CriterionCast » Festivals

First Look At Berlinale Opener ‘Farewell, My Queen’

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:25:23 +0000

New photos from the upcoming Berlinale opener hit.

James Reviews Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado’s Rabies [Fantastic Fest 2011 Review]

James McCormick — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 05:16:59 +0000

If anyone knows me, they know I’m a bit of a horror fanatic. I will check out the majority of horror films [...]

James Reviews Yoshimasa Ishibashi’s Milocrorze: A Love Story [Fantastic Fest 2011 Review]

James McCormick — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:41:10 +0000

Director Yoshimasa Ishibashi (of The Fuccons TV series fame) brings us a fever dream of colors, self help, violence, love, pain, destruction, [...]

James Reviews Noboru Iguchi’s Karate-Robo Zaborgar [Fantastic Fest 2011 Review]

James McCormick — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:00:37 +0000

Sometimes a film comes along, shoves insanity right into your eyeballs and you accept it right from the start. This is one [...]

James Reviews Michael Roskam’s Bullhead [Fantastic Fest 2011 Review]

James McCormick — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:43:49 +0000

When you think about crime films, usually you don’t think of Belgium. I personally do, but that’s because I love the film [...]

James Reviews Nacho Vigalondo’s Extraterrestrial [Fantastic Fest 2011 Review]

James McCormick — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:32:33 +0000

When Nacho Vigalondo came into Austin back in 2007 with his film Timecrimes, nobody knew who he was. This all changed when [...]

James Reviews Evan Kelly’s The Corridor [Fantastic Fest 2011 Review]

James McCormick — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 03:51:00 +0000

Paranoia is one of the most frightening things in life and when done well in a film, it gives you that sense of [...]

James Reviews Justin Kurzel’s Snowtown [Fantastic Fest 2011 Review]

James McCormick — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 01:14:10 +0000

Sometimes when you go into a film with some lofty expectations, you’re going to be left disappointed. Sometimes it’s the [...]

James Is Heading To Fantastic Fest 2011, Here Are His Ten Most Anticipated Films

James McCormick — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:49:56 +0000

It’s true! It’s less than a day until I board a plane and land in beautiful Austin, Texas! Lots of exclamation points! [...]

Criterion And Janus Are Bringing Two Samurai Films To The Alamo Ritz, Free To Fantastic Fest Badgeholders

Ryan Gallagher — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:11:47 +0000

Later this month (September 22nd through the 29th) the film world will turn it’s attention back to Austin, Texas, for Fantastic Fest. [...]

Cannes Film Festival 2011 Roundup: Lars Von Trier, Reviews, And Jafar Panahi

Joshua Brunsting — Tue, 24 May 2011 04:20:19 +0000

Cannes usually manages to captivate the film community, but this year’s festival had its fair share of both hype and controversy.

I [...]

Catherine Reviews James Marsh’s Project Nim [IFFBoston 2011 Review]

Catherine Stebbins — Sun, 08 May 2011 05:17:57 +0000

Beginning to write about James Marsh’s documentary Project Nim, it becomes tempting to immediately spring into all-out praise mode. Marsh approaches stories [...]

Catherine Reviews Miranda July’s The Future [IFFBoston 2011 Review]

Catherine Stebbins — Wed, 04 May 2011 06:04:40 +0000

Miranda July’s brand of storytelling works mainly in spurts. When her methods work, they resonate with an authenticity that rarely comes around [...]

Catherine Reviews Liz Garbus’ Bobby Fischer Against the World [IFFBoston 2011 Review]

Catherine Stebbins — Wed, 04 May 2011 05:47:31 +0000

Biographical documentaries always present an inherent problem; how does one sum up a person’s life in ninety minutes? Some films take an [...]

Catherine Reviews Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip [IFFBoston 2011 Review]

Catherine Stebbins — Sun, 01 May 2011 00:22:20 +0000

The Trip boasts an unusual combination of dialogue-heavy comedy, of scenic travelogue complete with a focus on high-end food and finally a [...]

Catherine Reviews Richard Ayoade’s Submarine [IFFBoston 2011 Review]

Catherine Stebbins — Sun, 01 May 2011 00:16:07 +0000

By the end of Submarine, the audience will have spent ninety minutes in the head of Oliver Tate. It is an inventive [...]

