Criterion Month Day 3: Summertime

Summertime (1955)

On the surface, I thought I’d be walking into familiar territory with 1955’s Summertime, since its basic plot does bear some resemblance to my last movie, Now, Voyager. This is another story about a lonely woman going on a vacation in the hopes of finding herself and some peace of mind, set during a time when female independence was a bit of a rarity. But as this film shows, there are many ways to tell a similar story, as the more somber tone of Now, Voyager is miles away from the picturesque, unabashedly romantic mood of Summertime, which revels in the rebirth that a trip abroad can bring, even if such things are never meant to last. Continue reading →

Criterion Month Day 2: Now, Voyager

Now, Voyager (1942)

Most years, I start my Criterion Months somewhere in the depths of the golden era of Hollywood’s studio system, and this year is no exception. Though this year I’m starting with one of that era’s genres that sometimes gets overlooked in the grand scheme of film history and serious critical analysis, most likely due to filmmaking’s old friend, sexism. This genre would be the reductively-named “women’s picture”, which were a certain type of melodrama, typically revolving around a female character’s personal journey. One of the great stars of this genre (along with her nemesis Joan Crawford) was Bette Davis, and Now, Voyager has been regarded as one of the best examples of Davis’s work in this genre, which I found to be very much a product of its time, but also felt very unique in its depiction of mental health struggles. Continue reading →

Criterion Month Day 1: His Girl Friday

His Girl Friday (1940)

The 1928 play The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur has been adapted for the screen four times but its second film version, 1940’s His Girl Friday, is certainly the most consequential. That’s because director Howard Hawks had the inspired idea to change one of the central characters, Hildy Johnson, into a woman, completely changing the story’s dynamic. Instead of simply a story of a weary reporter trying to turn over a new leaf, we get that plus all sorts of mid-century gender dynamics! It’s a good time now hurry up and get in here.

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The Ninth Annual Criterion Draft

As June turns to July, we once again set our eyes on reviewing various films that have entered the Criterion Collection over the course of what we like to refer to as Criterion Month. Call it our own little corner of the Criterion Closet filled with films we’ve never seen, some potentially aligning with our tastes and some that we’ve put off seeing since they inherently might not. Once again, some of us go for themes and some of us don’t, but the one constant is that while picking which movies to review, we only have a vague sense of what we’re in for. The fun begins in just one day! Continue reading →

Criterion Month Day 30: Perfect Days

Perfect Days (2003)

Do you know what your perfect day would be? I’m not talking about like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or the best Christmas ever or getting invited to the ultra-hot-people-only orgy. I mean what would your perfect, random, workday, Wednesday be like? I imagine for most of us it would be pretty simple, something like: wake up rested, have a nice breakfast, nothing weird happens at work, maybe lunch in the park or some shit, and have a little time to relax before going to bed and starting it all over again the next day. For better or for worse, days like that *should* make up the majority of our lives. And yet, if I’m speaking for myself, I don’t give myself the gift of perfect days nearly often enough. Far too often I wake up exhausted or spend too much time about stressing going to the gym or put off doing work and chores and preparing food. It keeps me hanging on. I should change that, yeah?

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Criterion Month Day 28: Anatomy of a Fall

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Justine Triet’s Oscar-winning Anatomy of a Fall beguiled audiences last winter with one of cinema’s most unforgettable performances. I’m of course talking about Messi, the Border Collie whose believable overdose scene has been called “the greatest acting performance of my life” by Ayo Edebiri. It’s a thrilling debut by an assured rising star who spent the whole award season laughing it up with Hollywood’s biggest names. He even returned to Cannes this year as a reporter, talk about flipping the script. Yes, his future is almost as bright as those blue eyes but, aside from Messi, does Anatomy of a Fall having anything going for it?

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Criterion Month Day 27: Saint Omer

Saint Omer (2022)

We in no way planned it, but it is pretty fun that we’ll be reviewing Saint Omer and Anatomy of a Fall back-to-back today and tomorrow. For whatever reason, these two legal dramas were also two of the biggest arthouse exports from France these last couple years, and having already seen Anatomy, it was hard not to think of it while watching Saint Omer. There are plenty of differences between the two movies, but they also more or less explore the same overall idea that as cold and exacting as the criminal justice system can be, it becomes a lot more complicated when things like love and relationships and motherhood are involved. Continue reading →