In 1982, Ingmar Bergman released a sprawling reflection on his life, Fanny and Alexander. Intended to be his swan song, the five-part, 320-minute film examines the European cinema master through the eyes of ten-year-old Alexander (Bertil Guve) as he experiences the triumphs and tragedies of growing up while also informing students of the director’s works about what helped to shape the…
Tag: The Criterion Collection
Nightmare Alley
Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) is set adrift in the world without much of a purpose until he stumbles into employment at Clem Hoatley’s (Willem Dafoe) freaks and geeks carnival. There, he begins to apprentice for a mentalism act, Zeena the Seer (Toni Collette) and her husband Pete (David Strathairn). As his skills as a performer grow, so…
The Power of the Dog
Montana, 1925. Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his crew of cowboys come across a small town while on a job. Needing a place to eat and sleep for the night, they ride up to an inn run by mother and son Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter Gordon (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Phil’s softer-spoken brother, George (Jesse Plemons),…
The Emigrants / The New Land
In an effort to make a better life for his family, Karl Oskar (Max von Sydow) has grand dreams of moving from Småland in Sweden to North America to create a large, bountiful, and profitable farm. His wife, Kristina (Liv Ullmann) is a little more hesitant to leave their family land, but ever faithful in both God and her…
Onibaba
In a grassy marsh in war-torn Japan, an old woman (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) make their living by luring and killing lost samurai and selling their weapons and armor for food. When their neighbor, Hachi (Kei Satō), returns home from the war, he tells the women that Kishi, the older woman’s son…
The French Dispatch
The French Dispatch is a literary magazine and the only beacon of class and culture for its readers in Liberty, Kansas. After the death of its editor Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray), the staff adheres to his wishes in publishing one farewell edition before shutting down operations. The film that follows delves into a short travel section, three…
La Piscine
On vacation at a villa on the French Riveria, Jean-Paul (Alain Delon) and Marianne (Romy Schneider) spend many an afternoon lazing about the sun-beaten deck and garden surrounding the luxurious swimming pool that is the centerpiece of the estate. Tensions and passions rise when Marianne invites an old flame, Harry (Maurice Ronet) to join the…
Body Heat
In the middle of an oppressive heat wave, temperatures are not the only thing rising in a small south Florida town. Local lawyer Ned Racine (William Hurt) encounters the unhappily married socialite Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner) on one fatefully hot night. It does not take long for passion to get the better of the two, but only one thing stands in their…
The Marquee Topic 