For most people, the month of July is the ideal time for outdoor Summer activities like swimming, cookouts, family vacations, etc. But for those of us who happen to be obsessed with collecting films on DVD and Blu-ray, July is the month to head down to our local Barnes & Noble store, or sign in to their online site, and take advantage of the 50% discount on their selection of titles from the Criterion Collection. And if we happen to miss out on the July sale, there is always another one to look forward to in November. I've been using these sales to add to my own personal collection of Criterion titles for a few years now. This month I picked up sixteen items. I'll begin with the movies I've already watched.
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
Starring Frank Sinatra. Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury. Directed by John Frankenheimer. This is the only film that I saw previous to this sale. And I also own a DVD copy. This is an amazing film about political intrigue, brainwashing, and twisted family relationships. Not easy to watch in several places, but brilliantly made. Excellent acting by all concerned. One of the reasons I decided to upgrade to this Blu-ray is because it includes an interview with Miss Lansbury. I've often wondered what she might have to say about the monstrous mother-from-hell that she portrays in this movie!
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975) Starring Rachel Roberts, Dominic Guard, Helen Morse and Ann-Louise Lambert. Directed by Peter Weir. So glad I finally saw this film, especially after hearing such wonderful things about it over the years. Set in Australia in 1900, the story tells of a group of schoolgirls spending the day at this strange geographical landmark. Four girls decide to go exploring, although one of them turns back. The other three go missing, as well as one of the teachers, who goes exploring on her own. Only one of the girls is found alive, and she claims not to remember anything that happened to her or the others. A mystery that is never solved. Completely fascinating.
BRINGING UP BABY (1938) Starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Directed by Howard Hawks. Screwball comedy at its best. I'm not the biggest Hepburn fan in the world, but she really shines in this one, and is matched perfectly by Grant. The zany story involves a paleontologist, a ditzy heiress, a leopard (make that two leopards), a dinosaur bone and a hilarious progression of misunderstandings, all performed at a breakneck pace with dialogue so quickly spoken that the average viewer will probably miss half of it. Great fun. I may have seen this on television back in my lost youth, but I don't remember it.
HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT (1937) Starring Jean Arthur, Charles Boyer, Colin Clive and Leo Carillo. Directed by Frank Borzage. Absolutely one of the best films I've ever seen! This was recommended to me by one of my fellow Youtubers, and I'm so glad I picked it up. It has everything: drama, romance, comedy (mostly supplied by Leo Carillo), disaster, and heroism. Beautifully played by the talented cast. Colin Clive, whom I know mainly from the Frankenstein films, gives a standout performance. I'm becoming a big fan of the films of Frank Borzage.
HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (1959) Starring Emmanuelle Riva and Eiji Okada. Directed by Alain Resnais. I decided to pick this title up because I had seen another Resnais film, LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (1961), which had been released by Kino-Lorber, and which I found to be impressive and fascinating. This film is quite different, but no less fascinating. Riva plays a French actress who has a brief, intense affair with Japanese architect Okada in post-war Hiroshima. I can do no justice to the complicated narrative by trying to explain it here. This is a film that must be seen again and again, just like LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, in order to even come close to understanding its dreamlike structure. Very highly recommended.
ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (1955) Starring Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson and Agnes Moorehead. Directed by Douglas Sirk. I had heard so many comments about the films of Mr. Sirk over the years, but the only one of his works that I'd seen was IMITATION OF LIFE (1959), which is a big favorite of mine. So I decided to give this one a try, and I'm very glad that I did. Wyman and Hudson play two people from different socioeconomic classes who fall in love and experience prejudice and opposition from friends and family. The cinematography is incredible.
MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1954) Starring Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead and Otto Kruger. Directed by Douglas Sirk. After enjoying ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, I decided to expand my Douglas Sirk experience, so I went back to Barnes & Noble and bought this film, which was the first pairing of Wyman and Hudson. This has a much more complicated story and gives Hudson to do some of his best dramatic acting of his early career. A very good film. This package also includes the 1935 version of the same story, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor, and directed by John Stahl
THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942) Starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallee. Directed by Preston Sturgess. Sophisticated romantic comedy that is filled with brilliant dialoge that comes fast and furious. Miss Colbert is perfect for a film like this, and she is well matched by the rest of the talented cast. The story has a married couple in New York splitting up. The wife heads for Florida and the hapless husband chases after her. Insane fun. Standout performance by Mary Astor.
