The Criterion Cast » Che

CriterionCast – Episode 045 – Steven Soderbergh’s Che [Criterion Collection # 496] – Special Guest: Moisés Chiullan

Rudie Obias — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:42:29 +0000

This is the podcast dedicated to The Criterion Collection. Rudie Obias, Ryan Gallagher & Moises Chiullan discuss Criterion News & Rumors and Criterion New Releases, they also analyze, discuss & highlight CC #496, Steven Soderbergh’s 2008 film, Che.

What do you think of their show? Please send them your feed back: CriterionCast@gmail.com or call their voicemail line @ 347.878.3430 or follow them on twitter @CriterionCast or Comment on their blog, http://CriterionCast.com.

Thank You! for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe to their podcast and please leave your reviews in their itunes feed.

They broadcast every episode LIVE on UStream every Friday @ 7pm EST/4pm PST. Join in on the conversation @ CriterionCast.com/LIVE

Our next episode they will highlight and discuss Criterion #105 Stanley Kurbick’s 1960 film, Spartacus.

Add It To Your Netflix Queue.

Show Notes:

(00:00 – 00:29; Steven Soderbergh’s Che – CC #496)

(00:30 – 00:46; “A United Theory” by God Help The Girl)

(00:47 – 2:05; The CriterionCast – Episode 045 – Che – CC #496)

[NEWS & RUMORS]

(02:06 – 09:06; Terry Gilliam and Arcade Fire Team Up)

(09:07 – 19:04; A Film Unfinished Receives A Rated “R” From The MPAA)

(19:05 – 21:56; Barnes & Noble Is Up For Sale)

[CRITERION NEW RELEASES]

(21:35 – 27:56; Criterion New Releases)

(27:57 – 28:43; Break Music by Carlos Segovia)

[FEATURE FILM]

(28:44 – 1:23:06; Steven Soderbergh’s Che: Part 1 – CC #496)

(1:23:07 – 1:23:54; Break Music by Carlos Segovia)

[FEATURE FILM]

(1:23:55 – 2:03:07; Steven Soderbergh’s Che: Part 2 – CC #496)

[CREDITS]

(2:03:08 – 2:05:15; Wrap Up, Contact Info & Credits)

(2:05:16 – 2:05:50; Next – Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 film, Spartacus – (CC #105)

(2:05:51 – 2:06:03; Goodbyes)

(2:06:04 – 2:06:45; “Working Poor” by Horse Feathers)

(2:06:46 – 2:09:49; Outtakes!!)

Music Credits:

Intro Music by God Help The Girl. Learn more on iTunes and their website, GodHelpTheGirl.com.

Break Music by Carlos Segovia. Learn more @ GhostRamps.com.

Outro Music by Horse Feathers. Learn more on iTunes and their MySpace Page, MySpace.com/HorseFeathersMusic.

Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion To Be First Film Shot On RED’s Epic Tattoo Camera

Ryan Gallagher — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:14:52 +0000

We all know how much Steven Soderbergh loves the RED Cameras. Anyone who has followed his directorial career over the past few years will know that he was one of the first directors to get his hands on the hot new piece of technology that is helping ease the change from film to digital movie making.

RED’s CEO Jim Jannard recently announced that Steven Soderbergh will in fact be using their new, and not yet available, EPIC-X (Codenamed Tattoo) cameras for his upcoming film, Contagion. This will in fact be the first feature film shot on the new camera which is capable of capturing 5K images.

Contagion is set to start filming this September, with a presumed release date of October 2011 (Oscar Season?), starring Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne and Gwyneth Paltrow. From IMDB:

An action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak.

We’re going to be broadcasting our episode 45, discussing Soderbergh’s Che later tonight, and will inevitably chat about his use of the first RED cameras. The supplemental features on the Criterion release for Che include a fantastic documentary, narrating the early life of the Camera, with all of it’s ups and downs.

Here is a clip from the documentary, if you like what you see, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing the Blu-ray (or DVD), it is one of my most prized Criterion Collection releases from 2010.

Che and the Digital Cinema Revolution from high rez on Vimeo.

Technical Features of the EPIC-X (Courtesy of RedUser.net):

EPIC-X FEATURES

RED DSMC (Digital Stills and Motion Camera)

New MYSTERIUM-X 5K sensor
5K (2:1) at 1-100fps
4K (2:1) at 1-125fps
Quad HD at 1-120fps
3K (2:1) at 1-160fps
2K (2:1) at 1-250fps
1080P (scaled from full frame) at 1-60fps
Increased Dynamic Range, reduced noise
Time Lapse, Frame Ramping
REDCODE 250
ISO 200-8000
New FLUT Color Science

