Well holy crap, that’s a year’s worth of these. I’m certainly not blogging like I used to but the monthly commitment is working out!
And what a good lineup for my 12th month. The top line collections rotate around two unquestionable masters, and the good programming doesn’t end there. We’ll eat well in September. Let’s get to it.
Starting with Robert Altman. 24 titles. His best — McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Nashville — and his worst. Sorry, Prairie Home Companion. His first theatrical movie, Countdown. If I stretched, I could complain that O.C. and Stiggs isn’t included, I guess. Kind of a minor complaint: this is just a great collection.
And then we get a Jodie Foster collection. This is not quite as extensive; in particular there’s no Silence of the Lambs, which I’m sure would have been awfully expensive. No Accused, unfortunately. It’s still great: the 1976 double feature of Bugsy Malone and Taxi Driver (seriously, see Bugsy Malone if you never have, it’s unique), Panic Room which also features a very young Kristen Stewart, and more. Maybe skip Mel Gibson’s rehabilitation vehicle, though.
So we’ve got a couple of filmmakers who got big in the ’70s. I don’t know if this is an intentional theme but the next collection is ’70s Thrillers. It is solid, ranging from one of Alan Pakula’s paranoid thrillers (The Parallax View) to the white knuckle Sorcerer. They’re not all masterpieces — you could probably save The Anderson Tapes for last — but it’s a lovely overview.
Should all three of Pakula’s paranoid thrillers be in that category? Yes, but Criterion decided to just add a category for them instead, and they’re worth highlighting. Welcome to Alan J. Pakula’s Paranoia Trilogy. Block out a weekend for this or something, they’re all great. The Parallax View comes first because of the Space Needle.
The final collection is one of those low-brow collections that Criterion likes to throw in now and again, Nunsploitation. It is what it says it is. Good chance to see Ken Russell’s difficult to find The Devils. Alucarda also looks very interesting if you’re curious about 70s Mexican horror which of course.
Phew. See? What an insane month. We’re not quite done, though…
The Criterion Collection Editions are cool. These are often not new additions to the Channel; still, I live in the inaccurate hope that I’ll take the time to watch some of this supplemental material. Grey Gardens has been on my watchlist for a while. So has Carlos. The Rediscoveries and Restorations are similarly low key interesting; City of Ghosts has an excellent cast and Fresh Kill might well be my kind of surrealism.
The smaller filmmaker collections are for Paul Thomas Anderson, Alain Kassanda, and Walerian Borowczyk. I’m never going to complain about another way to see Magnolia! As to the other two, these collections are doing their job which is to make me interested in directors I haven’t heard of.
On the Anime front (still pleased about this category), we have Millennium Actress. Great movie, see it if you like movies about movies.
And… stuffing Possession casually down at the bottom of the announcement post is almost a crime; it’s not hard to watch right now, but if for some reason you haven’t, this is a great excuse. Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill kill it.
The only thing missing is a Boston Crime Thriller collection.
Be First to Comment