Darren Aronofsky Heading Venice Film Festival Jury

Joshua Brunsting — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:00:14 +0000

There is no place like home, particularly when that home’s been rather nice to you.

The Venice International Film Festival revealed that [...]

Cannes Announces Classics Sidebar Lineup, Includes Five Film History Documentaries

Joshua Brunsting — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:00:12 +0000

With each day that passes, Cannes is becoming closer and closer, and now, for those looking forward to seeing a few, let’s [...]

Joshua Reviews Matt D’Elia’s American Animal [Late SXSW Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 06:41:26 +0000

Film can do many things. Inspiring awe in its viewers, drawing tears out of their tear ducts, or bringing laughs right from [...]

Olivier Assayas Joins The 2011 Cannes Film Festival Jury

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:23:27 +0000

With the Cannes Film Festival just a matter of weeks away, and the film’s announced, it’s now time for the jury to [...]

Cannes 2011 Lineup Announced; Features Films From Terrence Malick, Lars Von Trier And Lynne Ramsay

Joshua Brunsting — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:53:54 +0000

Finally, the speculation can end.

The minds behind this year’s Cannes Film Festival have announced the slate for the said festival, and [...]

Bong Joon-Ho Leading The Camera d’Or Jury At This Year’s Cannes Film Festival

Joshua Brunsting — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:00:39 +0000

While his own first feature (Barking Dog) is hard to find, there are very few names that know what it takes to [...]

Joshua Reviews Andrew Rossi’s Page One: A Year Inside The New York Times [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 02:01:10 +0000

The newspaper business has seen better days.

Over the past decade, with the rise of internet news, social networking and other outlets, [...]

Joshua Reviews Peter Richardson’s How To Die In Oregon [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:09:14 +0000

Death is not a subject many like to tackle head on.

However, much like any worthwhile documentary, the latest film from documentarian [...]

Joshua Talks To Alan Berg, Director Of Outside Industry: The Story Of SXSW [SXSW 2011]

Joshua Brunsting — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 07:13:34 +0000

One of the great pleasures of attending the SXSW Film Festival, is that it’s not rare to run into filmmakers, and get [...]

Joshua Reviews Jason Eisner’s Hobo With A Shotgun [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:59:08 +0000

Grindhouse style films are an interesting beast, within the world of film.

Often created out of promotional material like posters or low-budget [...]

Joshua Reviews Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:30:12 +0000

Very few filmmakers have the ability to shock an audience quite like the master of that emotion, Takashi Miike.

That’s exactly what [...]

Joshua Reviews Jodie Foster’s The Beaver [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:00:16 +0000

Sometimes, the most gifted artists also happen to be the most troubled.

A perfect example of this would be the ever talented [...]

Joshua Reviews Evan Glodell’s Bellflower [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:50:09 +0000

There are truly hand made films, and then there are films like Bellflower.

Arguably one of the most original pieces of narrative [...]

Joshua Reviews Steve James’ The Interrupters [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 01:53:43 +0000

While names like Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore may in fact garner the most publicity and attention, the true king of the [...]

Joshua Reviews Xavier Gens’ The Divide [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:51:46 +0000

“To survive the end of the world, you must first survive each other.”

That is the plot synopsis for the latest film [...]

Joshua Reviews Morgan Spurlock’s The Greatest Movie Ever Sold [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 04:44:04 +0000

Say what you will about documentary giant Morgan Spurlock, but the guy knows how to make a compelling documentary.

After making a [...]

Joshua Reviews Sophia Takal’s Green [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:58:00 +0000

While film festivals may play host to various A-list features, looking for some good buzz prior to its massive theatrical release (I’m [...]

Joshua Reviews James Gunn’s Super [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 03:55:02 +0000

While the superhero film genre itself has now become one of the most prevalent genres in modern filmmaking, the films deconstructing this [...]

Joshua Reviews Ti West’s The Innkeepers [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:50:45 +0000

Apparently 2011 is going to be quite the year for the ghost story on the big screen.

With Insidious kick [...]

Joshua Reviews Nicolas Lopez’s Que Pena Tu Vida [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:05:54 +0000

What’s in a name?

Apparently, when it comes to the latest film from writer/director Nicolas Lopez, it means a lot.

Entitled Que [...]

Joshua Reviews Constance Marks’ Being Elmo [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 07:05:19 +0000

“Who’s more famous than Elmo?”

