Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Feels Like We’re Witnessing Real Life
By Davy |
Ever since legendary Japanese filmmaker Yasjuiro Ozu died in 1963, there has been an array of cinematic stories he left ...
Read More Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: A Master Reflects
By Kent Conrad |
With a master artist, their later works are impossible to judge outside of the context of their careers. One could ...
Read More One False Move Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Southern Discomfort
By David Wangberg |
Carl Franklin’s work is a blind spot for me, sad to say. While the acclaimed filmmaker has only a few ...
Read More The Rules of the Game Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: The Shooting Party
By Jack Cormack |
On the brink of WWII, Jean Renoir—motivated by baroque music and an opera, Les Caprices de Marianne—took his collaborators to ...
Read More The Servant Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Scathing, Subversive Film of Class, Sexuality, and Manipulation
By Davy |
Only a few films in cinematic history have ever portrayed the rather complex dynamics between masters and their manservants, but ...
Read More Time Bandits Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: A Child’s Nightmare Fantasy
By Kent Conrad |
Is Time Bandits a children's movie? It stars a child, and there's nothing on the face that a child shouldn't ...
Read More Thelma & Louise Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Two for the Road
By Gordon S. Miller |
Ridley Scott's Thelma & Louise tells a familiar story about two friends on a road trip who unintentionally become outlaws, ...
Read More Branded to Kill Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Yakuza Movie as Experimental Art
By Kent Conrad |
Goro Hanada's life is spinning out of control. His wife spends all his money, so he's always on the financial ...
Read More Wings of Desire Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Stay
By Jack Cormack |
Not much happens in Wings of Desire (1987; dir. Wim Wenders), but it’s among the most beautiful of films. In ...
Read More The Seventh Seal Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Chess with Death
By Jack Cormack |
The Criterion Collection has just released Ingmar Bergman’s film, The Seventh Seal, in 4K UHD. When I first saw the ...
Read More Chilly Scenes of Winter Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Star of the Movie Is Director Joan Micklin Silver
By Greg Hammond |
Joan Micklin Silver’s Chilly Scenes of Winter is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Ann Beattie. ...
Read More Hollywood Shuffle Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Be the Change You Want to See
By Gordon S. Miller |
When struggling actor Robert Townsend was frustrated by the stereotypical and racist roles he was being offered as a black ...
Read More Dazed and Confused Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: School’s Out
By Jack Cormack |
Dazed and Confused (1993; dir. Richard Linklater) circuits darkness: On the last day of school before the summer of 1976, ...
Read More Three Colors Trilogy Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Enigmatic Masterpieces About People Connecting
By Kent Conrad |
The Three Colors of this film trilogy, Blue, White, and Red, are so-chosen for the French tri-color flag (sorry, U.S.A.) ...
Read More The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Wondrous Story about a Wondrous Storyteller by a Wondrous Filmmaker
By Gordon S. Miller |
Co-writer/director Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen has the distinction of being the sixth Gilliam-directed title (#1166) released by ...
Read More Cooley High Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Coming-of-Age Gem Authentically Told from a Black Perspective
By Davy |
Usually, when you think of Black-oriented films from the 1970s, you mind automatically gears toward the Blaxploitation genre, which usually ...
Read More Make Way for Tomorrow Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Children Just Don’t Understand
By Gordon S. Miller |
Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said, “Hell is other people.” That’s hard to disagree with, especially after seeing the way the ...
Read More Lost Highway Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Neo-noir with a Twist
By Gordon S. Miller |
The opening credits of Lost Highway are a POV from a car racing down a darkened highway, its headlights the ...
Read More Le Corbeau Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Poison Pen French Noir
By Kent Conrad |
France has always been one of the centers of cinema in the world. After all, the Lumiere brothers rivaled Edison ...
Read More If…. Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: If Only It Had a Plot
By Steve Geise |
This 1969 UK film has exactly one notable claim to fame: Malcolm McDowell’s first star turn in a film just ...
Read More Hotel du Nord Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Somber French Realist Classic
By Davy |
I was not always familiar with legendary filmmaker Marcel Carne's work, such as 1938's Port of Shadows, or his 1945 ...
Read More Devil in a Blue Dress Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Denzel Washington Makes Solving Mysteries Look Easy
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on Walter Mosley's 1990 novel of the same name, Carl Franklin's Devil in a Blue Dress is an engaging ...
Read More The Worst Person in the World Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Breathtakingly Honest
By Davy |
Seeing The Worst Person in the World, filmmaker Joachim Trier's breathtakingly honest and so in-the-moment take on relationships and finding ...
Read More The Red Shoes Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: 15 Minutes in Heaven
By Steve Geise |
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s classic 1948 film treads a well-worn path of backstage drama at a stage production, but ...
Read More Mississippi Masala Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Mira Nair’s Beguiling Sophomore Film
By Davy |
Films about star-crossed lovers has been old as time itself, but we arguably don't get those about interracial or intercontinental ...
Read More ‘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, 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 Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Intro to Italian Neorealism 101
By Gordon S. Miller |
In reaction to what many were experiencing in Italy under Mussolini and after World War II, the Italian neorealism movement ...
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 Tunes of Glory Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Acting Tour de Force
By Mat Brewster |
I have been on a bit of an Alec Guinness kick of late. He's an actor I knew and loved ...
Read More Old Joy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Quite Reflective and Moving
By Davy |
Director Kelly Reichardt has become one of my favorite directors. She is one of the very few maverick filmmakers of ...
Read More All About Eve Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: All the World’s a Stage
By Steve Geise |
Best Picture Oscar winners don't always age well, but as All About Eve approaches its 70th anniversary, it's every bit as entertaining ...
Read More Now, Voyager Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Superior Tearjerker
By Davy |
With her saucer eyes, unparalled intensity, and unbridled non-vanity, Bette Davis has been and still is regarded as one of ...
