en https://criterioncast.com <![CDATA[Criterion Cast: Main Episodes]]> https://static.feedpress.com/logo/criterioncastepisodes-5ef83ad4eccc2.jpg TV & Film/Film History TV & Film/Film Reviews adult Main episodes of the Criterion Cast podcast CriterionCast Copyright 2020 - CriterionCast Copyright 2020 - CriterionCast CriterionCast true CriterionCast podcast@hyperbolic.tv CriterionCast This feed is just the main episodes of the CriterionCast, without any of the bonus episodes or other shows in the network. Main episodes of the Criterion Cast podcast This feed is just the main episodes of the CriterionCast, without any of the bonus episodes or other shows in the network. 509894624 podcast@hyperbolic.tv yes CriterionCast Criterion Cast: Main Episodes https://criterioncast.com Main episodes of the Criterion Cast podcast Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:53:03 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Episode 219: An Interview with Aaron West, Author of The A24 New Wave https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/17265285/episode-219-a24-new-wave CriterionCast Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:53:03 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=68757

In this special episode of Criterion Cast, David Blakeslee interviews Aaron West, a longtime contributor to this site, about his new book The A24 New Wave, which will publish in May 2026. Their conversation gives a brief overview of A24’s history since the company began distributing films in 2012 (with their big breakthrough Spring Breakers) and went on from there to accelerate the careers of many of today’s most influential and respected directors, actors, and other talents. A24 has released many of the most impactful movies of the past decade-plus and this book offers insights and behind-the-scenes details on how those projects came together. Aaron also describes his creative process and shares some early insights on his plans for upcoming volumes exploring other chapters of cinema history.

About the Book:

The A24 New Wave is the story of the foundation of the indie film powerhouse that championed new voices and transformed cinema. This comprehensive book explores the A24 way, their business practices, and the great cinema that changed the way movies are marketed and seen. Includes in-depth stories about filmmakers Barry Jenkins, Robert Eggers, Greta Gerwig, Sean Baker, Ari Aster, and so many more.

For more information on how to order the book, visit CineJourneys!

Press Release 

Contact us:

]]> CriterionCast yes In this special episode of Criterion Cast, David Blakeslee interviews Aaron West, a longtime contributor to this site, about his new book The A24 New Wave, which will publish in May 2026. Their… Aaron West's upcoming book covers the rise of A24 from its first releases in 2012 up to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Episode 218 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2025 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/17244665/criterion-cast-episode-218-criterion-collection-favorites-of-2025 CriterionCast Wed, 31 Dec 2025 19:44:24 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=68666

In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate! – we’ve assembled a panel of CriterionCast regulars to share our favorite releases of 2025. David Blakeslee from Criterion Reflections hosts this discussion, which also includes Aaron West and Brad McDermott.

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Episode Notes

Aaron’s List

Brad’s List

David’s List

Criterion 2025 Factoids

  • 82 Total Releases (including Janus Contemporaries/Criterion Premieres, Eclipse 47, and Wes Anderson Archive)
  • 50 new spine numbers (The Mother and the Whore #1245 thru David Byrne’s American Utopia #1294, though House Party #1287 was delayed until 2026)
  • 25 Upgrades/Reissues of previous spine numbers (including Laserdiscs)
  • 16 Standard Upgrades from Blu-ray to 4K
  • 2 Blu-ray to 4K Upgrades were new packages (Wages of Fear, Umbrellas of Cherbourg)
  • 4 In-print DVDs to 4K Upgrades
  • 4 OOP DVDs returned, 3 to 4K Upgrades, 1 to Blu-ray
  • 11 of the new spine numbers released in DVD format
  • Only three-format (4K/BR/DVD) releases of 2025 were:
  • The Mother and the Whore
  • The Wages of Fear
  • Anora
  • Shoeshine
  • Flow
  • David Byrne’s American Utopia

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

 

]]> CriterionCast yes In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate! – we’ve assembled a panel of CriterionCast regulars to share our favorite r… David Blakeslee, Aaron West, and Brad McDermott got together to keep our annual "favorites of the year" podcast tradition going for Year 16! Episode 217 – Argentine Noir with guest Matthew Gentile https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/17033262/episode-217-argentine-noir-with-guest-matthew-gentile CriterionCast Sun, 18 May 2025 21:44:14 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=68553

This episode of Criterion Cast features a conversation with director/screenwriter Matthew Gentile, as he and host David Blakeslee discuss the ARGENTINE NOIR bundle currently streaming on the Criterion Channel. As the name implies, this is a collection of six films noir originally released in Argentina during the 1950s. Here’s how the Channel describes the set:

Argentina gave rise to some of the finest and most fascinating crime thrillers of the postwar noir boom—pitch-black tales of lust, greed, guilt, and deception suffused with the passionate intensity of tango and sculpted in striking expressionist shadows. This selection of newly restored films from the Perón era brings together some of the most intriguing examples of Argentine noir, including two atmospheric Cornell Woolrich adaptations (IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE, NEVER OPEN THAT DOOR), a female-centered remake of Fritz Lang’s M (THE BLACK VAMPIRE), and a searing adaptation of Richard Wright’s landmark novel NATIVE SON starring the writer himself. Set amid the smoky nightclubs and dark alleys of Buenos Aires and laced with bitterly ironic social critique, these stylish, suspenseful journeys into existential dread are ripe-for-discovery gems from one of Latin America’s major film industries.

Episode Links:

Never Open That Door / If I Should Die Before I Wake

The Beast Must Die

The Bitter Stems

The Black Vampire

Native Son

CONTACT US:

]]> CriterionCast yes This episode of Criterion Cast features a conversation with director/screenwriter Matthew Gentile, as he and host David Blakeslee discuss the ARGENTINE NOIR bundle currently streaming on the… David Blakeslee hosts director/screenwriter Matthew Gentile in a conversation about six films from Argentina's golden age of cinema, currently featured on the Criterion Channel. Episode 216 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2024 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16930972/episode-216-criterion-collection-favorites-of-2024 CriterionCast Tue, 31 Dec 2024 14:32:14 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=68450

In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate! – we’ve assembled a panel of CriterionCast regulars to share our favorite releases of 2024. David Blakeslee from Criterion Reflections hosts this discussion, which also includes Aaron West (CineJourneys), Josh Hornbeck (Criterion Channel Surfing), and longtime site contributor Brad McDermott.

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Episode Notes

Josh’s List

Brad’s List

Aaron’s List

David’s List

Miscellaneous
(random stuff mentioned in the episode)

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

 

]]> CriterionCast yes In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate! – we’ve assembled a panel of CriterionCast regulars to share our favorite r… Our 15th annual survey of Criterion's new releases, featuring David Blakeslee, Josh Hornbeck, Brad McDermott, and Aaron West. Episode 215 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2023 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514889/episode-215-favorites-of-2023 CriterionCast Mon, 01 Jan 2024 16:28:06 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=68149

In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate – we’ve assembled a panel of CriterionCast regulars to share our favorite releases of 2023. David Blakeslee from Criterion Reflections hosts this discussion, which also includes Aaron West (CineJourneys), Josh Hornbeck (Criterion Channel Surfing), and longtime site contributors Jordan Essoe and Brad McDermott.

Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes

Episode Notes

Jordan’s List

Aaron’s List

Brad’s List

Josh’s List

David’s List

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

]]> CriterionCast yes In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate – we’ve assembled a panel of CriterionCast regulars to share our favorite re… This year's panel (David, Jordan, Josh, Brad, and Aaron) resumes our annual tradition of sharing their favorite 2023 releases from the Criterion Collection. Episode 214 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2022 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/15878161/episode-214-favorites-of-2022 CriterionCast Sun, 01 Jan 2023 22:00:04 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=67692

In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate – we’ve assembled a panel of CriterionCast regulars to share our favorite releases of 2022. David Blakeslee from Criterion Reflections hosts this discussion, which also includes Aaron West (Criterion Now), Josh Hornbeck (Criterion Channel Surfing), and longtime site contributor Jordan Essoe.

Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes

Episode Notes

Josh’s List

Aaron’s List

Jordan’s List

David’s List

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

]]> CriterionCast yes In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate – we’ve assembled a panel of CriterionCast regulars to share our favorite re… David Blakeslee, Jordan Essoe, Josh Hornbeck and Aaron West talk about their top picks among the films published by the Criterion Collection over the past year. Episode 213 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2021 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/14970857/episode-213-criterion-collection-favorites-of-2021 CriterionCast Thu, 23 Dec 2021 18:00:33 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=66426

In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate – we’ve assembled the entire podcasting crew from CriterionCast to share our favorite releases of 2021. David Blakeslee from Criterion Reflections hosts this discussion, which also includes Trevor Berrett (Inside the Box), Aaron West and Jill Blake (Criterion Now), Josh Hornbeck (Criterion Channel Surfing), along with longtime contributors to the site Arik Devens, Jordan Essoe and Scott Nye.

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Episode Notes

Arik’s List

Jordan’s List

Scott’s List

Aaron’s List

Jill’s List

Josh’s List

Trevor’s List

David’s List

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

]]> CriterionCast yes In our annual episode focusing on The Criterion Collection’s releases from the past year – and there’s a lot to celebrate – we’ve assembled the entire podcasting crew from CriterionCast to share our… The full CriterionCast crew assembles for our 12th annual year-end conversation about our favorite Criterion Collection offerings in 2021. Episode 212 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2020 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/14183625/episode-212-criterion-collection-favorites-of-2020 CriterionCast Sat, 26 Dec 2020 19:58:04 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=64903

To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2020 releases – and there’s a lot to celebrate – Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, Aaron West, and Jordan Essoe gather to talk about the past year in Criterion, including their favorite three Criterion releases of 2020.

Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes

Episode Notes

Aaron’s List

David’s List

Scott’s List

Trevor’s List

Jordan’s List

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

]]> CriterionCast yes To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2020 releases – and there’s a lot to celebrate – Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, Aaron West, and Jordan Essoe gather to talk about the past year i… Scott is joined by David, Aaron, Trevor, and Jordan to discuss their Criterion Collection releases from 2020. Episode 211 – Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker’s The War Room https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/13988240/episode-211-chris-hegedus-and-d-a-pennebakers-the-war-room CriterionCast Tue, 20 Oct 2020 11:59:47 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=64530

On episode 211 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker’s 1993 film The War Room.

The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House—and changed the face of politics in the process.

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EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes On episode 211 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker’s 1993 film The War&nbsp;Room. The 1992 p… On episode 211 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker's 1993 documentary The War Room. Episode 210 – Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’eclisse https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/13880448/episode-210-michelangelo-antonionis-leclisse CriterionCast Wed, 16 Sep 2020 04:02:24 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=64310

On episode 210 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1961 film L’eclisse.

Using the architecture of Rome as a backdrop for the doomed affair, Antonioni achieves the apotheosis of his style in this return to the theme that preoccupied him the most: the difficulty of connection in an alienating modern world.

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EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes On episode 210 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1961 film L’eclisse. Using the architecture of Rome as a ba… On episode 210 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1961 film L'eclisse. Episode 209 – Michelangelo Antonioni’s La notte https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/13808684/episode-209-michelangelo-antonionis-la-notte CriterionCast Fri, 14 Aug 2020 04:55:12 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=64141

On episode 209 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1961 film La notte.

Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau star as a novelist and his frustrated wife, who, over the course of one night, confront their alienation from each other and the achingly empty bourgeois Milan circles in which they travel. Antonioni’s muse Monica Vitti smolders as an industrialist’s tempting daughter. Moodily sensual cinematography and subtly expressive performances make La notte an indelible illustration of romantic and social deterioration.

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EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

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]]> CriterionCast yes On episode 209 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1961 film La&nbsp;notte. Marcello Mastroianni and J… On episode 209 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1961 film La notte. Episode 208 – Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’avventura https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/13711922/episode-208-michelangelo-antonionis-lavventura CriterionCast Fri, 10 Jul 2020 00:29:13 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=63929

On episode 208 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1960 film L’avventura.

Michelangelo Antonioni invented a new film grammar with this masterwork. An iconic piece of challenging 1960s cinema and a gripping narrative on its own terms, L’avventura concerns the enigmatic disappearance of a young woman during a yachting trip off the coast of Sicily, and the search taken up by her disaffected lover (Gabriele Ferzetti) and best friend (Monica Vitti, in her breakout role).

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EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes On episode 208 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1960 film&nbsp;L’avventura. Michelangelo Antonioni inv… On episode 208 of CriterionCast, Jordan Essoe is joined by Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1960 film L'avventura. Episode 207 – Roberto Rossellini’s Germany Year Zero https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/13616743/episode-207-roberto-rossellinis-germany-year-zero CriterionCast Wed, 10 Jun 2020 11:59:14 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=63782

This time on the podcast, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens discuss Roberto Rossellini’s Germany Year Zero.

The concluding chapter of Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy is the most devastating, a portrait of an obliterated Berlin, seen through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy.

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EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens discuss Roberto Rossellini’s Germany Year&nbsp;Zero. The concluding chapter of Roberto Rossellini’s War Tri… This time on the podcast, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens discuss Roberto Rossellini's Germany Year Zero. Episode 206 – Roberto Rossellini’s Paisan https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/13545528/episode-206-roberto-rossellinis-paisan CriterionCast Sat, 16 May 2020 11:59:24 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=63666

This time on the podcast, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens discuss Roberto Rossellini’s Paisan.

With its documentary-like visuals and intermingled cast of actors and nonprofessionals, Italians and their American liberators, this look at the struggles of different cultures to communicate and of people to live their everyday lives in extreme circumstances is equal parts charming sentiment and vivid reality.

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EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens discuss Roberto Rossellini’s&nbsp;Paisan. With its documentary-like visuals and intermingled cast of actors a… This time on the podcast, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens discuss Roberto Rossellini's Paisan. Episode 205 – Roberto Rossellini’s Rome, Open City https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/13521203/episode-205-roberto-rossellinis-rome-open-city CriterionCast Fri, 08 May 2020 23:44:39 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=63646

This time on the podcast, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens discuss Roberto Rossellini’s Rome Open City.

