Criterion Channel

We get weekly newsletter updates from the Criterion Channel, and the last one had a letter they had received from Wes Anderson.  He proclaimed his love for the offerings, and said that Criterion  was like the Louvre for cinema lovers.  That is an apt description,as we discover major and minor treasures each time we browse the website.  In a typical month we watch about 11 movies on Criterion.  This weekend is Deb's film festival, where she gets to choose three.  With one to go, here is what we have seen so far.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Crumb is a very disturbing film, mostly about mental illness and how it has affected three boys from the same family.  The Crumb brothers each have their own problems, mostly stemming from childhood and high school years.  The two Crumb sisters refused to be interviewed for the film, so things might just beyond just the boys.  We do get to meet and hear about Mum, and Dad, who passed away well before the film was made, also looms large in the narrative.

The crew follow Robert Crumb around downtown Hollywood for several days, and inside his own home.  we talk with former girlfriends, a former wife, and a present wife.  We meet his two brothers, Charles and Max, and the sequences are disturbing.  We see many examples of Crumb's underground comic art, and that is probably the most disturbing thing of all.  Still, it is a must-see film.  I was never a fan of Crumb's work, but still found the movie very addictive.  I have just located all of his work on ReadComicOnline (along with great Michael Moorcock story comics), so I will get around to some of it at a slightly later date.  The film is from the director of Ghost World and Art School Confidential.  All three movies are brilliant.

Now showing on Criterion. 

We watched Orlando tonight, blown away by the costumes and sets.  The recreation of a carnival on the frozen River Thames (filmed in Russia) is enough reason to watch the movie.  But there are many others, including Tilda Swinton's portrayal of a character seen through time, at the same age, but not always the same sex.  Taken from a novel by Virginia Woolf (which neither of us has yet read), the director has made a virtually unfilmable book into quite a ravishing film!   I was constantly reminded throughout of Black Adder, and wonder if that writer was at all influenced by the Woolf book, or whether this movie was influenced by Black Adder.  A highly recommended film, and it should be seen more than once, just to get all the visuals.

Now showing on Criterion.  

Earlier in the week I chose this indie film from 1987.  Four years in the making, it just managed to get completed and find a distributor.  Not a great film by any means, but the excellent documentary that comes with it gives a pretty good indication of what it takes to sometimes get a movie done.  The film can be better appreciated along with the documentary.  Three LA film students were (barely) up to the challenge, which was largely financial.  Allison Anders is one of the directors, and I will be screening more of her work in the future, this being her first film.

Mapman Mike