Blu-ray Review: Following (Criterion Collection)
An indication of things to come, Christopher Nolan’s Following gives us a taste of the deep, occasionally twisted insights into human nature that would later become a staple of his films. Shot in 16mm black-and-white for just $6,000 in 16mm black-and-white, it took a year to complete. Shooting was limited to Saturdays, so that the […]
DVD Review: Sunday Bloody Sunday (Criterion Collection)
After the critical and commercial success of Midnight Cowboy, the late director John Schlesinger had the freedom to pursue the project of his choice. Deciding not to play it safe, Schlesinger chose Sunday Bloody Sunday, a thoughtful film about homosexuality, marriage and commitment. While not directly taken from Schlesinger’s life, many of the events depicted […]
Blu-ray Review: Les Visiteurs du Soir (Criterion Collection)
The most enduring and internationally known film by the French creative team of Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert is 1945’s Children of Paradise, filmed by and large during the last months of the German Occupation. But one of their biggest box office hits was 1942’s Les Visiteurs du Soir. A dark, yet optimistic romantic tale, […]
Blu-ray Review: Weekend (Criterion Collection)
One Friday night after a house party with his straight friends, Russell (Tom Cullen) heads to a gay bar and hooks up with Glen (Chris New). The next morning Glen, an artist, interviews the timid Russell, a lifeguard, about the events of the previous evening: what were his first thoughts when they met at the […]
Blu-ray Review: Summer Interlude (Criterion Collection)
While Summer Interlude was Ingmar Bergman’s ninth film, it’s the first one that would explore many of the themes and motifs he would become so well known for—love, loss, and the influence of adolescence on adulthood. The story, told largely in flashbacks, tells the story of Marie (Maj-Britt Nilsson) a prima ballerina in her late […]
Blu-ray Review: Certified Copy (Criterion Collection)
More psychological than emotional, Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy is a well crafted debate between a man and a woman that’s both fascinating and irritating. Graced with two solid performances by Juliette Binoche and William Shimmel, Tuscany as a backdrop, Kiarostami posts some tough questions about what we see as real, without providing any definitive answers. […]
Blu-ray Review: The Organizer (Criterion Collection)
While not as instantly recognizable as compatriots Fellini, De Sica, Visconti, or Antonioni, director Mario Monicelli was nonetheless influential, considered one of the masters of the Commedia all’Italiana (Comedy Italian style), helmed more than sixty films in a career that spanned over six decades. In 1963, Monicelli would write (with Age & Scarpelli) and direct […]
Blu-ray Review: La Haine (Criterion Collection)
Shot in black and white, and steeped in realism, director Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine (“Hate”) is often thought of as France’s answer to Boyz N’ the Hood. Showing gun fights, riots, police brutality, and gang warfare, this sprawling urban drama takes an unflinching look at poverty on the outskirts of Paris. Focusing on three primary […]
Blu-ray Review: A Night To Remember (Criterion Collection)
Avoiding the romantic entanglements of James Cameron’s Titanic (1997), Roy Ward Baker’s 1958 British-made docudrama A Night to Remember focuses on the riveting event that took place in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912. Screenwriter Eric Ambler based his screenplay on Walter Lord’s meticulously researched book of the same title. It should be […]
Blu-ray Review: The War Room (Criterion Collection)
Directed by D.A. Pennebaker and his wife Chris Hegedus, War Room provides the most intimate look at a presidential campaign to date. Chronicling the 1992 Clinton campaign, viewers are taken behind-the-scenes from the New Hampshire primary to election night, as lead strategist James (“The Ragin’ Cajun”) Carville, communications director George Stephanopoulos and others hold backroom […]