Completely Modular System, each Module individually upgradeable
Independent Stills and Motion Modes (both record full resolution REDCODE RAW)
5 Axis Adjustable Sensor Plate
Multiple Recording Media Options (Compact Flash, 1.8” SSD, RED Drives, RED RAM)
Wireless REDMOTE control
Touchscreen LCD control option
Bomb-EVF, RED-EVF and RED-LCD compatible
Multiple User Control Buttons
Interchangeable Lens mounts including focus and iris control of electronic RED, Canon and Nikon lenses (along with Zoom data)
“Touch Focus Tracking” with electronic lens mounts and RED Touchscreen LCDs
LDS and /i Data enabled PL Mount
Rollover Battery Power
Independent LUTs on Monitor Outputs
Independent Frame Guides and Menu overlays on Monitor Outputs
Monitor Ports support both LCD and EVF
True Shutter Sync In/Out and Strobe Sync Out
720P, 1080P and 2K monitoring support
Gigagbit Network interface and 802.11 Wireless interface
3 Axis internal motion sensor, built in GPS receiver
Enhanced Metadata
Full size connectors on Pro I/O Module. AES Digital Audio input, single and dual link HD-SDI
Support for RED, most Arri 19mm, Studio 15mm, 15mm Lite, Panavision and NATO accessories

Dimensions- Approx. 4”x4”x5.5”
Weight (Brain only)- Approx. 6 lbs (2.72kg)

What do you think about this shift from Film to Digital? Are you all for it? Or “kids today!”?

3 Months Into 2010, Let’s Revisit The Cryptic New Years Drawing [Criterion New Releases]

Ryan Gallagher — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:28:57 +0000

So, looking at the Cryptic New Years Drawing that we received back in January was a pretty clear roadmap for their release schedule so far. Over the past three months, we’ve seen almost all of the films that were hinted at in this drawing have their official announcements. Clearly this drawing has not contained all of the 2010 films, but it has been fun crossing them off each month.

What has been announced so far? I’ll break it down for you:

Locusts = Blu-ray release of Days of Heaven
Hotel sign = Vivre Sa Vie
Pitcher of milk = Bigger than Life
Blue leopard = The Leopard on Blu-ray
Red desert = Red Desert
Guy riding with the devil = Ride With The Devil
Blue M on guy’s jacket = M on Blu-ray
Giant baby = Colossal Youth
Dog with star t-shirt = Brakhage on Blu-ray
Hatchet in tree stump = Revanche
Woman = Lola Montes
Gun that woman is holding = Dillinger is Dead
Che t-shirt = Che
Guy on motorcycle = Close-Up
Vase = Summer Hours
Street signs = Paris, Texas; Rossellini War Trilogy; and Make Way for Tomorrow

So, according to my calculations, we have a few releases that are clear from this image left to announce.

The feather under the baby, which we have taken to be Zolta Korda’s The Four Feathers (1939), has not been announced yet.

The red slippers, clearly a nod to the Red Shoes restoration, has not been officially announced either, but you can actually see the film over on Netflix Watch Instantly (sadly, not in HD).

The samurai holding the blue sword is one of the less clear release hints. Could it be the recent Sanjuro / Yojimbo Blu-ray releases? Could it be the yet unannounced Seven Samurai Blu-ray? Maybe the Zatoichi – The Blind Swordsman, that Criterion recently added to their official Hulu Channel?

I also circled the bottom half of the Lola Montes / Che t-shirt wearing woman, mostly because it stood out as perhaps a separate release from Lola Montes. Is it a reference to perhaps a different film from the Red Shoes? Maybe a Blu-ray release of Martha Graham – Dance on Film?

Finally, I circled the sun as well, mostly because we had not touched on it with our initial post. Is this simply a piece of the drawing, without any sort of symbolism? I find that unlikely, but I haven’t found any movies that it could be hinting at. Also, does the blue sky represent an overall shift to Blu-ray? Or perhaps that Blu-ray is in the air? Or “up in the air?” Not that I’m saying an Up In The Air Criterion release is due, but rather, the whole Blu-ray shift is not as definitive as some would like to believe?

Also, one last crazy theory of mine: perhaps the line work for the red desert could also represent the Thin Red Line rumored (not so much a rumor) release?

There are certainly a lot of questions presented in that paragraph, but I wanted to throw this out to all of you readers and listeners, to see what your thoughts were on the remaining titles from this drawing. Should Criterion commission a new piece of art from Jason Polan, laying out the second half of the year? Let us know what you think, in the comments below.

The CriterionCast – Episode 021.5 – Disc 2

Rudie Obias — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:19:48 +0000

“Disc 2″ episodes are bonus/supplement episodes of The CriterionCast. Rudie, Ryan and Travis ramble on about movies and movie experiences. In “On The Screen” they discuss anything and everything that has been on their screens throughout the week. Anything from TV & movies to music & web material, everything “On The Screen” is up for grabs. This is what they recommend to you, the listeners.

Topic of Discussion:

Ozu Vs Avatar & Conan Vs Leno

What do you think of our show? Is there a Criterion Film you would like us to review? Please send you’re feed back: CriterionCast@gmail.com or call our voicemail line @ 347.878.3430 or follow us on twitter @CriterionCast or leave us comments below the post.

Thank you for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast and please leave your reviews in our iTunes feed.

Our next episode we will discuss Criterion #045 Next – Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry.