THE PARALLAX VIEW (1974) Starring Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, William Daniels and Paula Prentiss. Directed by Alan J. Pakula. This would make a marvelous double feature with THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. An intricate, slow-burn political thriller with Beatty playing a reporter who is investigating the assassination of a senator at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle. Exciting and all too true to life.
DRESSED TO KILL (1980) Starring Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson and Nancy Allen. Directed by Brian De Palma. I avoided seeing this film for decades because I was expecting it to be a cinematic bloodbath that celebrated violence for its own sake. How wrong could I have been? This turned out to be one of the best thrillers I've ever seen. Angie Dickinson plays an unhappily married woman in New York who has a one night stand with a stranger and ends up murdered. A prostitute, played by Nancy Allen, witnesses the killing. She, along with Dickinson's teenage son and her psychiatrist (Caine), get involved in trying to trap the killer. Dark and stylish.
Listed below are the films I haven't yet watched.
COME AND SEE (1985) Starring Alexei Kravchenko. Directed by Elem Klimov. One of my Youtube friends did a detailed commentary on this film about a year ago. I had never heard of it, but his description fascinated me. He also made it clear how visceral the film is and very difficult to watch at times. As I tend not to process violence terribly well, I avoided picking this up. But I've decided to give it a chance. Most critics have described it as extremely effective and worthwhile. It involves a young man who enters the Soviet Army to fight the Nazis. While he expected adventure and glory, he finds instead a nightmare of unending horror. I will no doubt have to be in just the right mood to sit down and watch this.
THE ROAD TRILOGY:
ALICE IN THE CITIES (1974)
WRONG MOVE (1975)
KINGS OF THE ROAD (1976)
Directed by Wim Wenders
WINGS OF DESIRE (1987) Starring Bruno Ganz. Directed by Wim Wenders. About a year ago, I rewatched Wenders' PARIS, TEXAS (1984), which I had seen and hated on its initial release. But after so many years, I absolutely loved it. As a result, I wanted to explore Wenders' work a little more, so I picked up THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977), starring Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz, a film I also enjoyed. Now I'm ready to keep on exploring. I've heard so many wonderful things about WINGS OF DESIRE.
THE GUNFIGHTER (1950) Starring Gregory Peck. Directed by Henry King. Again, I've been hearing good things about this film from several of my fellow Youtubers who love to collect physical media and post video reviews and commentaries. This is described as a dark take on the Western genre. Peck plays Jimmy Ringo, a gunslinger who is trying to start a new life, but keeps getting pulled back into his old one. Sounds similar to the Clint Eastwood classic UNFORGIVEN (1992), another film I watched recently for the first time.
THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928) Starring Renee Falconetti. Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. I've been meaning to pick up this film for a long time. This was made during the last years of silent pictures, and is said to be one of the masterpieces of the era.
DESIGN FOR LIVING (1933) Starring Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Gary Cooper and Edward Everett Horton. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. From the "pre-code" era of Hollywood films, this involves an unusual "gentlemen's agreement" between three Americans living in Paris. I took a class focusing on pre-code films a few years ago and it opened up my experience to many fascinating films. Miss Hopkins was at the top of her game during this period. And with the added talents of March, Cooper and Lubitsch, this one will have to be good.
I never realized that Barnes & Noble stores made it a regular July/November habit of discounting their Criterion Collection discs. Definitely some I have had my eye on that I will have to grab next month if that is still happening. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteTHE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE is a terrific film. The alternating perceptions early in the film between the captured, brainwashed soldiers and their captors was very innovative and darkly amusing. It was some of those '60s Sinatra movies that made me a fan of him as an actor before I began to appreciate his music.
I am glad you gave DRESSED TO KILL a chance. It's another De Palma film full of Hitchcock influences, but it is non the worse for that. It's great fun that ratchets up the creepy suspense to fine effect. Having Michael Caine in the cast is always a plus.
Yes, there have been Criterion sales at B&N for quite a few years in July and November. All of us Criterion freaks look forward to these sales, and we all wonder if they will stop happening someday. The announcements usually come at the last minute. If you live close to a B&N, be sure to check it out. You can also order online if there is no store you can get to. Another excellent Sinatra acting performance can be found in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955), in which he plays a musician struggling with heroin addiction. Very highly recommended. I came late to the party where DRESSED TO KILL is concerned. I always avoided it because I thought it would be just another bloodbath flick. But I was quite surprised at how good it was. Terrific atmosphere and performances. Thank you for the comments!
Delete