Read More The Circus Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Tramp Plays the Big Top
By Gordon S. Miller |
Made between his classic films The Gold Rush and City Lights, Charlie Chaplin's The Circus presents an entertaining outing for the Tramp who once again ...
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 Shampoo Criterion Collection Review: Long Hair Don’t Care
By Jack Cormack |
Few films capture the mood of late '60s Los Angeles quite like Shampoo does; and few films of the '70s—that hallowed, so-called ...
Read More The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Gentle Ozu Comedy
By Kent Conrad |
The first thing to get used to in an Ozu film is the camera perspective. He never (or at least ...
Read More The Koker Trilogy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Rise of Abbas Kiarostami
By Steve Geise |
This series of Iranian films is a trilogy in only the loosest sense, as they don't share overlapping casts or ...
Read More The BRD Trilogy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Fassbinder at His Best
By Mat Brewster |
When World War II ended, Germany was due a reckoning. As a nation, they had to come to terms not ...
Read More Hedwig and the Angry Inch Criterion Collection Review: Visually Stunning and Aesthetically Engaging
By Darcy Staniforth |
In 2001, writer, director, and star John Cameron-Mitchell and composer and lyricist Stephen Trask took their cutting-edge musical Hedwig and the ...
Read More Swing Time Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Fine Film
By Gordon S. Miller |
Swing Time is the sixth of ten films that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appeared in together. It has great songs ...
Read More Let the Sunshine In Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Love Is…Brutally Human
By Davy |
For most people, love is a constant slope towards madness and eventual pain. We crave it, but sometimes, when it's ...
Read More Diamonds of the Night Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Story of Youth Under Fire with a Brilliantly Fractured Eye
By Davy |
There are many similarities between Luis Bunuel and underrated auteur/director Jan Nemec. They both use surrealism to dictate the often ...
Read More The Kid Brother Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Comedic Gem
By David Wangberg |
I'm not too familiar with the work of Harold Lloyd, and The Kid Brother is actually the first film of his that ...
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 The Princess Bride Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: As Good As You Wish
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on the novel by William Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay, Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride is a fantasy ...
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 The Complete Monterey Pop Festival (Remastered) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review
By Gordon S. Miller |
Previously released from Criterion in 2009, The Complete Monterey Pop Festival collects three D.A. Pennebaker film's: Monterey Pop, Jimi Plays ...
Read More Jabberwocky Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Frabjous Film! Callooh! Callay!
By Gordon S. Miller |
After co-directing Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Terry Gilliam returned to the Dark Ages for his first solo outing, ...
Read More The Breakfast Club Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Don’t You Forget About These Bonus Features
By Steve Geise |
While The Breakfast Club is justifiably revered as a classic teen film, primarily due to the involvement of masterful writer/director ...
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 Sid & Nancy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: They Did It Their Way
By Gordon S. Miller |
Director/co-writer Alex Cox's Sid & Nancy tells the story of the short, tragic love affair between Sex Pistols' bassist Sid ...
Read More The Manchurian Candidate (1962) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Assassination, She Wrote
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on Richard Condon's novel of the same name, John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate is a captivating Cold War political ...
Read More Hopscotch Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Matthau Supremacy
By Steve Geise |
Hopscotch is a conundrum. It's a comedic but still realistic spy movie filmed in the waning days of the terrifying ...
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 Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Masterpiece of Control
By Dusty Somers |
Who's in the mood for meatloaf with a side of existential dread? OK, I'm only so glib because writing about ...
Read More Roma Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Rome, I Love You
By David Wangberg |
In the opening text prior to the start of Roma, we get a detailed explanation of how the original version ...
Read More Good Morning (1959) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Japanese Master’s Flatulent Comedy
By Kent Conrad |
Comedy doesn't tend to get the respect of drama in movie writing. Like horror, its effectiveness depends on whether or ...
Read More Buena Vista Social Club Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Cuban Musicians Get the Recognition They Deserve
By Davy |
When it comes to music, there are many styles and cultures: Mexican, Spanish, Portugese, etc. However, Cuban music seems to ...
Read More Tampopo Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Endearing, Sensual, and Tasty Experience
By Davy |
Some of the best films about food not only include food itself, but the reasons why it is essential, especially ...
Read More Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Vote for Pedro
By Luigi Bastardo |
There are few films which can combine failed romances, hysteria, spiked gazpacho, the fine art of voiceover acting, and get ...
Read More 45 Years Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Art of Quiet Devastation
By Dusty Somers |
The camera never strays far from Charlotte Rampling in Andrew Haigh's 45 Years, and for good reason. In this elegant, ...
Read More Canoa: A Shameful Memory Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Harrowing but Important
By Davy |
In this day and age, politics have become a horror show, meaning that corruption and savagery usually comes first, and ...
Read More Cameraperson Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Beautiful, Sad, Wonderful
By Mat Brewster |
Sometimes when I can't sleep, I'll lie in bed at night and think about all the different houses and apartments ...
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 Heart of a Dog Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Moving Meditation from a Singular Artist
By Dusty Somers |
Can a film permeated with thoughts on death be playful? Can it be uplifting? Can it be equally cerebral and ...
Read More Lone Wolf and Cub Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Manga Comes to Life
By Steve Geise |
As the shogun executioner, Ogami Itto has a comfortable gig until he falls from grace and endures the death of ...
Read More The Executioner Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Introduction to a Spanish Filmmaking Giant
By Dusty Somers |
Even among dedicated English-speaking cinephiles, the name Luis García Berlanga might not immediately spark a glimmer of recognition. The great ...
Read More Valley of the Dolls Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Laughter, Tears, and a Mountain of Dolls!
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Kristen Lopez America was a bit of a mess in the 1960s, not just on the national stage ...
Read More Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Dekalog Review: Completely Worth Your Time
By Shawn Bourdo |
Watching the episodes of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Dekalog reminds me of how few auteurs there are anymore. Part of it is ...
