. ...
Read More 
Claudine Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Ahead of Its Time
By Davy |
In the 1970s, the blaxploitation genre of film exploded, and it was usually centered on stories of masculine black men, ...
Read More 
Pierrot le Fou Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Still Feels Modern and Fresh
By Davy |
The legendary and unclassifiable filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard is reaching his 90th birthday this year (in just two months from now), and ...
Read More 
Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 3 Criterion Collection Box Set Review
By Steve Geise |
Legendary writer/director and noted film buff Martin Scorsese established The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project in 2007 to restore and ...
Read More 
Christ Stopped at Eboli Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Emotionally Captivating
By David Wangberg |
Listed as one of the 1,001 movies you need to see before you die, Christ Stopped at Eboli is a film of ...
Read More 
Beau Travail Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Mysterious, Haunting, and Transformative
By Davy |
The great and visionary director Claire Denis is one the greatest cinematic poets of our time. She's a provocative and ...
Read More 
Toni Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Influential French Drama
By Mat Brewster |
In 1934, acclaimed French director Jean Renoir left the studio in Paris and headed for the countryside in the south ...
Read More 
Town Bloody Hall Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Verbal Battle of the Sexes
By Davy |
Documentaries, more than any other category of film, successfully (or sometimes unsuccessfully) captures reality at its most uncomfortable means. Whatever ...
Read More 
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Angela Winkler Is Sensational
By Davy |
In today's uncivilized world where humanity comes second (or dead last) to politics and where the police take the law ...
Read More 
Taste of Cherry Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Not to Everyone’s Taste
By Steve Geise |
Abbas Kiarostami's understated film won the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, leading to its initial ...
Read More 
Marriage Story Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Emotionally Brutal and Full of Life
By Davy |
I'm not an expert on marriage, but seeing many films about it, I guess I can at least say that ...
Read More 
Portrait of a Lady on Fire Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Burning Bright
By Steve Geise |
Writer/director Celine Sciamma's latest film is both exhilarating and depressing: spellbinding because of its absolute excellence and disheartening because it ...
Read More 
The Cameraman Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Star Begins to Fade
By Gordon S. Miller |
Although a talented filmmaker, Buster Keaton wasn't a great business man and his box-office struggles caused him to sign on ...
Read More 
An Unmarried Woman Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Bold and Groundbreaking
By Davy |
As I mentioned in my Pick of the Week recently, the 1970s were a very pivotal time for women. There was the ...
Read More 
When We Were Kings Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Marvelous Time Capsule of Muhammad Ali in 1974
By Gordon S. Miller |
Leon Gast's When We Were Kings documents the "Rumble in the Jungle," the legendary boxing match between undefeated heavyweight champion George Foreman ...
Read More 
Matewan Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Labor Pains
By Gordon S. Miller |
John Sayles' Matewan is a dramatization of the Matewan massacre (1920), a battle that took place in the town of Matewan, West ...
Read More 
Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Trips Worth Taking
By Gordon S. Miller |
I've been a big fan of movies for most of my 50-odd years on this planet and have enjoyed a ...
Read More 
Antonio Gaudí Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Tone Poem of Gaudí, Barcelona, and Art
By Elizabeth Periale |
Antonio Gaudí, a film by Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara (1927-2001), is a tone poem of Gaudí, Barcelona, and art - ...
Read More 
Teorema Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Pasolini’s Most Accessible Work
By Davy |
The late director Pier Paolo Pasolini was a very controversial filmmaker to begin with. His often taboo-breaking subject matter didn't ...
Read More 
Polyester Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: John Waters’ First Big-Budget Film
By Jade Blackmore |
Polyester, John Waters' first big budget, mainstream film, was released by in 1981 by New Line Cinema. Its $300,000 budget ...
Read More 
The Magnificent Ambersons Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Flawed Masterpiece, but Still a Worthwhile Film
By Kent Conrad |
Before getting into the history of the film: the mangling by the studio, the likely deliberately destroyed edited footage, and ...
Read More 
A Raisin in the Sun Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Wonderfully Acted Film
By Davy |
While some movies about the African-American experience are embarrassing and downright stereotypical, there are others that realistically transcend the bad ...
Read More 
Festival (1967) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Better Than Woodstock
By Mat Brewster |
In the early part of the 20th Century, various folklorists, including John Lomax, wandered about the country documenting the songs ...
