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If ever there was a movie ready for re-examination, it’s Spike Lee’s Bamboozled. A theatrical bomb with audiences, and the recipient of mixed reviews from critics, there’s no denying a lack of ambition on Lee’s part with a film satirizing racism in American pop culture, but was the film ahead of its time or a […]
In considering how to adequately express my admiration for director Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the nature of epics. From a general sense of the term, classifying this Polish romantic drama as an epic would disregard some of the typical elements of this categorization. Cold War is half […]
I was elated when The Criterion Collection announced When We Were Kings as an upcoming entry, complete with a brand-new restoration and extras to go with it. It is one of my favorite documentaries, as it does a great job tracking a meaningful event in sports history. The film puts some of what made Muhammad […]
I suppose I have a bit of a Scottish blindspot (at least with older Scottish films). I was not aware of Local Hero until The Criterion Collection announced it. By all accounts, it’s a well-regarded film that many celebrate writer/director Bill Forsyth for, but it went unknown to me until recently. Fortunately, I found a […]
The Cold War period allowed many filmmakers to experiment with storytelling, filmmaking styles, and social commentary in their movies. Fail Safe is the sort of Cold War thriller that banked on cultural paranoia as much as it did skilled filmmaking and intense performances. The Criterion Collection has finally brought more justice to Sidney Lumet’s tense […]
This April, check in to The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson’s extravagantly nostalgic caper, widely hailed as one of the greatest films of the 2010s, will join the Criterion Collection. Miranda July’s playful and transgressive Me and You and Everyone We Know, one of the most original debut features in recent memory, will make its Blu-ray debut. A marvel […]
Next March, John M. Stahl’s singular Hollywood masterpiece Leave Her to Heaven– a stunning Technicolor melodrama infused with the darkness of film noir and graced with a chilling performance by Gene Tierney- will join the Criterion Collection, making its Blu-ray debut in a new 2K restoration. Spike Lee’s provocative satire Bamboozled, a scathing indictment of racism in American […]
Next February, the Criterion Collection is proud to present Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-winning masterpiece Roma, making its home-video debut in a director-approved edition packed with special features. Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman collects a trio of the renowned special-effects fabulist’s most enchanting films- Journey to the Beginning of Time, Invention for Destruction, and The Fabulous Baron Munchausen– newly restored and in a limited-edition deluxe […]
In January, the Criterion Collection will kick off the New Year with one of Pedro Almodóvar’s most beloved films: All About My Mother, the Spanish auteur’s Oscar-winning ode to maternal love and female fortitude. George Cukor’s effervescent romantic comedy Holiday, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in one of their most memorable pairings, will appear on Blu-ray for the […]
Godzilla is on the way and I cannot wait. As detailed previously, all 15 films from the original Showa Era of the Godzilla franchise are heading to Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The 1000th spine from The Criterion Collection will arrive in stores October 29th, but for now, enjoy this all-new trailer to keep you psyched […]
This December, the 287-minute director’s cut of Wim Wenders’ magnum opus Until the End of the World, a globe-trotting sci-fi epic featuring a dizzyingly eclectic soundtrack, will appear on home video for the first time in a new 4K restoration. Kelly Reichardt’s breakout feature Old Joy, a revelatory microbudget indie, will make its Blu-ray debut in a new 2K […]
This year, Academy Award-winning writer-director Spike Lee’s 1989 modern classic, Do the Right Thing celebrated its 30th anniversary. With all the acclaim received by the prolific filmmaker just recently for his Oscar-winning film BlacKkKlansman, it’s incredible to look back at one of his earliest films and not only see how far Lee has come but […]
This November, the Criterion Collection will celebrate the incomparable Bette Davis, one of Hollywood’s greatest stars, with two releases that demonstrate her extraordinary range. The swoon-inducing melodrama Now, Voyager, appearing on Blu-ray for the first time, finds her at the height of her reign as the queen of the women’s picture. Then All About Eve, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s beloved […]
This October, Criterion celebrates the arrival of spine number 1000, a Blu-ray collector’s set fit for the granddaddy of all movie monsters. This landmark edition gathers for the first time all the Godzilla films from Japan’s Showa era: fifteen kaiju rampages, presented in high-definition digital transfers and accompanied by a slew of supplemental material, including a giant deluxe […]
Spine number 1000 will be announced next week, but for now, this October, John Sayles’s galvanizing labor saga Matewan–starring Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, David Strathairn, and Mary McDonnell–will join the Criterion Collection in a new restoration. When We Were Kings, the indelible portrait of Muhammad Ali’s late-career journey to Africa for the Rumble in the Jungle will appear […]
This September, John Waters’ first studio picture, Polyester, the trash maestro’s delirious take on the Douglas Sirk-style melodrama, will appear in an edition complete with a scratch-and-sniff Odorama card. Jennifer Jones stars in the topsy-turvy comedy Cluny Brown, the final film by Ernst Lubitsch, long unavailable on home video. Ritwik Ghatak’s family tragedy The Cloud-Capped Star, a masterpiece of Bengali cinema, will […]
Who’s ready to put on a show? Musical comedies were huge in the 1930s, and many studios were happy to deliver. One of the highlights of this era were the many films starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, with Swing Time being looked as possibly the best of their collaborations. Winner of an Oscar for […]
This August, Abbas Kiarostami’s The Koker Trilogy, an eye-opening triptych of playful films that blend fiction and reality, will join The Criterion Collection, bringing three of the Iranian master’s most sought-after works to Blu-ray for the first time. The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice, Yasujiro Ozu’s beautifully observed study of a marriage on the rocks, will appear in […]
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