Funny Girl Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: She’s the Greatest Star
By Steve Geise |
Barbra Streisand lights up the screen in her movie debut, commanding every second of her role as showgirl-turned-superstar, Fanny Brice. ...
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Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Smells Like Teen Spirit
By Steve Geise |
Three decades after writer/director Gregg Araki shook up the indie film world with his trilogy of teen films starring James ...
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Fail Safe Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: It’s the End of the World as They Know It (and No One Feels Fine)
By Gordon S. Miller |
In January 1964, filmgoers could see a Cold War story about the frantic negotiations between the United States and the ...
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Risky Business Criterion Collection Review: Introducing Tom Cruise and Guido the Killer Pimp
By Greg Hammond |
Written and directed by Paul Brickman, 1983’s Risky Business turned Tom Cruise into a superstar. And it isn’t just dancing ...
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Black God, White Devil Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Could Not Be More Relevant
By Davy |
Once in a while, a film comes along and redefines my perception of the limitless possibilities of filmmaking. Influential Brazilian ...
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Victims of Sin Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Zoot Suit Riot
By Steve Geise |
If you’re new to Mexico’s rumbera musical genre, imagine classic Hollywood musical tropes filtered through a crime-ridden back alley, removing ...
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Querelle Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Man in Every Port
By Jack Cormack |
In director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Querelle (1982; adapted from a book by Jean Genet), a Belgian sailor, Querelle (Brad Davis), ...
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A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu
By Steve Geise |
Previously released on Criterion DVD in 2004, this Ozu double feature finally gets a Blu-ray upgrade with newly improved technical ...
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Defending Your Life Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Love in the Time of Purgatory
By Gordon S. Miller |
Defending your life is a task all face in the afterlife in Albert Brooks' film of the same name which ...
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The War of the Worlds Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Special-Effects Spectacle
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on the 1898 novel by H. G. Wells, Byron Haskin's The War of the Worlds transports the story of ...
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Dogfight Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: More Than It Seems
By Joe Garcia III |
Lili Taylor and River Phoenix shine bright in Dogfight (1991) directed by Nancy Savoca and penned by Bob Comfort. Set ...
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All That Money Can Buy (aka The Devil and Daniel Webster) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review
By Davy |
The ancient tale of man selling his soul to the Devil in exchange for wealth and prosperity has been adapted ...
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The Lady Eve Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Preston Sturges Presents a Two-Sided Love Triangle
By Gordon S. Miller |
Based on Monckton Hoffe's “Two Bad Hats,” The Lady Eve is Preston Sturges's third outing as writer/director, and with it, ...
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The Heroic Trio/Executioners Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Insane Hong Kong Lady Action
By Kent Conrad |
In the pre-Internet era, information about different cultures’ cinema was obscure. It was rumor. It was some still in a ...
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Jackie Chan: Emergence of a Superstar Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Enjoyable Six-Pack of Chan’s Early Films
By Gordon S. Miller |
Jackie Chan movies entered into the Criterion Collection in 2019 with the one-two punch of Police Story/Police Story 2. The ...
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Days of Heaven Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: Blue Harvest
By Jack Cormack |
The Criterion Collection has released Days of Heaven (1978; dir. Terrence Malick) in 4K as part of a 4K UHD/Blu-ray ...
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Scorsese Shorts Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Must-own for Fans of the Director
By Gordon S. Miller |
Scorsese Shorts presents a quintet of director Martin Scorsese's early short films, two documentaries from the '70s and three short ...
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No Bears Blu-ray Review: A Powerful Work About the Passion for Filmmaking
By Davy |
I'm not familiar with Jafar Panahi's cinema, but from what I've heard from other film lovers and critics is that ...
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La Bamba Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Soars Far Above Other Hollywood Biopics
By Joe Garcia III |
La Bamba (1987) is the story of Richard Valenzuela, known better as Ritchie Valens, a name associated with a song ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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The Rules of the Game Criterion Collection 4K UHD Review: The Shooting Party
By Jack Cormack |
On the brink of WWII, Jean Renoir—inspired by baroque music and an opera, Les Caprices de Marianne—took his collaborators to ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 (1957), in 4K UHD. When I first saw ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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.) ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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‘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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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); ...
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