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Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Loving the Absurd

By Greg Barbrick | Apr 2, 2015

“I love the absurd,” says Errol Morris in one of the extras on the new Criterion Collection Blu-ray edition of ...

An Autumn Afternoon Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Master’s Final Masterpiece

By Dusty Somers | Feb 25, 2015

Before he died of cancer on his 60th birthday in 1963, Yasujiro Ozu left us with one final masterpiece in ...

Young Mr. Lincoln Criterion Collection DVD Review: Ford’s Greatest Overlooked Film

By Greg Barbrick | Feb 6, 2015

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) may be the greatest overlooked film John Ford (1894 - 1973) ever made. To call a ...

The Vanishing (1988) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Thriller as Character Study

By Kent Conrad | Jan 6, 2015

The missing person is the greatest motif of the mystery story. Even if the murder story is more common (and ...

The Night Porter Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Nazi Love Story

By Mat Brewster | Dec 23, 2014

Normally I'd say that the space between True Art and exploitation is wide and wandering, but if The Night Porter ...

It Happened One Night Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Original Runaway Bride

By Steve Geise | Nov 21, 2014

It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time in cinematic history when romantic comedies were extremely rare. That ...

AFI Fest 2014 Review: Two Days, One Night

By Gordon S. Miller | Nov 10, 2014

After a brief absence from her solar-panel plant job, Sandra (Marion Cotillard) gets word on a Friday afternoon that she ...

PlayTime Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Hulot vs. Modernization

By Davy | Nov 2, 2014

As we film buffs know the works of Chaplin, Godard, Dreyer, and Antonioni, we are able to see their versions ...

All That Jazz Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Lord of the Dance

By Steve Geise | Sep 6, 2014

Joe Gideon is tired. Tired of women, tired of choreography, tired of drugs, and yet inexplicably driven to continue pursuing ...

Insomnia (1997) Criterion Collection Review: An Influential Thriller

By Shawn Bourdo | Aug 13, 2014

I sat down to write this upon the day of hearing of the passing of Robin Williams.  He took a ...

Persona Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Absolute Must Have

By Mat Brewster | Jul 19, 2014

Everyone agrees that Ingmar Bergman is one of the greatest director's of world cinema. Almost no one disagrees that his ...

Persona (1966) Criterion Collection Review: Chilling, Strange, and Metaphysical

By Davy | Jul 12, 2014

In my own opinion, no other film in history has garnered so much critical analysis as Ingmar Bergman's 1966 masterpiece, ...

Hearts and Minds (1974) Criterion Collection Review: A Riveting Documentary of the Vietnam War

By Greg Barbrick | Jun 21, 2014

The Academy Award-winning Hearts and Minds is the most riveting war documentary I have ever seen. The raw footage and ...

Like Someone in Love Criterion Collection Review: An Authentic Illusion

By Cinema Sentries | May 29, 2014

Written by S. Edward Sousa Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kariostami has spent a lifetime constructing films meant to blur the line ...

Riot in Cell Block 11 Criterion Collection DVD Review: Stuck in Folsom Prison

By Critical curmudgeon | May 8, 2014

Directed by Don Siegel, the 1954 movie Riot in Cell Block 11 offers a gritty, authentic look at the prison ...

Il Sorpasso Criterion Collection Review: An Endearing, Incisive Road Movie

By Dusty Somers | May 6, 2014

The comedy of Dino Risi's road movie Il Sorpasso hums along beautifully, just like the gorgeous Lancia Aurelia convertible one ...

Master of the House Criterion Collection DVD Review: As Boring as it is Important

By Mat Brewster | May 3, 2014

As a self-confessed film buff, I have to admit that my knowledge is severely lacking when it comes to silent ...

The Hidden Fortress Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Gold Standard

By Steve Geise | Apr 1, 2014

A long time ago in a country far, far away, esteemed director Akira Kurosawa filmed a grand adventure that took ...

Kagemusha Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: And a Thief Shall Lead Them

By Gordon S. Miller | Mar 24, 2014

From his debut as a director with Sanshiro Sugata (1943) through to Red Beard (1965), director Akira Kurosawa averaged releasing ...

Ran Criterion Collection DVD Review: Akira Kurosawa’s Final Masterpiece

By Gordon S. Miller | Mar 23, 2014

Ran is Kurosawa's last masterpiece from a man who made many. He made three more films afterwards, but none came ...

Tess Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Polanski’s Vision of Victorian England

By Greg Barbrick | Mar 1, 2014

Tess is an unforgettable film, and one of the finest of Roman Polanski's career. The fact that it lost to ...

King of the Hill (1993) Criterion Collection Review: Soderbergh Goes Mainstream (Or Does He?)

By Dusty Somers | Feb 26, 2014

For those who insist on dividing Steven Soderbergh's filmography into the reductive “one for me” and “one for them” categories, ...

Fantastic Mr. Fox Criterion Collection Review: It is Quote-Unquote Fantastic

By Mat Brewster | Feb 17, 2014

Like most great directors, Wes Anderson has created a very distinctive style for his films. They live in a world ...

Naked Lunch Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Enter the Interzone

By Gordon S. Miller | Feb 4, 2014

By incorporating elements of William S. Burroughs' life into the screenplay, David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch is not a straight adaptation ...

Jules and Jim Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Seminal French New Wave Love Triangle

By Greg Barbrick | Feb 4, 2014

The greatest literature is often inspired by true events, and the story behind Francois Truffaut's Jules and Jim (1962) is ...