Read More The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Early Masterwork
By Mat Brewster |
Kiku (Shotaro Hanyagi) is the adopted son of Kabuki royalty in Tokyo. As the presumed heir to this theatrical throne, ...
Read More A Taste of Honey Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Taste of Adolescence
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Kristen Lopez A renaissance in British cinema erupted in the 1960s; known as the Free Cinema and instigated ...
Read More Woman in the Dunes Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Digging out a Life in Sand
By Kent Conrad |
Every night, the woman shovels sand from the bottom of a hole, which gets carted up by a rope pulley, ...
Read More Speedy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The End of an Era
By Gordon S. Miller |
Not only is "Speedy" the title character played by Harold Lloyd in his last silent film and last appearance as ...
Read More The Immortal Story Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Marvel of Deep Emotion and Haunting Spareness
By Davy |
We all knew that Orson Welles was mad, but we also knew that he had the ability to make cinematic ...
Read More The In-Laws (1979) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: So Funny It Never Wears out Its Welcome
By Gordon S. Miller |
While there's a lot of hand-wringing and pearl-clutching that goes on whenever a sequel or remake is announced in Hollywood, ...
Read More La Chienne Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Early Renoir is a Delight
By Mat Brewster |
Life has not gone well for Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon). He works as a cashier for a hosiery company and ...
Read More Le Amiche Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Antonioni Drains the Passion from Melodrama
By Dusty Somers |
It's tempting to label Michelangelo Antonioni's fourth feature film Le Amiche a transitional work, as it shuns Neorealism and embraces ...
Read More The Naked Island Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
By Steve Geise |
Kaneto Shindo's film about the daily struggles of a poor farming family has one major hook: a total absence of ...
Read More Barcelona Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Innocent Imperialists Abroad
By Kent Conrad |
The first thing to get about Barcelona is the movie is sympathetic to its protagonists. Fred and Ted are cousins ...
Read More Brief Encounter Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Small but Poignant
By Mat Brewster |
Christ, David Lean knew how to compose a shot. I swear you could take all of his movies, put them ...
Read More The American Friend Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Tense Blend of Suspense and Character Study
By Davy |
There have been a few cinematic adaptations of famed author Patricia Highsmith's stories, such as 1951's Strangers on a Train, ...
Read More The Emigrants / The New Land Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Profound Cinematic Experience Like No Other
By Davy |
There have been many films about the dangerous journey of immigrants to America, the land of prosperity and new beginnings, ...
Read More Bitter Rice Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Beauty of the Downtrodden
By Steve Geise |
Long before Dino De Laurentiis was a noted Hollywood producer, he produced Italian films such as this 1949 drama. Interestingly, ...
Read More Night and the City Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Jules Dassin’s Marvelous London Noir
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on the novel of the same name by Gerald Kersh, although director Jules Dassin claims never to have read ...
Read More Jellyfish Eyes Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Surprisingly Unsurprising
By Steve Geise |
The most surprising thing about unconventional artist Takashi Murakami's first feature-length directorial effort is that it is entirely conventional. Based ...
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 A Special Day Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Special Performances from Italian Screen Legends
By Steve Geise |
The setup for this Italian film is deceptively simple, but belies the impact of the performances by its two stars, ...
Read More The Honeymoon Killers Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Striking Portrait of Isolation
By Dusty Somers |
The only film ever directed by opera composer Leonard Kastle, The Honeymoon Killers wears its influences on its sleeve, but ...
Read More Two Days, One Night Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Devastatingly Beautiful
By Mat Brewster |
In the industrial town of Seraing, Belgium, Sandra (Marion Cotillard) has been on sick leave from her manufacturing job after ...
Read More The French Lieutenant’s Woman Criterion Collection Review: Parallel Tales Rooted in Forbidden Passions
By Lorna Miller |
Based on the John Fowles novel, The French Lieutenant's Woman tells parallel tales rooted in forbidden passions and the complexity ...
Read More My Beautiful Laundrette Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Film Stands the Test of Time
By Davy |
When discussing some of the most influential LGBT films, Stephen Frears' 1985 modern classic My Beautiful Laundrette usually is one ...
Read More Limelight Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Chaplin’s Coda
By Shawn Bourdo |
My Chaplin journey hasn't been linear. I didn't start with the silent shorts and work my way through The Kid ...
Read More Here Is Your Life Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Engrossing and Enervating Debut
By Dusty Somers |
A film that's both engrossing and enervating at turns, Here is Your Life kicked off the feature-film career of Swedish ...
Read More The Killers (1946) / (1964) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Intriguing Double Feature
By Gordon S. Miller |
Like taking a comparative literature class, The Killers from the Criterion Collection offers a great opportunity to see how artists ...
Read More Five Easy Pieces Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: One Easy Role to Nicholson’s Stardom
By Steve Geise |
A year removed from his breakout supporting turn in Easy Rider, Jack Nicholson moved to headliner status in this 1970 ...
Read More The Friends of Eddie Coyle Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Crime, Lowkey, and Unsentimental
By Kent Conrad |
Released about a year after Coppola's crime epic, The Godfather, The Friends of Eddie Coyle was seen by some critics ...
Read More Odd Man Out Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Deft and Thrilling Storytelling
By Davy |
There have been many films about personal and conflicted crisis of conscience, such as American Beauty (1999), The Apostle (1997), ...
Read More A Brief History of Time Criterion Collection Review: A Quirky, Idiosyncratic Tribute
By Davy |
Everyone knows the story of Stephen Hawking, the iconic physicist, cosmologist, author, and director of research. They also know that ...
Read More The Thin Blue Line Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Paradigm Shift
By Shawn Bourdo |
Rarely do you watch a film and actually pinpoint where a genre actually changes. You watch Clerks or Pulp Fiction ...