This was Roberto Rossellini’s revelation, a harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome and the brave few who struggled against it. Though told with more melodramatic flair than the films that would follow it to form The War Trilogy and starring some well-known actors—Aldo Fabrizi as a priest helping the partisan cause and Anna Magnani in her breakthrough role as the fiancée of a resistance member—Rome Open City is a shockingly authentic experience, conceived and directed amid the ruin of World War II, with immediacy in every frame. Marking a watershed moment in Italian cinema, this galvanic work garnered awards around the globe and left the beginnings of a new film movement in its wake.

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EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens discuss Roberto Rossellini’s Rome Open&nbsp;City. This was Roberto Rossellini’s revelation, a harrowing drama … This time on the podcast, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Arik Devens discuss Roberto Rossellini's Rome Open City. Episode 204 – Wacky 2020! https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/13114194/episode-204-wacky-2020 CriterionCast Wed, 01 Jan 2020 23:59:34 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=63082

Ryan is joined by David and Aaron to chat about the Wacky New Year’s Drawing for 2020.

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Past Wacky New Year’s Episodes

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes Ryan is joined by David and Aaron to chat about the Wacky New Year’s Drawing for&nbsp;2020. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes Past Wacky New Year’s Episodes 2019: Episode 196 – Wack… Ryan is joined by David and Aaron to chat about the Wacky New Year's Drawing for 2020. Episode 203 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2019 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/13112207/episode-203-criterion-collection-favorites-of-2019 CriterionCast Tue, 31 Dec 2019 22:59:49 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=63075

To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2019 releases – and there’s a lot to celebrate – Ryan Gallagher, David Blakeslee, Scott Nye, Trevor Berrett, and Jordan Essoe gather to talk about the past year in Criterion, including their favorite three Criterion releases of 2019.

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Episode Notes

Ryan’s List

David’s List

Scott’s List

Trevor’s List

Jordan’s List

Miscellaneous Links

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

]]> CriterionCast yes To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2019 releases – and there’s a lot to celebrate – Ryan Gallagher, David Blakeslee, Scott Nye, Trevor Berrett, and Jordan Essoe gather to talk about the past ye… Ryan is joined by David, Scott, Trevor, and Jordan to discuss their Criterion Collection releases from 2019. Episode 202 – William Wyler’s The Heiress https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514402/episode-202-the-heiress CriterionCast Thu, 29 Aug 2019 00:00:02 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=61734

This time on the podcast, Trevor Berrett, Scott Nye, and David Blakeslee discuss William Wyler’s The Heiress.

Directed with a keen sense of ambiguity by William Wyler, this film based on a hit stage adaptation of Henry James’s Washington Square pivots on a question of motive. When shy, emotionally fragile Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland, in a heartbreaking, Oscar-winning turn), the daughter of a wealthy New York doctor, begins to receive calls from the handsome spendthrift Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift), she becomes possessed by the promise of romance. Are his smoldering professions of love sincere, as she believes they are? Or is Catherine’s calculating father (Ralph Richardson) correct in judging Morris a venal fortune seeker? A graceful drawing-room drama boasting Academy Award–winning costume design by Edith Head, The Heiress is also a piercing character study riven by emotional uncertainty and lacerating cruelty, in a triumph of classic Hollywood filmmaking at its most psychologically nuanced.

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EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Trevor Berrett, Scott Nye, and David Blakeslee discuss William Wyler’s The&nbsp;Heiress. Directed with a keen sense of ambiguity by William Wyler, this film based on a … Trevor, Scott and David convene to sift through the motives and malice driving this compelling, Oscar-winning adaptation of Henry James's Washington Square. Episode 201 – Ten Years! https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514403/episode-201-ten-years CriterionCast Sun, 07 Jul 2019 00:40:51 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=61500

To celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the first episode of the podcast going live (on July 6th, 2009), Ryan is joined by Arik Devens, David Blakeslee, Josh Brunsting, and Scott Nye to talk about the anniversary.

They also get into their own thoughts on the theories surrounding the upcoming 1000th spine number, how the Criterion Channel is faring so far, and the Studio Canal titles coming back into print.

Thanks for all of the support over the past decade!

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Miscellaneous Links

]]> CriterionCast yes To celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the first episode of the podcast going live (on July 6th, 2009), Ryan is joined by Arik Devens, David Blakeslee, Josh Brunsting, and Scott Nye to talk about… Ryan is joined by Arik, David, Scott, and Josh to discuss the podcast’s ten-year anniversary, as well as a few Criterion-related topics. Episode 200 – Ingmar Bergman’s The Silence https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514404/episode-200-ingmar-bergmans-the-silence CriterionCast Sun, 21 Apr 2019 16:36:03 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=61110

This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens discuss Ingmar Bergman’s The Silence.

Two sisters—the sickly, intellectual Ester (Ingrid Thulin) and the sensual, pragmatic Anna (Gunnel Lindblom)—travel by train with Anna’s young son, Johan (Jörgen Lindström), to a foreign country that appears to be on the brink of war. Attempting to cope with their alien surroundings, each sister is left to her own vices while they vie for Johan’s affection, and in so doing sabotage what little remains of their relationship. Regarded as one of the most sexually provocative films of its day, Ingmar Bergman’s The Silence offers a disturbing vision of emotional isolation in a suffocating spiritual void.

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Episode Links

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens discuss Ingmar Bergman’s The&nbsp;Silence. Two sisters—the sickly, intellectual Ester (Ingrid Thulin) and th… The trilogy concludes with the surreal, the inexplicably, and the haunting. Episode 199 – Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514405/episode-199-ingmar-bergmans-winter-light CriterionCast Sun, 21 Apr 2019 16:35:51 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=61107

This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light.

“God, why hast thou forsaken me?” With Winter Light, Ingmar Bergman explores the search for redemption in a meaningless existence. Small-town pastor Tomas Ericsson (Gunnar Björnstrand) performs his duties mechanically before a dwindling congregation, including his stubbornly devoted lover, Märta (Ingrid Thulin). When he is asked to assuage a troubled parishioner’s (Max von Sydow) debilitating fear of nuclear annihilation, Tomas is terrified to find that he can provide nothing but his own doubt. The beautifully photographed Winter Light is an unsettling look at the human craving for personal validation in a world seemingly abandoned by God.