The Long Day Closes Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Terence Davies’ Personal Vision of Liverpool

By Critical curmudgeon | Jan 27, 2014

Terence Davies plumbs his Liverpool upbringing in 1992's brilliantly dense The Long Day Closes, a film that is as much ...

La vie de bohème Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Aki Kaurismäki Does Tragedy and Comedy Equally Well

By Dusty Somers | Jan 22, 2014

The Film Finnish great Aki Kaurismäki's take on Paris bohemian life, La vie de bohème, doesn't end well for its ...

Grey Gardens (1976) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An S-T-A-U-N-C-H Classic

By Dusty Somers | Dec 11, 2013

The Film A landmark in documentary filmmaking and possibly the most well known work from the school of direct cinema, ...

City Lights Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Well Received and Slightly Defiant

By Shawn Bourdo | Dec 4, 2013

The Criterion Collection has returned to the well again this month. They are releasing the fifth film in their Charlie ...

The Uninvited (1944) Criterion Collection DVD Review: Who ‘Ya Gonna Call?

By Luigi Bastardo | Nov 12, 2013

In today's era of mishmash horror moviemaking - wherein there's a new Paranormal Activity flick released every other year - ...

John Cassavetes: Five Films Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Independent Spirit

By Steve Geise | Nov 9, 2013

Whether or not you enjoy the directorial efforts of John Cassavetes, it's impossible to overlook his contribution to the rise ...

I Married a Witch Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Veronica Lake Bewitches, Bothers, and Bewilders

By Cinema Sentries | Nov 2, 2013

Written by Kristen Lopez Halloween may be over, but any time is a good time for a new Halloween classic ...

By Mark Buckingham | Oct 29, 2013

La Notte is definitely a film from a different era where plots were not entirely clear until the third act, ...

Blue Is the Warmest Color Movie Review: A Compelling Story About Love and Life

By Gordon S. Miller | Oct 24, 2013

Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is the Warmest Color is a beautiful, coming-of-age story set over the course of about 10 years ...

I Married a Witch Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Low on Magic, High on Fumes

By Critical curmudgeon | Oct 11, 2013

Directed by René Clair, I Married a Witch is low on magic and high on fumes. Its major selling feature ...

Eyes Without a Face Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Mesmerizing, Poetic Film

By Mat Brewster | Oct 11, 2013

In the 1950s French critics and cultural purveyors thought that horror films were beneath them. Monsters and gore were not ...

I Married a Witch Criterion Collection DVD Review: Truly Bewitching

By Greg Barbrick | Oct 7, 2013

Forget Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched; the most beautiful witch of all time is Veronica Lake in I Married a Witch ...

La Cage aux Folles Criterion Collection DVD Review: Classic French Farce Bliss

By Luigi Bastardo | Oct 6, 2013

Eighteen years before the enjoyable-but-ultimately-uncalled-for remake, The Birdcage hit theater screens across the world, La Cage aux Folles first introduced ...

By Dusty Somers | Oct 3, 2013

The FilmsThough their collaborations were largely overshadowed by the scandal of their romance, Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman proved to ...

3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman Criterion Collection DVD Review: The Definitive Journey

By Greg Barbrick | Sep 28, 2013

When Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945) won the Grand Prize at Cannes in 1946, he was recognized as the ...

La Cage aux Folles Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: “Utter Hell” to Make, Pure Heaven to Watch

By Critical curmudgeon | Sep 24, 2013

Director Édouard Molinaro considered the making of his La Cage aux Folles as "utter hell," but it's hard not to ...

The Earrings of Madame de … Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: The Direction of Max Ophuls Dazzles Like a Diamond

By Gordon S. Miller | Sep 21, 2013

Director Max Ophuls' penultimate film The Earrings of Madame de ... is a classic French '50s melodrama that rivals its ...

The Devil’s Backbone Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: One of Guillermo del Toro’s Most Personal Films

By Lorna Miller | Sep 20, 2013

Guillermo del Toro is one of the most interesting directors currently making films because of his unique vision and style. ...

Slacker Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Formally Fascinating, Warmly Hilarious Film

By Dusty Somers | Sep 18, 2013

The FilmRichard Linklater's Slacker is a film that sounds like a doodle on paper, a fun little experiment from the ...

Autumn Sonata Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Utterly Sad and Nearly Perfect

By Mat Brewster | Sep 16, 2013

Our monthly Foreign Film Night is typically very sparsely attended. This is not unexpected as one cannot plan for a ...

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Masterfully Acted and Presented

By generaljabbo | Sep 10, 2013

The 1960s Cold War era proved a fertile time for the spy movie genre. James Bond offered a glamorous, high-tech ...

The Devil’s Backbone Criterion Collection DVD Review: Hell Is for Children

By Luigi Bastardo | Aug 28, 2013

During the mid '90s, my fascination with all things foreign and artsy-like led me into the welcoming arms of two ...

The Big City Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Girl Power

By Steve Geise | Aug 22, 2013

Prior to The Big City, director Satyajit Ray had never tackled a contemporary project, choosing to focus on explorations of ...

Charulata Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Indian Film, European Sensibility

By Steve Geise | Aug 21, 2013

This is not a Bollywood film, at least not in the accepted modern-day definition of the term. Half a century ...

Babette’s Feast Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Tale of Love, Life, and Food

By Luigi Bastardo | Aug 21, 2013

Gabriel Axel's multiple award-winning film Babette's Feast takes place almost entirely in a tiny, remote, 19th century village somewhere near ...