Even if its underlying narrative seems ephemeral in the big scheme of things, Letter Never Sent provides a sensational cinematic experience.
David Blakeslee
David Blakeslee
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr.
If you wonder where the actor who plays Iron Man acquired his winsome smirking insolence, just wait 'til you meet his parents.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Mikio Naruse’s Apart From You
This silent film from 1933 firmly established Naruse in his genre, and delivers a potent Mothers Day message for past and present "wayward sons."
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Akira Kurosawa’s Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two
If you want to understand the roots of super hero action movies, there's no better place to start than with early Kurosawa.
David Reviews Mario Monicelli’s The Organizer [Criterion Blu-ray Review]
May 1 is International Workers Day, and The Organizer has something to say to the rank and file.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Yasujiro Ozu’s The End of Summer
Ozu's penultimate film and his final screen collaboration with Setsuko Hara.
David Reviews Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious [Blu-ray Review]
David compares and contrasts the rare OOP Criterion DVD with the recent blu-ray release from MGM/20th Century Fox.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Ingmar Bergman’s To Joy
Bergman infuses Beethoven's Ninth in this semi-autobiographical rumination on marriage, infidelity and thwarted artistic ambition.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Roberto Rossellini’s Blaise Pascal
David ponders the austere historical portrayal of a 17th century French genius and his Big Ideas.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Sacha Guitry’s Désiré
Impeccable wit, Gallic insouciance, pretty women and saucy innuendo - what more could one desire from a 1930s French comedy?
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Chantal Akerman’s Les Rendez-vous d’Anna
March is Women's History Month, as if you needed any more justification for exploring great feminist cinema.
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Basil Dearden’s Victim
David's latest Eclipse review looks at a groundbreaking British film from 1961 that openly challenged laws criminalizing homosexuality.
David Reviews Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture [Criterion Blu-ray Review]
David takes a break from his Eclipse series, to see what Lena Dunham has to offer in this new Criterion Collection release.
David Reviews Kaneto Shindo’s Postcard [PIFF 2012 Review]
Shindo's final film is a moving reminiscence of grief and endurance in the aftermath of World War II.
David Reviews Alysa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray’s Unfinished Spaces [PIFF 2012 Review]
A documentary about art, architecture and persistent creativity in post-revolutionary Cuba.