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Episode Links

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Winter&nbsp;Light. “God, why hast thou forsaken me?” With Winter Light, Ingmar Berg… Bergman's faith trilogy continues with the relentless Winter Light Episode 198 – A Conversation About DIANE, with Director Kent Jones https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/11180359/episode-198-a-conversation-about-diane-with-director-kent-jones CriterionCast Sat, 23 Mar 2019 19:00:19 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=60939

In this episode, David Blakeslee interviews director and film critic Kent Jones, a frequent contributor to the essays published by the Criterion Collection. His new film Diane, starring Mary Kay Place, won prizes at Tribeca and Locarno, and earned nominations at numerous festival showings in 2018. Diane is now set to open in theaters across the USA over the next several weeks. Here’s the synopsis from the film’s press kit:

For Diane (Mary Kay Place), everyone else comes first. Generous but with little patience for self-pity, she spends her days checking in on sick friends, volunteering at her local soup kitchen, and trying valiantly to save her troubled, drug-addicted adult son (Jake Lacy) from himself. But beneath her relentless routine of self-sacrifice, Diane is fighting a desperate internal battle, haunted by a past she can’t forget and which threatens to tear her increasingly chaotic world apart. Built around an extraordinary, fearless performance from Mary Kay Place, the narrative debut from Kent Jones is a profound, beautifully human portrait of a woman rifling through the wreckage of her life in search of redemption.

Kent Jones

Diane (reviews)

 

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes In this episode, David Blakeslee interviews director and film critic Kent Jones, a frequent contributor to the essays published by the Criterion Collection. His new film Diane, starring Mary Kay… David Blakeslee interviews director and film critic Kent Jones about his new film Diane, starring Mary Kay Place. Episode 197 – Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass Darkly https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514406/episode-197-ingmar-bergmans-through-a-glass-darkly CriterionCast Thu, 21 Feb 2019 05:59:25 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=60807

This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass Darkly.

While vacationing on a remote island retreat, a family’s fragile ties are tested when daughter Karin (an astonishing Harriet Andersson) discovers her father (Gunnar Björnstrand) has been using her schizophrenia for his own literary ends. As she drifts in and out of lucidity, Karin’s father, her husband (Max von Sydow), and her younger brother (Lars Passgård) are unable to prevent her descent into the abyss of mental illness. Winner of the Academy Award for best foreign-language film, Through a Glass Darkly, the first work in Ingmar Bergman’s trilogy on faith and its loss (to be followed by Winter Light and The Silence), presents an unflinching vision of a family’s near disintegration and a tortured psyche further taunted by the intangibility of God’s presence.

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Episode Links

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass&nbsp;Darkly. While vacationing on a remote island retreat, a fa… The boys of summer return to Bergman's most wintery period. Episode 196 – Wacky 2019! https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514407/episode-196-wacky-2019 CriterionCast Fri, 04 Jan 2019 12:59:24 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=60546

Ryan and David chat about the Wacky New Year’s Drawing for 2019.

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Miscellaneous Links

Past Wacky New Year’s Episodes

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes Ryan and David chat about the Wacky New Year’s Drawing for&nbsp;2019. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes Miscellaneous Links Happy New Year! High resolution! Wacky New Years Drawing … Ryan and David chat about the Wacky New Year's Drawing for 2019. Episode 195 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2018 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514408/episode-195-criterion-collection-favorites-of-2018 CriterionCast Thu, 27 Dec 2018 12:59:43 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=60455

To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2018 releases – and there’s a lot to celebrate – Ryan Gallagher, Arik Devens, David Blakeslee, and Jordan Essoe gather to talk about the past year in Criterion, including their favorite three Criterion releases of 2018.

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Episode Notes

Ryan’s List

David’s List

Arik’s List

Jordan’s List

Miscellaneous Links

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

]]> CriterionCast yes To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2018 releases – and there’s a lot to celebrate – Ryan Gallagher, Arik Devens, David Blakeslee, and Jordan Essoe gather to talk about the past year in Criteri… Ryan is joined by David, Arik, and Jordan to discuss their Criterion Collection releases from 2018. Episode 194 — Ingmar Bergman’s Persona https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/10884414/episode-194-persona CriterionCast Fri, 07 Dec 2018 13:00:34 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=60392  

This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Trevor Berrett discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Persona.

By the midsixties, Ingmar Bergman had already conjured many of the cinema’s most unforgettable images. But with the radical Persona, he attained new levels of visual poetry. In the first of a series of legendary performances for Bergman, Liv Ullmann plays a stage actor who has inexplicably gone mute; an equally mesmerizing Bibi Andersson is the garrulous young nurse caring for her in a remote island cottage. While isolated together there, the women undergo a mysterious spiritual and emotional transference. Performed with astonishing nuance and shot in stark contrast and soft light by Sven Nykvist, the influential Persona is a penetrating, dreamlike work of profound psychological depth.

Episode Links

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes &nbsp; This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Trevor Berrett discuss Ingmar Bergman’s&nbsp;Persona. By the midsixties, Ingmar Bergman had already conjured many of the c… For this episode of The CriterionCast, Scott, David, and Trevor join to discuss Ingmar Bergman's Persona. Episode 193 – Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510514/episode-193-jacques-demys-the-umbrellas-of-cherbourg CriterionCast Wed, 06 Jun 2018 13:30:24 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=59110

In this episode, Trevor Berrett, David Blakeslee and Scott Nye discuss Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

The angelically beautiful Catherine Deneuve was launched to stardom by this dazzling musical heart-tugger from Jacques Demy. She plays an umbrella-shop owner’s delicate daughter, glowing with first love for a handsome garage mechanic, played by Nino Castelnuovo. When the boy is shipped off to fight in Algeria, the two lovers must grow up quickly. Exquisitely designed in a kaleidoscope of colors, and told entirely through lilting songs by the great composer Michel Legrand, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of the most revered and unorthodox movie musicals of all time.

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PURCHASE THE FILM

 

 

TRAILER

EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes In this episode, Trevor Berrett, David Blakeslee and Scott Nye discuss Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of&nbsp;Cherbourg. The angelically beautiful Catherine Deneuve was launched to stardom by th… Trevor, David and Scott share their deep love of this magical film, so stop what you're doing and watch (or at least listen to) what happens. Episode 192 – 100 Years of Olympic Films [Winter Games Edition] https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510516/episode-192-100-years-of-olympic-films-winter-games-edition CriterionCast Tue, 20 Feb 2018 13:00:00 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=58429

In this episode, David Blakeslee, Arik Devens and Aaron West take a break from watching live coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Peongchyang to talk about some of their favorite images from past Winter Games, as captured in the Criterion Collection’s massive release from late 2017, 100 Years of Olympic Films 1912-2012.

Spanning fifty-three movies and forty-one editions of the Olympic Games, 100 Years of Olympic Films: 1912–2012 is the culmination of a monumental, award-winning archival project encompassing dozens of new restorations by the International Olympic Committee. The documentaries collected here cast a cinematic eye on some of the most iconic moments in the history of modern sports, spotlighting athletes who embody the Olympic motto of “Faster, Higher, Stronger”: Jesse Owens shattering world records on the track in 1936 Berlin, Jean-Claude Killy dominating the Grenoble slopes in 1968, Joan Benoit breaking away to win the Games’ first women’s marathon in Los Angeles in 1984. In addition to the impressive ten-feature contribution of Bud Greenspan, this stirring collective chronicle of triumph and defeat includes such documentary landmarks as Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia and Kon Ichikawa’s Tokyo Olympiad, along with captivating lesser-known works by major directors like Claude Lelouch, Carlos Saura, and Miloš Forman. It also offers a fascinating glimpse of the development of film itself, and of the technological progress that has brought viewers ever closer to the action. Traversing continents and decades, reflecting the social, cultural, and political changes that have shaped our recent history, this remarkable movie marathon showcases a hundred years of human endeavor.