Read More 
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Stealth Double Feature
By Gordon S. Miller |
The Criterion Collection's release of Alfred Hitchcock's third feature, The Lodger (1927), is actually a stealth double feature of Hitchcock ...
Read More 
Cameraperson Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: No Better Film Experience Last Year
By Davy |
When it comes to human honesty, there is no better genre of film stronger than the documentary. In a time ...
Read More 
Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Glimpses into the Heart of the Artist
By Mat Brewster |
By the time Bob Dylan toured England in the Spring of 1965, he’d released five albums (two of which went ...
Read More 
It Happened One Night Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Original Runaway Bride
By Steve Geise |
It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time in cinematic history when romantic comedies were extremely rare. That ...
Read More 
Things to Come Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Overly Didactic Technical Marvel
By Dusty Somers |
The Film An impressive technical achievement, even if its didacticism threatens to overwhelm all other elements, H.G. Wells' Things to ...
Read More
Things To Come (1936) Criterion Collection DVD Review: An Unforgettable Piece of Cinematic History
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick H.G. Wells has had a number of books turned into classic films, including The Island of ...
Read More 
Repo Man Criterion Collection DVD Review: Punk All Over
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick The seamy underbelly of Los Angeles has been explored in numerous films over the years. A ...
Read More 
Being John Malkovich Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich
By Gordon S. Miller |
In Being John Malkovich, the brilliant feature-film debut of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze, an unhappily married couple ...
Read More 
Two-Lane Blacktop: Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Monte Hellman’s Masterpiece
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Luigi Bastardo As anyone who has ever experienced a truly awkward moment of puberty is well aware, growing ...
Read More 
The Last Days of Disco Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Witty Look at the End of an Era
By Dusty Somers |
The Film There’s not a hint of irony in Whit Stillman’s 1998 film The Last Days of Disco despite there ...
Read More 
The Samurai Trilogy Criterion Collection DVD Review: Mifune in His Physical Prime
By Steve Geise |
Japanese screen legend Toshiro Mifune is most closely associated with the directorial efforts of fellow legend Akira Kurosawa, and yet ...
Read More 
Carlos (2010) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Tale of the Jackal
By Gordon S. Miller |
Carlos is a fascinating docudrama about the Venezuelan terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, known as Carlos the Jackal, whose most notorious ...
Read More 
Gray’s Anatomy / And Everything is Going Fine Criterion Collection Blu-rays Review: A Spalding Gray & Steven Soderbergh Double Feature
By Dusty Somers |
The extraordinarily talented monologist Spalding Gray gets a pair of releases from the Criterion Collection this month. Both films are ...
Read More 
Shallow Grave (1994) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Boyle’s Debut Shows Promise and Little Else
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Jordan Richardson Directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, and available now thanks to Criterion Collection, Shallow ...
Read More 
The Gold Rush Criterion Collection DVD Review: One of Chaplin’s Most Acclaimed Films
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick Although Charlie Chaplin’s “Little Tramp” character remains so iconic, people all over the world are still ...
Read More
Shallow Grave (1994) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Exceptional Film
By Lorna Miller |
Danny Boyle’s first film Shallow Grave is a disturbing and extreme examination of the consequences of one’s actions. I love ...
Read More 
Harold and Maude Criterion Collection DVD Review: Timeless Classic Has Never Been More Appropriate
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick The oddest couple in cinematic history have got to be the 20-year old Harold (Bud Cort) ...
Read More 
The Lady Vanishes (1938) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: All Aboard for Entertainment
By Gordon S. Miller |
Though it was Alfred Hitchcock’s penultimate film made in Britain before producer David O. Selznick brought him to America, the ...
Read More 
Summer Interlude Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Formative Bergman Picture Gets the High-Def Treatment
By Cinema Sentries |
With Summer Interlude, Swedish master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman began to lay the foundation for some of his most memorable pictures. ...
Read More
The Gold Rush Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Charlie Chaplin Strikes Gold
By Shawn Bourdo |
The Criterion Collection has a problem. It’s the best kind of problem to have though. They have the rights to ...
Read More 
Summer with Monika Criterion Collection Blu-Ray Review: Bergman in Love
By Steve Geise |
This early success from director Ingmar Bergman follows a completely straightforward and conventional path to its obvious conclusion, offering little ...
Read More 
Certified Copy Criterion Collection Blu-Ray Review: Certified Original
By Steve Geise |
An esteemed English author named James Miller (William Shimell) has written a book on the value of copies versus original ...
