Criterion collection

What makes The Manchurian Candidate such a great film is that its themes are conceivable still today, and the formal execution of this paranoid thriller is itself remarkably modern.

Not of the caliber of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s finest achievements, “Master of the House” is nonetheless a vital release, if nothing else because it marks the first American home video version of the film, and anything to boost the availability of the Dreyer canon is a surely a good thing.

“With its eclectic cast of individuals from all walks of life (typical for Altman), its sprawling narrative of disjointed personal and professional connections (ditto), and its setting of a distinctly American city around the time of our nation’s bicentennial, Nashville comes across as more than a fictional depiction of characters embodying certain nationalistic traits; it truly feels like the film itself is America in a nutshell.”

December 12 marks 110 years since the birth of the great Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu (and 50 years to the date since his death). So what better way to commemorate the occasion than to revisit what is widely seen as his masterpiece among masterpieces, Tokyo Story, out now on a 3-disc dual format Blu-ray/DVD from The Criterion Collection?

Fat Girl Directed and Written by Catherine Breillat France, 2001 Ugliness and discord and disharmony go hand in hand with bad words and bad nature, while the opposite qualities are the sisters of good, virtuous characters, and resemble them. – Plato, Republic Sex may be the defining factor in Catherine Breillat’s career, but the descriptor …

Throughout January, SOS writers will be biting the bullet and finally sitting down with a film they feel like bad film buffs for not having seen already. Au Hasard Balthazar Directed by Robert Bresson France, 1966 I would like to begin by apologizing to all of you who I promised that I would watch Chinatown …

The Criterion Collection is known as the most prestigious video-distribution company, releasing “important classic and contemporary films” to cinema aficionados. Created in 1984 by Janus Films and the Voyager Company, The Criterion Collection now has 562 titles under it’s belt. This week The company is releasing new versions of Samuel Fuller’s The Naked Kiss and …

“Despite the film’s minor problems, Sisters is a film that remains worthwhile for any fan of Hitchcock or horror.” Sisters Directed by Brian De Palma USA – 93 min. Color Criterion Spine #89 One of Brian De Palma’s best known early works, Sisters is draws on both the psychological thriller and the kind of body …

A masterpiece in levity and pop cultural reverence, Wong Kar Wai’s 1994 film Chungking Express, uses pop art elements in order to create a unique vision of love in the modern world. Using the premise of a crime or gangster film, two independent narratives are presented, both featuring heart broke police officers that find love under unusual circumstances.

Repulsion (1965) Dir. Roman Polanski United Kingdom – 105 minutes, B&W Criterion Spine # 483 Warning: Here be spoilers. Like flies to the gooping carcass of a skinned rabbit, Repulsion invites a lot of intellectual psychobabbling that usually amounts to the same things being said by different people.  We can all pretty much agree what …

Haunting, despite often being drenched in southern Australian sunlight, and that is in no small part to the understated performances within… Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Directed by Peter Weir Australia – 107 min. Color Criterion Collection #29. Hanging Rock is an actual place, an actual rock as it were, situated in the southwestern part …

The greatest accomplishment of this film is how it seeks to surprise its viewers, not just with what happens but with where we place our loyalty. Short Cuts (1993) Directed by Robert Altman United States – 187 min. Color Criterion Spine #265 The Criteron Collection’s two-disc issue of Robert Altman’s 1993 film Short Cuts comes …