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PURCHASE THE SET

100 YEARS OF OLYMPIC FILMS 1912 -2012

EPISODE LINKS

Arik’s Reviews of Individual Films:

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes In this episode, David Blakeslee, Arik Devens and Aaron West take a break from watching live coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Peongchyang to talk about some of their favorite images from… David, Aaron and Arik go for the gold as they slalom and curl their way through Criterion's epic box set. Episode 191 – John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510518/ep-191-young-mr-lincoln CriterionCast Mon, 19 Feb 2018 13:00:07 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=58417

In this episode, David Blakeslee, Scott Nye and Trevor Berrett discuss John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln, recently reissued by the Criterion Collection in a newly upgraded 4K restoration on Blu-ray and DVD.

Few American historical figures are as revered as Abraham Lincoln, and few director-star collaborations embody classic Hollywood cinema as beautifully as the one between John Ford and Henry Fonda. This film, their first together, was Ford’s equally poetic and significant follow-up to the groundbreaking western Stagecoach, and in it Fonda gives one of the finest performances of his career, as the young president-to-be, a novice lawyer struggling with an incendiary murder case. Photographed in gorgeous black and white by Ford’s frequent collaborator Bert Glennon, Young Mr. Lincoln is a compassionate and assured work and an indelible piece of Americana.

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PURCHASE THE FILM

HENRY FONDA ON YOUNG MR. LINCOLN

EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes In this episode, David Blakeslee, Scott Nye and Trevor Berrett discuss John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln, recently reissued by the Criterion Collection in a newly upgraded 4K restoration on Blu-ray an… David, Scott and Trevor sift right from wrong, by jing, as they discuss this classic slice of Americana from 1939. Episode 190 – New Year’s Wacky Drawing 2017-18 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510520/episode-190-new-years-wacky-drawing-2017-18 https://criterioncast.com/podcast/criterioncast-episodes/151-200/episode-190-new-years-wacky-drawing-2017-18#comments CriterionCast Sun, 31 Dec 2017 19:30:20 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=57812

Hot off the press, David Blakeslee and Aaron West get together to dissect the clues provided by the Criterion Collection’s annual Wacky Drawing hinting at upcoming releases for 2018.

Follow along with our conversation by referencing the alphabet-coded breakdown of this year’s illustration by Jason Polan.

Links to past analyses:

Here are links to the various drawings from the past few years

 

]]> https://criterioncast.com/podcast/criterioncast-episodes/151-200/episode-190-new-years-wacky-drawing-2017-18/feed 1 CriterionCast yes Hot off the press, David Blakeslee and Aaron West get together to dissect the clues provided by the Criterion Collection’s annual Wacky Drawing hinting at upcoming releases f… David Blakeslee and Aaron West sift through the clues embedded in the annual New Year's info dump from the Criterion Collection. Episode 189 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2017 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510522/episode-189-favorites-of-2017 CriterionCast Thu, 21 Dec 2017 13:00:43 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=57632

To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2017 releases – and there’s a lot to celebrate – Aaron West, Arik Devens, David Blakeslee, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye and Trevor Berrett gather to talk about the past year in Criterion, including their favorite three Criterion releases of 2017.

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Episode Notes

Jordan’s List

Arik’s List

Aaron’s List

Trevor’s List

Scott’s List

David’s List

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

]]> CriterionCast yes To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2017 releases – and there’s a lot to celebrate – Aaron West, Arik Devens, David Blakeslee, Jordan Essoe, Scott Nye and Trevor Berrett gather to talk about the… The team celebrates their favorite releases from The Criterion Collection in 2017. Episode 188 – Monte Hellman’s The Shooting & Ride in the Whirlwind https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510524/episode-188-monte-hellmans-the-shooting-ride-in-the-whirlwind CriterionCast Mon, 11 Dec 2017 22:05:09 +0000 https://criterioncast.com/?p=57561

This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett to discuss Monte Hellman’s The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind.

In the midsixties, the maverick American director Monte Hellman conceived of two westerns at the same time. Dreamlike and gritty by turns, these films would prove their maker’s adeptness at brilliantly deconstructing genre. Shot back-to-back for famed producer Roger Corman, they feature overlapping casts and crews, including Jack Nicholson in two of his meatiest early roles. The Shooting, about a motley assortment of loners following a mysterious wanted man through a desolate frontier, and Ride in the Whirlwind, about a group of cowhands pursued by vigilantes for crimes they did not commit, are rigorous, artful, and wholly unconventional journeys to the Old West.

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Purchase the Film

Roger Corman and Monte Hellman discuss the films

Episode Links

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett to discuss Monte Hellman’s The Shooting and Ride in the&nbsp;Whirlwind. In the midsixties, the maverick American d… Scott, David, and Trevor talk production models, genre, and drug trips in Hellman's landmark low-budget westerns. Episode 187 – Jack Clayton’s The Innocents https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510526/episode-187-jack-claytons-the-innocents CriterionCast Wed, 25 Oct 2017 12:00:17 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=56829

This time on the podcast, Trevor Berrett, David Blakeslee, and Scott Nye discuss Jack Clayton’s The Innocents.

This genuinely frightening, exquisitely made supernatural gothic stars Deborah Kerr as an emotionally fragile governess who comes to suspect that there is something very, very wrong with her precocious new charges. A psychosexually intensified adaptation of Henry James’s classic The Turn of the Screw, cowritten by Truman Capote and directed by Jack Clayton, The Innocents is a triumph of narrative economy and technical expressiveness, from its chilling sound design to the stygian depths of its widescreen cinematography by Freddie Francis.

Episode Links

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Trevor Berrett, David Blakeslee, and Scott Nye discuss Jack Clayton’s The&nbsp;Innocents. This genuinely frightening, exquisitely made supernatural gothic stars D… For this episode of The CriterionCast, Trevor is joined by David and Scott to talk about Jack Clayton's The Innocents, adapted from Henry James's classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw. Episode 186 – Yasujiro Ozu’s An Autumn Afternoon https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510528/episode-186-an-autumn-afternoon CriterionCast Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:00:35 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=56331

In this episode, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett and Matt Gasteier provide a conclusion to their conversations about “Late Ozu”, carried over from the final three episodes of The Eclipse Viewer podcast. They’re also joined by Scott Nye.

About the film:

The last film by Yasujiro Ozu was also his final masterpiece, a gently heartbreaking story about a man’s dignifed resignation to life’s shifting currents and society’s modernization. Though the widower Shuhei (frequent Ozu leading man Chishu Ryu) has been living comfortably for years with his grown daughter, a series of events leads him to accept and encourage her marriage and departure from their home. As elegantly composed and achingly tender as any of the Japanese master’s films, An Autumn Afternoon is one of cinema’s fondest farewells.