Read More Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Loving the Absurd
By Greg Barbrick |
“I love the absurd,” says Errol Morris in one of the extras on the new Criterion Collection Blu-ray edition of ...
Read More An Autumn Afternoon Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Master’s Final Masterpiece
By Dusty Somers |
Before he died of cancer on his 60th birthday in 1963, Yasujiro Ozu left us with one final masterpiece in ...
Read More Young Mr. Lincoln Criterion Collection DVD Review: Ford’s Greatest Overlooked Film
By Greg Barbrick |
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) may be the greatest overlooked film John Ford (1894 - 1973) ever made. To call a ...
Read More The Vanishing (1988) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Thriller as Character Study
By Kent Conrad |
The missing person is the greatest motif of the mystery story. Even if the murder story is more common (and ...
Read More The Night Porter Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Nazi Love Story
By Mat Brewster |
Normally I'd say that the space between True Art and exploitation is wide and wandering, but if The Night Porter ...
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 AFI Fest 2014 Review: Two Days, One Night
By Gordon S. Miller |
After a brief absence from her solar-panel plant job, Sandra (Marion Cotillard) gets word on a Friday afternoon that she ...
Read More PlayTime Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Hulot vs. Modernization
By Davy |
As we film buffs know the works of Chaplin, Godard, Dreyer, and Antonioni, we are able to see their versions ...
Read More All That Jazz Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Lord of the Dance
By Steve Geise |
Joe Gideon is tired. Tired of women, tired of choreography, tired of drugs, and yet inexplicably driven to continue pursuing ...
Read More Insomnia (1997) Criterion Collection Review: An Influential Thriller
By Shawn Bourdo |
I sat down to write this upon the day of hearing of the passing of Robin Williams. He took a ...
Read More Persona Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Absolute Must Have
By Mat Brewster |
Everyone agrees that Ingmar Bergman is one of the greatest director's of world cinema. Almost no one disagrees that his ...
Read More Persona (1966) Criterion Collection Review: Chilling, Strange, and Metaphysical
By Davy |
In my own opinion, no other film in history has garnered so much critical analysis as Ingmar Bergman's 1966 masterpiece, ...
Read More Hearts and Minds (1974) Criterion Collection Review: A Riveting Documentary of the Vietnam War
By Greg Barbrick |
The Academy Award-winning Hearts and Minds is the most riveting war documentary I have ever seen. The raw footage and ...
Read More Like Someone in Love Criterion Collection Review: An Authentic Illusion
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by S. Edward Sousa Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kariostami has spent a lifetime constructing films meant to blur the line ...
Read More Riot in Cell Block 11 Criterion Collection DVD Review: Stuck in Folsom Prison
By Critical curmudgeon |
Directed by Don Siegel, the 1954 movie Riot in Cell Block 11 offers a gritty, authentic look at the prison ...
Read More Il Sorpasso Criterion Collection Review: An Endearing, Incisive Road Movie
By Dusty Somers |
The comedy of Dino Risi's road movie Il Sorpasso hums along beautifully, just like the gorgeous Lancia Aurelia convertible one ...
Read More Master of the House Criterion Collection DVD Review: As Boring as it is Important
By Mat Brewster |
As a self-confessed film buff, I have to admit that my knowledge is severely lacking when it comes to silent ...
Read More The Hidden Fortress Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Gold Standard
By Steve Geise |
A long time ago in a country far, far away, esteemed director Akira Kurosawa filmed a grand adventure that took ...
Read More Kagemusha Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: And a Thief Shall Lead Them
By Gordon S. Miller |
From his debut as a director with Sanshiro Sugata (1943) through to Red Beard (1965), director Akira Kurosawa averaged releasing ...
Read More Ran Criterion Collection DVD Review: Akira Kurosawa’s Final Masterpiece
By Gordon S. Miller |
Ran is Kurosawa's last masterpiece from a man who made many. He made three more films afterwards, but none came ...
Read More Tess Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Polanski’s Vision of Victorian England
By Greg Barbrick |
Tess is an unforgettable film, and one of the finest of Roman Polanski's career. The fact that it lost to ...
Read More King of the Hill (1993) Criterion Collection Review: Soderbergh Goes Mainstream (Or Does He?)
By Dusty Somers |
For those who insist on dividing Steven Soderbergh's filmography into the reductive “one for me” and “one for them” categories, ...
Read More Fantastic Mr. Fox Criterion Collection Review: It is Quote-Unquote Fantastic
By Mat Brewster |
Like most great directors, Wes Anderson has created a very distinctive style for his films. They live in a world ...
Read More Naked Lunch Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Enter the Interzone
By Gordon S. Miller |
By incorporating elements of William S. Burroughs' life into the screenplay, David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch is not a straight adaptation ...
Read More Jules and Jim Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Seminal French New Wave Love Triangle
By Greg Barbrick |
The greatest literature is often inspired by true events, and the story behind Francois Truffaut's Jules and Jim (1962) is ...
Read More The Long Day Closes Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Terence Davies’ Personal Vision of Liverpool
By Critical curmudgeon |
Terence Davies plumbs his Liverpool upbringing in 1992's brilliantly dense The Long Day Closes, a film that is as much ...
Read More La vie de bohème Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Aki Kaurismäki Does Tragedy and Comedy Equally Well
By Dusty Somers |
The Film Finnish great Aki Kaurismäki's take on Paris bohemian life, La vie de bohème, doesn't end well for its ...
Read More Grey Gardens (1976) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An S-T-A-U-N-C-H Classic
By Dusty Somers |
The Film A landmark in documentary filmmaking and possibly the most well known work from the school of direct cinema, ...
Read More City Lights Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Well Received and Slightly Defiant
By Shawn Bourdo |
The Criterion Collection has returned to the well again this month. They are releasing the fifth film in their Charlie ...
