Blu-ray Movies
"Miller's Crossing"
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- Category: Blu-ray movies Blu-ray movies
March 2022
Stylized Mob Characters in a Film with Memorable Set Pieces
The Criterion Collection 1112
Format: BD
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Joel and Ethan Coen’s Miller’s Crossing was released in 1990, the same year as Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, the movie many regard as the ultimate gangster flick. While Scorsese’s film aims for exaggerated realism, Miller’s Crossing embodies a highly stylized romanticism. But despite its memorable set pieces and earnest acting, it doesn’t seem to tell a story quite as well as its flashier competition.
"Beasts of No Nation"
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February 2022
Netflix Film about Child Soldiers Gets Superb Blu-ray Treatment from Criterion
The Criterion Collection 1091
Format: BD
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Cary Joji Fukunaga has been making quite an impression lately as a director with vision and one who values diversity. He directed the first season of True Detective for television, and it was a doozy. In Beasts of No Nation, adapted from the novel of the same name by Nigerian-American author Uzodinma Iweala, he tackles the story of a child soldier. Its main character, Agu (played by impressive discovery Abraham Attah), is a young, upbeat boy living in a village in West Africa, who spends his time playing games of fantasy and make-believe with his friends.
"The Red Shoes"
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January 2022
Definitive Video of a Classic on Criterion 4K
The Criterion Collection 44
Formats: BD, 4K Ultra HD
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The Red Shoes has long been a staple of the Criterion Collection. Although the image quality has always been fairly decent, the company’s release of the 2009 restoration blows all previous efforts away. The new Blu-ray and 4K UHD discs, both included in the package, reveal a movie so chromatically intense, it virtually defies description.
"La Strada"
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December 2021
A True Masterpiece Receives the Criterion BD Treatment
The Criterion Collection 219
Format: BD
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Released in the United States in 1956 (1954 in Italy), La Strada has proven to be a true cinematic masterpiece capable of withstanding the test of time. The film garnered international acclaim, both for director Federico Fellini and his wife, featured actress Giulietta Masina. Since Fellini set the movie in an indeterminate era (albeit one with motorcycles) and tells the story in the form of a fable, it can still elicit the same number of smiles and tears as it did 67 years ago.
"Masculin féminin"
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November 2021
A Study of Banality That is Simply Boring Today
The Criterion Collection 308
Format: BD
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Director Jean-Luc Godard’s film about Parisian youth was polarizing from the very start. Most praised it as perceptive and clever, others not so much. Looking at it from a contemporary vantage point, I must say that I fall in the latter camp.
"Mona Lisa"
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October 2021
A Tour-de-Force Performance by Bob Hoskins on Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 107
Format: BD
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What a joy it was to receive a pristine Blu-ray edition of this cinematic gem in the mail. Mona Lisa has long been a favorite in my household, and it has now received the treatment it deserves. Only 4K could make it better.
"Ashes and Diamonds"
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September 2021
Poland’s Struggle for Identity as World War II Ends
The Criterion Collection 285
Format: BD
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When World War II ended, most countries were propelled into an era of freedom. But Poland’s post-war trajectory would lead toward Communism. Working from the acclaimed novel of the same name by Jerzy Andrzejewski, young director Andrzej Wajda fashioned a political thriller that encapsulates this change in a series of events that take place in a single day.
"History Is Made at Night"
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August 2021
Love Conquers All, Even Love at First Sight
The Criterion Collection 1072
Format: BD
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Love at first sight, lasting or not, is a fairly common theme, especially in film, where rules can be easily broken. The romance in the 1937 film History Is Made at Night presents a telling example. It’s the type of movie you can expect from director Frank Borzage, for whom love conquered all. Though not on the level of the director’s other work—A Farewell to Arms (1932), No Greater Glory (1934), or the somewhat revisionist Billy the Kid (1941)—the film is nonetheless an interesting testament to love and features splendid performances by its leads.
"Pickup on South Street"
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July 2021
Pristine BD Transfer of a Classic Film Noir by Samuel Fuller
The Criterion Collection 224
Format: BD
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The title of this 1953 thriller rolls easily off the tongue, crackling with the promise of adventure and excitement. The film itself provides that and much more. In writing the succinct, hard-hitting screenplay, director Samuel Fuller used his background in journalism to bring to life Dwight Taylor’s original story, based on a rejected filmscript. In my opinion, it’s one of Fuller’s best films.
"Nightmare Alley" (1947)
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June 2021
A Memorable Descent into Hell in a Pristine BD Transfer
The Criterion Collection 1078
Format: BD
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In Nightmare Alley, Stanton “Stan” Carlisle is a self-proclaimed selfish heel—but, as played by Tyrone Power, you can’t take your eyes off him. Power took on this complicated character in an effort to prove that he could be more than a matinee idol. He succeeded—his multilayered performance was worthy of (though didn’t win) an Oscar. But Darrell F. Zanuck, then head of 20th Century Fox, didn’t like the film, didn’t promote it, and let it die a box-office failure and a write-off. Now it’s recognized by many film critics as a masterpiece, an A-list film disguised as a B movie, the darkest of films noirs.