Episode Links

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes In this episode, David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett and Matt Gasteier provide a conclusion to their conversations about “Late Ozu”, carried over from the final three episodes of The Eclipse Viewer pod… David, Scott, Trevor, and Matt discuss the last film directed by Yasujiro Ozu. Episode 185 – Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514409/episode-185-andrei-tarkovskys-stalker CriterionCast Mon, 24 Jul 2017 21:57:36 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=56173

This time on the podcast, Trevor Berrett and Scott Nye discuss Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker.

Andrei Tarkovsky’s final Soviet feature is a metaphys­ical journey through an enigmatic postapocalyptic landscape, and a rarefied cinematic experience like no other. A hired guide—the Stalker—leads a writer and a professor into the heart of the Zone, the restricted site of a long-ago disaster, where the three men eventually zero in on the Room, a place rumored to fulfill one’s most deeply held desires. Adapting a science-fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Tarkovsky created an immersive world with a wealth of material detail and a sense of organic atmosphere. A religious allegory, a reflection of contemporaneous political anxieties, a meditation on film itself—Stalkerenvelops the viewer by opening up a multitude of possible meanings.

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Episode Links

Episode Credits

[amazon_link asins=’B06ZY641YQ,B073X6FM32′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’criter-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’e824eb05-6e28-11e7-93c7-cff323e34537′] ]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Trevor Berrett and Scott Nye discuss Andrei Tarkovsky’s&nbsp;Stalker. Andrei Tarkovsky’s final Soviet feature is a metaphys­ical journey through an enigmatic post… In this episode, Trevor Berrett and Scott Nye venture into the mysteries of the Zone, discussing Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker. Episode 184 – Mark Robson’s Valley of the Dolls https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510532/episode-184-valley-of-the-dolls CriterionCast Sat, 15 Jul 2017 18:30:09 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=56047

This time on the podcast, David Blakeslee and Catherine Stebbins discuss the 1967 Hollywood blockbuster Valley of the Dolls.

Cutthroat careerism, wild sex, and fierce female protagonists are all on offer in this adaptation of Jacqueline Susann’s sensational and wildly popular novel. Patty Duke, Barbara Parkins, and Sharon Tate star as three friends attempting to navigate the glamorous, pressurized world of big-time show business—the “valley” is not a place but a narcotized state of mind, and the “dolls” are the pills that rouse them in the morning and knock them out at night. Blending old-fashioned gloss with Madison Avenue grooviness, director Mark Robson’s slick look at the early days of sexual liberation and an entertainment industry coming apart was a giant box-office hit, and has become an unforgettably campy time capsule of the 1960s.

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EPISODE LINKS

EPISODE CREDITS

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, David Blakeslee and Catherine Stebbins discuss the 1967 Hollywood blockbuster Valley of the&nbsp;Dolls. Cutthroat careerism, wild sex, and fierce female protagonists … David is joined by Catherine Stebbins to discuss what they learned in their encounter with the original Valley Girls. Episode 183 – Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514410/episode-183-michelangelo-antonionis-blow-up CriterionCast Fri, 23 Jun 2017 13:00:28 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=55923

This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Trevor Berrett discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up.

In 1966, Michelangelo Antonioni transplanted his existentialist ennui to the streets of swinging London for this international sensation, the Italian filmmaker’s first English-language feature. A countercultural masterpiece about the act of seeing and the art of image making, Blow-Up takes the form of a psychological mystery, starring David Hemmings as a fashion photographer who unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park. Antonioni’s meticulous aesthetic control and intoxicating color palette breathe life into every frame, and the jazzy sounds of Herbie Hancock, a beautifully evasive performance by Vanessa Redgrave, and a cameo by the Yardbirds make the film a transporting time capsule from a bygone era. Blow-Up is a seductive immersion into creative passion, and a brilliant film by one of cinema’s greatest artists.

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Episode Links

Episode Credits

[amazon_link asins=’B01MSZLUQ6,B01MZ0BP6D’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’criter-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’4ecebdce-5763-11e7-b424-45e6dc10790f’] ]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Trevor Berrett discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s&nbsp;Blow-Up. In 1966, Michelangelo Antonioni transplanted his existentialist ennui to t… In this episode, Scott Nye, David Blakeslee, and Trevor Berrett discuss Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blow-Up. Episode 182 – George Stevens’ Woman of the Year https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/9510536/episode-182-woman-of-the-year CriterionCast Tue, 09 May 2017 12:00:50 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=55667

This time on the podcast, David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett discuss George Stevens’s Woman of the Year.

George Stevens’s Woman of the Year, conceived to build on the smashing comeback Katharine Hepburn had made in The Philadelphia Story, marked the beginning of the personal and professional union between Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, who would go on to make eight more films together. This tale of two newspaper reporters who wed and then discover that their careers aren’t so compatible forges a fresh and realistic vision of what marriage can be. The freewheeling but pinpoint-sharp screenplay by Ring Lardner Jr. and Michael Kanin won an Academy Award, and Hepburn received a nomination for her performance. Woman of the Year is a dazzling, funny, and rueful observation of what it takes for men and women to get along—both in the workplace and outside of it.

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Episode Links

Episode Credits

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett discuss George Stevens’s Woman of the&nbsp;Year. George Stevens’s Woman of the Year, conceived to build on the smashing comeback Kath… David and Trevor take a swing at this seminal Tracy/Hepburn comedy, and try not to waffle in their opinions on the film's implicit messages about gender roles. Episode 181 – Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514411/episode-181-peter-weirs-picnic-at-hanging-rock CriterionCast Sun, 26 Feb 2017 13:00:20 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=55170

This time on the podcast, Trevor Berrett and David Blakeslee discuss Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock.

This sensual and striking chronicle of a disappearance and its aftermath put director Peter Weir on the map and helped usher in a new era of Australian cinema. Based on an acclaimed 1967 novel by Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock is set at the turn of the twentieth century and concerns a small group of students from an all- female college who vanish, along with a chaperone, while on a St. Valentine’s Day outing. Less a mystery than a journey into the mystic, as well as an inquiry into issues of class and sexual repression in Australian society, Weir’s gorgeous, disquieting film is a work of poetic horror whose secrets haunt viewers to this day.

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Episode Links

Episode Credits

[amazon_link asins=’B00J2PQZBC,B00JPUUSOO’ template=’ProductCarousel2′ store=’criter-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’4b0b7af4-fbb3-11e6-9b55-3dd48436138c’] ]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Trevor Berrett and David Blakeslee discuss Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging&nbsp;Rock. This sensual and striking chronicle of a disappearance and its aftermath put d… In this episode, Trevor Berrett and David Blakeslee discuss Peter Weir's 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock. Episode 180 – Criterion Collection Favorites of 2016 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514412/ep-180-favorites-of-2016 CriterionCast Wed, 18 Jan 2017 13:00:41 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=54928

To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2016 releases — and there’s a lot to celebrate — Arik Devens, David Blakeslee, Keith Enright, Scott Nye, and Trevor Berrett gather to talk about the past year in Criterion, including their favorite three Criterion releases of 2016.