That ones the one question brought up during the introduction of the new documentary, Being Elmo: A [...]

Joshua Reviews James Wan’s Insidious [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:44:29 +0000

James Wan is back, and he is back in one hell of a big way.

Best known for being the man that [...]

Joshua Reviews Duncan Jones’ Source Code [SXSW 2011 Review]

Joshua Brunsting — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:27:36 +0000

With the recent cavalcade of silly, innocuous alien invasion films and bland attempts at philosophically charged science fiction, it’s about time that [...]

CriterionCast Is Heading To SXSW 2011!

Ryan Gallagher — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:57:14 +0000

Starting this Friday, the film, music, and technology geeks of the world will descend upon Austin, Texas, for the week long party [...]

SXSW 2011 Preview: Aaron Rottinghaus’ Apart

Joshua Brunsting — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 07:53:10 +0000

While much of the focus going into this year’s SXSW Film Festival is on films like Paul, Source Code and The Beaver, [...]

Andrew Reviews Hilda Hidalgo’s Of Love And Other Demons [PIFF 2011 Review]

Andrew Collins — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 07:24:50 +0000

There are moments in “Of Love and Other Demons” where it feels as though the main character of the film is Eliza [...]

SXSW Announces Closing Night Film And More Additions

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:00:08 +0000

With SXSW rapidly approaching, the full film lineup is starting to get rounded out.

And today we know what will not only [...]

Andrew Reviews Oscar Ruiz Navia’s Crab Trap [PIFF 2011 Review]

Ryan Gallagher — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 07:02:52 +0000

[Hey readers, Ryan here. I'm so pleased to present the first review from a local cinephile here in Portland, Oregon: Andrew Collins. [...]

Jamie Reviews Iciar Bollain’s Even the Rain [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:36:04 +0000

The Spanish film Even the Rain begins with an open casting call. Bolivian locals have lined up around the block for [...]

Jamie Reviews Hans Petter Moland’s A Somewhat Gentle Man [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 02:47:13 +0000

Ulrik, played with understated humor and gravity by Stellan Skarsgård, has been in prison for 12 years. Too long for him, [...]

Jamie Reviews Giuseppe Capotondi’s The Double Hour [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 02:37:26 +0000

A “double hour” occurs when the hour is the same as the minutes on the clock. So, for instance, the first [...]

Jamie Reviews Craig McCall’s Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 02:15:26 +0000

Any cinema fan knows the story of a good cinematographer is really the tale of a good painter. Legendary cameraman Jack [...]

Jamie Reviews Im Sang-soo’s The Housemaid [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:00:17 +0000

You pretty much know where this one is going to go. A pretty young girl is hired to work as the [...]

Jamie Reviews Susanne Bier’s In a Better World [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:00:11 +0000

One of the nominees for this year’s Best Foreign Language Oscar, the Danish film In a Better World is really two [...]

SXSW Announces Festival Favorite Lineup Additions, Includes Steve James’ The Interrupters

Joshua Brunsting — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:00:59 +0000

While most of the films that will be playing this year’s SXSW Film Festival have been properly announced, there are a [...]

SXSW 2011 First Look: Greta Gerwig in The Dish & The Spoon

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:30:44 +0000

With SXSW being only a few weeks out, we are slowly getting our first looks at films that will be making [...]

Jamie Reviews Larysa Kondracki’s The Whistleblower [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:02:33 +0000

I swear this film festival is trying to break me.

The Whistleblower is tough viewing. Know that up front. It’s not [...]

Film Panel Lineup For SXSW 2011 Announced

Joshua Brunsting — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 04:18:36 +0000

When it comes to the average film festival, while most of the focus may be on the films debuting or showing, [...]

Jamie Reviews Benjamin Heisenberg’s The Robber [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 19:00:16 +0000

The new film from Benjamin Heisenberg (Sleeper) is based on a novel by Martin Prinz, which in turn was taken from [...]

Jamie Reviews Feng Xiaogang’s Aftershock [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:00:15 +0000

A few years back, a couple of friends of mine were running their own meme where they described the movie tastes [...]

Jafar Panahi Letter Read By Isabella Rossellini At Berlinale

Joshua Brunsting — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:00:09 +0000

“These might be the last words we hear from him (for a long time).”

Those were the sentiments uttered by Berlin [...]