Read More The Uninvited (1944) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Who ‘Ya Gonna Call?
By Luigi Bastardo |
In today's era of mishmash horror moviemaking - wherein there's a new Paranormal Activity flick released every other year - ...
Read More John Cassavetes: Five Films Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Independent Spirit
By Steve Geise |
Whether or not you enjoy the directorial efforts of John Cassavetes, it's impossible to overlook his contribution to the rise ...
Read More I Married a Witch Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Veronica Lake Bewitches, Bothers, and Bewilders
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Kristen Lopez Halloween may be over, but any time is a good time for a new Halloween classic ...
Read More La Notte Criterion Collection DVD Review: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like This Anymore
By Mark Buckingham |
La Notte is definitely a film from a different era where plots were not entirely clear until the third act, ...
Read More Blue Is the Warmest Color Movie Review: A Compelling Story About Love and Life
By Gordon S. Miller |
Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is the Warmest Color is a beautiful, coming-of-age story set over the course of about 10 years ...
Read More I Married a Witch Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Low on Magic, High on Fumes
By Critical curmudgeon |
Directed by René Clair, I Married a Witch is low on magic and high on fumes. Its major selling feature ...
Read More Eyes Without a Face Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Mesmerizing, Poetic Film
By Mat Brewster |
In the 1950s French critics and cultural purveyors thought that horror films were beneath them. Monsters and gore were not ...
Read More I Married a Witch Criterion Collection DVD Review: Truly Bewitching
By Greg Barbrick |
Forget Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched; the most beautiful witch of all time is Veronica Lake in I Married a Witch ...
Read More La Cage aux Folles Criterion Collection DVD Review: Classic French Farce Bliss
By Luigi Bastardo |
Eighteen years before the enjoyable-but-ultimately-uncalled-for remake, The Birdcage hit theater screens across the world, La Cage aux Folles first introduced ...
Read More 3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: On the Verge of a New Cinematic World
By Dusty Somers |
The FilmsThough their collaborations were largely overshadowed by the scandal of their romance, Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman proved to ...
Read More 3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Definitive Journey
By Greg Barbrick |
When Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945) won the Grand Prize at Cannes in 1946, he was recognized as the ...
Read More La Cage aux Folles Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: “Utter Hell” to Make, Pure Heaven to Watch
By Critical curmudgeon |
Director Édouard Molinaro considered the making of his La Cage aux Folles as "utter hell," but it's hard not to ...
Read More The Earrings of Madame de … Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Direction of Max Ophuls Dazzles Like a Diamond
By Gordon S. Miller |
Director Max Ophuls' penultimate film The Earrings of Madame de ... is a classic French '50s melodrama that rivals its ...
Read More The Devil’s Backbone Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: One of Guillermo del Toro’s Most Personal Films
By Lorna Miller |
Guillermo del Toro is one of the most interesting directors currently making films because of his unique vision and style. ...
Read More Slacker Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Formally Fascinating, Warmly Hilarious Film
By Dusty Somers |
The FilmRichard Linklater's Slacker is a film that sounds like a doodle on paper, a fun little experiment from the ...
Read More Autumn Sonata Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Utterly Sad and Nearly Perfect
By Mat Brewster |
Our monthly Foreign Film Night is typically very sparsely attended. This is not unexpected as one cannot plan for a ...
Read More The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Masterfully Acted and Presented
By generaljabbo |
The 1960s Cold War era proved a fertile time for the spy movie genre. James Bond offered a glamorous, high-tech ...
Read More The Devil’s Backbone Criterion Collection DVD Review: Hell Is for Children
By Luigi Bastardo |
During the mid '90s, my fascination with all things foreign and artsy-like led me into the welcoming arms of two ...
Read More The Big City Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Girl Power
By Steve Geise |
Prior to The Big City, director Satyajit Ray had never tackled a contemporary project, choosing to focus on explorations of ...
Read More Charulata Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Indian Film, European Sensibility
By Steve Geise |
This is not a Bollywood film, at least not in the accepted modern-day definition of the term. Half a century ...
Read More Babette’s Feast Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Tale of Love, Life, and Food
By Luigi Bastardo |
Gabriel Axel's multiple award-winning film Babette's Feast takes place almost entirely in a tiny, remote, 19th century village somewhere near ...
Read More To Be or Not to Be (1942) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: You’ll Get a ‘Terrific Laugh’ Out of This One
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Kristen Lopez In 1942, the U.S. hadn't entered World War II and audiences were unaware of the horrific ...
Read More Shoah Criterion Collection DVD Review: Superb Release of Haunting, Tragic Film
By Kent Conrad |
Shoah is a film about trains. Inside its nearly 10 hours of running time, the image and movement of the ...
Read More The Thin Red Line Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Impressive Movie
By Shawn Bourdo |
There's something to be said about be prolific. Take Alfred Hitchcock's work for example - there are runs of three-four ...
Read More The Ice Storm Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Person’s Body Is His Temple
By Critical curmudgeon |
There is a moment in Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, now available on Criterion Collection Blu-ray, where the 14-year-old Mikey ...
Read More 3:10 To Yuma (1957) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The High Cost of Living
By Gordon S. Miller |
Though the story of a lone man standing up for what is right is a common Western motif, Delmer Daves' ...
Read More Babette’s Feast Criterion Collection DVD Review: Eye- and Mouth-Watering Delights
By Mat Brewster |
About once a month, we host a Foreign Film Night at our house. We invite a few friends over, we ...
Read More Jubal Criterion Collection DVD Review: An Underrated Western Gem
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Brandie Ashe Delmer Daves' 1956 film Jubal is sometimes dismissed as simply a cowboy retelling of William Shakespeare's ...
Read More Lord of the Flies (1963) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Lightning Struck Twice
By Greg Barbrick |
William Golding was 43 years old when his first book was published. The year was 1954, and the title of ...