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Episode Notes

Arik’s List

– Favorite Cover: A Brighter Summer Day
– Favorite Packaging: Trilogia de Guillermo del Toro
– Favorite Releases:
3) Fantastic Planet
2) Wim Wenders: The Road Trilogy
1) Night and Fog

David’s List

– Favorite Cover: Lady Snowblood
– Favorite Packaging: Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
– Favorite Releases:
3) The Executioner/Death by Hanging
2) Chimes at Midnight
1) The Emigrants/The New Land

Keith’s List

– Favorite Cover: Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams
– Favorite Packaging: Valley and Beyond the Valley
– Favorite Releases:
3) Valley of the Dolls and Beyond the Valley
2) One-Eyed Jacks
1) The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew & Associates

Scott’s List

– Favorite Cover: The Emigrants/The New Land
– Favorite Packaging: Wim Wenders: The Road Trilogy
– Favorite Releases:
3) Paris Belongs to Us
2) Chimes at Midnight
1) A Brighter Summer Day

Trevor’s List

– Favorite Cover: La chienne
– Favorite Packaging: Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
– Favorite Releases:
3) I Knew Her Well
2) Dekalog
1) Gilda

Episode Credits

Past Favorites of the Year Episodes

]]> CriterionCast yes To celebrate The Criterion Collection’s 2016 releases — and there’s a lot to celebrate — Arik Devens, David Blakeslee, Keith Enright, Scott Nye, and Trevor Berrett gather to talk about the past year… The crew talks about the past year in Criterion, including their favorite three Criterion releases of 2016. Episode 179 – Criterion Collection Wish List for 2017 https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514413/episode-179-wish-list-2017 https://criterioncast.com/podcast/criterioncast-episodes/151-200/episode-179-wish-list-2017#comments CriterionCast Fri, 30 Dec 2016 19:00:28 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=54690

Episode Links

Past Wish List Episodes

DVD to BluRay Wish Lists

Aaron:

  1. The Shop on Main Street
  2. Pickup on South Street

Arik:

  1. Cleo from 5 to 7
  2. Berlin Alexanderplatz

Mark:

  1. Taste of Cherry
  2. Sisters

David:

  1. Do the Right Thing
  2. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

LD to Blu-Ray Wish Lists

Aaron:

  1. Blue Velvet (Announced as LD Spine #219 but never released)
  2. Early Hitchcock Box (Sabotage, The Secret Agent, Young and Innocent, The Lodger, The Man Who Knew Too Much)

Arik:

  1. A Night at the Opera
  2. Singin’ in the Rain

Mark:

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  2. The Producers

David:

  1. I Am Cuba
  2. Letter From an Unknown Woman

FilmStruck-to-Criterion Disc Wish Lists

Aaron:

  1. Come and See
  2. The Passenger

Arik:

  1. Nanook of the North
  2. Pygmalion

Mark:

  1. Stalker
  2. Flight of The Red Balloon (Not currently available on FilmStruck)
  3. The Big Red One

David:

  1. Shame
  2. The 47 Ronin, Parts 1 and Part 2

Box Set Breakouts Wish Lists

Aaron:

  1. Lacombe, Lucien

Arik:

  1. Phantom India

Mark:

  1. The Last Picture Show

David:

  1. Ashes and Diamonds
  2. Samurai Rebellion

OOP Rescue Wish Lists

Aaron:

  1. Tokyo Olympiad
  2. Army of Shadows

Arik:

  1. A Woman is a Woman
  2. Ran

Mark:

  1. Alphaville
  2. Nights of Cabiria

David:

  1. The Harder They Come
  2. The Fireman’s Ball

Wish List for Criterion 4K UHD Upgrades

Here’s a list of currently available CC 4K transfers

Aaron:

  1. A Brighter Summer Day
  2. Koyaanisqatsi

Arik:

  1. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

Mark:

  1. Mulholland Drive / Eraserhead
  2. On The Waterfront

David:

  1. The New World
  2. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Episode Credits

Music for the show is from Fatboy Roberts’ Geek Remixed project.

]]> https://criterioncast.com/podcast/criterioncast-episodes/151-200/episode-179-wish-list-2017/feed 3 CriterionCast yes Episode Links Past Wish List Episodes Episode 63.9 – Disc 3 – Top Criterion Blu-ray Upgrades for 2011 Episode 110 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2012 Episode 136 – Criterion C… David, Aaron, Arik and Mark get all speculative as they share their Criterion-related hopes and dreams for the year ahead. Episode 178 – Fritz Lang’s The Testament of Dr. Mabuse https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514414/episode-178-fritz-langs-the-testament-of-dr-mabuse CriterionCast Tue, 08 Nov 2016 13:00:39 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=54378 testament_mabuse_header

This time on the podcast, Ryan is joined by Arik Devens to discuss Fritz Lang’s The Testament of Dr. Mabuse.

Locked away in an asylum for a decade and teetering between life and death, the criminal mastermind Doctor Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) has scribbled his last will and testament: a manifesto establishing a future empire of crime. When the document’s nefarious writings start leading to terrifying parallels in reality, it’s up to Berlin’s star detective, Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke, reprising his role from M) to connect the most fragmented, maddening clues in a case unlike any other.

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]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Ryan is joined by Arik Devens to discuss Fritz Lang’s The Testament of Dr.&nbsp;Mabuse. Locked away in an asylum for a decade and teetering between life and death, the … Ryan and Arik chat about Lang's 1933 film. Episode 177 – Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514415/episode-177-eyes-without-a-face CriterionCast Thu, 27 Oct 2016 12:00:31 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=54268 eyeswithout_header

This time on the podcast, Ryan is joined by West Anthony to discuss George Franju’s Eyes Without a Face.

At his secluded chateau in the French countryside, a brilliant, obsessive doctor (Pierre Brasseur) attempts a radical plastic surgery to restore the beauty of his daughter’s disfigured countenance—at a horrifying price.

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]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Ryan is joined by West Anthony to discuss George Franju’s Eyes Without a&nbsp;Face. At his secluded chateau in the French countryside, a brilliant, obsessive doctor (P… Ryan is joined by West Anthony to discuss Franju's 1960 horror film. Episode 176 – Kenji Mizoguchi’s The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514416/episode-176-chrysanthemum CriterionCast Sat, 15 Oct 2016 19:57:33 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=54155 chrysanthemum_header_1200

This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee and Ryan Gallagher to discuss Kenji Mizoguchi’s The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum.

This heartrending masterpiece by Kenji Mizoguchi about the give-and-take between life and art marked the first full realization of the hypnotic long takes and eloquent camera movements that would come to define the director’s films. Kikunosuke (Shotaro Hanayagi), the adopted son of a legendary kabuki actor who is striving to achieve stardom by mastering female roles, turns to his infant brother’s wet nurse for support and affection—and she soon gives up everything for her beloved’s creative glory. Offering a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of kabuki theater in the late nineteenth century, The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum provides a critique of the oppression of women and the sacrifices required of them, and represents the pinnacle of Mizoguchi’s early career.

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Music from this episode is by Simon & Garfunkel.

