Reviews of new releases from Arrow Video, The Criterion Collection, Flicker Alley, Kino Lorber, Milestone Films, and more.
Every moment he felt that … he was drawing nearer and nearer to what terrified him. —Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich Ivan Beckman (Danny Huston) is one of those Hollywood agents that earn enough to afford a home in the … Continue reading IVANSXTC.
When Girlfriends opened in New York City on Aug. 11, 1978, a newspaper strike kept the movie’s release from a public announcement. So, director Claudia Weill and actors Melanie Mayron and Eli Wallach photocopied handbills and stood on street corners to get … Continue reading GIRLFRIENDS
Tall and lean, Jimmy Ringo’s come to town. His pants are ill-fitting and his jacket is a little shabby. His mustache is dumpy and that bowl cut sure isn’t making the women swoon. But the men are in awe. “Hiya, … Continue reading THE GUNFIGHTER
It’s the story of boy meets girl, but it’s all mixed up. He’s Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a married man with kids. She is Marianne (Anna Karina), the babysitter. But they are not strangers; they’ve known each other for years: Four … Continue reading PIERROT LE FOU
Mr. Hekmati (Parviz Fannizadeh) has come to Tehran. He’s a schoolteacher, and in tow, he has a lamp, a mirror, and books. He drops the lamp, the mirror falls, and the books are spilled on the ground. An inauspicious entrance … Continue reading DOWNPOUR
In 1990, Martin Scorsese brought together a band of cinema enthusiasts to protect motion picture history by creating The Film Foundation (TFF)—a bridge between Hollywood studios and archives. Its mission: Preserve America’s visual art form for future generations. Thirty years … Continue reading Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 3
Released at the tail end of the last century, Beau travail was filmmaker Claire Denis’ fifth film: the one that launched her onto the world stage and established her as one of the key cinematic voices of this century. The emphasis on … Continue reading BEAU TRAVAIL
Let us be crooked but never common,” Colonel Harrington urges his daughter, Jean. He’s played by Charles Coburn, grand in every meaning of the word, and she’s played by Barbara Stanwyck, arguably the greatest actor to grace the silver screen. … Continue reading THE LADY EVE
Both born at the end of the 19th century, Arthur Stanley Jefferson (Stan Laurel) and Oliver Norvell Hardy (“Babe” to friends and family) found their way to the silver screen by different means. Laurel came of a theatrical family, first … Continue reading Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations
Michael J. Cinema 
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