Having never seen Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s second feature, I was immediately intrigued when I saw it was being added to the Criterion Collection. Knowing quite literally nothing about the movie other than the fact that it was a Wachowski… Read More ›
Often in film criticism, the words “cult classic” are overused — unless you’re talking about a filmmaker with a filmography as iconic as David Lynch. Most people probably also associate Lynch with Twin Peaks, cherry pie, and a damn fine… Read More ›
Two guys, a trunk full of drugs, and the open road leading to the place of sin itself. Not Hell … but close enough. Las Vegas. Add in some counterculture themes such as the Vietnam War and its relation to… Read More ›
Obsessively pursuing art is the focus of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960). The parallels to artistic pursuit as it pertains to a filmmaker are hard to miss, as are the Freudian psychoanalytics. Both of which are apt as Powell (The… Read More ›
In the year 2000, no one knew of the name Karyn Kusama, and no one knew of her star Michelle Rodriguez either. However, after they both debuted with 2000’s Girlfight, they’d go on to make some incredibly intriguing pieces of… Read More ›
Awards season has come and gone once again, like another overblown, overwrought, overlong thief in the night, spanning an impressive seven months from the beginning of the Venice Film Festival to that of the Academy Awards. Though, unlike other years,… Read More ›
Films can be more than just the latest sci-fi/superhero blockbuster or summer comedy. Some films aspire to teach audiences lessons and history. I Am Cuba (Soy Cuba), a 1964 political propaganda film, is one such story. Its historical richness and… Read More ›
Nothing in the 1991 film Dogfight is black and white, no matter what the greyscale filter on the box’s cover art and poster may imply. Or maybe, everything is. A cable classic that found its audience after release, Dogfight couldn’t… Read More ›
Albert Lamorisse’s The Red Balloon (1956) is a contender for the greatest short film of all time. Lamorisse is often overlooked in discussions of the French New Wave, including by his peers, and his other, sparse works, Bim, the Little… Read More ›
In a world in which streamers rarely release their films on physical formats and legacy studios are beginning to delete finished films (either for tax purposes or to just remove from servers), there’s something truly wonderful about the relationship developed… Read More ›
The whole sad affair is finally viewable at home with the new 4K restoration of Peter Bogdanovich’s iconic The Last Picture Show, whose Criterion release includes the new black and white edition of the Texasville’s director’s cut, previously only purchasable… Read More ›
David Bowie was one of the music industry’s most eclectic voices. Songs such as “Life on Mars,” “Starman,” and the classic “Moonage Daydream,” let the musician craft a unique voice for himself. His unique style would prove challenging to adapt… Read More ›
Even though practically no one has seen it, Unrest (Unrueh) is certainly the film of 2023. The best film? Easily a top 10. The most relevant? Absolutely. 2023, the year of Hot Labor Summer, now Hot Labor Fall. The WGA… Read More ›
In 2023, The Academy is still struggling to rock with horror in any major sense beyond a few lucky takers in titles like Misery (1990), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Get Out (2017), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991), but rarely… Read More ›
The horror genre has had an interesting trajectory over the course of cinema. The 1970s was one of its most interesting periods. Films like Halloween (1978), The Wicker Man (1973), and The Exorcist (1973) helped define the genre. There was… Read More ›
Home releases bring with them a certain weight of expectation for cinephiles and film fans. For newer ones, it’s the promise that they’ll always be available, safe from a distributor or studio’s license dissolution or server deletion. For older films,… Read More ›
Before diving into one of October’s 4K Criterion releases, I want to acknowledge that this is not a never-before-seen 4K as Arrow in the UK has released Videodrome previously. Now, I do not know, with any form of certainty, if… Read More ›
What is so absolutely fantastic and unmatched about the Criterion Collection is, simply put, the work they do. They give movie lovers the highest quality of viewing for some of the most important films in cinematic history or films that… Read More ›
“There’s a shortage of perfect movies in this world. It would be a pity to damage this one.” Actor Cary Elwes on Twitter in response to the news of a potential remake of The Princess Bride (1987). There are few… Read More ›
Martin Scorsese is one of the more prolific filmmakers in modern cinema. He’s a writer (Goodfellas (1990); The Age of Innocence (1993)), actor (Cannonball (1976); Shark Tale (2004)), producer (Clockers (1995); Uncut Gems (2019)), a supporter of world cinema and… Read More ›