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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Summer Interlude Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: A Formative Bergman Picture Gets the High-Def Treatment
By Critical curmudgeon |
With Summer Interlude, Swedish master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman began to lay the foundation for some of his most memorable pictures. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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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Vanya on 42nd Street Criterion Collection DVD Review: Chronicling the Last Days of Multiple Eras
By Greg Barbrick |
As it turned out, Vanya On 42nd Street (1994) was the final film completed by legendary director Louis Malle. Although ...
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