The Player: Criterion Collection

The 1980s was a tough decade for Robert Altman. After enjoying so much creative freedom in the 1970s it all came crashing down with Popeye (1980), a big budget adaptation of the comic strip of the same name. It was plagued with production problems and... 

Blue Velvet: 25th Anniversary Edition

By 1984, director David Lynch was on top of the world. He had received critical acclaim and eight Academy Award nominations for The Elephant Man in 1980 and was on the verge of releasing his next film, Dune (1984), an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic... 

Paris, Texas: Criterion Collection

Films made about the United States by foreign filmmakers are interesting because quite often they provide a unique perspective – someone from the outside looking in. German filmmaker Wim Wenders did just this with his film Paris, Texas (1984). It was... 

Dune: Extended Edition

Based on the classic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, Dune (1984) was a project that passed through the talented hands of Alejandro Jodorowsky, H.R. Giger, Ridley Scott, and David Lynch only to leave behind a trail of defeated creative minds and... 

The Manchurian Candidate

Remaking classic movies is almost always a bad idea and usually done for all the wrong reasons. Case in point: Gus Van Sant’s much-maligned misfire, Psycho (1998). There is a reason why these movies are so highly regarded—they don’t need to be remade.... 

Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers (2001) had the misfortune of being scheduled to come out in theatres the day after 9/11. Miramax, understandably nervous about releasing a black comedy about the U.S. Army so close after such a devastating event, shelved the film for... 

To Live and Die in L.A.

To Live and Die in L.A. was a film ahead of its time. When it was released in 1985, it failed to connect with a mainstream audience that was put off by its amoral, unlikable characters and downbeat, nihilistic ending. What did people expect from the same...