First films are often a filmmaker’s worst movie, as they seem to be learning their craft as the film goes on. That said, they can also be instructive once they have a body of work, as you can often see the seeds of their future work embedded within. And though Christopher Nolan’s Following is one of his weakest efforts, all things considered, it’s still indicative of a talent that would emerge. Where in 1998 Nolan’s film may have come across as a clever but small riff on Pulp Fiction and the genre of crime films Tarantino helped launch, now you can see that Nolan was pretty on top of his game from the get go, even if his first film is a minor work. Our review of the The Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray of Following follows after the jump.
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For any film fan, Criterion is the tops as far as home video goes. It’s always a bit of an event when the Criterion Collection announces new titles as we know that whichever films are released, they’ll be presented in pristine condition with loads of fascinating extras. To ring in the New Year, Criterion has released a drawing that teases some of their upcoming 2013 titles. What ensues is a bit of a guessing game as to which pictures correspond to what movies. We were able to discern David Lynch’s Eraserhead, Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone, Peter Brook’s Lord of the Flies, Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last! and Delmer Daves’ 3:10 to Yuma, but we’re hoping our fine Collider readers can help discern the rest.
Hit the jump to take a look at the teaser art, and leave your guesses in the comments as to which films you think correspond to which drawings.
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This week on Blu-ray Bourne comes home, a Judd Apatow-produced 90s favorite gets an update, and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s big-screen debut hits home video. Briefly:
Hit the jump for all the details.
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One of the biggest films of the year finally hits home video this week on Blu-ray. Briefly:
Hit the jump for all the details.
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This week on Blu-ray, the revisionist Abraham Lincoln story comes to Blu, Blade Runner gets a 30th Anniversary edition upgrade, and Steven Soderbergh’s seriously great “male stripper movie” comes to home video. Briefly:
Hit the jump for all the details
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The folks over at the Criterion Collection are like little cinephile elves, working to bring us the highest quality versions of some of the best films from around the world. The discs can run a little on the expensive side, but for the next 24 hours the Criterion Collection is having a 50% off flash sale on any and all Criterion Blu-rays and DVDs. If you’ve been eyeing that Days of Heaven Blu-ray or you’re missing one last Wes Anderson film to complete your Criterion set, now’s the time to make your move.
Head over to Criterion’s website to peruse the collection and make your purchase. The sale ends tomorrow at noon EST.
This week on Blu-ray is an embarrassment of riches with all four Indiana Jones films, the new horror classic The Cabin in the Woods, a Criterion Collection edition of David Fincher’s The Game, Tim Burton’s wonderfully offbeat drama Ed Wood, and much more. Briefly:
Hit the jump for details on all the aforementioned new Blu-ray releases.
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Writer/director Wes Anderson has a close relationship with the wonderful folks at the Criterion Collection, and now one of his films that previously got the Criterion DVD treatment has finally gotten the Blu-ray upgrade. When The Royal Tenenbaums opened in 2001, it marked Anderson’s first major film as a “known” director. He burst onto the scene with 1996’s Bottle Rocket, but it was Rushmore that really launched his career. As such, The Royal Tenenbaums came with some pretty lofty expectations. Anderson honed the script with his partner Owen Wilson and went about assembling a truly remarkable ensemble cast. The results are kind of a mixed bag of humor, drama, and wit, but the film works more often than it doesn’t.
Hit the jump for my review of The Royal Tenenbaums Criterion Blu-ray.
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There are certain films that are simply magic. They are few and far between, and the experience of watching them often comes up over you. You realize you’re watching a masterpiece, and you don’t want the film to falter. You don’t want it to lose its bearings and for some reason become stupid, or disappointing. Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy envelops you in a story that is slow to unfold, but as it grows, it becomes intoxicating. William Shimell and Juliette Binoche star in this film about an author and one of his readers who go for a ride in the Italian countryside, only for their relationship to change as they spend more time together. Our review of the Criterion Collection Blu-ray release of Certified Copy follows after the jump.
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It’s been a long time coming, but director David Fincher’s 1997 thriller The Game is finally headed to Criterion later this year. Fincher previously talked about the release in an interview with Steve in 2010, and he stated that the hold-up was probably his fault as he still needed to look at the full cut before it could be released. The wait is finally over, as Criterion announced that the disc will hit DVD and Blu-ray on September 25th of this year. Included is a new, restored digital transfer supervised by Fincher and director of photography Harris Savides, an alternate 5.1 surround audio mix, commentary by Fincher, Savides and star Michael Douglas, and much more.
The Game is quite the twisted thriller, and while it’s not my favorite Fincher film it’s definitely worth checking out. Hit the jump to check out the Criterion cover (in keeping with Fincher’s other Criterion discs, it’s black), a full list of features and the trailer for the film.
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Jean-Pierre Melville is a director that has probably been loved more by directors and filmmakers than general audiences. John Woo swears by him. Quentin Tarantino adores him. Walter Hill was hip to him in the 1970’s, and made The Driver partly as an homage to Le Samourai. When I talked to Roger Deakins, he said that he constantly returned to the master. Le Cercle Rouge (“The Red Circle”) has been bouncing around for a while as something that may be possibly remade. But who could give the modulated cool of Alain Delon or Yves Montand? Unknown. But thank god Criterion put out the original on Blu-ray. Check out our review after the jump.
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Bob Rafelson started a production company called Raybert (a combination of his name and producer Bert Schneider) when he was working on the Monkees television show. But Rafelson had cinematic aspirations, and so he took the Monkees to the big screen and started a production company with Bert and Steven Blauner called BBS. Between Raybert and BBS they made seven films: The Monkees’ feature film Head; Dennis Hopper’s seminal biker movie Easy Rider, Rafelson’s masterpiece Five Easy Pieces, Jack Nicholson’s directorial debut Drive, He Said, Henry Jaglom’s first film A Safe Place, Peter Bogdanovich’s career starting film about small town sexuality The Last Picture Show, and Rafelson’s The King of Marvin Gardens. Seven film in four years, with regulars Karen Black, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn, and stars like Peter Fonda, Cybil Shepherd, Jeff Bridges, and Orson Welles, made during one of the most tumultuous and artistically rewarding periods of American cinema. This is why the Criterion Collection exists, and America Lost and Found: The BBS Story is one of those great collections in that it documents the progress, and success and failures of this organization. My review of the Blu-ray set of the film follows after the jump.
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As they suggest on the commentary, Ride with the Devil was a film without a home. When Oscar season came it was ignored, and for a film like this to get any traction it would need boosters. The studio had also gone through some changes, so it was someone else’s film, and it doing well could make the new management look bad. So the tale of Jack Bull Chiles (Skeet Ulrich) and Jake Roedell (Tobey Maguire), two Missourian bushwhackers fighting in the civil war, was dumped and got lost in a great year of cinema. Through the Criterion Collection, it threatens and deserves to be reincarnated. My review of Criterion’s Blu-ray of Ride with the Devil follows after the jump.
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This morning, Criterion announced they are losing the rights to a number of StudioCanal films. According to the email, at the end of March over 20 films will no longer be offered on DVD or Blu-ray (if available). The rights are going to Lionsgate, so they’ll be on DVD in the future, just not on the Criterion label. Therefore, if you’re a Criterion collector, or just someone that wants to own a great edition of these films, you might want to buy them ASAP or you’ll have to pay a collector price.
But the best part of the email is Criterion saying, “we will be offering these titles at an additional $5 off on our website.” Hit the jump for the list of movies and more info:
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