My first experience with the Criterion Collection was when I was 15 years old. I had just finished Hunter S. Thompson's celebrated novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and having thoroughly enjoyed it, wanted to see the movie. So, being young and naive, I went to my neighborhood Blockbuster and attempted to locate the movie... but no luck. I asked the cashier where he thought I'd be able to find it and - with much disdain I might add - he said I should go across the street to Director's Chair Video, the local mom and pop video rental store. I took him up on it and walked across the street to the now out-of-business Director's Chair Video and found the movie. But along with the movie, I found a whole slew of other strange films - some foreign, some American - that I had never heard of before. The covers were odd. I had never heard of the directors. I didn't think much of it and rented my movie and went home.
After the sort of culture shock of a mom and pop video store, I popped in the DVD and found the above logo appear before the film. From there, I looked into what Criterion was. Their personal definition is, "a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films... dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements." I'd have to agree. Criterion, time and time again, have proven to treat movies with more respect than any other company, whether it be a distributor or production company or whatever else. The films they release are movies that challenge and raise the bar for film, which is honestly why you probably won't find them in a Blockbuster, which I obviously wasn't aware of at the time. I am a huge fan and supporter of their collection of films and that's why I'm writing this.
Criterion have some really exciting films coming out that I encourage you all to seek out on their release dates. A list of their upcoming releases can be found after the jump.
8 1/2 (Dir. Federico Fellini)
[Jan. 12, 2010]
This wonderful film (from which this blog takes it's name from!) has been one of Criterion's most celebrated releases, and for all you Blu-Ray folks, it's finally being released on the format. I don't own a Blu-Ray player (I'd sure like to though), but I imagine this looks pretty fucking awesome on it. Check it out!
"One of the greatest films about film ever made, Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 (Otto e mezzo) turns one man’s artistic crisis into a grand epic of the cinema."
[Dec. 1st, 2009]
Also appearing for the first time on Blu-Ray.
"Called the greatest rock film ever made, this landmark documentary follows the Rolling Stones on their notorious 1969 U.S. tour."
[Dec. 1, 2009]
"In Arnaud Desplechin’s beguiling A Christmas Tale, Catherine Deneuve brings her legendary poise to the role of Junon, matriarch of the troubled Vuillard family, who come together at Christmas after she learns she needs a bone marrow transplant from a blood relative."
PARIS, TEXAS (Dir. Wim Wenders)
[Jan. 26, 2010]
One of my most anticipated releases. Wim Wenders is a genius and it will be incredible to finally own an official copy of this movie!
"New German Cinema pioneer Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire) brings his keen eye for landscape to the American Southwest in Paris, Texas, a profoundly moving character study written by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Sam Shepard."
CHE (Dir. Steven Soderbergh)
[Jan.19, 2010]
"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), from his overthrow of the Batista dictatorship to his 1964 United Nations trip to the end of his short life."
HUNGER (Dir. Steve McQueen)
[Feb. 16, 2010]
This was in Tucson for one measly week, and of course it was a week where I couldn't find any time to see it. I have been dying to see this film and am so excited to see it getting the Criterion treatment.
"Featuring an intense performance by Michael Fassbender, Hunger, about IRA member Bobby Sands’s 1981 prison hunger strike, is an unflinching, transcendent depiction of what a human being is willing to endure to be heard."
LOLA MONTES (Dir. Max Ophuls)
[Feb. 16, 2010]
"Max Ophuls’s final film, Lola Montès is at once a magnificent romantic melodrama, a meditation on the lurid fascination with celebrity, and a meticulous, one-of-a-kind movie spectacle."
REVANCHE (Dir. Gotz Spielmann)
[Feb. 16, 2010]
Another highly anticipated release of mine.
"A gripping thriller and a tragic drama of nearly Greek proportions, Revanche is the stunning, Oscar-nominated international breakthrough of Austrian filmmaker Götz Spielmann, a tense, existential, and surprising portrait of vengeance and redemption."
No comments:
Post a Comment