Catering directly to my interests, the Criterion Channel’s January lineup boasts two of my favorite things: James Gray and cats. In the former case it’s his first five features (itself a terrible reminder he only released five movies in 20 years); the latter shows felines the respect they deserve, from Kuroneko to The Long Goodbye, Tourneur’s Cat People and Mick Garris’ Sleepwalkers. Meanwhile, Ava Gardner, Bertrand Tavernier, Isabel Sandoval, Ken Russell, Juleen Compton, George Harrison’s HandMade Films, and the Sundance Film Festival get retrospectives.
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
“Not so much a suspension of disbelief, as a suspension of dreary naturalism.” Criterion acknowledges a great filmmaker with this wonderful trio of Karel Zeman spectaculars, truly original fantasies that showcase a blend of animation and theatrical effects concocted, confected, perfected half a century before CGI. The Czech filmmakers take us on a prehistoric safari, a cruise to an island of Jules Verne sci-fi marvels, and into a brightly imagined, magical storybook fantasy. Even the presentation is whimsical — the three features are packaged in a functioning pop-up book.
Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman
Journey to the Beginning of Time
Invention for Destruction
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1015, 1016, 1017
1955, 1958, 1962 / Color + B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 84, 81, 83 min. (248 in toto) / Cesta do praveku, Vynález zkázy, Baron Prášil / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 25, 2020 / 99.95
Designed and Directed by Karel Zeman
At first it seemed too good to be true,...
Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman
Journey to the Beginning of Time
Invention for Destruction
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1015, 1016, 1017
1955, 1958, 1962 / Color + B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 84, 81, 83 min. (248 in toto) / Cesta do praveku, Vynález zkázy, Baron Prášil / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 25, 2020 / 99.95
Designed and Directed by Karel Zeman
At first it seemed too good to be true,...
- 2/8/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: This past weekend saw the release of “Mute” and “Annihilation,” two original science-fiction movies that were made on studio budgets (an increasingly rare breed). With that in mind, what is the best sci-fi movie that most people haven’t seen?
Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker), Freelance for Vice, /Film, Thrillist, and more
“Advantageous.” Jennifer Phang directed this amazing sci-fi drama that centers Gwen, an Asian-American mother (Jacqueline Kim, who’s also the co-writer of the film) who has to come to terms with her “advanced” age in a youth-obsessed society. She has to resort to drastic and untraditional measures in order to ensure that her young daughter...
This week’s question: This past weekend saw the release of “Mute” and “Annihilation,” two original science-fiction movies that were made on studio budgets (an increasingly rare breed). With that in mind, what is the best sci-fi movie that most people haven’t seen?
Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker), Freelance for Vice, /Film, Thrillist, and more
“Advantageous.” Jennifer Phang directed this amazing sci-fi drama that centers Gwen, an Asian-American mother (Jacqueline Kim, who’s also the co-writer of the film) who has to come to terms with her “advanced” age in a youth-obsessed society. She has to resort to drastic and untraditional measures in order to ensure that her young daughter...
- 2/26/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Last week we learned, via the National Film Archive (Czech Republic) that Janus Films (and the Criterion Collection) had just signed a new deal with plans to bring 30 classic Czech films to the Us.
From the announcement:
The National Film Archive has concluded an important contract with distribution company Janus Films which opens the road to expending knowledge of Czech classic films in all of North America.
Among the more than 30 Czech classic films available to American audiences for screening in cinemas and on DVD in the Us and Canada are titles such as The Cremator, Marketa Lazarová, All My Good Countrymen, Three Nuts for Cinderella. It’s made possible thanks to a new contract signed by National Film Archive director Michal Bregant and distribution company Janus Films.
Michal Bregant offered a comment: “We have signed the contract symbolically this week in Bologna at the festival Il cinema ritrovato, which...
From the announcement:
The National Film Archive has concluded an important contract with distribution company Janus Films which opens the road to expending knowledge of Czech classic films in all of North America.