Read More 
Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave DVD Review: Gems Indeed
By Luigi Bastardo |
You never really know what to expect from the more “arty” contributions the world of international cinema has to offer ...
Read More 
3 Women Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: 2 Actresses Can’t Save 1 Film
By Gordon S. Miller |
Writer/producer/director Robert Altman’s 3 Women is powered by the standout performances of Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall playing two offbeat ...
Read More 
Island of Lost Souls (1932) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Of Monsters and Men
By Gordon S. Miller |
The first of many adaptations of H.G. Wells’ novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, Erle C. Kenton’s Island of Lost ...
Read More 
La haine Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Seething Portrait of a Vicious Cycle
By Dusty Somers |
The Film Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 triumph La haine doesn’t pull any punches — it’s right there in the title, which ...
Read More 
A Hollis Frampton Odyssey Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Essential Collection of Avant-Garde Treasures
By Dusty Somers |
The Films There isn’t much experimental film represented within the Criterion Collection library, but when the good folks there do ...
Read More 
The Organizer Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Relevant in Today’s Political Climate
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Lisa McKay The Organizer, a 1963 film from Italian director Mario Monicelli and one of this month’s new ...
Read More 
Late Spring Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Moving Look at a Family’s Season of Change
By Steve Geise |
Writer/director Yasujiro Ozu is widely regarded as one of the most important Japanese directors of all time, generally second only ...
Read More 
A Night to Remember (1958) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Stunning Presentation for a Genuine Classic
By Luigi Bastardo |
“I don’t think the Board of Trade regulations visualized this situation.” —Capt. Edward John Smith (Laurence Naismith), upon learning his ...
Read More 
The War Room Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Men Behind the Man from Hope
By Will McKinley |
It takes a lot to out-charisma Bill Clinton, but legendary political strategist James Carville does it in The War Room, ...
Read More 
David Lean Directs Noel Coward Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Four Distinctly British Films From a Fruitful Partnership
By Dusty Somers |
Before his name became synonymous with the widescreen epic, David Lean began his directorial career working closely with playwright Noël ...
Read More 
Dazed and Confused Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Authentic, Evocative Slice of Life
By Gordon S. Miller |
Set on the last day of school on May 28, 1976 in Austin, Texas, writer/director Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused ...
Read More
A Night to Remember Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Best Film about the Titanic Disaster
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic will be April 14, 2012, and it ...
Read More
David Lean Directs Noel Coward Criterion Collection DVD Boxset Review: Box of Delights
By Steve Geise |
Although best remembered for his widescreen epics such as Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, and The Bridge on the River ...
Read More 
Letter Never Sent Blu-ray Criterion Collection Review: A Survival Flick from Russia?
By Luigi Bastardo |
A survival flick from Russia? Well, I suppose if there was one civilization that has learned to adapt, it was ...
Read More 
Anatomy of a Murder Criterion Collection DVD Review: Anatomy of a Classic
By Luigi Bastardo |
Surprisingly, during all those years that I spent sitting in front of my television as a kid, watching one classic ...
Read More
Letter Never Sent Criterion Collection DVD Review: Kalatozov’s Take on Man Vs. Nature
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Jordan Richardson Russian director Mikhail Kalatozov and cinematographer Sergey Urusevsky only worked together on three films, but each ...
Read More 
The Last Temptation of Christ Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Still Controversial
By Steve Geise |
Nearly a quarter of a century ago, famed director Martin Scorsese sparked a firestorm of controversy via the release of ...
Read More 
Beauty and the Beast (1946) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Jean Cocteau Creates Magic
By Gordon S. Miller |
Jean Cocteau, a renaissance man of the arts, appears to be the first filmmaker to bring Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de ...
Read More 
Vanya on 42nd Street Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Timeless Theatrical Experiment
By Steve Geise |
Seemingly random individuals are filmed roaming the streets of New York’s Broadway area before separately converging on a dilapidated theater. ...
Read More
Vanya on 42nd Street Criterion Collection DVD Review: Chronicling the Last Days of Multiple Eras
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick As it turned out, Vanya On 42nd Street (1994) was the final film completed by legendary ...
Read More 
Tiny Furniture Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: One Character in Search of a Relationship
By Shawn Bourdo |
It’s important to start off with a confession. I love “coming of age” films. It’s a genre that never seems ...