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee and Ryan Gallagher to discuss Kenji Mizoguchi’s The Story of the Last&nbsp;Chrysanthemum. This heartrending masterpiece by Kenji Miz… Scott, David, and Ryan discuss heartache, sacrifice, gender roles, and performance in Mizoguchi's 1939 masterpiece. Episode 175 – Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514417/episode-175-ingmar-bergmans-smiles-of-a-summer-night CriterionCast Mon, 29 Aug 2016 12:00:11 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=53857 Smile_header1

This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens to discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night.

About the film:

After fifteen films that received mostly local acclaim, the 1955 comedy Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende) at last ushered in an international audience for Ingmar Bergman. In turn-of-the-century Sweden, four men and four women attempt to navigate the laws of attraction. During a weekend in the country, the women collude to force the men’s hands in matters of the heart, exposing their pretensions and insecurities along the way. Chock-full of flirtatious propositions and sharp witticisms delivered by such Swedish screen legends as Gunnar Björnstrand and Harriet Andersson, Smiles of a Summer Night is one of cinema’s great erotic comedies.

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Music from this episode is by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John and Robbie Williams.

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens to discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer&nbsp;Night. About the&nbsp;film: After fifteen fi… Scott, David, Trevor, and Arik discuss sex, seasons, witty retorts, dueling, and moral investigation in Bergman's 1955 classic. Episode 174 – Ingmar Bergman’s Summer with Monika https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514418/episode-174-ingmar-bergmans-summer-with-monika CriterionCast Mon, 25 Jul 2016 12:00:29 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=53648 monikadvd_big1a

This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens to discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Summer with Monika.

About the film:

Inspired by the earthy eroticism of Harriet Andersson, in the first of her many roles for him, Ingmar Bergman had a major international breakthrough with this sensual and ultimately ravaging tale of young love. A girl (Andersson) and boy (Lars Ekborg) from working-class families in Stockholm run away from home to spend a secluded, romantic summer at the beach, far from parents and responsibilities. Inevitably, it is not long before the pair are forced to return to reality. The version initially released in the U.S. was reedited by its distributor into something more salacious, but the original Summer with Monika (Sommaren med Monika), presented here, is a work of stunning maturity and one of Bergman’s most important films.

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Music from this episode is by The Beach Boys.

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens to discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Summer with&nbsp;Monika. About the&nbsp;film: Inspired by the eart… Scott, David, Trevor, and Arik discuss the eroticism, restless youth, realist and stylistic traits in Bergman's landmark film. Episode 173 – Ingmar Bergman’s Summer Interlude https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514419/episode-173-ingmar-bergmans-summer-interlude CriterionCast Sat, 25 Jun 2016 12:00:23 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=53398 summerinterlude_big1b

This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens to discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Summer Interlude.

About the film:

Touching on many of the themes that would define the rest of his legendary career—isolation, performance, the inescapability of the past—Ingmar Bergman’s tenth film was a gentle drift toward true mastery. In one of the director’s great early female roles, Maj-Britt Nilsson beguiles as an accomplished ballet dancer haunted by her tragic youthful affair with a shy, handsome student (Birger Malmsten). Her memories of the sunny, rocky shores of Stockholm’s outer archipelago mingle with scenes from her gloomy present, most of them set in the dark backstage environs of the theater where she works. A film that the director considered a creative turning point, Summer Interlude (Sommarlek) is a reverie about life and death that unites Bergman’s love of theater and cinema.

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Music from this episode is by Chad & Jeremy and Sam Cooke.

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee, Trevor Berrett, and Arik Devens to discuss Ingmar Bergman’s Summer&nbsp;Interlude. About the&nbsp;film: Touching on many of the … Scott, David, Trevor, and Arik discuss the artistic seeds, sensuality, playfulness, performances, autobiography, and tragedy in Bergman's 1951 film. Episode 172 – Michael Bay’s Armageddon https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514420/episode-172-michael-bays-armageddon CriterionCast Sat, 04 Jun 2016 12:00:28 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=53111 Armageddon1200

This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee, Ryan Gallagher, and James McCormick to discuss Michael Bay’s Armageddon.

About the film:

Bruce Willis and an all-star cast of roughneck oil drillers blast off on a mission to save the planet in Michael Bay’s doomsday space epic.

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Siskel & Ebert Review:

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Music from this episode is by Peter, Paul, & Mary and Aerosmith.

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee, Ryan Gallagher, and James McCormick to discuss Michael&nbsp;Bay’s Armageddon. About the&nbsp;film: Bruce Willis and an all-star … Scott, David, Ryan, and James discuss the thrills, chills, and discomfort of Bay's landmark blockbuster, and whether it belongs in the Collection. Episode 171 – Vilgot Sjöman’s I Am Curious… https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514421/episode-171-i-am-curious CriterionCast Wed, 30 Mar 2016 12:00:34 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=52444 curious_yellow_cover_large1b

This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee and James McCormick to discuss Vilgot Sjöman’s I Am Curious (Yellow) and I Am Curious (Blue).

About the film:

Seized by customs upon entry to the United States, subject of a heated court battle, banned in cities across the United States, Vilgot Sjöman’s I Am Curious—Yellow is one of the most controversial films of all time. This landmark document of Swedish society during the sexual revolution has been declared both obscene and revolutionary. It tells the story of Lena (Lena Nyman), a searching and rebellious young woman, and her personal quest to understand the social and political conditions in 1960s Sweden, as well as her bold exploration of her own sexual identity. Shattering taboos as it freely traverses the lines between fact and fiction, I Am Curious—Yellow is presented here for the first time with its companion piece I Am Curious—Blue, a parallel film featuring the same characters and in which the lines between documentary and fiction are even further blurred.

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Music from this episode is by Coldplay and Eiffel 65.

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee and James McCormick to discuss Vilgot Sjöman’s I Am Curious (Yellow) and I Am Curious&nbsp;(Blue). About the&nbsp;film: Seized … Scott, David, and James discuss the politics, filmmaking, the legacy of war, and, of course, sex in the landmark dual film. Episode 170 – The Flowers of St. Francis https://feeds.criterioncast.com/link/19520/16514422/episode-170-the-flowers-of-st-francis CriterionCast Mon, 08 Feb 2016 13:00:26 +0000 http://criterioncast.com/?p=51909 flowers_header1a

This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee to discuss Roberto Rossellini’s The Flowers of St. Francis.

About the film:

In a series of simple and joyous vignettes, director Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly convey the universal teachings of the People’s Saint: humility, compassion, faith, and sacrifice. Gorgeously photographed to evoke the medieval paintings of Saint Francis’s time, and cast with monks from the Nocera Inferiore Monastery, The Flowers of St. Francis is a timeless and moving portrait of the search for spiritual enlightenment.

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Music from this episode is by Jackie DeShannon.

]]> CriterionCast yes This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee to discuss Roberto Rossellini’s The Flowers of St.&nbsp;Francis. About the&nbsp;film: In a series of simple and joyous vig… Scott and David discuss faith, simplicity, nature, joy, and realism in Rossellini's don't-call-it-a-biopic.