Blu-ray Review: To Be or Not to Be (1942) (Criterion Collection)
Released two months after actress Carole Lombard was tragically killed in an airplane crash selling war bonds, To Be or Not To Be was initially not well received by the public or critics, many of whom just couldn’t understand the reasoning behind making fun out of such a real threat as the Nazis. Today, the […]
Blu-ray Review: The Ice Storm (Criterion Collection)
Based on the novel by Rick Moody, Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm is a film about the things we think we know. New Canaan, Connecticut is the picture of affluence and prosperity. On the outside, the Hood and Carver families appear to fit in perfectly. In truth, they are coming apart. The year is 1973, […]
Blu-ray Review: Lord of the Flies (1963) (Criterion Collection)
A faithful re-telling of William Golding’s classic novel, Peter Brook’s 1963 film Lord of the Flies subtly conveys the psychological turmoil and violence that overtakes children who are forced to exist in a world devoid of consequences. Brook makes these conflicts seem real and freighting, aided by a skilled production team, a capable cast of […]
Blu-ray Review: Shoah (Criterion Collection)
World War II is the most visually documented event in world history; there are countless hours of ships on patrol, planes in combat, and squadrons on the battlefield. However, the one thing that’s nowhere to be found is a visual record of the full atrocities of the Holocaust, which only came to light for most […]
Blu-ray Review: Safety Last! (Criterion Collection)
It’s one of the most iconic images in film comedy: Harold Lloyd, with his round owl glasses and straw hat, dangling perilously from the hands of a clock on the side of a lofty building in downtown Los Angeles. Even those who have no idea who Harold Lloyd is, will likely recognize this oft reproduced […]
Blu-ray Review: Wild Strawberries (Criterion Collection)
Ingmar Bergman is one of the most revered filmmakers in the world. His work, both complex and deeply thoughtful, some see his work as too incomprehensible to really understand. Nothing is further from the truth. Largely autobiographical, Wild Strawberries reflects on much from Bergman’s life—the strained relationship with his strict and distant father, a Lutheran […]
Blu-ray Review: 3:10 to Yuma (1957) (Criterion Collection)
Filmed at a time when director Delmer Daves was delivering some of the best work of his career—his other mid-fifties films include Jubal (1956) (which he also scripted), Cowboy (1958), and The Hanging Tree (1959)—3:10 to Yuma, based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, is one of the best westerns of the decade, and […]
Blu-ray Review: Jubal (Criterion Collection)
A psychological western with Shakespearean tensions, Jubal is a nearly forgotten film that despite obvious differences deserves comparison to the simultaneous works of Howard Hawks and John Ford when considering mastery of the western genre. The film’s director, Delmer Daves, was a gifted artist who had a deep understanding of human emotion and its complexities. […]
Blu-ray Review: Band of Outsiders (Bande à part) (Criterion Collection)
Made at the pinnacle of the French New Wave, Band of Outsiders (1964) is director Jean-Luc Godard’s take on the crime film. More to the point, Band of Outsiders is Godard’s reinvention of the crime film. In an interview included as part of Criterion’s Blu-ray Special Edition features, Godard states bluntly, “This movie was made […]
Blu-ray Review: Repo Man (Criterion Collection)
A true loner, writer/director Alex Cox has zealously avoided participating in mainstream Hollywood films throughout his career. One look at Cox’s best known film, 1984’s Repo Man, makes it clear that he is not a filmmaker concerned with being conventional. Repo Man defies categorization. There’s humor. But it’s not comedy in the strictest sense. It’s […]