Criterion’s release of a key but little-known feature by Jean Renoir, the conceptually and stylistically sophisticated La Chienne, is essential viewing.
Criterion Blu-ray review: Jean Renoir’s La Chienne (1931)
Tag: Classics
Criterion Blu-ray review: Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
A classic romantic comedy about death gets an impressive new release on Blu-ray from Criterion. Alexander Hall’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) features a witty script and an impressive cast headed by Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains and Evelyn Keyes in the story of a good-natured boxer snatched prematurely by one of Death’s messengers and returned to Earth in the body of a crooked businessman.
Late winter viewing, part two
A mixed bag of recently viewed disks, from an obscure, poetic black-an-white drama to a garishly perverse piece of Greek exploitation, with some gialli and Japanese sci-fi animation thrown in.
Criterion Blu-ray review: Jan Troell’s The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972)
Criterion releases a superb Blu-ray edition of Jan Troell’s 2-part epic about poor Swedish farmers looking for a new life in the US in the mid-19th Century.
Criterion Blu-ray review: Giuseppe De Santis’ Bitter Rice (1949)
Giuseppe De Santis’ Bitter Rice (1949) expands the possibilities of neo-realism by incorporating elements of melodrama and film noir into the lives of women working in the rice fields of northern Italy.
Blast from the past: a 28-year-old term paper
I recently unearthed a university paper I wrote almost 30 years ago in which I tried to explain why Frank Capra’s work rubbed me the wrong way. It’s a glimpse of where I came from as a writer about film.
Year End 2015
Although I saw fewer movies in theatres than ever, this year offered a rich array of films on disk, belying continuing prophecies of the medium’s demise in the face of on-line streaming.
Criterion Blu-ray review: Harold Lloyd’s Speedy (1928)
With an impressive Blu-ray of Speedy (1928), the Criterion Collection continue their project of proving that Harold Lloyd was the equal of Chaplin and Keaton in the art of silent comedy.
Recent viewing: November 2015
A grab-bag of recently watched movies, some old, some new, covering a wide range of genres and styles.
Julien Duvivier in the Thirties: Eclipse 44
Criterion’s latest Eclipse set showcases a neglected master of pre-New Wave French film, Julien Duvivier; the four films here are stylistically adventurous and have great emotional depth.
Search
Indexes
Monthly Archives
Recent Posts