Add It To Your Netflix Queue.

Show Notes:

(00:00 – 00:09; “A Rush Apart” by The Rural Alberta Advantage)

(00:10 – 01:02; The CriterionCast – Episode 021.5 – Disc 2)

(01:03 – 04:45; Fantastic Mr. Fox – Rudie Obias)

(04:46 – 08:08; Chuck Season 3 premiere – Rudie Obias)

(08:09 – 15:21; Sharkskin Man & Peach Hit Girl – Travis George)

(15:22 – 15:47; LOST – Ryan Gallagher)

(15:48 – 20:53; The Book of Eli – Ryan Gallagher)

(20:54 – 23:00; Che – Ryan Gallagher – Check out Ryan’s full review of the Che Blu-ray here.)

(23:01 – 26:15; Good Eats – Ryan Gallagher)

(26:16 – 39:22; Topic of Discussion – Ozu Vs Avatar & Conan Vs Leno)

(39:23 – 40:56; Wrap Up & Contact Info)

(40:57 – 41:11; Music Credits)

(41:12 – 43:25; Next – Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry – Criterion #045)

(43:26 – 43:43; Follow Along With Us @ CriterionCast.com/Schedule)

(43:44 – 43:56; Goodbyes)

(43:57 – 44:44; “Sperm & Egg” by Flotation Walls)

(44:45 – 45:48; Outtakes)

Music Credits:

Opening Music:
“Rush Apart” by The Rural Alberta Advantage. Learn more @ TheRAA.com

Closing Music:
“Sperm & Egg” by Flotation Walls. Learn more @ FlotationWalls.com

Steven Soderbergh’s Che – Criterion Collection # 496 [Blu-ray Review]

Ryan Gallagher — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:00:10 +0000

Whether you know his story or not, you know the face. Whether on a t-shirt, dorm room poster, coffee mug, or button, Ernesto “Che” Guevara has become an inter-generational pop symbol for rebellion, to the dismay of true revolutionaries around the world. While there have been films, both documentaries and dramatizations, and books written about Guevara, Steven Soderbergh has finally presented the world with a heart breakingly honest portrayal of the man behind the icon. This film does not “cuddle up” to you, it presents Guevara and the surrounding events often at a distance.

I am no historian, but after watching both parts of the film, along with the commentaries and documentaries included in the Criterion Collection release, I feel like I just took an entire semester’s worth of information and crammed it into two Blu-ray discs. While there are no commentary tracks by Soderbergh, we do hear from Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. Anderson has spent years traveling around the world studying Guevara, speaking to those who knew him, who fought alongside him. What I found especially compelling about the commentary, was Anderson’s contextualization of Che, in today’s world. Anderson has also traveled through Iraq and Afganistan, and makes subtle comparisons to Osama Bin Laden, in how both figures are viewed, by the international population.

This film does not glorify Guevara, or the violence he inflicted. It does not show him as an unstoppable force, as he is often brought to his knees by his asthma. The film does not demonize Guevara either. It shows him at both his most sympathetic, and his most repulsive. We see the poet, the physician, the warrior, ultimately showing the “ultimate hipster of the hippie age.”

What I love about the home entertainment format, be it DVD or Blu-ray are the bonus features. That is initially what drew me into buying DVDs, eventually falling into the gravitational orbit of Criterion. Since beginning my collection, I have found that not all DVDs, or Blu-rays for that matter, are treated equally in the eyes of their parents. Even Criterion has managed to put out a few bare bones releases, keeping in mind that while you may not be getting much in the way of bonus materials, you are getting a gorgeous transfer of the film to keep you entertained each time you load the disc. This release stands up against the greatest of releases put out by the Collection, be it the 3 Disc Brazil Box set, or the recent 3 Disc Remastered Edition of Seven Samurai.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

High-definition digital masters, supervised and approved by director Steven Soderbergh, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

New audio commentaries featuring Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life

Making “Che,” a new documentary featuring Soderbergh, producer Laura Bickford, actor-producer Benicio del Toro, and writers Peter Buchman and Ben van der Veen

Interviews with participants in and historians of the Cuban Revolution and Che’s Bolivian campaign

End of a Revolution, a short documentary made in Bolivia right after Che’s execution in 1967

“Che” and the Digital Cinema Revolution, an original video piece looking at the RED camera and its effect on modern film production

