8 years ago
DVD/Streaming (10 posts found)
The Second Criterion: “The Double Life of Veronique”
When I wrote a capsule about The Double Life of Véronique, I compared the experience to the oft-quoted line, “talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” Against my better judgment, I’ve decided to push beyond that, and I maintain that the effect ...
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The Second Criterion: “Badlands”
At the age of 27, Terrence Malick created what would be the screenplay for one of finest feature debuts for Badlands. It was loosely-based on the story of Charles Starkweather, a 19-year old warehouse worker who had a taste for murder. In December 1957, Starkw...
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The Second Criterion: “The Phantom of Liberty”
If any single movie in the history of cinema could be described, honestly and without a trace of sarcasm, as "critic-proof", it might be The Phantom of Liberty. Then again, maybe not; consider the source. The film hails from Luis Buñuel, the man most film stud...
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The Second Criterion: “The Last Temptation of Christ”
I was a hardcore Bible kid, growing up. From fourth to sixth grade, I went to a Baptist elementary school. After that, I went to a Baptist middle school. For high school, I was in a Catholic high school, Catholicism being my family's main religion and not near...
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Blu-Ray Review: “A Field in England”
With its period setting during the English Civil War and its increasingly abstract visual schema, A Field in England is Ben Wheatley’s most ambitious film to date. The film retains Wheatley’s chatty, grimly humorous style, but where his other films slowly tilt...
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The Penny-Pinching Cinephile (4/3/14 — 4/9/14)
Welcome to The Penny-Pinching Cinephile, a weekly spotlight of the best free flicks on the web. ‘Cuz sometimes you gotta eat.
1.) Taxi Driver
It's rare when a legitimate masterpiece that's not already in the public domain comes up to view for free online...
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The Second Criterion: “The Great Beauty”
If Italian maestro Paolo Sorrentino had chosen to begin his most recent film, the Academy Award winning The Great Beauty, with the picture’s extended introductory saturnalia, viewers might not have missed a beat; the movie’s very first scene almost feels like ...
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The Second Criterion: “Breathless”
The definitive film of the French New Wave, Breathless set the bar for everything that was to come. Nothing since has drastically changed the way films are concocted quite like this 1960 gem. For all its many accomplishments, the film itself is a miserable aff...
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The Penny-Pinching Cinephile (3/20/14 — 3/26/14)
Welcome to The Penny-Pinching Cinephile, a weekly spotlight of the best free flicks on the web. ‘Cuz sometimes you gotta eat.
1) Akira
Like many an American movie buff raised on a steady diet of Classic Hollywood and Disney animation, I have cert...
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Blu-Ray Review: “Commitment”
Commitment is not the first acting vehicle for Choi Seung-hyun, better known as Big Bang member and solo star T.O.P., but it is his first since K-pop at last broke internationally, borne out by the focus that even the PR for English-language markets has placed...
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