Read More Lord of the Flies (1963) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Definitive Version of a Classic Text
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Kristen Lopez I vividly remember the Lord of the Flies unit in my seventh grade class. I'm not ...
Read More The Life of Oharu Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Mizoguchi’s Breakthrough Masterpiece
By Dusty Somers |
The Film The film that made Kenji Mizoguchi an international sensation and the first in a string of masterpieces that ...
Read More The Life of Oharu Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Downward Spiral
By Steve Geise |
While watching this film, I was reminded of another tale of a classy lady who gradually becomes marginalized: Anna Karenina. ...
Read More Life Is Sweet Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Mike Leigh’s International Breakout
By Shawn Bourdo |
Mike Leigh films can be comedies but you'd never put the phrase "light hearted" in front of that description. His ...
Read More Brazil Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Dreams and Nightmares Courtesy of Terry Gilliam
By Gordon S. Miller |
Terry Gilliam's dystopian classic Brazil, a film about a man fighting against an oppressive system, led to life imitating art ...
Read More Safety Last! Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Time Is Money
By Critical curmudgeon |
The matter of Harold Lloyd's lack of fame has been of much discussion over the years. He is often cited ...
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 Safety Last! (1923) Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Silent Comedic Masterpiece
By Greg Barbrick |
The three comedic geniuses of the silent film era were Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. For various reasons, ...
Read More Marketa Lazarova Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Defiantly Experimental
By Steve Geise |
You know how Game of Thrones gets really confusing with the various warring clans populated by so many characters that ...
Read More Things To Come (1936) Criterion Collection DVD Review: An Unforgettable Piece of Cinematic History
By Greg Barbrick |
H.G. Wells has had a number of books turned into classic films, including The Island of Lost Souls (1932), and ...
Read More Medium Cool Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Theatrics of Observation and Social Crisis
By Critical curmudgeon |
Filmmaker Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool walks the tender line between fiction and non-fiction, using the cinema vérité method to beg ...
Read More Life Is Sweet Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Chocolate Thrust of Life Itself
By Critical curmudgeon |
Mike Leigh's wonderful Life Is Sweet is less a film about something and more a film about the thrust of ...
Read More Wild Strawberries Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Beautiful, Complex, Symbolic Film
By Mat Brewster |
I am 37 years old. With luck, I'll live another 37 before I die. At the middle of my life, ...
Read More Masaki Kobayashi Against the System DVD Review: Angry and Elegant Political Films
By Dusty Somers |
Known for his exemplary samurai film Harakiri and three-part World War II humanist epic The Human Condition, Masaki Kobayashi wasn't ...
Read More Jubal Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Shakespeare in the Wild West
By Luigi Bastardo |
While traditional and contemporary adaptations of William Shakespeare's works have been coming and going since someone figured out how to ...
Read More Medium Cool Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Living Document of America’s Rebellion
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Kristen Lopez The Criterion Collection presents a slice of American history with director/cinematographer Haskell Wexler's, Medium Cool. Filmed ...
Read More 3:10 to Yuma (1957) Criterion Collection DVD Review: You Gotta Trust Delmer Daves on This One
By Greg Barbrick |
The opening shot of 3:10 to Yuma (1957) sets the film up as perfectly as anything I have ever seen. ...
Read More Pierre Etaix: Criterion Collection DVD Review: Affordable Pricelessness
By Luigi Bastardo |
For many of the "average" citizens living within the confines of the continental United States of America, the concept of ...
Read More Band of Outsiders Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Odd, Wonderfully Fun Film from the French New Wave
By Mat Brewster |
During the 1950s a number of film critics began to criticize French cinema. It was too traditional, too literal, too ...
Read More Pierre Etaix Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Bringing Etaix’s World to Life
By Critical curmudgeon |
“The defining characteristic of comic cinema,” says French comic, clown and filmmaker Pierre Etaix, “is that it begins with a ...
Read More Richard III Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Ravishing Technicolor Beauty
By Dusty Somers |
The Film The last of Laurence Olivier's three Shakespeare adaptations, Richard III is unquestionably one of the great Shakespeare films, ...
Read More Richard III (1955) Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Tremendous Film
By Greg Barbrick |
One of the most striking aspects of the newly restored Richard III (1955) is its magnificent use of color. As ...
Read More Repo Man Criterion Collection DVD Review: Punk All Over
By Greg Barbrick |
The seamy underbelly of Los Angeles has been explored in numerous films over the years. A few of my favorites ...
Read More Ministry of Fear Criterion Collection DVD Review: (Don’t) Let Them Eat Cake
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Brandie Ashe Stephen Neale, a handsome young Brit, stares at a clock on the wall, counting down the ...
Read More Gate of Hell Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Not Quite Heavenly, but Far from Hellish
By Steve Geise |
Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, this Oscar-winning Japanese film has fallen off the radar over the past few decades ...
Read More Umberto D. Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Old Man and His Dog
By Gordon S. Miller |
One of the last great films from the Italian neorealism movement, Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D. focuses on the struggles ...
Read More Pier Paolo Pasolni’s Trilogy of Life Criterion Collection DVD Review: Make Mine Bunuel
By Luigi Bastardo |
As one of those individuals that became the slightly pretentious artsy-fartsy feller during his teenage years whilst growing up in ...
Read More The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: It’s a Man’s Life in the Formerly Modern Army
By Gordon S. Miller |
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is epic in scope, though not scale, as ...
Read More Badlands Criterion Collection DVD Review: An Exploration of Isolation, Realism, Self-Image, and Violence
By Critical curmudgeon |
Terrence Malick's debut explores isolation, realism, self-image, and violence with the filmmaker's lyrical elegance, setting the footing for an opus ...
Read More Ugetsu Criterion Collection DVD Review: What Price Desire?
