Barnes & Noble: Half off all Criterion movies
through Nov. 21
By Dappered Arts and Culture Correspondent Ben Madeska. For more from Ben, see this archive. For more on literature, art, food, wine, and a real perspective on the news these things seem to make, follow Ben on Twitter.
Ikiru – Akira Kurosawa
Where to start with Kurosawa? One of the most influential filmmakers in history, his career lasted almost 60 years during which he made 30 films. Begin with the genre-defining Seven Samurai? The tragic, epic Ran
? Stray Dog
? It’s hard to go wrong with Kurosawa, but I suggest the powerfully moving Ikiru. The story of a dying Japanese bureaucrat, Ikiru is, in the words of Roger Ebert, “one of the few movies that might actually be able to inspire someone to lead their life a little differently.”
For All Mankind – Al Reinert
Twenty-four astronauts have left Earth orbit for the Moon. For All Mankind tells their stories in the footage they shot, with their own words. For this movie, Reinert cleaned up much of the NASA footage, so it looks better here than anywhere else. Even shots familiar to every kid in America look new here. Though not a historical documentary – Reinert splices footage from all the missions together, often without context – no other movie better captures the simple human awe of what these people achieved.
8 1/2 – Federico Fellini
The most Felliniesque of Fellini’s films (how many other directors have coined their own adjectives?), 8 1/2 is a movie about making a movie and is the sort of thing people have in mind when they say they hate arty, foreign films, without having ever actually seen one. The story here follows director Guido Anselmi as he may or may not be having a nervous breakdown, and the narrative skips between his present, his memories, and his fantasies. It’s a movie anyone who has struggled with the personal and public demands of creative work will understand and appreciate.
Traffic – Steven Soderbergh
Traffic follows the illegal drug trade across the Mexico-United States border from the points of view of a number of its players: users, politicians, cops. Suspenseful yet restrained in its treatment of the Drug War, Traffic can be a difficult movie to follow at times. But in avoiding easy answers it does justice to the complexity of its subject. Soderbergh uses a unique, raw style that earned him a Best Director Oscar and is still exhilarating to watch.
Days of Heaven – Terrence Malick
A simple, spare story, Days of Heaven is probably the most beautiful film I’ve ever seen. As always, Malick lets the movie unfold carefully, at its own pace, with lingering shots of WWI- era Texas farm life. The narrative is ultimately unimportant, Days of Heaven is a movie of haunting images and emotions, both subtle and violent.
Breathless – Jean-Luc Godard.
With Breathless, Godard wanted to pay homage to the noir crime movies of Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson, and ended up reinventing them. It’s as famous for its raw, revolutionary film making techniques as its portrayal of a young, modern generation. Since Breathless, every too-hip criminal on film (think Tarantino) owes a debt to the cool, amoral, wannabe gangster Michel.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Terry Gilliam
Probably no other director but Terry Gilliam could bring Hunter S. Thompson’s hallucinogenic masterwork to the screen. Originally sent to Las Vegas to write a short caption about a motorcycle race in the desert, Thompson spins this out into a meditation on the American Dream as it was blowing apart. Depp and del Toro, as Thompson and his attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta, capture the profound lunacy in all its darkly comic glory.
The Criterion Collection is on sale via Barnes & Noble through November 21st, and you’d be surprised what you’d find there. Even Dazed and Confused
has been given the Criterion treatment.
Interesting that you would have SEVEN suggestions Joe. My intro to the Criterion Collection began with Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai”. An epic movie to say the least. Alas, with the likes of Netflix and digital copies of movies, my DVD player don’t get much play if any now. Still the Criterion Collection is noteworthy in my opinion! +1
Thanks for the heads up! I got the Battle of Algiers, which is a great docudrama about the insurgency in French Algeria in the 1950s and the oppressive measures taken to combat it. In this new wave of counterinsurgencies abroad, it’s an important viewing (and I’m looking forward to the interviews with Richard Clarke, longtime US counter-terrorism ‘czar’).
Actually, our culture correspondent Ben made the suggestions, and he does mention Seven Samurai. Glad you like the post.
Metropolitan by Whit Stillman is a must. If you like to see things go boom, you will hate this movie. Very little happens. But it features some of the wittiest dialogue I’ve ever seen on film.
“Our generation’s probably the worst since… the Protestant Reformation. Barbaric.”
I stand corrected. Big ups to Ben!
Great list. Can totally quibble about choices (Ikriru makes a Kurosawa introduction than his Samurai films? Madness! No Brazil? Blasphemy!) but such is always the case when you have to make a list this small from a selection that great.
I just wanted to point out that a few of your choices (8 1/2 and Ikiru) have cheaper alternatives. They are both part of Criterion’s Essential Art House collection which offers the films without Criterion’s (admittedly great) special features. If you are don’t feel the need for a scholarly commentary track then they you can get those two movies for $10 each! Throw in another Essential like Ozu’s The Floating Weeds or Truffaut’s 400 Blows and you will get free shipping.
Also, wanna pimp Hoop Dreams. One of the greatest documentaries of all times and it is only $12.50! Roger Ebert called it the best movie of the 90’s. Give it a check, if you haven’t already!
+1 for mentioning Oscar Zeta Acosta and not Dr. Gonzo. There’s a great biography called ‘Bandido’ that shows how Thompson was influenced by Acosta to make Fear and Loathing.
Completely agree. Love Metropolitan! One of the most overlooked independent film of the 90’s and one of my favorites.
I think you can watch these on hulu.com
EDIT: yes you can, go here: http://www.hulu.com/criterion
It hurt not to include Brazil, but I didn’t want to include two Gilliams. Should have given it a mention. The three disc set is really interesting too, with the different version of the movie and the documentaries about the editing hell the movie went through.
I’ll also second the art house editions – incredible values.
TRAFFIC, really? That has to be one of the most least deserved BP wins in the past decade and a tad bit overrated too.
Typo alert:
“Barnes & Nobel: Half off all Criterion movies through Nov. 21”
And if you want to get your mind blown, check out the Criterion release of Hausu.
That $@#% is crazy!
Just saw Breathless! Cool article.
I totally agree with you to pick Ikiru over Kurosawa’s samurai stuff. Never has a film about bureaucracy been more relevant…or at least it seems that way in my life.
I also should point out that B&N will let you stack coupons and discounts, so if you’re on the email list and have a 25% and a member who already saves 10%, you can walk out (like I did yesterday) with Kurosawa’s first films (4 disc box set) for just about $20.