Four Suggestions for the Final Weekend of Barnes and Noble's Criterion Sale

by Tony Dayoub

Barnes and Noble's semi-annual Criterion Collection sale, where one can obtain the pricey but well-curated discs for 50% off, is over on Monday, July 29 August 5th [Update: the sale has been extended for an additional week. (h/t to Scott Nye)]. I've got my discs. Do you have yours? If not, may I suggest four of their most recent Blu-ray releases for your perusal. Three are upgrades from films previously available on Criterion DVD, but the first one listed here is new to the collection.

NYFF50: Cinema Reflected

by Tony Dayoub

One of the small rewards of having attended one of the earlier weeks of festival press screenings this year is that I've had the opportunity to sample a great deal more of the NYFF Sidebar entries than I usually do. Among the sidebars that should hold more interest for cinephiles should be the one titled Cinema Reflected, showcasing "illuminating documentaries and essay films about movies and the men and women who make them." Though I had issues with both of the entries I watched, Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out and Liv and Ingmar, I must keep reminding myself that these are not part of the festival main slate. So, at some level, they are diverting enough to merit a couple of showings at Lincoln Center.

Criterion Summer

by Tony Dayoub

Harriet Andersson in Summer with Monika (1953)

In the land of Criterion, the conversation at the moment is a quite funny non-debate (because the person who started it is wrong) over the aspect ratio of a release that isn't due to come out until October. But it eclipses some more relevant news. Namely, that Barnes & Noble is again hosting one of their biannual 50% off Criterion sales. If you are a heavy user of the tony Blu-ray/DVD label then now is the best time to stock up since, as you well know, SRP is usually between $30 and $40. And if you are willing to lay out +/- thirty bucks to become a B&N member, the thing practically pays itself off with the extra 10% off it garners you. The sale runs until 7/30. After the jump, a look at some of Criterion's most recent releases for you to consider.

Criterion Christmas 2011

by Tony Dayoub

As Christmas bears down on us, some things have gotten lost in the shuffle due to the sheer number of movies I'm watching for awards voting and end-of—year lists. Fortunately, you, dear reader, seem to love such lists, allowing me to use them as a sort of catchall for any reviews I've fallen behind on. Consider this one a list of my top recommendations for Criterion's 4th quarter releases or, at the very least, a small Criterion Holiday gift guide.

Criterion Buyer's Guide 2011

by Tony Dayoub

A couple of weeks ago, Barnes and Noble began their semi-annual 50% Off Criterion Collection sale. With their sale due to wrap up next Monday, this gives me an opportunity to post several capsule reviews of some recent titles the label has sent me which readers might be interested in perusing before stocking up. In addition to linking to the book store's page online, I've linked each of my recommendations to its corresponding entry on the store's site.

Blu-ray Review: Criterion's Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) (1954) and The Magician (Ansiktet) (1958)

by Tony Dayoub

Today is the fifteenth, the point mid-month when the Criterion Collection typically reveals what new DVDs and Blu-rays they have in store for us three months from now. As we await with bated breath, let's take a brief look at two of their newest Blu-ray releases, the classic Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) and The Magician (Ansiktet).

Blu-ray Review: The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet) (1957)

One of the best films ever made, The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet), gets a rewarding bit of sprucing up for Criterion's new Blu-ray edition. This movie must have been a shock of the first order to audiences expecting a follow-up to Ingmar Bergman's previous film, Smiles of a Summer Night (1955). That romantic comedy was all the rage at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956. But what an about-face Bergman decided to do when he followed it with this highly theatrical and symbolic look at man's relationship with God and death. Set in medieval times, the movie follows Antonious Block (Max von Sydow), a disillusioned knight on his journey home from the Crusades. His travelling companion and squire, Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand), tries to leaven their weary spirits with gallows humor. But only the knight is aware of another shadowy figure making the journey with them... Death (Bengt Ekerot). Though Block has felt the spectre of Death throughout his trip home, it is only when confronted with the shadowy figure on a beach that he decides to challenge him to a game of chess, hoping to forestall his demise long enough to seek a better understanding of God and the afterlife in the interim. This central image drives Bergman's weighty philosophical examination of the metaphysical, as he admits in one of the most interesting special features ever to be included on a disc, Marie Nyreröd's documentary Bergman Island (2004). It is a fascinating three-part exercise that has the director candidly examining his work and his life (near the time of his death in 2007) from his home in the island of Fårö. The doc is substantial and significant enough that the film curators at Criterion decided to release it separately on DVD for those who do not get The Seventh Seal on Blu-ray. Still, you are really missing out if you don't take advantage of having the two on the same Blu-ray disc. Gunnar Fischer's cinematography for The Seventh Seal is the prime beneficiary of the Blu-ray's enhancements. Compare this version of Seal to its original release on Criterion back in 1999. As I keep reiterating on this site, there is no film with which one can appreciate the value of Blu-ray the best as a cinema classic like Seal. The richness of the black-and-white deep-focus photography—as in the sharp detailing of a bird's-eye shot of the coastal rocks through which Block and Jöns pass on their way home—is a revelation to viewers who've only seen the murkier versions of this shadowy film. Now, instead of one big blotchy black, there are gradations of grey within the shadows. For those who've never seen this classic of world cinema, Criterion's Blu-ray of The Seventh Seal is the way to do it. Don't confuse its grim, heavy subject with its running time, either. This movie is light on its feet, and with a 97-minute running time, moves pretty damn fast through some deep thoughts on humanity relative to its own extinction—which considering the world economic crisis, and North Korea's recent aggressive posturing, still manages to be relevant today. The Seventh Seal is available on Criterion Blu-ray and standard DVD tomorrow. Bergman Island is available on standard DVD tomorrow.