Jamie Reviews Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:00:26 +0000

“It would be stupid for us to ruin our lives for an ideal.”

If ever a film was made for an [...]

Jamie Reviews Jan Hrebejk’s Kawasaki’s Rose [PIFF 2011 Review]

Jamie S. Rich — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 06:18:42 +0000

Kawasaki’s Rose pulls off a fairly effective rope-a-dope. The Czech film, written by Petr Jarchovskýn and directed by Jan Hrebejk begins [...]

Berlinale To Highlight Ingmar Bergman With Film Retrospective

Ryan Gallagher — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 05:40:36 +0000

Starting this Thursday, the Berlinale will kick off it’s 61st year of presenting some of the greatest films of [...]

Portland International Film Festival Line-Up, Ozon’s Potiche To Kick Off The Festival On Thursday

Ryan Gallagher — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 05:28:42 +0000

If you couldn’t already tell from the header image and the bit in the left sidebar, we are really excited about [...]

SXSW Announces 2011 Film Festival Lineup

Joshua Brunsting — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 05:15:57 +0000

While Cannes may have taken headlines early on Wednesday (with the announcement of Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris as the festival’s [...]

James Reviews Lynn Hershman Leeson’s W.A.R.: !Women Art Revolution [Sundance 2011 Review]

James McCormick — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:41:12 +0000

W”.A.R.” asks the question, “Can you name three women artists?” Can you do it? I know I had to think long [...]

Steve James Talks The Interrupters In This Sundance Video

Ryan Gallagher — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 07:31:55 +0000

While The Interrupters didn’t take home any awards tonight, it is still one of the films I am most interested in [...]

Sundance 2011 Award Winners Announced

Joshua Brunsting — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 06:09:20 +0000

Well, what has become a massively busy Sundance Film Festival has come to a close, and while distribution purchases will likely [...]

James Reviews Leonard Retel Helmrich’s Position Among the Stars [Sundance 2011 Review]

James McCormick — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 05:40:40 +0000

Leonard Retel Helmrich has been chronicling the lives of Bachtiar “Bakti” Becker and his mother, Rumidjah Sjamsuddin for three films and [...]

Rudie Reviews Clay Jeter’s Jess + Moss [Sundance Film Festival 2011 Review]

Rudie Obias — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:00:32 +0000

The balance between entertainment and art is a slippery slope. Most movies that strive for one or another usually peak with [...]

Rudie Reviews Joe Swanberg’s Uncle Kent [Sundance Film Festival Review 2011]

Rudie Obias — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:00:26 +0000

I’m just going to put this out there, right now, it’s movies like this that make me excited about cinema! Whether [...]

Sundance 2011 Acquisitions: Errol Morris’ Tabloid And Roger Corman Documentary

Joshua Brunsting — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:00:19 +0000

With the Sundance 2011 film festival in full swing, we have some distribution acquisitions to tell you about.

First, Sundance Selects

Watch The Trailer For Steve James’ Latest Film, The Interrupters

Ryan Gallagher — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:03:31 +0000

One of the last podcast episodes that we recorded with Travis, before he went on tour, was a discussion [...]

Sundance Film Festival Announces Their 2011 In-Competition Film Line-Up

Joshua Brunsting — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:00:48 +0000

Well, well, well, it’s finally getting to be that time of year once again.

Sundance is nearly a month away, and [...]

Episode 57.5 – Disc 2 – On The Screen and Listener Feedback

Ryan Gallagher — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 05:34:50 +0000

Disc 2 episodes are bonus/supplement episodes of The CriterionCast. Rudie Obias, Ryan Gallagher, &

Rudie Reviews To Be Heard [DOC NYC Film Festival 2010]

Rudie Obias — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 01:47:30 +0000

One of the things that makes us human is the idea of wanting to be heard. To make ourselves understood to [...]

Rudie Reviews Laura Israel’s Windfall [DOC NYC Film Festival 2010]

Rudie Obias — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 06:00:10 +0000

Most documentaries about the environment, namely on global warming, show the dark side of human activity. People unknowingly are responsible for [...]

Rudie Reviews Josef Birdman Astor’s Lost Bohemia [DOC NYC Film Festival]

Rudie Obias — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:00:48 +0000

Home is where the heart is, no matter where you find it, the concept of “home” is something everyone can relate [...]