Read More 
World on a Wire Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Nature of Unnatural Reality
By Steve Geise |
Two business colleagues at a supercomputer research facility are enjoying a pleasant conversation before one of them declares that he ...
Read More
World on a Wire Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Superb Piece of Science Fiction
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick What if everything you thought you knew was nothing but a fabrication? This is but one ...
Read More 
Three Outlaw Samurai Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Genre-Defining Samurai Film
By Shawn Bourdo |
The Samurai genre and the Western are so closely tied by themes and storylines that it’s amazing the great Japanese ...
Read More 
Godzilla (1954) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The King of Monsters is Back
By Todd Karella |
In 1954 one of the world's biggest monster movies was released to the big screen. Created and directed by Ishiro ...
Read More
Three Outlaw Samurai Criterion Collection DVD Review: Three is the Magic Number
By Steve Geise |
When peasants stage an uprising against their greedy local magistrate, they find an unlikely ally in the form of a ...
Read More 
If…. Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Portrait of the Student as an Angry Young Man
By Gordon S. Miller |
Director Lindsay Anderson’s If…. is a film that catches the viewer off guard when its true intention is revealed and ...
Read More 
The Moment of Truth Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Heady Symphony of Sound and Image
By Dusty Somers |
The Film Francesco Rosi doesn’t waste his time on extraneous details in The Moment of Truth, a lean symphony of ...
Read More
Godzilla (1954) The Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Legendary Monster Makes its Debut
By generaljabbo |
In 1954, Japan was still reeling from the effects of the World War II atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ...
Read More 
Belle de Jour Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: How Severine Got Her Groove Back
By Steve Geise |
A young, wealthy housewife goes for a horse-drawn carriage ride in the idyllic French countryside with her dashing husband. So ...
Read More 
Traffic Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Thrilling and Uncompromising Look at the War on Drugs
By Dusty Somers |
The Film One of the predominant narratives used in describing Steven Soderbergh’s career is that he’s a director capable of ...
Read More 
Sabu! Criterion Collection DVD Review: Adventures With The Immensely Charming Child Star
By Dusty Somers |
Plucked from obscurity as an elephant handler in southern India and vaulted to international stardom largely by the efforts of ...
Read More 
Design For Living Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Pre-Codiest of the Pre-Codes
By Will McKinley |
When I was a guest on the Turner Classic Movies podcast last fall, I engaged in a bit of premeditated ...
Read More 
Solaris (1972) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Explorations in Outer and Inner Space
By Gordon S. Miller |
Director Andrei Tarkovsky used Stanislaw Lem’s 1961 science fiction novel Solaris as the basis for his story about a man ...
Read More 
Branded To Kill Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Legendary Piece of Cinema You Should Not Miss
By Shawn Bourdo |
I was born in 1967. And in the tradition of all petulant teenagers – I grew to have disdain for ...
Read More 
Kiss Me Deadly Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Pulp Science Fiction
By Gordon S. Miller |
When Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer debuted in I, Jury (1947) he was possibly the hardest of hardnosed detectives there was, ...
Read More 
Design for Living Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Delightfully Risque Pre-Hayes Code Romp
By Luigi Bastardo |
”It’s amazing how a few insults can bring people together in three hours.” ”It was certainly good to hear all ...
Read More 
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review
By Gordon S. Miller |
The story told in Criterion’s The BBS Story box set is a major chapter in the output of producers Bob ...
Read More 
Tokyo Drifter The Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Blast of Swinging Tokyo
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick Seijun Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter (1966) is a delirious Pop Art explosion. Working under the yoke of ...
Read More
Tokyo Drifter Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Style Over Substance
By Steve Geise |
Iconic director Seijun Suzuki’s film isn’t very impressive from a story standpoint, but is packed with wall-to-colorful-wall visual flair. It’s ...
Read More
Branded To Kill Criterion Collection DVD Review: Suzuki’s Absurd Deconstruction of Yakuza Crime Films
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick There has never been a crime film quite like this. Director Seijun Suzuki’s Branded To Kill ...
Read More 
Three Colors Trilogy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Forever
By Shawn Bourdo |
Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors Trilogy is a series of three films that were released in 1993 and 1994. ...
Read More 
The Rules of the Game (1939) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Jean Renoir, Je T’aime
By Luigi Bastardo |
I have no choice but to dismiss you. It breaks my heart, but I can’t expose my guests to your ...