Among the more than 30 Czech classic films available to American audiences for screening in cinemas and on DVD in the Us and Canada are titles such as The Cremator, Marketa Lazarová, All My Good Countrymen, Three Nuts for Cinderella. It’s made possible thanks to a new contract signed by National Film Archive director Michal Bregant and distribution company Janus Films.
Michal Bregant offered a comment: “We have signed the contract symbolically this week in Bologna at the festival Il cinema ritrovato, which...
- 7/12/2017
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
For the discerning science fiction fan, this is the best of the Eastern-bloc Cold War Sci-fi epics, a genuinely brilliant and warmly human ‘Voyage to the End of the Universe,’ restored in 4k resolution. It’s from before 2001: A Space Odyssey, and has an equally wondrous but totally different vision of the future.
Ikarie Xb 1
Blu-ray
Nfa (Czechoslovak National Film Archive)
1963 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 88 min. / Street Date March, 2017
Starring: Radovan Lukavský, Zdenek Stepánek, Frantisek Smolík, Otto Lackovic, Irena Kacírková Dana Medrická
Cinematography: Jan Kalis, Sasa Rasilov
Production Designer: Jan Zázvorka
Special Effects: Jan Kalis
Film Editor: Josef Dobrichovský
Original Music: Zdenek Liska
Written by Jindrich Polák and Pavel Jurácek, adapted from the novel The Magellanic Cloud by Stanislaus Lem.
Produced by Filmové Studio Barrandov
Directed by Jindrich Polák
The trailer for the new restoration of Ikarie Xb 1 (no hyphen) pretty much tells the story. A shot...
Ikarie Xb 1
Blu-ray
Nfa (Czechoslovak National Film Archive)
1963 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 88 min. / Street Date March, 2017
Starring: Radovan Lukavský, Zdenek Stepánek, Frantisek Smolík, Otto Lackovic, Irena Kacírková Dana Medrická
Cinematography: Jan Kalis, Sasa Rasilov
Production Designer: Jan Zázvorka
Special Effects: Jan Kalis
Film Editor: Josef Dobrichovský
Original Music: Zdenek Liska
Written by Jindrich Polák and Pavel Jurácek, adapted from the novel The Magellanic Cloud by Stanislaus Lem.
Produced by Filmové Studio Barrandov
Directed by Jindrich Polák
The trailer for the new restoration of Ikarie Xb 1 (no hyphen) pretty much tells the story. A shot...
- 7/4/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Festival de Cannes has announced the lineup for the official selection, including the Competition and Un Certain Regard sections, as well as special screenings, for the 69th edition of the festival:COMPETITIONOpening Night: Café Society (Woody Allen) [Out of Competition]Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)Julieta (Pedro Almodóvar)American Honey (Andrea Arnold)Personal Shopper (Olivier Assayas)La Fille Inconnue (Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne)Juste La Fin du Monde (Xavier Dolan)Ma Loute (Bruno Dumont)Paterson (Jim Jarmusch)Rester Vertical (Alain Guiraudie)Aquarius (Kleber Mendonça Filho)Mal de Pierres (Nicole Garcia)I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach)Ma' Rosa (Brillante Mendoza)Bacalaureat (Cristian Mungiu)Loving (Jeff Nichols)Agassi (Park Chan-Wook)The Last Face (Sean Penn)Sieranevada (Cristi Puiu)Elle (Paul Verhoeven)The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding-Refn)The Salesman (Asgha Farhadi)Un Certain REGARDOpening Film: Clash (Mohamed Diab)Varoonegi (Behnam Behzadi)Apprentice (Boo Junfeng)Voir du Pays (Delphine Coulin & Muriel Coulin)La Danseuse (Stéphanie Di Giusto)La...
- 4/22/2016
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Section to include world premiere of Bertrand Tavernier doc; a cinema masterclass with William Friedkin and a tribute to documentary giants Raymond Depardon and Frederick Wiseman.
Bertrand Tavernier’s documentary about French cinema Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français will receive a world premiere at the Cannes Classic section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22).
