La Cage aux Folles: Criterion Collection
September 17, 2013
La Cage aux Folles (1978) began as a very successful French play that ran for almost 1,800 performances at Paris’ Theatre du Palais-Royal from 1973 to 1978. Written by actor/playwright Jean Poiret, it was an outrageous farce that saw a flamboyant gay...
Slacker: Criterion Collection
September 10, 2013
Even though I know they came out years apart, I always associate Beck’s hit song “Loser” with Richard Linklater’s film Slacker (1990). The former came out in 1993 and the latter had its premiere three years prior, but both took their time finding...
To Be Or Not To Be: Criterion Collection
September 5, 2013
Released on the eve of the United States entering World War II, To Be or Not To Be (1942) was scorned by critics and underperformed with movie-going audiences of the day. Perhaps the razor-sharp satire that saw popular comedian Jack Benny up against Nazis...
Charulata: Criterion Collection
August 20, 2013
Often regarded as Satyajit Ray’s greatest film, Charulata (1964) is an adaptation of his mentor Rabindranath Tagore’s 1901 novella Nastawirth (The Broken Nest), a story inspired by the author’s relationship with his sister-in-law who mysteriously...
Seconds: Criterion Collection
August 14, 2013
Seconds (1966) was the conclusion of John Frankenheimer’s informal paranoia trilogy – three films he made during the 1960s that reflected the darker side of America, which can be traced back to the loss of innocence with the assassination of President...
The Devil’s Backbone: Criterion Collection
August 5, 2013
Cronos (1993) was Guillermo del Toro’s auspicious feature film debut and it established him as an up-and-coming horror film auteur. Hollywood came calling and he made Mimic (1997), a compromised vision that still had Del Toro’s stylistic flair, but...
Babette’s Feast: Criterion Collection
July 24, 2013
Based on the short story of the same name by famous Dutch writer Karen Blixen (under the pen name Isak Dimesen), Babette’s Feast (1987) is one of the highmarks of Scandinavian cinema during the 1980s. Martine (Federspiel) and Philippa (Kjer) are two...
Lord of the Flies: Criterion Collection
July 22, 2013
Soon after William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies was published in 1954, Ealing Studios bought the film option, but it soon became apparent that they would never make it and sold the rights to producer Sam Spiegel. He hired the experimental theater...
Safety Last!: Criterion Collection
July 9, 2013
Along with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd was one of the most popular movie stars of the silent film era with Safety Last! (1923) being one of his signature movies and the shot of him hanging precariously off a tall building’s clock...
Things to Come: Criterion Collection
July 3, 2013
H.G. Wells was a prolific author responsible for science fiction classics like The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The War of the Worlds. He eventually became interested in writing about where he thought humanity was headed and where it ought...