Read More 
12 Angry Men Criterion Collection DVD Review: Explosive Drama in the Jury Room
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick The stifling, claustrophobic feeling director Sidney Lumet perfected in films such as Dog Day Afternoon (1975), ...
Read More Identification of a Woman Criterion Collection DVD Review: Searching for a Way out of the Fog
By Darcy Staniforth |
Identification of A Woman is the story of Niccolo Farra (Tomas Milian) a middle-aged Italian filmmaker who is searching for ...
Read More 
Rushmore Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Wes Anderson’s Best Film Dazzles in High-Def
By Dusty Somers |
The Film By and large, there’s been quite a backlash against the films of Wes Anderson, and even though I’m ...
Read More 
Dazed and Confused Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Celebrating Being Caught Between Dreaming and Adulthood
By Shawn Bourdo |
Can one film ruin a genre? I guess you can look at it from two angles. Did Titanic ruin the ...
Read More 
Fanny & Alexander Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Bergman’s Documentary Trumps Feature Film
By Steve Geise |
As a newcomer to Fanny & Alexander, I was surprised to learn that the original format of the project was ...
Read More 
Identification of a Woman Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Futile Search for Romantic Fulfillment
By Dusty Somers |
The Film Among those disinclined to enjoy films without a clear story arc, well-defined conflict, and a resolute conclusion, the ...
Read More 
Kuroneko Criterion Collection DVD Review: Expressionistic Horror in Feudal Japan
By Dusty Somers |
A spooky, poetic Japanese ghost story, Kuroneko is the kind of film that captivates you by virtue of an astonishing ...
Read More 
Smiles of a Summer Night Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: All’s Well That Ends Well
By Gordon S. Miller |
Though legendary director Ingmar Bergman is well known for creating films that deal with serious subjects about life and death, ...
Read More 
The Four Feathers (1939) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Offers Quite a Bit of Excitement
By Shawn Bourdo |
The A.E.W. Mason classic adventure book The Four Feathers (1902) has been adapted into at least seven films directly. The ...
Read More 
Island of Lost Souls (1932) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Are We Not Men?
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick ”Do you know what it means to feel like God?” asks the fiendish Dr. Moreau (Charles ...
Read More 
The Killing Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Day at the Races
By Joe Garcia III |
The Criterion Collection has scored big again with the DVD release of The Killing, Stanley Kubrick's 1956 film noir classic. ...
Read More
The Four Feathers (1939) Criterion Collection DVD Review: One Man’s Journey of Redemption
By Todd Karella |
Harry Faversham (John Clements) comes from a long line of heroic officers in the British army. But ever since he ...
Read More 
Criterion Collection Eclipse Series #29 DVD Review: Aki Kaurismaki’s Leningrad Cowboys
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick Not since the likes of Sigue Sigue Sputnik have a band with so little to offer ...
Read More
Kuroneko Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Things That Go Bump In The Night
By Steve Geise |
Although classified as a horror film, Kuroneko isn’t very scary. Instead, it delivers atmosphere and oddities, making it more akin ...
Read More 
Harakiri Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Samurai Condition
By Steve Geise |
When a bedraggled masterless samurai, or ronin, approaches the estate of a large warrior clan and asks for permission to ...
Read More 
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Buy the Disc, Take the Ride
By Gordon S. Miller |
First appearing in the pages of Rolling Stone, Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas details the drug-fueled ...
Read More 
My Life As a Dog Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Boy’s Eccentric Journey to Manhood
By Shawn Bourdo |
When you further categorize the films that I love the most, you’ll find that the majority of them speak to ...
Read More 
The Phantom Carriage Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Spooky Silent Cinema That Transcends Genre
By Dusty Somers |
The Film Victor Sjöström’s intensely atmospheric, technically brilliant The Phantom Carriage was highly influential on the career of Ingmar Bergman, ...
Read More 
Le Beau Serge and Les Cousins Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The True Origins of the French New Wave
By Dusty Somers |
The Films The French New Wave evokes thoughts of two films above all others — François Truffaut’s and Jean-Luc Godard’s ...
Read More 
Carlos (2010) Criterion Collection DVD Review: An Extraordinary Movie
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick From the opening explosion of a car bomb in Paris, through the anti-climactic, somewhat pathetic ending ...
Read More
The Phantom Carriage Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Impressive Ghost of Cinema Past
By Steve Geise |
I don’t spend much time watching silent films, especially foreign silent films, but The Phantom Carriage has me rethinking that ...