The revered French filmmaker has described his latest work as an expression of “gratitude to all the filmmakers, writers, actors and musicians that have appeared suddenly in my life.”
Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français is a Little Bear-Gaumont-Pathé co-production and was made in participation with Canal+, Cine+ and the Sacem, with the support of Région Ile-de-France and Cnc. Gaumont will handle international sales and Pathé have distribution in France. The film will be released in theaters in October 2016.
As in previous years, Cannes Classic will also feature nine documentaries about cinema and restored prints of 20 international classics including rare gems...
Bertrand Tavernier’s documentary about French cinema Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français will receive a world premiere at the Cannes Classic section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22).
The revered French filmmaker has described his latest work as an expression of “gratitude to all the filmmakers, writers, actors and musicians that have appeared suddenly in my life.”
Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français is a Little Bear-Gaumont-Pathé co-production and was made in participation with Canal+, Cine+ and the Sacem, with the support of Région Ile-de-France and Cnc. Gaumont will handle international sales and Pathé have distribution in France. The film will be released in theaters in October 2016.
As in previous years, Cannes Classic will also feature nine documentaries about cinema and restored prints of 20 international classics including rare gems...
- 4/20/2016
- ScreenDaily
Section to include a cinema masterclass with William Friedkin, the 70th anniversary of the Fipresci prize, a tribute to documentary giants Raymond Depardon and Frederick Wiseman and the double Palme d’Or of 1966.
Bertrand Tavernier’s documentary about French cinema Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français will receive a world premiere at the Cannes Classic section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22).
The legendary French filmmaker has described his latest work as an expression of “gratitude to all the filmmakers, writers, actors and musicians that have appeared suddenly in my life.”
Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français is a Little Bear-Gaumont-Pathé co-production and was made in participation with Canal+, Cine+ and the Sacem, with the support of Région Ile-de-France and Cnc. Gaumont will handle international sales and Pathé have distribution in France. The film will be released in theaters in October 2016.
As in previous years, Cannes Classic will also feature nine documentaries about cinema and restored...
Bertrand Tavernier’s documentary about French cinema Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français will receive a world premiere at the Cannes Classic section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22).
The legendary French filmmaker has described his latest work as an expression of “gratitude to all the filmmakers, writers, actors and musicians that have appeared suddenly in my life.”
Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français is a Little Bear-Gaumont-Pathé co-production and was made in participation with Canal+, Cine+ and the Sacem, with the support of Région Ile-de-France and Cnc. Gaumont will handle international sales and Pathé have distribution in France. The film will be released in theaters in October 2016.
As in previous years, Cannes Classic will also feature nine documentaries about cinema and restored...
- 4/20/2016
- ScreenDaily
Now that most of the Cannes Film Festival 2016 line-up has been settled when it comes to new premieres, their Cannes Classics sidebar of restored films is not only a treat for those attending, but a hint at what we can expect to arrive at repertory theaters and labels like Criterion in the coming years.
Today they’ve unveiled their line-up, which is toplined by Bertrand Tavernier‘s new 3-hour and 15-minute documentary about French cinema, Voyage à travers le cinéma français. They will also be screening William Friedkin‘s Sorcerer following his masterclass. Along with various documentaries, both classics in the genre and ones about films, they will also premiere new restorations of Andrei Tarkovsky‘s Solaris, Jean-Luc Godard‘s Masculin féminin, two episodes of Krzysztof Kieślowski‘s The Decalogue, as well as films from Kenji Mizoguchi, Marlon Brando, Jacques Becker, Mario Bava, and more.
Check out the line-up below.
Today they’ve unveiled their line-up, which is toplined by Bertrand Tavernier‘s new 3-hour and 15-minute documentary about French cinema, Voyage à travers le cinéma français. They will also be screening William Friedkin‘s Sorcerer following his masterclass. Along with various documentaries, both classics in the genre and ones about films, they will also premiere new restorations of Andrei Tarkovsky‘s Solaris, Jean-Luc Godard‘s Masculin féminin, two episodes of Krzysztof Kieślowski‘s The Decalogue, as well as films from Kenji Mizoguchi, Marlon Brando, Jacques Becker, Mario Bava, and more.