By Gordon S. Miller |
Kenji Mizoguchi is considered one of the masters of Japanese cinema, striking a balance between the contemplation of Ozu and ...
Read More Badlands Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Birth of a Legend
By Steve Geise |
Forty years ago, writer/director Terrence Malick's first feature film announced the arrival of an important new voice. Through the ensuing ...
Read More The Blob (1958) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Oldie but Goodie Returns in High Def
By Mark Buckingham |
Watching The Blob (1958) and then watching The Blob (1988) reveals much about how American culture changed over three decades. ...
Read More The Kid with a Bike Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Another Major Work from the Dardennes
By Dusty Somers |
The Film It's time for yet another reminder to be grateful for the Dardennes, those Belgian masters of unmatched cinematic ...
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 Sansho the Bailiff Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Ties That Bind
By Steve Geise |
Based on the movie title, one would expect Sansho to be the main character. One would be wrong. In fact, ...
Read More Chronicle of a Summer Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Fascinating Glimpse into Paris in 1960
By Mat Brewster |
I have very recently decided to become a full-blown Francophile. My wife is one. and while I've stuck my toes ...
Read More The Ballad of Narayama Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Kinoshita’s Kabuki Theatre Envisions Ubasute
By Critical curmudgeon |
The concept of ubasute is at the centre of The Battle of Narayama, the 1958 film by Japanese director Keisuke ...
Read More Pina Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Striking Elegy for an Artistic Giant
By Dusty Somers |
The Film Wim Wenders' gorgeous and touching tribute to modern dance pioneer Pina Bausch is a film birthed out of ...
Read More Following Criterion Collection DVD Review: Glimpse a Genius Just Finding His Voice
By Shawn Bourdo |
In 1999, a 28-year-old Christopher Nolan couldn't possibly have seen himself directing such big budget films like Inception and The ...
Read More Two-Lane Blacktop: Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Monte Hellman’s Masterpiece
By Luigi Bastardo |
As anyone who has ever experienced a truly awkward moment of puberty is well aware, growing up is an inevitable ...
Read More Following Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Christopher Nolan’s Memorable Debut
By Gordon S. Miller |
Before creating his own following with the sensational Memento, Christopher Nolan made his feature-film directorial debut with Following. It is ...
Read More Ivan’s Childhood Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: War is Hell, but Looks Superb
By Steve Geise |
On the surface, this film might not seem to offer much enticement for viewing considering its decidedly downbeat subject matter ...
Read More The Tin Drum Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Schlöndorff’s German Fable
By Critical curmudgeon |
A dazzlingly dark and often very funny fable, The Tin Drum is a terrific motion picture. The 1979 film by ...
Read More The Tin Drum Criterion Collection DVD Review: Familial Insanity Mirrors Nazi Germany
By Greg Barbrick |
For a film that won both the Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, The Tin ...
Read More The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) Criterion Collection DVD Review: See the Master of Suspense Invent Himself
By Mat Brewster |
In 1934, Alfred Hitchcock was not considered the great director we know him as today. Nor was he the Master ...
Read More Purple Noon Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Treat for the Eyes and a Test for the Nerves
By Jade Blackmore |
Purple Noon (Plein Soleil), Rene Clement's 1960 film based on Patricia Highsmith's novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, is more brooding ...
Read More Purple Noon Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Talented Mr. Delon
By Steve Geise |
Remember The Talented Mr. Ripley? Director Anthony Minghella's 1999 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's crime novel helped launch Jude Law to ...
Read More The Qatsi Trilogy: (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, Naqoyqatsi) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Fans Should Be Very Pleased
By Greg Barbrick |
When Koyaanisqatsi (1983) came out, my girlfriend at the time talked me into seeing it with her. She was very ...
Read More Trilogy of Life Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Three Films, Countless Tales
By Critical curmudgeon |
Italian filmmaker, poet, philosopher, writer, and sometimes actor Pier Paolo Pasolini has certainly generated his fair share of controversy. He's ...
Read More La Jetee / Sans Soleil Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Stay for the Stills, Run from the Motion
By Steve Geise |
Director Chris Marker's two most well-known works have been compiled into one Criterion release, but only one of them is ...
Read More Weekend (1967) Criterion Collection DVD Review: For the True Cinephile
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Kristen Lopez I probably shouldn't have jumped at the first opportunity to review a film like Weekend (or ...
Read More Rashomon (1950) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Restoration Shows Improvements, Not Perfection
By Steve Geise |
If you're reading this review, chances are you're fully familiar with this classic film and just have two questions: how's ...
Read More Sunday Bloody Sunday Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: You Can’t Always Get What You Want
By Michelle Prather |
John Schlesinger's Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), the highly anticipated follow-up to Midnight Cowboy (1969) is an honest, often somber, account of what lovers will ...
Read More Rashomon Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Best of the Best
By Greg Barbrick |
Director Akira Kurosawa (1919-1998) was known as “The Emperor” of Japanese film for a few reasons. For those he worked ...
Read More Rosemary’s Baby Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Masterful Film
By Greg Barbrick |
There have been countless movies that were either so shocking, or just captured the zeitgeist of the culture so well ...
Read More The Game (1997) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Edgy and Uneven, But It Grows on You
By Luigi Bastardo |
There's nothing taking time out of your everyday boring routine to play a fun game with your friends. In the ...
Read More Les Visiteurs du Soir Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Medieval Tale of Love and Fate
By Luigi Bastardo |
In late 1942, when the surreal French fantasy Les Visiteurs du Soir was first released in good ol' gai Paris, ...
Read More In the Mood for Love Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Astonishing Meditation on Longing
By Critical curmudgeon |
Wong Kar-wai's wonderful, stunning In the Mood for Love sparkles on Blu-ray thanks to Criterion Collection. The 2000 film, nominated ...