Read More
The Phantom Carriage Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Pinnacle of Swedish Silent Filmmaking
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick Swedish director Victor Sjostrom’s (1879-1960) The Phantom Carriage (1921) is a profoundly emotional film, and was ...
Read More 
Orpheus Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Cinematic Magic from a Familiar Tale
By Dusty Somers |
The Film Jean Cocteau had a knack for applying a distinct surreal stamp to familiar tales. He did it in ...
Read More 
Cul-De-Sac Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Roman Polanski Leads Down a Dead End Road
By Shawn Bourdo |
With new releases from The Criterion Collection, the ones I look forward to the most aren’t always the major works ...
Read More 
Topsy-Turvy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: It Is the Very Model of a Modern-Day Blu-ray Release
By Gordon S. Miller |
After five films, Mike Leigh took a break from modern-day kitchen-sick dramas and created Topsy-Turvy, a marvelous historical biopic about ...
Read More 
The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara DVD Review: Diverse Dispatches from the Japanese New Wave
By Dusty Somers |
Watching the five films in Criterion’s latest Eclipse offering, The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara, one gets the sense that ...
Read More
Orpheus Criterion Collection DVD Review: Jean Cocteau Constructed a Masterpiece
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick ”Look at yourself in a mirror all your life and you will see Death at work,” ...
Read More 
Blow Out Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Hearing Is Believing
By Gordon S. Miller |
Brian De Palma’s Blow Out is an intriguing political thriller that plays with the ideas of perception and cinema. These ...
Read More 
Secret Sunshine Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Secret No More
By Steve Geise |
After an interminable four-year delay, Secret Sunshine has finally reached U.S. shores thanks to the fine folks at Criterion. The ...
Read More
The Killing Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Meet Me at the Racetrack
By Steve Geise |
The Killing is a fine little film on its own, and yet I couldn’t help but compare it unfavorably to ...
Read More Cul-de-Sac Criterion Collection DVD Review: Not Your Garden Variety Thriller
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Lisa McKay The tragedies and controversy swirling around director Roman Polanski’s personal life have frequently overshadowed his reputation ...
Read More 
The Mikado Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Dated but Has its Charms
By Gordon S. Miller |
The Mikado is the ninth opera created by the tandem of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. It debuted in London ...
Read More 
The Battle of Algiers Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Political Powder-Keg
By Dusty Somers |
The Film The Battle of Algiers doesn’t simply tack on a cinema verité veneer to achieve a sense of realism; ...
Read More 
Leon Morin, Priest Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Sex and Religion on the Mind
By Dusty Somers |
The Film Léon Morin, Priest is a somewhat atypical film for director Jean-Pierre Melville and star Jean-Paul Belmondo, at least ...
Read More 
High and Low Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Kurosawa and Mifune: The Gold Standard
By Steve Geise |
Master director Akira Kurosawa and his acting muse Toshiro Mifune teamed up once again for this kidnapping drama set in ...
Read More 
Life During Wartime Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Alternative Happiness
By Steve Geise |
Writer/director Todd Solondz has forged a cottage industry out of exploring the foibles of odd suburban characters, popping in every ...
Read More 
Naked Criterion Blu-ray Review: Anti-Hero’s Odyssey Through Thatcher’s London
By Shawn Bourdo |
In Mike Leigh’s 1993 UK film, Naked, I don’t think a main character has turned the audience against him quicker ...
Read More 
Au revoir les enfants Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Louis Malle’s Remembrance of Things Past
By Gordon S. Miller |
Writer-director Louis Malle’s childhood informs Au revoir les enfants, a story about two boys at a Catholic boarding school in ...
Read More 
The Music Room Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Solitary Man
By Steve Geise |
Right from the opening shot of this film, it’s evident that viewers are witnessing the work of a masterful director. ...
Read More 
Black Moon (1975) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Gloria Steinem Meets Lewis Carroll
By Shawn Bourdo |
I don’t know the exact definition of a “black moon” just as I’m not exactly clear on the definition of ...
Read More 
Insignificance Criterion Collection DVD Review: There is Significance in Everything
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick In 1954, four of the most famous people in the world were Joe DiMaggio, Marilyn Monroe, ...
Read More 
People on Sunday Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Lazy Sunday
By Steve Geise |
People on Sunday is a fascinating historical document of late 1920s Germany, offering a glimpse into the fashion, architecture, and ...