Check out the line-up below.
- 4/20/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
After 63 years somebody has taken a crack at Arthur C. Clarke's monumental sci-fi novel. This interpretation throws the emphasis way out of whack but succeeds too frequently to ignore. Charles Dance is the alarming Overlord Karellen, who comes from the stars to escort humanity through its next stage of development... and to announce the end of the world as we know it. Childhood's End Blu-ray Universal Studios Home Entertainment 2015 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 247 min. / Street Date March 1, 2016 / 34.98 Starring Charles Dance, Mike Vogel, Osy Ikhile, Daisy Betts, Georgina Haig, Ashley Zukerman, Hayley Magnus, Charlotte Nicdao, Peretta, Lachlan Roland-Kenn, Julian McMahon, Colm Meany, Robert Morgan. Cinematography Neville Kidd Film Editor Sean Albertson, Yan Miles, Eric A. Sears Original Music Charlie Clouser Written by Matthew Graham from the novel by Arthur C. Clarke Produced by Nick Hurran, John C. Lenick, Paul M. Leonard Directed by Nick Hurran
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This is...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This is...
- 2/23/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
★★★★☆ It's the year 2163, and the spaceship Ikarie Xb-1 is off to explore life on the 'white planet' orbiting the Alpha Centauri. Like the Greek mythological figure Icarus, whose name christens the spaceship, we follow the mixed crew as they fly too close to the sun, drawing ever closer to something that - without giving the game away too much - will be found all too familiar to its audiences. Jindřich Polák's 1963 Czechoslovak fantasy film may well be a cornerstone of the genre, but it also bridges the gap between the psychological drama, the kitsch space film and a sharp critique of the country's capitalist past.
Based on the novel The Magellanic Cloud (Obłok Magellana) by Polish sci-fi writer Stanisław Lem (of Solaris fame), the film follows a loosely episodic nature, tracking scenes of crew boredom and festivities, as much as moments of sharp danger and tension. Cinematographers Jan Kalis and...
Based on the novel The Magellanic Cloud (Obłok Magellana) by Polish sci-fi writer Stanisław Lem (of Solaris fame), the film follows a loosely episodic nature, tracking scenes of crew boredom and festivities, as much as moments of sharp danger and tension. Cinematographers Jan Kalis and...
- 9/30/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
We may think of Kubrick's 2001 as the great grown-up sci-fi film, but many beautiful, thoughtful cosmic adventures came out of the Eastern Bloc too
If we can begin with a sweeping generalisation, American science-fiction movies are usually distinguished by a fast pace that gets faster and ends with an enormous bang. Not all: George Lucas's Thx 1138 and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey are different. But these are exceptional even within those directors' work: Lucas's other sci-fi films being fast-moving toy-operas, while Kubrick's Doctor Strangelove and Clockwork Orange are relentless in their irony and forward movement.
Partially, I think, this is because Us sci-fi films were born of very low budgets in the 1950s, in the hands of independents such as Jack Arnold. They were often parables about the danger of nuclear testing, which caused men to shrink, or ants to grow giant, or prehistoric sea-beasts to carry off swimsuited girls.
If we can begin with a sweeping generalisation, American science-fiction movies are usually distinguished by a fast pace that gets faster and ends with an enormous bang. Not all: George Lucas's Thx 1138 and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey are different. But these are exceptional even within those directors' work: Lucas's other sci-fi films being fast-moving toy-operas, while Kubrick's Doctor Strangelove and Clockwork Orange are relentless in their irony and forward movement.
Partially, I think, this is because Us sci-fi films were born of very low budgets in the 1950s, in the hands of independents such as Jack Arnold. They were often parables about the danger of nuclear testing, which caused men to shrink, or ants to grow giant, or prehistoric sea-beasts to carry off swimsuited girls.
- 6/30/2011
- by Alex Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
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