Month: June 2025

July Criterion Channel Lineup

Summertime!

Pretty solid lineup coming in July; last month set a very high bar but we’re definitely continuing with those sun-drenched themes. Plus, uh, Haneke.

CIELO, 2025 - ★★★½
July 21, 2025
I was reminded at times of Jodorowsky. It’s full of surrealism, and it centers on a quest, and it’s full of Catholic symbolism; the fish is, after all, a symbol of Christianity. Only a little reminded, since Jodorowsky is more adept with myth and distinctly less humane. The landscapes are phenomenal. At our Q&A, director Alberto […]
Terrestrial, 2025 - ★
July 21, 2025
After the big twist/reveal, you’re going to wonder if the movie gets to a decent payoff by the end. It does not.
Love Machine - ★★★
July 21, 2025
Amusing comedy short, which doesn’t totally have a payoff but it was engaging enough so that I didn’t mind.
I Am Frankelda, 2025 - ★★★
July 20, 2025
It’s a tale as old as time: boy meets girl, girl is an aspiring author, boy is a sort of owl prince from another world which is connected to her world by an interdependent relationship based on fiction and nightmares. It also has musical numbers.It’s a prequel to a brief animated anthology, which explains why […]
Bullet in the Head, 1990 - ★★★★★
July 20, 2025
Still hits like a ton of bricks. John Woo takes everything he knows about filming violence and uses it to show how meaningless violence is. The innocence of the opening sequence, scored perfectly to “I’m A Believer,” slowly gives way to desperation. By the time the three friends are stuck in the middle of the […]