The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp: Criterion Collection
April 2, 2013
Considered by many to be one of the best British films ever made, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) is undeniably Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s masterpiece – a sprawling epic that spans four decades, from the Boer War through World...
4 Movie Collection: Drama
November 15, 2012
The Last Detail (1973) continued a fantastic run of films for Jack Nicholson in the 1970s. Armed with Robert Towne’s brilliantly profane screenplay and Hal Ashby’s assured direction, Nicholson delivered a memorable performance as “Badass” Buddusky,...
The Four Feathers: Criterion Collection
October 18, 2011
Based on A.E.W. Mason’s 1902 best-selling novel of the same name, The Four Feathers was adapted into three different films before producer Alexander Korda gave it a go in 1939. In addition, it was filmed three more times afterwards but many consider...
Platoon: 25th Anniversary
May 24, 2011
While Platoon (1986) was certainly not the first film about the Vietnam War, it was one of the first to focus on the average foot soldier in an honest and authentic way. Oliver Stone’s film really put you in the jungle with these guys as only someone...
The Way Back
April 19, 2011
Has it really been seven years since Peter Weir released a film? For fans of his work, the arrival of a new film has been long overdue and eager anticipated. Sadly, the kinds of films he makes are no longer what Hollywood is interesting in backing and...
Paths of Glory: Criterion Collection
October 29, 2010
The subject of war was one that fascinated Stanley Kubrick for much of his career. His first film, Fear and Desire (1953), was an allegorical war picture and with Dr. Strangelove (1964), he made a scathingly satirical anti-war film. Full Metal Jacket...
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence: Criterion Collection
September 28, 2010
Nagisa Oshima’s film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) was based on Laurens van der Post’s mostly autobiographical 1963 novel The Seed and the Sower about a British military officer and a poorly treated prisoner-of-war set in the lush Javanese tropics...
The Thin Red Line: Criterion Collection
September 16, 2010
After Terrence Malick made Days of Heaven in the late 1970s, he didn’t make another film for two decades. Because he shunned the press like the cinematic equivalent of Thomas Pynchon, speculation was rampant as to the reasons why. It was rumored that...
Sharpe – The Complete Series
July 13, 2010
Sharpe is one of those great British TV series that manages to unite the sexes. Men love it because it’s about wartime, features loads of battles and shooting the French. Women love it because of Sean Bean. Not to sound too sexist with this, but a little...
Ride with the Devil: Criterion Collection
April 27, 2010
Ang Lee is a filmmaker not afraid to take chances. He brought a historical epic steeped in spectacular martial arts to the mainstream and Oscar glory with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Less successfully, he tried to merge his soulful aesthetic...
