It's that time again. Time for me to tell the fine folks at Criterion what films they should be releasing. As it stands, none of the ten films I have suggested have gone on to join the hallowed ranks of boutique home video. But next week sees the release of a film that I had long planned to include in one of these posts (Michael Cimino's epic western Heaven's Gate) so yeah...I got that going for me. Anyhow, here's the latest crop of films I feel are worthy of a spine number.
Chimes at Midnight
Upon its initial release, this film was viewed by many as out of touch and too old-fashioned. In the years since, it has come to be hailed by many as the second greatest film of Orson Welles' career (Citizen Kane having long held that first place spot). Due to ongoing disputes over ownership rights, this film has not seen release on American home video since the days of VHS. Having already released Welles' Mr. Arkadin and F for Fake, Criterion would be the logical label to release this film after all the dust settles. The same goes for Welles' still unreleased final film, The Other Side of the Wind. Perhaps even release them in the same month. By any means necessary
Dead Man
With five of Jim Jarmusch's ten feature films already included in The Collection, Dead Man is a seemingly obvious addition. Photographed in gorgeous black and white by the legendary Robby Müller, with a soundtrack by Neil Young, this film demands hi-def blu-ray audio and video. Though Jarmusch doesn't do commentary tracks, I've seriously come to love the Q&As to fan submitted questions that get included on his Criterion releases. Also, I feel the fact that the film stars Johnny Depp will likely provide a tiny boost in sales.
Sparrow
Mad props to the fine folks who run the Criterion Cast podcast for bringing this film to my attention. If you've looked through this blog's archives, you might've noticed that Johnnie To's Vengeance was the first film I ever reviewed on here! While in my opinion this is not the greatest To film (that would be Election 2), this one is a really fun watch filled with all sorts of cool homages to the films of Criterion's beloved French New Wave. Though they commissioned a top-10 list from him, there is currently no To in The collection. Additionally, this film is only available on a pretty crappy Thai all-region import. Come on Criterion, make this happen!
He Got Game
For a while there Spike Lee was churning out a film per year. And just like his New York buddy Woody Allen, quality varied greatly. Though praised by many critics at the time of its release, He Got Game seems to have been lost in the shuffle among the more attention-grabbing Spike Lee Joints like Malcolm X and Do The Right Thing. Though I don't even like or follow sports, He Got Game is a really great father/son story and the scenes set to Aaron Copland songs are breathtaking. Wouldn't this be a perfect companion piece to the already Criterionized Hoop Dreams?
Before Sunrise / Before Sunset / Before Midnight
This one's kind of speculative as the third film has not been released yet, but come on! The first two are so perfect that there's no way the last one can fail. Also there are plenty of Criterion precedents to pre-sage the eventual arrival of this box-set. First there's the fact that they've already released the similarly themed Certified Copy, then there's the fact that they've already released a series of films following a character over multiple decades, and lastly they seem to really love them some Richard Linklater. Odds are they'll probably make us wait a year or so after Midnight's initial release, so let's say 2015 then? Get your Amazon pre-orders in now!
Sparrow
Mad props to the fine folks who run the Criterion Cast podcast for bringing this film to my attention. If you've looked through this blog's archives, you might've noticed that Johnnie To's Vengeance was the first film I ever reviewed on here! While in my opinion this is not the greatest To film (that would be Election 2), this one is a really fun watch filled with all sorts of cool homages to the films of Criterion's beloved French New Wave. Though they commissioned a top-10 list from him, there is currently no To in The collection. Additionally, this film is only available on a pretty crappy Thai all-region import. Come on Criterion, make this happen!
He Got Game
For a while there Spike Lee was churning out a film per year. And just like his New York buddy Woody Allen, quality varied greatly. Though praised by many critics at the time of its release, He Got Game seems to have been lost in the shuffle among the more attention-grabbing Spike Lee Joints like Malcolm X and Do The Right Thing. Though I don't even like or follow sports, He Got Game is a really great father/son story and the scenes set to Aaron Copland songs are breathtaking. Wouldn't this be a perfect companion piece to the already Criterionized Hoop Dreams?
Before Sunrise / Before Sunset / Before Midnight
This one's kind of speculative as the third film has not been released yet, but come on! The first two are so perfect that there's no way the last one can fail. Also there are plenty of Criterion precedents to pre-sage the eventual arrival of this box-set. First there's the fact that they've already released the similarly themed Certified Copy, then there's the fact that they've already released a series of films following a character over multiple decades, and lastly they seem to really love them some Richard Linklater. Odds are they'll probably make us wait a year or so after Midnight's initial release, so let's say 2015 then? Get your Amazon pre-orders in now!
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