Criterion Watch, November 2008

In the interest of time, I'll get right to the good stuff.




First, the non-news this month is the release of two more titles that originally appeared in the Cassavetes box. Still, it's good news for me that they're doing this, since I would love to have Faces on my DVD shelf but have no pressing urge to own Shadows, or the no-doubt-upcoming Opening Night for that matter. I do wish they'd release some more new Cassavetes titles though- I'd love to see a Criterion Minnie and Moskowitz or Love Streams.



I missed this one at October Lean series at the Wexner Center, so nice to see it showing up here. I'm a little surprised I haven't seen this yet, since as a Laughton fan you'd think I'd be all over it. Also, noticed that Prunella Scales is in the cast, and it should be interesting to see Sybil Fawlty when she was younger.




Being a Bunuel fan, this is big news, especially the latter title, one of the "major" Bunuels I have yet to see. Future Review By Request, anyone?

Finally, this month's clue:

Some of you might be stumped by this one, but considering the location referenced here and the appearance of the masks, I'm pretty sure it's Peter Yates' awesome, long-unavailable for home viewing The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Good news indeed.

From AZ to Z: The latest craze in memes

A recent blog meme (begun by Fletch over at Blog Cabins) that’s been making the rounds is the A-Z list. Each blogger I’ve encountered so far has had his own wrinkle on the list. My pal Adam Ross has made a list of notable titles he hasn’t seen, Larry Aydlette has compiled an alphabet of classic noirs, and SLH favorite Dennis Cozzalio has listed 26 films he believes to be underappreciated. I actually wrote a piece about four years ago along these same lines, but this meme has inspired me to try it again, even though nobody actually came out and asked me to do so. Seeking a unique angle, I decided to list movies I believe I need to see again, for whatever reason. In some cases, I was ill-prepared or ill-equipped to fully appreciate them the first time around (I’ve only seen one of the listed titles in an unsubtitled French print, with only a printout to aid me in translating in the dark). In other cases, I saw them too long ago that my initial impressions of them are hazy at best. In still other cases, they’re movies that have aged well in my mind and could very well hold up to a second viewing, should I ever give them another spin. Anyway, here’s my list, be it ever so humble.

Arizona Dream (Kusturica)
Beavis and Butthead Do America (Judge)
Crimson Gold (Panahi)
Demonlover (Assayas)
Edvard Munch (Watkins)
Freddy Got Fingered (Green)
Gregory’s Girl (Forsyth)
Harder They Come, The (Henzell)
Irma La Douce (Wilder)
Juliet of the Spirits (Fellini)
Kundun (Scorsese)
Lord Love a Duck (Axelrod)
Marnie (Hitchcock)
Notre Musique (Godard)
One From the Heart (Coppola)
Putney Swope (Downey [a prince])
Q: The Winged Serpent (Cohen)
Rock’n’Roll High School (Arkush)
Small Soldiers (Dante)
Tremors (Underwood)
Underneath, The (Soderbergh)
Visit to the Louvre, A (Straub/Huillet)
Wayward Cloud, The (Tsai)
X: The Thing With X-Ray Eyes (Corman)
Yellow Earth (Chen)
Z (Costa-Gavras)

I'm tagging Andrew, Jason, James, Craig, and Adam to keep this going. Go nuts, folks. Or, you know, don't. Up to you.

Public Service Announcement

Looking at my blog, I noticed that it's been nearly three weeks since my last post. I would just like you all to know that I haven't forgotten you, but I've merely been busy of late. In case you haven't poked around my links over to the right, I regularly add new reviews to my reviews page, with the latest being Changeling (mild pro), A Girl Cut in Two (highly enthusiastic PRO), Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (decidedly mixed), and Rachel Getting Married (ecstatic PRO). Also, I'm posting half a dozen or so piece a week over at The Screengrab, so that takes up a lot of my spare time. Believe me, it'll only get more hectic in the future.

So in the meantime- or at least until I can post another Criterion Watch- here's something to keep you folks busy:

I recently took a look at my DVD collection. I noticed a number of remakes, as well as even more titles that have been remade. However, in only one instance, I own both the original movie and its remake. Let's see if anyone can guess the title in question. It'll probably surprise you, but maybe not.