Tag: Criterion Collection
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Lou Reed and John Cale work through their complex feelings for Andy Warhol in Songs for Drella
Rather than set aside their differences, Reed and Cale meld them together in a theatrical song cycle dedicated to their early patron.
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It’s a hard world for little things, in Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter
The Night of the Hunter is a perennial source of fascination for cinéaste, both as a singular oddity in Hollywood history but also as a masterpiece in the truest sense: not only is it the best of what it is, it’s the only. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing but […]
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The treasures of FilmStruck include the Trainspotting commentary track
Trainspotting is a lifelong personal favorite film. Essential. FilmStruck subscribers should be sure to catch it one more time before before WarnerMedia and AT&T cruelly shut it down on November 29. FilmStruck is full of more invaluable treasures than anyone could watch in two weeks, but I must single out Trainspotting as a particular treat, […]
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What Did I Ever Do to You? David Mamet’s Homicide
Detective Bobby Gold (Joe Mantegna) comes to see himself as torn between two discrete worlds in David Mamet‘s Homicide (1991). Only when maneuvered into a position in which he must choose, the duality unravels and he finds he is no one special and belongs nowhere in particular. Gold’s partner Sullivan (William H. Macy) has an […]
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On the Run from Johnny Law in Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket
Wes Anderson and co-writer Owen Wilson’s feature debut Bottle Rocket is based on their 1992 short film of the same name. Like Kevin Smith’s Clerks and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Bottle Rocket may not have turned the world upside down, but is now viewed as a key filmmaker’s ur text. His signature style is already […]
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Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solyaris (Solaris) is Vertigo in Space
The opening credits of Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Solyaris state it is “based on the science fiction by Stanislaw Lem.” It’s perhaps telling that the term “science fiction” is used in place of simply “novel.” This faint hint of apology may hint at a lack of respect for the original Polish novel or the entire […]
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Brad Pitt Lives Life in Reverse in David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
This blogger is slowly cooling on former favorite David Fincher. His underrated first feature Alien3 is highly compromised, but easily the next most thematically interesting entry in the Alien franchise (after, of course, Ridley Scott’s rich original). Se7en is one of the most gut-wrenchingly disturbing movies ever made, notable for having virtually no violence appear […]
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Seven Samurai protect others to save themselves in Akira Kurosawa’s Shichinin no samurai
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is awesome and perfect, and this most recent viewing has affirmed its place among my all-time favorites. It’s a big movie, by which I mean it makes the best use of its generous running time with just the right amount of everything: romance, comedy, drama, suspense, and action. Nearly half the […]
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Malcolm McDowell plays public school war-games in Lindsay Anderson’s If….
If…. is the first in director Lindsay Anderson’s trilogy of films featuring Malcolm McDowell as the Mick Travis, whose misadventures continue in O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital. Everything I read about the trilogy repeats the same word to descibe Travis: “everyman.” On the evidence, I take this instance particular of “everyman” to mean Travis […]
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Crin blanc: Le cheval sauvage (White Mane) and Le ballon rouge (The Red Balloon)
Janus Films and the Criterion Collection have released two classic short films for children from French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse: White Mane (1952), and The Red Balloon (1956). Each is mostly silent, with only the odd line or two of dialogue. In essence, both are extended chase sequences that deserve to be taught in film school. […]