Abbas Kiarostami’s The Koker Trilogy (1987-94):
Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on September 4, 2019September 5, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

Ahmad (Babak Ahmadpour) must figure out how to correct his own mistake to help his friend in Abbas Kiarostami's Where is the Friend's House? (1987)

Abbas Kiarostami’s multi-layered triptych of films dubbed The Koker Trilogy begins with a neorealist depiction of childhood in a small Iranian village and continues with an increasingly complex blend of documentary and fiction in which the director interrogates the nature of cinema itself through the impact of a devastating earthquake on the lives of the people who appeared in the first film. Criterion’s Blu-ray set showcases this masterpiece with excellent transfers and a substantial array of supplements.

Ozu Yasujiro’s The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952):
Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on August 31, 2019September 4, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

Mokichi Satake (Shin Saburi) finds melancholy comfort in a chance meeting with a former fellow soldier in Ozu Yasujiro’s The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)

Ozu Yasujiro’s melancholy social comedy The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952), which reflects major shifts in Japanese life in the post-war period, receives an excellent release from the Criterion Collection.

Marcel Pagnol’s The Baker’s Wife (1938):
Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on August 14, 2019August 13, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

Aimable (Raimu) becomes the butt of ribald jokes after Aurélie (Ginette Leclerc) runs away in Marcel Pagnol's The Baker's Wife (1938)

Criterion once again showcases the prodigious talent of French writer and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol with their Blu-ray release of The Baker’s Wife (1938), considered to be his best film.

Alan Pakula’s Klute (1971): Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on August 7, 2019August 4, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

Darkness encroaches on Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda)'s existence in Alan Pakula's Klute (1971)

Criterion’s exemplary Blu-ray release of Alan Pakula’s second feature, Klute (1971), offers a superb 4K scan from the original negative and extensive extras which highlight the film’s importance in the evolution of American cinema at a particularly turbulent time in both politics and popular culture, with a particular emphasis on Jane Fonda’s development as both actor and activist.

Sergei Bondarchuk’s War and Peace (1966-67):
Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on July 10, 2019July 7, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

Napoleon surveys the field of battle in Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace (1966-67)

Criterion’s two-disk Blu-ray release of Sergei Bondarchuk’s War and Peace showcases a restoration of what may well be the most expensive film ever made. Truly epic in scale, this adaptation of Tolstoy’s revered novel balances awe-inspiring spectacle with emotionally charged character drama. The 7+ hour feature is supplemented with three hours of informative new and archival extras.

William Wyler’s The Heiress (1949): Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on June 5, 2019June 12, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

In finally achieving independence Catherine (Olivia de Havilland) also accepts the prospect of loneliness in William Wyler's The Heiress (1949)

Criterion’s new Blu-ray offers a superb presentation of William Wyler’s greatest film, The Heiress (1949), a subtle yet scathing dissection of the ways in which money distorts and destroys human relationships.

Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd (1957): Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on May 8, 2019May 6, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Andy Griffith performs in a smalltown Arkansas jail in Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd (1957)

The Criterion Collection presents a new 4K restoration of Elia Kazan’s best film, A Face in the Crowd (1957). The excellent image showcases two of the finest performances of the 1950s: Andy Griffith in his screen debut as the countryboy-turned-demagogue Lonesome Rhodes and Patricia Neal as the smalltown radio reporter who discovers him and facilitates his rise to national stardom.

Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour (1945): Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on March 27, 2019March 27, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

Darkness and rain on a road to nowhere: the quintessence of film noir in Edgwar G. Ulmer's Detour (1946)

For the first time on home video, Edgar G. Ulmer’s minimalist film noir masterpiece, Detour (1946), gets the treatment it deserves; a stunning 4K restoration brings out every nuance in this story of a man and a woman ensnared by a malevolent Fate.

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s La vérité (1960):
Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on February 20, 2019February 19, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

Dominique (Brigitte Bardot) sees her sister's friend Gilbert for the first time in Henri-Georges Clouzot's La verite (1960)

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s La vérité (1960) is less well-known than Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, but it’s one of his finest features, a complex, emotionally wrenching work which gave Brigitte Bardot her greatest role. Criterion’s excellent new Blu-ray presents the film in a spectacular restoration, with substantial supplements.

Elaine May’s Mikey and Nicky (1976): Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on January 30, 2019February 3, 2019 by Kenneth George Godwin

Mikey (Peter Falk) tries to calm Nicky (John Cassavetes)'s paranoid panic in Elaine May's 1976 masterpiece

Criterion’s release of Elaine May’s one-of-a-kind Mikey and Nicky (1976) on Blu-ray calls attention to one of the most unjustly neglected movies of its era, a devastatingly raw dissection of masculinity, friendship and betrayal by a filmmaker who was too distinctively original to fit comfortably into the business of Hollywood.

Criterion