La Dolce Vita: Criterion Collection
November 24, 2014
At the time of its release, Federico Fellini’s La dolce vita (1960) was considered a prescient masterpiece that anticipated our celebrity-obsessed tabloid culture. Looking back now, its subject matter seems rather tame, but after the likes of O.J. Simpson,...
Eraserhead: Criterion Collection
November 24, 2014
The arrival of 1977 saw the release of two important films – Eraserhead and Star Wars. Both films couldn’t be more different visually or thematically, and yet they share a common bond in the sense that each features a filmmaker with a unique vision....
All That Jazz: Criterion Collection
September 3, 2014
Legendary choreographer Bob Fosse unfortunately did not get a chance to direct many films, but the ones he did bear his unmistakable stamp, none more so than All That Jazz (1979), which stands as one of the purest expressions of an artist’s creative...
Love Streams: Criterion Collection
August 26, 2014
Based on a play by Ted Allan, Love Streams (1984) continued John Cassavetes’ fascination with the often-messy relationships between people. Sarah Lawson (Rowlands) and her husband Jack (Cassel) are in the process of getting a divorce and figuring out...
Y Tu Mama Tambien: Criterion Collection
August 20, 2014
The commercial disappointment of A Little Princess (1995) and Great Expectations (1998), director Alfonso Cuaron left Hollywood and regrouped back in his native Mexico by going back to basics with Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001), an independently made road movie...
Pickpocket: Criterion Collection
August 11, 2014
Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket (1959) is about Michel (LaSalle), a man compelled to steal from others. He works the streets, subways and train stations of Paris taking money from unsuspecting victims with his nimble fingers. He wears a plain, non-descript...
The Big Chill: Criterion Collection
July 30, 2014
It was during the 1980s that the Baby Boomer generation were at the height of their influence and The Big Chill (1983) is often regarded as one of their most identifiable pop cultural touchstones. Using the clout he had acquired for his screenwriting...
Picnic at Hanging Rock: Criterion Collection
July 8, 2014
There is a fascinating air of mystery surrounding Peter Weir’s adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) that captivated me when I first saw it many years ago and continues to haunt me. While the story is a simple yet intriguing one its lack of closure...
L’Eclisse: Criterion Collection
June 26, 2014
In an essay included in the accompanying booklet, Jonathan Rosenbaum points out that Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Eclisse (1962) was the final film in a “loose trilogy about Eros, art, business and emotional alienation in the contemporary world.”...
All That Heaven Allows: Criterion Collection
June 9, 2014
During the 1950s, Douglas Sirk directed some of the most popular Hollywood melodramas, but was maligned by critics of the time. It wasn’t until years later when the Cahiers du cinema critics re-evaluated Sirk’s body of work and argued that he was...
