Black Narcissus Directed by Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell UK – 100 minutes. Color Criterion Spine # 93 Black Narcissus is one of the seminal works in British film history. Transplanting Anglican nuns to a strange and corrupting land, their identity and peace of mind is threatened by the exotic setting. The altitude and ever [...]
It’s past midnight in the dark Le Poste Parisie recording studio. Miles Davis steps up to the microphone, his face illuminated by the flickering cinema screen in front of him. He sees Jeanne Moreau walking slowly along the Champ-Elysses on a stormy night, her face lit only by the lights glowing inside the cafes, bars [...]
“Despite the film’s minor problems, Sisters is a film that remains worthwhile for any fan of Hitchcock or horror.” Sisters Directed by Brian De Palma USA – 93 min. Color Criterion Spine #89 One of Brian De Palma’s best known early works, Sisters is draws on both the psychological thriller and the kind of body [...]
“What really sets the film apart is its upbeat and hopeful tone. It is easily one of the most endearing films in the last few decades…” Chungking Express (1994) Directed by Kar Wai Wong Hong Kong – 102 min. Color Criterion Spine #453 A masterpiece in levity and pop cultural reverence, Wong Kar Wai’s 1994 [...]
A difficult film to watch, not because it is pornographic, or even all that graphic, but because we watch the characters become increasingly desperate as they realize they are no longer suited to the world around them. The Night Porter (1974) Directed by Lilliana Cavani Italy – 118 min. Color Criterion Spine # 59 “History [...]
Revanche is a tough slow, depressing film, but incredibly well-acted, consistently believable, and an always entertaining, modest, satisfying arty crime story. – Revanche (2008) Directed by Gotz Spielmann Australia – 122 mi. Color Criterion Spine #502 “If you plan revenge, dig two graves,” the saying goes… A prostitute trying to escape her desperate existence, her [...]
February 22, 2010 | Posted in
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Repulsion (1965) Dir. Roman Polanski United Kingdom – 105 minutes, B&W Criterion Spine # 483 Warning: Here be spoilers. Like flies to the gooping carcass of a skinned rabbit, Repulsion invites a lot of intellectual psychobabbling that usually amounts to the same things being said by different people. We can all pretty much agree what [...]
February 5, 2010 | Posted in
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Haunting, despite often being drenched in southern Australian sunlight, and that is in no small part to the understated performances within… Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Directed by Peter Weir Australia – 107 min. Color Criterion Collection #29. Hanging Rock is an actual place, an actual rock as it were, situated in the southwestern part [...]
January 3, 2010 | Posted in
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The greatest accomplishment of this film is how it seeks to surprise its viewers, not just with what happens but with where we place our loyalty. Short Cuts (1993) Directed by Robert Altman United States – 187 min. Color Criterion Spine #265 The Criteron Collection’s two-disc issue of Robert Altman’s 1993 film Short Cuts comes [...]
December 8, 2009 | Posted in
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