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THE DEAD - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written in 2009 for DVDTalk.com. Legendary director John Huston's last film, The Dead, was a family affair. His son Tony adapted the script from a short story by James Joyce,...
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ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: "COMPANY" - #1090
In these days of heightened media awareness and manufactured access, it would be easy to lose Original Cast Album: “Company” in the mix. Or even be cynical about it. The idea of a documentary crew...
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BEASTS OF NO NATION - #1091
I can’t imagine that Beasts of No Nation hasn’t always been an uncomfortable watch, but the 2015 film has an added level of impact in contemporary times, as the Taliban takes over Afghanistan and a...
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AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written in 2011 for DVDTalk.com. This one is for the saps. And I say that as a card-carrying member, who types this with eyes still glassy from watching An Affair to...
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PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for in 2007 DVDTalk.com.Needle Park was a real area in New York City where junkies congregated, forming their own city within the larger city, getting by on the...
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CITIZENFOUR - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written in 2014 for DVDTalk.com.As I type, it's a week before Halloween, and I've just finished watching the scariest horror movie of the season: the Edward Snowden...
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SABRINA - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written in 2008 for DVDTalk.com.Audrey Hepburn's second film was the first of hers I saw, though if I recall I watched Sabrina for Humphrey Bogart, whom had become a bit of...
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MRS. PARKER & THE VICIOUS CIRCLE - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2006."I'll wear my heart on my sleeve like a wet, red stain."The life of Dorothy Parker, as portrayed in Alan Rudolph's 1994 biopic Mrs. Parker &...
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LOVE & BASKETBALL - #1097
When Criterion announced they were releasing an edition of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s 2000 film Love & Basketball, I think a lot of people were surprised. But it wasn’t all that shocking if you’d been...
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TITUS - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2014.Imagine a time when we all thought Julie Taymor was going to be a bold, important voice in world cinema. It wasn't that long ago. In 1999, she was...
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ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2014.Jim Jarmusch has made a vampire movie, and despite this surprising detour into genre, it's kind of the Jim Jarmuschiest. Your enjoyment of it...
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NIAGARA - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2013.Marilyn Monroe was rarely cast as anything but the sympathetic or comedic love interest, but based on the evidence in Niagara, she could have...
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MARGOT AT THE WEDDING - CRITERION CHANNEL
A rare case where I was able to re-examine a movie, and where I changed my mind.ORIGINAL THEATRICAL REVIEW - NOVEMBER 2007 [source]Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding is another dysfunctional,...
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RADIO ON - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2007.Christopher Petit's 1979 independent feature, Radio On, is a brittle portrait of the despair and ennui of 1970s Britain. Rather than indulge in...
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THE WOODMANS - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2012. The question of why an artist is chosen to create and how he or she divines ideas from the ether is one that will never be answered to any...
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BRIGHT STAR - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2009.As a moody, death-obsessed writer whose genius has yet to be recognized, Jane Campion's portrayal of poet John Keats in her new film Bright...
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LES VAMPIRES - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2012.Long before there were "comic book movies," and indeed, some time before comic books really became what they are today, French filmmaker Louis...
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MILLER'S CROSSING
Miller's Crossingis a perfect film.Critics hesitate to say that. You are more likely to see us write “almost perfect” than “perfect” because the latter can be hard to justify. What are you going to do?...
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THE LAST WALTZ - #1118
I used to have a Thanksgiving ritual involving The Last Waltz. I am not unique in this. If you google “Thanksgiving movie,” Martin Scorsese's 1978 documentary is pretty much the first thing to pop up....
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THE ROBE - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2009. But...were you...out there?! No, it's not a Dennis Hopper line from Apocalypse Now or a hippy come-on from one of his buddy Peter Fonda's...
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BERNIE - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2012.There's something about the way the title card declaring that Bernie is based on a true story that compels you to think that maybe you're...
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MOONTIDE - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2008. Jean Gabin was one of the earliest stars of French cinema, sort of like the Parisian Humphrey Bogart. A man's man and an extremely physical...
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ON THE BOWERY - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2011. Lionel Rogosin's 1957 film On the Bowery is a landmark of independent cinema and a key component in the expansion of the documentary genre....
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THE SONG OF BERNADETTE - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written for DVDTalk.com in 2013. "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible."While I actually...
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SUNFLOWER - CRITERION CHANNEL
This review was originally written in 2008 for DVDTalk.com.Sophia Loren made three films with Italian Neorealist pioneer Vittorio De Sica and a whopping thirteen with co-star Marcello Mastroianni....
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