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Criterion Collection

DVDs: Great Blimp, Badlands, Buster Keaton & More

Michael Giltz | Posted 03.30.2013 | Entertainment
Michael Giltz

Let's catch up with some reissues of classic -- and not so classic -- movies, with a few documentaries tossed in at the end for good measure.

Many Dreams: Or Persistence

Norman MacAfee | Posted 01.20.2013 | Arts
Norman MacAfee

To celebrate both the reelection of President Obama and the release of restored versions of the great filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini's Trilogy of Life, I offer a poem, "Many Dreams: Or Persistence."

DVDs: Indiana Jones, The Avengers, American Horror Story and More

Michael Giltz | Posted 12.06.2012 | Entertainment
Michael Giltz

The Indiana Jones quartet on BluRay for the first time. Raiders looks better than it has, but is it possible this film needs a full restoration? I couldn't help thinking it should look even better throughout.

Critics Remember Experimental Filmmaker Chris Marker

Posted 08.01.2012 | Arts

As many of you know by now, Chris Marker, the experimental filmmaker known for the groundbreaking sci-fi film, "La Jetee," passed away on his 91st bir...

The Ten Greatest From Great Britain

John Farr | Posted 04.05.2013 | Entertainment
John Farr

After screening Criterion's new DVD set, "David Lean Directs Noel Coward," I resolved to compile my own top ten, "desert island" list of British films across the decades.

The Sound Of Joan Of Arc

Posted 03.27.2012 | Arts

In a rare and masterful combination of old avant-garde film and contemporary classical music, "Voices of Light" will provide a new, sensual experience...

It Takes Three: Design for Living

Kim Morgan | Posted 02.07.2012 | Entertainment
Kim Morgan

A "gentleman's agree­ment" is not so easy -- not when it comes to Miriam Hopkins, Gary Cooper and Fredric March. Criterion has released the g...

10 Classic Movies That Turn Up the Heat for Summer

John Farr | Posted 08.21.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

I googled "best summer-themed movies" but I think what I got was "any summer-themed movie."For those who want a little extra quality in their summer fare, here comes a varied but more rewarding list.

A Friend Reflects: Seymour Cassel on the Father of Independent Film, John Cassavetes

John Farr | Posted 06.18.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

In the artistically vibrant NYC of the 50s, Cassel was an acting student with the famed Stella Adler when he encountered Cassavetes, just six years his senior, a man who'd go on to redefine what independent film could achieve and be.

Broadcast News: Love, Truth and Television

Patricia Zohn | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
Patricia Zohn

2011-01-18-BroadcastNews_image_01.jpgA legendary film captured the battle over the soul of news and the women and men who delivered it.

Just Maybe -- the Best Comedy Film Director Ever

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

Even though Entertainment Weekly named him the 16th-best film director of all time, if I mention the name Ernst Lubitsch to my own middle-aged contemporaries, I usually get a hazy look.

On the Culture Front: Notable Criterion DVD Releases

Chris Kompanek | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
Chris Kompanek

Criterion remains the go-to place for serious film collectors. They consistently turn out definitive special editions of new and older films alike.

Heartthrob: Alain Delon Turns 75

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

For those younger readers unfamiliar with him, how best to summarize this actor? Well, let's put it this way: in terms of authentic heartthrobs, before there was Johnny Depp, there was Alain Delon.

The House of Waris Tea Room, Part Deux

Melissa Berkelhammer | Posted 05.25.2011 | New York
Melissa Berkelhammer

I made a return to the House that Waris (temporarily) built under the Highline on Sunday evening for his closing event with Wes Anderson.

Never Again: Ten Great Holocaust Films You May Have Missed

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

We should all periodically revisit the best books and films on the Holocaust, however unpleasant, to keep our own awareness, watchfulness, and revulsion very much alive. There is no shortage of worthy choices.

They Sure Don't Make 'Em Like They Used to: A Tribute to Deborah Kerr

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

The late Deborah Kerr was the kind of star and personality we rarely see anymore: a lady first and foremost, who, even playing women of dubious virtue, projected an innate sense of class, dignity, even nobility.

Beyond "The Poseidon Adventure" : A Tribute To Ronald Neame

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

We are so collectively mired in the hyper-superficial, materialistic, flashy "moment of now" that we haven't paused to acknowledge a man who helped bring some of the finest British films ever made to the screen.

When the French Spiced Up Film: Rohmer, Truffaut, Godard and Cahiers Du Cinema

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

Whether or not you personally love their work, it is difficult to dismiss the impact of the French New Wave. To reinforce this strongly held position, here is a pungent mix of Truffaut, Godard and Rohmer.

Top Winter Sports Movies: A Sampling

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

The riveting documentary The Man Who Skied Down Everest trails champion skier Yuichiro Miura and his team as they ascend the world's highest peak, hoping to descend on skis: a virtual suicide mission.

Is Blu-ray That Red-Hot?

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

With time it was inevitable that the technological innovation called "Blu-ray" would impinge on my particular corner of the movie universe, and I would have to confront it, willingly or not.

The Alarming Decline Of Expressive Language, In Life and On Film

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

Even as today's high school and college students are pushed harder in school, they cannot write an essay or use descriptive language nearly as fluently as their parents and grandparents could.

Targeted Quality: The Advent Of On-Demand DVDs

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
John Farr

Technology will only offer more quality film choices as time goes by. The trick for savvy consumers and movie fans will be to stay informed as to what's really good..

Jeanne Dielman Comes to DVD

Mike Miley | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
Mike Miley

This film sticks to its guns, audience expectations be damned, and delivers to the audience the most devastating depiction of the housewife's confined life in cinema.

MacBush

Norman MacAfee | Posted 05.25.2011 | Entertainment
Norman MacAfee

Stone assembled a game cast to play the characters who've wrought destruction upon the world in these past seven years. Except for two or three, they are bland and vague versions of the real.