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
Recent Comments