Deleted scenes

Theatrical trailer

PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Amy Taubin

I almost enjoyed the bonus materials more than the films themselves. While the films themselves are absolutely gorgeous to watch, I often enjoy the process of filmmaking more than the resulting work. On the first disc of the Blu-ray set, we are presented with “Making “Che,” a new documentary featuring Soderbergh, producer Laura Bickford, actor-producer Benicio del Toro, and writers Peter Buchman and Ben van der Veen” which is a real joy. If you love already Soderbergh’s filmmaking ethics, you will fall in love all over again. A simple choice, the fact that Guevara would never speak english, so to have a film in english would be completely dishonest to everyone involved, shows a work ethic that most directors simply cannot afford in today’s film economy. That decision would ultimately aid in the film’s financial failure (not even making $2million worldwide). It is amazing to think that this film would probably not have been able to raise enough funds had it been organized this year, instead of roughly two years ago. Soderbergh has not forgotten his indie roots, and it shows in how he uses the latest in technology, the RED Camera, to produce the highest quality image for the cheapest price. On the second disc of the Blu-ray we are treated to a short piece specifically on the camera used in the filming of Che. This small piece of filmmaking technology is quickly changing the landscape of smaller budget filmmaking. It is no longer necessary to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in Panavision Cameras, in filmstock, in the crew required to maintain suck equipment, when everything can be purchased for under $50,000, and stored in a backpack. While revolutionary, the camera is not without its faults. Being the very first camera produced for use in the field, the unit suffers from overheating, sand making its way into the sensor area, and other hardships. Something that I love about Soderbergh, is his ability to move past any problems he is faced with, with little complaints. It is something I try to bring to all of my own projects, to not see these problems as roadblocks, but simply detours, taking us to new and exciting territories.

I whole-heartedly endorse this release. While I did not have a chance to review the DVD release, the Blu-ray was incredible. Even having watched both films, along with the commentary, I feel like I’m still not clear on the story told to me. I want to go back and re-watch these films on a regular basis. This release is something I will return to those nights when I’m feeling culturally starved, in need of real filmmaking, by an artist I respect on multiple levels. There is a point in one of the documentaries, where Soderbergh talks of how disposable films are today, and how he wanted to create something that will last. He absolutely has created something that will last.

One last note, that I couldn’t quite figure out where to place in the review: During the RED Camera documentary, we are treated to illustrations by Jason Polan, the artist Criterion occasionally uses for their online artwork. My favorite moment was when he illustrated 237 Flash Cards on the screen, to show how many were purchased to have on hand at any one time during the shoot.

You can hear me gush all over this release on our latest episode of CriterionCast, Episode 21, in which we also discuss Haxan.

If you want to read some more thoughts I had on the cover art design, check out this post. While I feel like the final, orange cover is a bit cheap, a little unrefined, it does not take away from the quality of material contained within the discs. It should be noted that each disc of the Blu-ray release is housed within their own jewel cases, each with a different image of Guevara, at this point not available for viewing on Criterion’s page.

[Photo credits: The Criterion Collection]

Netflix Adds 35 Criterion Collection Films To Watch Instantly [Criterion on Netflix]

Ryan Gallagher — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:31:07 +0000

[Update 1/22/10 - Netflix Added Even More Criterion Films To Watch Instantly]

Well, as listeners of the podcast are well aware of, we love Netflix here on CriterionCast. Specifically we love the ability to watch movies quickly and easily without having to wait for a disc to be delivered to our mailboxes. While I personally long for the day that Netflix begins offering all of the bonus materials, along with commentaries on their streaming films, it is a treat to have these incredible films available in an instant.

As promised, here are the latest additions to Netflix’s Watch Instantly collection of Criterion Collection films.

Kudos to Alex Riviello over on CHUD for beating me to the punch by posting this list earlier, they are true cinephiles over there.

The descriptions of the films have been taken from their product pages over on Criterion.com, you can find links directly to Criterion alongside each item.

High and Low

Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in Akira Kurosawa’s highly influential High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku). Adapting Ed McBain’s detective novel King’s Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a penetrating portrait of contemporary Japanese society. Criterion is proud to present High and Low in an all-new high-definition digital transfer.

http://www.criterion.com/films/543

Jules and Jim

Hailed as one of the finest films ever made, legendary director François Truffaut’s early masterpiece Jules and Jim charts the relationship between two friends and the object of their mutual obsession over the course of twenty-five years. Jeanne Moreau stars as Catherine, the alluring and willful young woman whose enigmatic smile and passionate nature lure Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre) into one of cinema’s most captivating romantic triangles. An exuberant and poignant meditation on freedom, loyalty, and the fortitude of love, Jules and Jim was a worldwide smash upon its release in 1962 and remains as audacious and entrancing today.

http://www.criterion.com/films/218

Sanjuro

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, the jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan’s evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a “proper” samurai on its ear. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but just as engaging, this classic character’s return is a masterpiece in its own right, now presented in a new high-definition digital transfer.

http://www.criterion.com/films/598

Seven Samurai

One of the most beloved movie epics of all time, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) tells the story of a sixteenth-century village whose desperate inhabitants hire the eponymous warriors to protect them from invading bandits. This three-hour ride—featuring legendary actors Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura—seamlessly weaves philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action into a rich, evocative, and unforgettable tale of courage and hope.

http://www.criterion.com/films/165

Summertime

An American spinster’s dream of romance finally becomes a bittersweet reality when she meets a handsome—but married—Italian man while vacationing in Venice. Katharine Hepburn’s sensitive portrayal of the lonely heroine and Jack Hildyard’s glorious Technicolor photography make Summertime an endearing and visually enchanting film.

