Blogging Through The Collection: This Week In Criterion Blogs

A couple weeks back, I decided to round up all of the Criterion Collection related blogs that I read on a regular basis, to share with all of you. For one reason or another, I missed last week (mostly because not all of the blogs had updated last week), but I’m back with a whole lot of links to posts that you definitely should add to your Instapaper, RSS Reader, or bookmarks. I want this column to serve as a jumping off point for everyone, to help keep this Criterion community strong.

First up, over at David Blakeslee’s Criterion Reflections blog, he has begun reviewing the epic Monsters and Madmen box set. This week he covered The First Man Into Space (from 1959). This has to be one of my most favorite Criterion covers of all time by Darwyn Cooke (he designed all of the covers in the set), who illustrated the New Frontier comic mini series from a few years back. In case you missed it last week, he reviewed the incredible first part of Kobayashi’s The Human Condition. Finally, be sure to read his latest entry in our “Journey Through The Eclipse Series” column here at CriterionCast.com, in which he discusses the recent release from the Silent Naruse Eclipse set, Flunky Work Hard. If you’re not already, follow David on Twitter, and become a fan of Criterion Reflections on Facebook.

Over at the Criterion Confessions blog, Jamie S. Rich took a look at the Blu-ray release of The Mikado, which was just released yesterday. I talked briefly about the film and it’s relation with Topsy Turvy on our recent Disc 2 which was released on Tuesday, but Jamie clearly put way more thought and care into his review of the release (as usual). Follow Jamie on Twitter, and check out all of his reviews at DVDTalk.com.

Our friend David Ehrlich, who manages the Criterion Corner over at Cinematical, recently took up the charge of defending the Criterion Collection by asking: “Is the Criterion Collection too cool?”.   This was in response to an article over at Hammer To Nail which takes Criterion to task for it’s hipster audience, and manages to describe the packaging of the 400 Blows as “dark blaaaaggggghhhh.” You can follow David on Twitter, and be sure to follow his Criterion Corner Tumblr blog, which he updates fairly regularly.

If you just can’t get enough of my voice on your iPod, you can subscribe to Film School Rejects podcast: Reject Radio. I join Cole Abaius and Adam Charles, in a discussion of the Criterion Collection, and why it is so special. You should also check out the latest edition of their Criterion column, The Criterion Files, in which Landon Palmer discusses the importance of the brutal Pontecorvo film, The Battle Of Algiers. I’d also recommend you check out last week’s post from Adam Charles, discussing the classic “documentary,” Nanook Of The North. If you know what’s good for you, you should most certainly head over to Film School Rejects this Friday for April 1st, as they always manage to have pull off the best April Fools Posts around the internet. Also, if you enjoy the Criterion Files, you’ll most certainly want to check out the posts in April, as there will be a very special series connected to our site. Follow Landon Palmer, Adam Charles, and Cole Abaius on Twitter.

A couple final links for your Criterion related enjoyment: 

Over at Criterion On The Brain, they take a look at Samurai Spy.

Our friend Michele over at Criterion Affection has illustrated a beautiful image to celebrate the recent release of The Times Of Harvey Milk.

Did I miss anything over the past few weeks? Feel free to send me your favorite Criterion Collection related blogs and feeds, or leave your thoughts in the comments below.