Read More The War Room Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Peek Behind the Campaign Curtain
By Gordon S. Miller |
While the campaigns for United States President seem to grow increasingly relentless with every cycle, especially in so-called battleground states, ...
Read More The Forgiveness of Blood Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Nik Full of Angst
By Steve Geise |
Remember Maria Full of Grace? Writer/director Joshua Marston's 2004 film about a Colombian drug mule garnered international acclaim and recognition ...
Read More 12 Angry Men Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Guilty of Being a Great Film
By Gordon S. Miller |
Set almost entirely in a single room, 12 Angry Men appears to be a small film yet the story reveals ...
Read More Eating Raoul Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Equal Parts High Camp and Urbane Comedy of Manners
By Dusty Somers |
The Film A delightful black comedy that's equal parts high camp and urbane comedy of manners, Paul Bartel's Eating Raoul ...
Read More Children of Paradise Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Film is Paradise
By Critical curmudgeon |
Widely hailed as one of the finest French films of all time, Marcel Carné's Children of Paradise is an astounding ...
Read More Eating Raoul Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Biting Social Satire
By Shawn Bourdo |
Independent cinema of 1982 did not resemble today's genre in any shape or form. Viewers had to work to find ...
Read More Weekend (2011) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Moving, Deceptively Complex Film
By Dusty Somers |
The Film When I first saw Andrew Haigh’s Weekend last year during a blitz of awards-season catch-up, I appreciated its ...
Read More Children of Paradise Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Cinematic Paradise
By Steve Geise |
At first glance, this film might seem like a poor candidate for greatness, or even relevance in our era. It’s ...
Read More Lonesome (1928) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Sometimes, Happiness is Just a Neighbor Away
By Luigi Bastardo |
There’s nothing like a little alone time to give you some perspective on your situation in life — especially when ...
Read More Criterion Collection Eclipse Series 35: Maidstone and Other Films by Norman Mailer DVD Review
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Lisa McKay The fine film lovers at the Criterion Collection recently released a two-disk set containing the first ...
Read More The Game (1997) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Fast-paced Thrill Ride
By Lorna Miller |
David Fincher is one of my all-time favorite directors. He instantly captured my attention with Se7en; I had never seen ...
Read More Quadrophenia Criterion Collection DVD Review: Dressed Right For a Beach Fight
By generaljabbo |
Though much of the music listened to by the so-called mods and rockers in mid-1960s England gets played on the ...
Read More Weekend (2011) Criterion Collection DVD Review: An Intimate Portrait of New Love
By Michelle Prather |
Weekend is a quiet, but candid, glimpse of how a seemingly fleeting attraction between two people with distinct identities can ...
Read More Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: 116 Minutes of Vileness
By Gordon S. Miller |
Salò is the most repulsive film I have ever seen. So much so that I completely understand the censorship it ...
Read More Lonesome Criterion Collection DVD Review: Groundbreaking Cinema That Should Not Be Missed
By Greg Barbrick |
Paul Fejos (1897-1963) directed something of a “lost” classic with Lonesome (1928). The Criterion Collection have just released a digitally ...
Read More Quadrophenia Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: We Are the 5.1 Mods
By Steve Geise |
Even if you’ve seen this film before, you’ve never seen it like this. Boasting a complete restoration including a new ...
Read More For All Mankind Criterion Collection DVD Review: A Great Source of Inspiration
By Gordon S. Miller |
Using the 16mm footage recorded during the nine manned Moon flights between December 1968 and November 1972, director Alan Reinert ...
Read More La Promesse Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Stunning Breakout from the Dardenne Brothers
By Dusty Somers |
The Film The cinematic worlds of Belgian filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne are raw and unadorned, filled with broken people ...
Read More Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss Criterion Collection DVDs Review: Two Signature Films from Samuel Fuller
By Gordon S. Miller |
As The Criterion Collection upgrades their titles to Blu-ray, DVD buyers benefit from the new, restored high-definition digital transfers that ...
Read More Down by Law Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Louisiana Prison Break that Transcends Genre
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by Ben Platko Jim Jarmusch. A name that should resonate with independent filmmakers and aficionados alike. Sadly, I had ...
Read More Le Havre Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Light-Hearted, Surreal Take on a Serious Subject
By Steve Geise |
The setup for this film is straightforward: a poor aging French shoe-shiner helps a young African illegal immigrant evade capture ...
Read More The Samurai Trilogy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Journey Worth Embarking On
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based Eiji Yoshikawa’snovel, director Hiroshi Inagaki tells the story of Takezo Kensei and his transformation into Musashi Miyamoto, legendary Japanese ...
Read More Metropolitan Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Two Decades Later, I Still Don’t Get It
By Steve Geise |
Writer/director Whit Stillman’s debut film received massive critical accolades following its 1990 theatrical release, including a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination. ...
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 Critical curmudgeon |
Directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, and available now thanks to Criterion Collection, Shallow Grave is a bleakly ...
Read More The Gold Rush Criterion Collection DVD Review: One of Chaplin’s Most Acclaimed Films
By Greg Barbrick |
Although Charlie Chaplin’s “Little Tramp” character remains so iconic, people all over the world are still familiar with it, even ...
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 Greg Barbrick |
The oddest couple in cinematic history have got to be the 20-year old Harold (Bud Cort) and the 80-year old ...
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 Tiny Furniture Criterion Collection DVD Review: Lena Dunham’s Semi-Autobiographical Micro-Budget Mumblecore
By Cinema Sentries |
Written by handyguy Nearly every character in Tiny Furniture is annoying, irritating, exasperating - and that's exactly what makes the ...
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 Greg Barbrick |
The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic will be April 14, 2012, and it is being recognized with ...
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 Critical curmudgeon |
Russian director Mikhail Kalatozov and cinematographer Sergey Urusevsky only worked together on three films, but each has left an indelible ...
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. ...
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