http://www.criterion.com/films/368

The Vanishing

A young man begins an obsessive search for his girlfriend after she mysteriously disappears during their sunny vacation getaway. His three-year investigation draws the attention of her abductor, a seemingly mild-mannered professor who, in truth, harbors a diabolically clinical and calculating mind. When the kidnapper contacts the man and promises to reveal his lover’s fate, The Vanishing unfolds with intense precision, culminating in a genuinely chilling finale that has unnerved audiences around the world.

http://www.criterion.com/films/677

Walkabout

Nicolas Roeg’s mystical masterpiece chronicles the physical, spiritual, and emotional journey of a sister and brother abandoned in the harsh Australian outback. Joining an Aborigine boy on his walkabout—a tribal initiation into manhood—these modern children pass from innocence into experience as they are thrust from the comforts of civilization into the savagery of the natural world.

http://www.criterion.com/films/522

Yojimbo

The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa’s visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice, by Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars) and Walter Hill (Last Man Standing), this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential and entertaining films ever produced. Criterion is proud to present this Kurosawa favorite in a new, high-definition digital transfer.

http://www.criterion.com/films/597

My Life as a Dog

My Life as a Dog tells the story of Ingemar, a working-class twelve-year-old sent to live with his uncle in a country village when his mother falls ill. Once there, Ingemar finds refuge from his misfortunes and unexpected adventure with the help of the town’s warmhearted eccentrics. A bittersweet evocation of the struggles and joys of childhood, this film features an incredibly mature and unaffected performance by lead actor Anton Glanzelius.

http://www.criterion.com/films/727

For All Mankind

In July 1969, the space race ended when Apollo 11 fulfilled President Kennedy’s challenge of “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” No one who witnessed the lunar landing will ever forget it. Al Reinert’s documentary For All Mankind is the story of the twenty-four men who traveled to the moon, told in their words, in their voices, using the images of their experiences. Forty years after the first moon landing, it remains the most radical, visually dazzling work of cinema yet made about this earthshaking event.

http://www.criterion.com/films/599

Cleo from 5 to 7

Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer (Corinne Marchand) set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.

http://www.criterion.com/films/244

Sisters

Margot Kidder is Danielle, a beautiful model separated from her Siamese twin, Dominique. When a hotshot reporter (Jennifer Salt) suspects Dominique of a brutal murder, she becomes dangerously ensnared in the sisters’ insidious sibling bond. A scary and stylish paean to female destructiveness, De Palma’s first foray into horror voyeurism is a stunning amalgam of split-screen effects, bloody birthday cakes, and a chilling score by frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann. Criterion is proud to present Sisters in a new Special Edition.

http://www.criterion.com/films/377

Closely Watched Trains

At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot. Wry and tender, Academy Award™-winning Closely Watched Trains is a masterpiece of human observation and one of the best-loved films of the Czech New Wave.

http://www.criterion.com/films/212

M. Hulot’s Holiday

Pipe-smoking Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, takes a holiday at a seaside resort where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s wildly funny satire of vacationers determined to enjoy themselves includes a series of precisely choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers. The first entry in the Hulot series is a masterpiece of gentle slapstick.

http://www.criterion.com/films/360

Rashomon

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man’s murder and the rape of his wife. Toshiro Mifune gives another commanding performance in the eloquent masterwork that revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema to the world.

http://www.criterion.com/films/307

I Vitelloni

Five young men linger in a postadolescent limbo, dreaming of adventure and escape from their small seacoast town. They while away their time spending the lira doled out by their indulgent families on drink, women, and nights at the local pool hall. Federico Fellini’s second solo directorial effort (originally released in the U.S. as The Young and the Passionate) is a semiautobiographical masterpiece of sharply drawn character sketches: Skirt chaser Fausto, forced to marry a girl he has impregnated; Alberto, the perpetual child; Leopoldo, a writer thirsting for fame; and Moraldo, the only member of the group troubled by a moral conscience. An international success and recipient of an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Screenplay, I vitelloni compassionately details a year in the life of a group of small-town layabouts struggling to find meaning in their lives.

http://www.criterion.com/films/966

Wild Strawberries

The film that catapulted Bergman to the forefront of world cinema is the director’s richest, most humane movie. Traveling to receive an honorary degree, Professor Isak Borg (masterfully played by the veteran Swedish director Victor Sjöström), is forced to face his past, come to terms with his faults, and accept the inevitability of his approaching death. Through flashbacks and fantasies, dreams and nightmares, Wild Strawberries captures a startling voyage of self-discovery and renewed belief in mankind.

http://www.criterion.com/films/175

L’Avventura

A girl mysteriously disappears on a yachting trip. While her lover and her best friend search for her across Italy, they begin an affair. Antonioni’s penetrating study of the idle upper class offers stinging observations on spiritual isolation and the many meanings of love. Criterion is proud to present this milestone of film grammar in a double-disc special edition.