Read More
Kiss Me Deadly Criterion Collection DVD Review: Endlessly Entertaining
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick Appearing at the tail end of the classic era of film noir, Kiss Me Deadly (1955) ...
Read More 
The Makioka Sisters Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: No Joy No Luck Club
By Steve Geise |
Director Kon Ichikawa’s late career work centers on the relationships between four adult sisters as they run their family kimono ...
Read More 
Criterion Collection Eclipse Series #27 DVD Review: Raffaello Matarazzo’s Runaway Melodramas
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick Raffaello Matarazzo (1909 – 1966) was an Italian director who specialized in some of the most ...
Read More 
The Great Dictator Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Most Courageous Act of His Remarkable Career
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick Charles Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940) is undoubtedly his most controversial film. It is also one ...
Read More
The Great Dictator Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Charlie Chaplin Still Gives Hope Today
By Shawn Bourdo |
When we last saw Charlie Chaplin in 1936 at the end of Modern Times, The Tramp and his muse, “the ...
Read More 
The Times of Harvey Milk Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: History in the Making
By Gordon S. Miller |
The Times of Harvey Milk is an outstanding documentary that presents an important chapter in the United States civil rights ...
Read More 
Diabolique (1955) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Crime and Punishment
By Steve Geise |
There’s a clear point part way through this French classic where it drops its conventional nature and morphs into an ...
Read More
Diabolique (1955) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Influential Horror that Stands the Test of Time
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick Henri-Georges Clouzet’s Diabolique (1955) is a classic suspense/horror film. Although Clouzet was maligned as “old guard” ...
Read More 
Army of Shadows Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Different Kind of Spy Thriller
By Gordon S. Miller |
Writer/director Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows (1969) opens with a powerful image: an extended take of a long line of ...
Read More 
Something Wild Criterion Collection DVD Review: Jonathan Demme’s Vision of a Yuppie Nightmare
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrink ”It’s better to be a live dog, than a dead lion.” So says Charlie Driggs (Jeff ...
Read More
Something Wild Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Jonathan Demme’s Film is a Wild Thing
By Shawn Bourdo |
The Criterion Collection is on a serious roll this Spring. I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing White Material (a superb ...
Read More 
Pale Flower Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Essential Japanese New Wave
By Steve Geise |
Although this is a Japanese film, the words that immediately come to mind to describe it are largely French: a ...
Read More 
Sweetie (1989) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Wonderful, Symbolic-Laden Story
By Shawn Bourdo |
I recently was able to sit down and review White Material (2009) – a film directed by a female director ...
Read More 
White Material Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Presages Current Events
By Shawn Bourdo |
Claire Denis makes movies that almost seem commissioned by The Criterion Collection. The French filmmaker shoots in long, beautiful, quiet ...
Read More 
The Complete Monterey Pop Festival Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Marvelous Time Capsule
By Gordon S. Miller |
During the Summer of Love, the weekend of June 16-18, 1967 to be specific, the Monterey International Pop Music Festival ...
Read More 
Seven Samurai Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Cinematic Masterpiece of Epic Proportions
By Gordon S. Miller |
The premise of Seven Samurai is a simple one: a group of farmers hire seven samurai to deal with bandits ...
Read More 
Le Cercle Rouge Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Short on Plot, Long on Mise en Scene
By Steve Geise |
At first glance, Le Cercle Rouge seems like a fairly conventional crime drama, a perception that is upheld by the ...
Read More 
Fish Tank Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Struggle to Escape Family Traditions
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick. After viewing the Criterion Collection edition of Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank (2009), I cannot imagine a ...
Read More
Fish Tank Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Andrea Arnold Primer
By Steve Geise |
British writer/director Andrea Arnold won the 2009 Cannes Jury Prize and 2010 BAFTA (Outstanding British Film) for this gritty coming-of-age ...
Read More 
Amarcord Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Parade of Unforgettable Characters
By Steve Geise |
Federico Fellini’s films are widely perceived as an acquired taste, with their odd flights of fancy, peculiar characters and avoidance ...
Read More 
Still Walking Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Most Personal Film
By Steve Geise |
In the aftermath of his own mother’s death, director Hirokazu Kore-eda crafted his most personal film to date, a quiet ...
Read More
Still Walking Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Masterpiece of Japanese Cinema
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Greg Barbrick. Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Still Walking (2008) has just been issued as part of The Criterion ...
Read More
Recent Comments