The Master
February 28, 2013
When Paul Thomas Anderson started his career with the impressive one-two punch of Hard Eight (1996) and Boogie Nights (1997), he was touted as an exciting young filmmaker that wore his influences on his sleeve, most notably the work of Jonathan Demme...
Pina: Criterion Collection
February 14, 2013
More than 20 years in the making, Pina (2011) was originally conceived by filmmaker Wim Wenders as a documentary about famous choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch. However, he couldn’t figure out how to translate the artistry and elegance of the performers...
8 Movie Collection: Star-Studded Drama
February 6, 2013
With All the Pretty Horses (2000), director Billy Bob Thornton set out to make a Heaven’s Gate (1980) for the new millennium by adapting Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name. However, movie studio executives took the film away from him and recut...
The Man Who Knew Too Much: Criterion Collection
January 17, 2013
When Alfred Hitchcock made The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), he had come off of two consecutive failures, Rich and Strange (1931) and Waltzes from Vienna (1934), and was eager to return to the thriller genre. With screenwriters Charles Bennett and D.B....
Frankenweenie Bonus Clip & Tim Burton Interview
January 7, 2013
Special BONUS CLIP – Description: Super 8 Short is a special bonus feature in the upcoming home entertainment release of Frankenweenie which delves into the short films that Victor shoots with the help of his dog Sparky. Director Tim Burton made similar...
Frankenweenie
January 7, 2013
Since the 2000s, Tim Burton has played it relatively safe, often falling back on his name as a familiar (and marketable) brand that mainstream audiences know and recognize. With the horrible misfire that was the Planet of the Apes (2001) remake, he directed...
Two-Lane Blacktop: Criterion Collection
January 4, 2013
In anticipation of its release later that year, Esquire magazine ran a substantial piece on Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) and boldly proclaimed it to be the best film of the year. Despite high praise from such a prestigious periodical, the studio refused to...
Following: Criterion Collection
January 2, 2013
Shot on a bare-bones budget of approximately $5,000, Following (1999) is the auspicious feature film debut of writer/director Christopher Nolan. Shot sporadically over a year on black and white 16 mm film stock, it would introduce many of the themes that...
Purple Noon: Criterion Collection
December 20, 2012
It has been more than 50 years since Rene Clement’s adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith thriller, The Talented Mr. Ripley, was released in theaters. Entitled Purple Noon (1960), it has been eclipsed in the popular imagination by Anthony Minghella’s...
Heaven’s Gate: Criterion Collection
December 19, 2012
With Heaven’s Gate (1980), Michael Cimino made the classic risky gamble that many ambitious filmmakers make. Still flush from the commercial and critical success of The Deer Hunter (1978), he used all of his newfound clout to make an epic tale depicting...
