8 years ago
DVD/Streaming (10 posts found)
The Penny-Pinching Cinephile (9/27/13–10/3/13)
Welcome to The Penny-Pinching Cinephile, a weekly spotlight of the best free flicks on the web. ‘Cuz sometimes you gotta eat.
1.) Five Easy Pieces
The previous year's Easy Rider may have brought Jack Nicholson to film audiences' attention, but it's Five ...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Taste of Cherry’
In the hands of a director who wanted to use the medium of film to lecture to his or her audience, Taste of Cherry would be a film that answered the question of why life is worth living. Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami gives his audience space. He tries not ...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Yojimbo’
While set in Japan, Yojimbo is a Western. It carries many of the tropes of the America genre, but with some noticeable differences. Although the change in geographical location, culture and time certainly add texture to the film, it’s not what makes Yojimbo di...
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The Second Criterion: ‘M’
M is a challenging film. It presents its audience with a man who commits the most heinous act imaginable: the killing (as well as implied molesting) of young girls. The police and the people seek to bring this man to justice. But first they must find the man. ...
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The Second Criterion: ‘The Seventh Seal’
Everybody dies. The great mystery, the question people ask, is what happens after death. How you answer it (or, in many cases, ignore it) might be the most defining trait of how you see and think about the world. It certainly is for the characters of The Seven...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Days of Heaven’
In any Terrence Malick film, themes are essential to understanding his film. While his later work are overt about their ideas -- The Tree of Life presents the entire thesis of the film in voiceover -- Days of Heaven is the film I’ve always found his most diffi...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Paris, Texas’
In Paris, Texas, Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) is defined by the pain of the past. In the opening shot, the desolation of the desert surrounds him as his weary eyes gaze ahead. It’s clear he's in deep pain, but as the film evolves, we discover that Travis has al...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Black Narcissus’
While ideas of culture and religion are important to Black Narcissus, the more I watch the film, the more I see these ideas as a means for the film to explore the tension between discipline and desire. The cultural conflict between the West and the East, the c...
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The Second Criterion: ‘Certified Copy’
I could write a book on this film. Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy is one of those rare films that continues to yield more and more meaning, nuance and depth for me with each viewing. I’ve already written about the idea of originality both in art and life in...
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The Second Criterion: ‘In the Mood for Love’
It’s difficult to write about In the Mood for Love in terms of theme because much of the film is concerned with ephemeral, almost inexpressible feelings. Still, the characters’ quest for understanding and the relationship that forms out of that creates an inte...
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