http://www.criterion.com/films/209

Hidden Fortress

A general and a princess must dodge enemy clans while smuggling the royal treasure out of hostile territory with two bumbling, conniving peasants at their sides; it’s a spirited adventure that only Akira Kurosawa could create. Acknowledged as a primary influence on George Lucas’s Star Wars, The Hidden Fortress delivers Kurosawa’s inimitably deft blend of wry humor, breathtaking action and humanist compassion on an epic scale. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this landmark motion picture in a stunning, newly restored Tohoscope edition.

http://www.criterion.com/films/655

General Idi Amin Dada

In 1971, the small African nation of Uganda was taken over by self-styled dictator General Idi Amin Dada, beginning an eight-year reign of terror that would result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. In this chilling yet darkly comic documentary, director Barbet Schroeder turns his cameras on the infamous tyrant, revealing the dynamic, charming, and appallingly dangerous man whose fanatical neuroses held an entire nation in their grip. Made with the full support and participation of the infamous dictator, General Idi Amin Dada provides a candid and disturbing portrait of one of the 20th century’s most notorious figures.

http://www.criterion.com/films/545

Man Bites Dog

Documentary filmmakers André and Rémy have found an ideal subject in Ben. He is witty, sophisticated, intelligent, well liked—and a serial killer. As André and Rémy document Ben’s routines, they become increasingly entwined in his vicious program, sacrificing their objectivity and their morality. Controversial winner of the International Critics’ Prize at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, Man Bites Dog stunned audiences worldwide with its unflinching imagery and biting satire of media violence.

http://www.criterion.com/films/718

The Lower Depths

Jean Renoir and Akira Kurosawa, two of cinema’s greatest directors, transform Maxim Gorky’s classic proletariat play The Lower Depths in their own ways for their own times. Renoir, working amidst the rise of Hitler and the Popular Front in France, had need to take license with the dark nature of Gorky’s source material, softening its bleak outlook. Kurosawa, firmly situated in the postwar world, found little reason for hope. He remained faithful to the original with its focus on the conflict between illusion and reality—a theme he would return to over and over again. Working with their most celebrated actors (Gabin with Renoir; Mifune with Kurosawa), each film offers a unique look at cinematic adaptation—where social conditions and filmmaking styles converge to create unique masterpieces.

http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/487

Ikiru

Considered by some to be Akira Kurosawa’s greatest achievement, Ikiru presents the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an exploration of a man’s death. Takashi Shimura portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer forced to strip the veneer off his existence and find meaning in his final days. Told in two parts, Ikiru offers Watanabe’s quest in the present, and then through a series of flashbacks. The result is a multifaceted look at a life through a prism of perspectives, resulting in a full portrait of a man who lacked understanding from others in life.

http://www.criterion.com/films/353

Onibaba

Deep within the wind-swept marshes of war-torn medieval Japan, an impoverished mother and her daughter-in-law eke out a lonely, desperate existence. Forced to murder lost samurai and sell their belongings for grain, they dump the corpses down a deep, dark hole and live off of their meager spoils. When a bedraggled neighbor returns from the skirmishes, lust, jealousy, and rage threaten to destroy the trio’s tenuous existence, before an ominous, ill-gotten demon mask seals the trio’s horrifying fate. Driven by primal emotions, dark eroticism, a frenzied score by Hikaru Hayashi, and stunning images both lyrical and macabre, Kaneto Shindo’s chilling folktale Onibaba is a singular cinematic experience.

http://www.criterion.com/films/665

Le Corbeau

A mysterious writer of poison-pen letters, known only as Le Corbeau (the Raven), plagues a French provincial town, unwittingly exposing the collective suspicion and rancor seething beneath the community’s calm surface. Made during the Nazi Occupation of France, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Le Corbeau was attacked by the right-wing Vichy regime, the left-wing Resistance press, the Catholic Church, and was banned after the Liberation. But some—including Jean Cocteau and Jean-Paul Sartre—recognized the powerful subtext to Clouzot’s anti-informant, anti-Gestapo fable, and worked to rehabilitate Clouzot’s directorial reputation after the war. Le Corbeau brilliantly captures a spirit of paranoid pettiness and self-loathing turning an occupied French town into a twentieth-century Salem.

http://www.criterion.com/films/684

Overlord

Seamlessly interweaving archival war footage and a fictional narrative, Stuart Cooper’s immersive account of one twenty-year-old’s journey from basic training to the front lines of D-Day brings all the terrors and isolation of war to life with jolting authenticity. Overlord, impressionistically shot by Stanley Kubrick’s longtime cinematographer John Alcott, is both a document of World War II and a dreamlike meditation on man’s smallness in a large, incomprehensible machine.

http://www.criterion.com/films/550

La Bete Humaine

Based on the classic Emile Zola novel, Jean Renoir’s La bête humaine was one of the legendary director’s greatest popular successes—and earned star Jean Gabin a permanent place in the hearts of his countrymen. Part poetic realism, part film noir, the film is a hard-boiled and suspenseful journey into the tormented psyche of a workingman.

http://www.criterion.com/films/773

Pickpocket

Robert Bresson’s incomparable tale of crime and redemption follows Michel, a young pickpocket who spends his days working the streets, subway cars, and train stations of Paris. As his compulsion grows, however, so too does his fear that his luck is about to run out. Tautly choreographed and crafted in Bresson’s inimitable style, Pickpocket reveals a master director at the height of his powers.

http://www.criterion.com/films/229

You can also hear our discussion of Pickpocket here.

