• The Criterion Files

    The Criterion Files: Godzilla

    Godzilla Directed by: Ishiro Honda Written by: Ishiro Honda, Takeo Murata Starring: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura Cinematography by: Masao Tamai Music by: Akira Ifukube Release: November 3, 1954 I remember strongly disliking Ishiro Honda’s Godzilla the first time I watched it. Grant that at the time I was both young and unwittingly self-indoctrinated to believe the king of all monsters to be a big, cuddly good guy rather than a metaphor for atomic horror; going from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Son of Godzilla, and The Terror of Mechagodzilla to the film that started it all was something of a shock to my eight-year-old…

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    The Criterion Files: The Killing

    The Killing Directed by: Stanley Kubrick Written by: Stanley Kubrick, Jim Thompson Starring: Sterling Hayden, Colleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Elisha Cook Jr., Marie Windsor Cinematography by: Lucien Ballard Music by: Gerard Fried Release: May 20, 1956 When you think of Stanley Kubrick, which of his many films come to mind? The Shining? 2001: A Space Odyssey? A Clockwork Orange? Perhaps Dr. Strangelove? If there’s a single common throughline linking each of these pictures together- though many might argue that there are many- it’s influence, as in the influence that his work has had on cinema as a medium from the 60’s going forward. Note, for example, how much impact The Shining had…

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    The Criterion Files: Kiss Me Deadly

    Kiss Me Deadly Directed by: Robert Aldrich Written by: Mickey Spillane (story), A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay) Starring: Ralph Meeker, Maxine Cooper, Albert Dekker, Gaby Rodgers Cinematography by: Ernest Laszio Music by: Frank DeVol Release: May 18, 1955 “Va-va-voom! Pow pow!” Those words may encapsulate the masculine, grunting energy of Kiss Me Deadly, Robert Aldrich’s noir masterpiece, better than any of the film’s most striking images or its myriad other memorable lines of dialogue. After all, if you want to understand what makes Mike Hammer tick, you only need to look as far as the cars he drives; they’re the sleek, muscular sort of vehicles most men covet and can only dream of owning…

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    The Criterion Files: Stagecoach

    Stagecoach Directed by: John Ford Written by: Dudley Nichols, Ben Hecht Starring: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine, John Carradine, George Bancroft, Thomas Mitchell Cinematography by: Bert Glennon Music by: Gerard Carbonara Release: February 15, 1939 Tag Gallagher once described John Ford as being “essentially apolitical”. Maybe a more accurate term would be “politically mercurial”; at one time in his life, Ford admired John F. Kennedy and staunchly opposed the practices of McCarthyism, while in another he favored Richard Nixon and supported the Vietnam War. Perhaps that was simply his nature as a self-described Maine Republican. What cannot be disputed is that his politics, wherever they fell in any given…

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    The Criterion Files: In the Mood For Love

    In the Mood For Love: Directed by: Wong Kar-wai Written by: Wong Kar-wai Starring: Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung Cinematography by: Christopher Doyle Music by: Michael Galasso, Shigeru Umebayashi Released: September 29th, 2000 Wong Kar-wai’s role as a cinematic innovator on a local level has been well-established since the 90s, when Days of Being Wild— which announced his arrival to the film world despite being his sophomore effort– saw him strive to break away from the storytelling and artistic standards typical of most Chinese cinema of the period. Arguably, Wong didn’t really come into his own until 1994, the year he unveiled both Ashes of Time and Chungking Express to critics and audiences alike;…

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    The Criterion Files: Rome, Open City

     Rome, Open City: Directed by: Roberto Rossellini Written by: Federico Fellini, Sergio Amidei Starring: Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero Cinematography by: Ubaldo Arata Music by: Renzo Rossellini Released: September 27th, 1945 Neorealist cinema has featured into the Criterion Files before– I wrote about Vittorio De Sica’s classic entry in the movement, Bicycle Thieves, much earlier this year (and followed that piece up with an examination of Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah, arguably a contemporary neorealist effort despite valid arguments that neorealist cinema no longer exists)– but Rossellini’s landmark contribution to neorealism, Rome, Open City, represents a very different side of that Italian-born aesthetic. For all of its somber qualities, Bicycle Thieves…