Elevator to the Gallows

In his mesmerizing debut feature, twenty-four-year-old director Louis Malle brought together the beauty of Jeanne Moreau, the camerawork of Henri Decaë, and a now legendary score by Miles Davis. A touchstone of the careers of both its star and director, Elevator to the Gallows is a richly atmospheric thriller of murder and mistaken identity unfolding over one restless Parisian night.

http://www.criterion.com/films/778

Cria Cuervos

Carlos Saura’s exquisite Cría cuervos . . . heralded a turning point in Spain: shot while General Franco was on his deathbed, the film melds the personal and the political in a portrait of the legacy of fascism and its effects on a middle-class family (the title derives from the Spanish proverb: “Raise ravens and they’ll peck out your eyes”). Ana Torrent (the dark-eyed beauty from The Spirit of the Beehive) portrays the disturbed eight-year-old Ana, living in Madrid with her two sisters and mourning the death of her mother, whom she conjures as a ghost (an ethereal Geraldine Chaplin). Seamlessly shifting between fantasy and reality, the film subtly evokes both the complex feelings of childhood and the struggles of a nation emerging from the shadows.

http://www.criterion.com/films/519

Mala Noche

With its low budget and lush black-and-white imagery, Gus Van Sant’s debut feature Mala Noche heralded an idiosyncratic, provocative new voice in American independent film. Set in Van Sant’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, the film evokes a world of transient workers, dead-end day-shifters, and bars and seedy apartments bathed in a profound nighttime, as it follows a romantic deadbeat with a wayward crush on a handsome Mexican immigrant. Mala Noche was an important prelude to the New Queer Cinema of the nineties and is a fascinating capsule from a time and place that continues to haunt its director’s work.

http://www.criterion.com/films/253

Europa

“You will now listen to my voice . . . On the count of ten you will be in Europa . . .” So begins Max von Sydow’s opening narration to Lars von Trier’s hypnotic Europa (known in the U.S. as Zentropa), a fever dream in which American pacifist Leopold Kessler (Jean-Marc Barr) stumbles into a job as a sleeping-car conductor for the Zentropa railways in a Kafkaesque 1945 postwar Frankfurt. With its gorgeous black-and-white and color imagery and meticulously recreated (if then nightmarishly deconstructed) costumes and sets, Europa is one of the great Danish filmmaker’s weirdest and most wonderful works, a runaway-train ride to an oddly futuristic past.

http://www.criterion.com/films/768

Wings of Desire

Wings of Desire is one of cinema’s loveliest city symphonies. Bruno Ganz is Damiel, an angel perched atop buildings high over Berlin who can hear the thoughts—fears, hopes, dreams—of all the people living below. But when he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, he is willing to give up his immortality and come back to earth to be with her. Made not long before the fall of the Berlin wall, this stunning tapestry of sounds and images, shot in black and white and color by the legendary Henri Alekan, is movie poetry. And it forever made the name Wim Wenders synonymous with film art.

http://www.criterion.com/films/200

Z

A pulse-pounding political thriller, Greek expatriate director Costa-Gavras’s Z was one of the cinematic sensations of the late sixties, and remains among the most vital dispatches from that hallowed era of filmmaking. This Academy Award winner—loosely based on the 1963 assassination of Greek left-wing activist Gregoris Lambrakis—stars Yves Montand as a prominent politician and doctor whose public murder amid a violent demonstration is covered up by military and government officials; Jean-Louis Trintignant is the tenacious magistrate who’s determined not to let them get away with it. Featuring kinetic, rhythmic editing, Raoul Coutard’s expressive vérité photography, and Mikis Theodorakis’s unforgettable, propulsive score, Z is a technically audacious and emotionally gripping masterpiece.

http://www.criterion.com/films/1400

The Seventh Seal

Disillusioned and exhausted after a decade of battling in the Crusades, a knight (Max von Sydow) encounters Death on a desolate beach and challenges him to a fateful game of chess. Much studied, imitated, even parodied, but never outdone, Bergman’s stunning allegory of man’s search for meaning, The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet), was one of the benchmark foreign imports of America’s 1950s art-house heyday, pushing cinema’s boundaries and ushering in a new era of moviegoing.

http://www.criterion.com/films/173

Added a few days ago…

Che

Far from a conventional biopic, Steven Soderbergh’s film about Che Guevara is a fascinating exploration of the revolutionary as icon. Daring in its refusal to make the socialist leader into an easy martyr or hero, Che paints a vivid, naturalistic portrait of the man himself (Benicio del Toro, in a stunning, Cannes-award-winning performance), from his overthrow of the Batista dictatorship to his 1964 United Nations trip to the end of his short life. Composed of two parts, the first a kaleidoscopic view of the Cuban Revolution and the second an all-action dramatization of Che’s failed campaign in Bolivia, Che is Soderbergh’s most epic vision.

http://www.criterion.com/films/20987

Gomorrah

Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah is a stark, shocking vision of contemporary gangsterdom, and one of cinema’s most authentic depictions of organized crime. In this tour de force adaptation of undercover Italian reporter Roberto Saviano’s best-selling exposé of Naples’ Mafia underworld (known as the Camorra), Garrone links five disparate tales in which men and children are caught up in a corrupt system that extends from the housing projects to the world of haute couture. Filmed with an exquisite detachment interrupted by bursts of violence, Gomorrah is a shattering, socially engaged true-crime story from a major new voice in Italian cinema.

http://www.criterion.com/films/1590

Che Artwork Revealed! What Do You Think?

Ryan Gallagher — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:59:53 +0000

Today, Criterion announced their January 2010 DVD/Blu-Ray releases. Among them was the anticipated 2-part Steven Soderbergh epic: Che. Along with the release dates and prices, they premiered the cover art for the discs.

Was this the best they could come up with? With all of the hundreds of portraits of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, and with Criterion’s track record of beautiful cover art, I feel like this not quite up to par. I feel like it’s trying to imitate Shepard Fairey’s art style, with poor results. The single color, along with the poorly defined facial features distort the convincing transformation that Benicio Del Toro went through to become Guevara. I’m not sure exactly what I would have wanted instead.

Here is the classic portrait used by artists around the world:

Here is the Andy Warhol portrait:

Here is the art they decided on using:

(is it just me, or does the poor line work on his nose make his face look weird?)

Here are some images of the posters and cover art for the film around the world:

With this being such an anticipated release, should Criterion reconsider their choice?

Let’s hear what you think in the comments below!

January 2010 Criterion Collection Releases Announced! Che! Rossellini WW2! Paris!

Travis George — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:15:18 +0000

Do you live for the 15th of the month? I certainly do.

In fact, I typically roll out of bed and into the computer chair, whereupon I spend the day refreshing the “Coming Soon” page of criterion.com some thousands of times until I am rewarded with a prize.

You may find this a bit…excessive…but on days like today, you really must pardon my squee-ing. Criterion announces five January 2010 releases over six spine numbers (including their 500th — congratulations!). I’ll give a brief (editorialized) overview:

496. Che (Steven Soderbergh, 2008) — January 19th, DVD and Blu-Ray

Now, we’ve known this has been forthcoming for ages, but it’s wonderful to finally see it assigned artwork and a concrete date. It looks to be pretty sparse in supplements (a documentary here, a deleted scene there), but the sheer density of the film should be enough to sate even the most ravenous cinephile. It is available to preorder for a paltry $39.95! That’s practically paying for Part One and getting Part Two gratis.

497-500. Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy (1945-48) — January 26th, DVD

Hey, do you like WWII cinema? If not, why in the hell are you reading a blog about the Criterion Collection? Here, we are given a glimpse into war-torn Italy (and briefly Berlin) through the Neo-realist eyes of Collection/Eclipse alum Roberto Rossellini in three films of especial weight and severity (Rome Open City, Paisan, Germany Year Zero). Criterion has done something rather interesting in this set by assigning the box’s spine# after the individual films, which is opposite precedent. Perhaps to avoid stamping that coveted spine #500 on a film within a box set?

501. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984) — January 26th, DVD and Blu-Ray

Well, Santa has no choice but to get me that Blu-Ray player now. I’ve heard rumors of this eventual release for well over a year, and justifiably so — Wenders’s Paris, Texas, in its arresting photography/cinematography and the superhuman performances of Harry Dean Stanton and Natassja Kinski, is an arguably-perfect film. This release comes CRAMMED with special features (I would imagine the DVD release will be two discs), and is available for pre-order for thirty bucks. Do it.

Naturally, we will be discussing this more in-depth in the next episode of the Criterion Cast, so tune in! Until then, I will be icing my right index finger from all the page refreshing. Sheesh!

IFC and Criterion Team-Up For Awesome Release Schedule

Ryan Gallagher — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:41:12 +0000

It was announced earlier today that IFC and Criterion will be joining forces for several DVD and Blu-Ray releases later this year, into next.

As we discussed on an earlier podcast, Criterion announced they would be releasing Gammorah and A Christmas Tale in November. We has also reported the rumors that there would possibly be a release of Steven Soderbergh’s two part epic: Che, which looks like it will be released in December.

In 2010 we should expect Criterion releases of Jan Troell‘s Everlasting Memories, Olivier Assayas‘ Summer Hours, Abdellatif Kechiche‘s The Secret of the Grain, Steve McQueen‘s Hunger, and Hirokazu Kore-Eda‘s Still Walking.

It also sounds like we’ll be seeing “collector’s editions” of Sauna and Fear(s) of the Dark (Peu(r)’s du Noir). I am really excited about the possibility of “Fears” on Criterion, as it would be their first animated release, which I have been championing on the podcast.

Source: Variety