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    The Criterion Files: Brazil

    Brazil: Directed by: Terry Gilliam Written by: Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, Charles McKeown Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond Cinematography by: Roger Pratt Music by: Michael Kamen Released: December 18th, 1985 Terry Gilliam may possess a degree of prescience, not full-blown clairvoyance but respectable foreknowledge. Then again, studios might just be that predictable. When Gilliam made Brazil, his magnum opus, in 1985, he had in his hands a significant and excellent sociopolitical/cultural satire rife with relevance, a film that skewers the haughty foibles of upper crust society and shines a harsh light on the constricting, stymieing grip of bureaucratic foolishness.…

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    The Criterion Files: Carnival of Souls

    Carnival of Souls: Directed by: Herk Harvey Written by: Herk Harvey, John Clifford Starring: Candace Hilligoss, Herk Harvey, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison Cinematography by: Maurice Prather Music by: Gene Moore Released: September 26th, 1962 Since starting up the Criterion Files series back in February of this year, I’ve only chosen to analyze and contextualize one film that I’m not one hundred percent willing to champion on grounds of quality. The film in question– The Naked City— by chance happens to be the very first Criterion release I wrote about, one which I identified as being less than impressive; it’s not terrible, but it also doesn’t stand up against…

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    The Criterion Files: Sisters

    Sisters: Directed by: Brian De Palma Written by: Brian De Palma, Louise Rose Starring: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, William Finley, Charles Durning Cinematography: Gregory Sandor Music by: Bernard Herrmann Released: March 27, 1973 How does a film about voyeurism stand out in the oeuvre of Brian De Palma? By existing as a work of pure, interconnected, voyeuristic thrills. De Palma has been fascinated with the subject for nearly the span of his entire career, and even a cursory glance at his body of work reveals countless pictures into which voyeurism figures as a theme or motif, from obvious entries such as Blow Out, Dressed to Kill, and Body Double and…

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    The Criterion Files: Homicide

    Homicide: Directed by:  David Mamet Written by: David Mamet Starring: Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, Ving Rhames Cinematography: Roger Deakins Music by: Alaric Jans Released: October 9, 1991 David Mamet might today have greater notoriety as a font of controversy and ideological invective than as a filmmaker (and perhaps even as a playwright). Maybe one could argue that that’s merely a symptom of being a conservative convert in an industry dominated by adherents of liberalism, but the more likely cause for his infamy is his own mouth; Mamet’s anti-left wing diatribes could turn even Ann Coulter a bright shade of red. But common wisdom dictates that we can separate the art…

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    The Criterion Files: Days of Heaven

    Days of Heaven: Directed by: Terrence Malick Written by: Terrence Malick Starring: Richard Gere, Abby Brooks, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz Cinematography by: Néstor Almendros, Haskell Wexler Music by: Ennio Morricone Released: September 13, 1973 Among the minute number of films Terrence Malick has directed over the course of his decade-spanning career, 1978’s Days of Heaven stands out as his most significant. Maybe it isn’t difficult to rise to the top of a five picture filmography (Malick’s sixth feature length release, To the Wonder, is allegedly due out later this year, and he has two more features tentatively planned to be shot back-to-back soon after), but the purpose of this exercise isn’t about competition;…

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    The Criterion Files – Peeping Tom / 8½

    “I have always felt that Peeping Tom and 8½ say everything that can be said about film-making, about the process of dealing with film, the objectivity and subjectivity of it and the confusion between the two. 8½ captures the glamour and enjoyment of film-making, while Peeping Tom shows the aggression of it, how the camera violates… From studying them you can discover everything about people who make films, or at least people who express themselves through films.”– Martin Scorsese I often feel that film critics, scholars, and writers are naturally more drawn to “movies about movies”– pictures which shed light onto the filmmaking process at any angle– and tend to show them more favor than the average moviegoer.…