Criterion Collecton – Stream On Demand

‘Merrily We Go to Hell’ – Sylvia Sidney and Fredric March spiral on Criterion Channel

!Featured, based on a short story, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Criterion, Criterion Channel, Criterion Collecton, Directed by Women, drama, DVD, Hollywood Classic, pre-code, socially aware cinema, SVOD 03/22/2023 Sean Axmaker

Dorothy Arzner’s daring pre-code romantic drama delves into open marriage and alcoholism during Prohibition.

Delphine Seyrig stars in the landmark film by Chantal Akerman

‘Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles’ – the greatest ever on Max and Criterion Channel

!Featured, Blu-ray, Criterion Channel, Criterion Collecton, Directed by Women, drama, DVD, International Cinema, Max, Sight & Sound 100 Greatest Films of All Time, socially aware cinema, SVOD 12/02/2022 Sean Axmaker 2 Comments

Filmmaker Chantal Akerman and actor Delphine Seyrig create an epic portrait of a life that has rarely been seen on screen in the quotidian masterpiece. It was voted the greatest film of all time in the 2022 Sight and Sound poll.

Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay star in the film by Andrew Haigh

‘45 Years’ for Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay on Criterion Channel and free on Kanopy

!Featured, Academy Award nominee, based on a short story, Blu-ray, Criterion Channel, Criterion Collecton, drama, DVD, Free, Kanopy, psychological drama, Streaming Movies, VOD 07/09/2022 Sean Axmaker

Rampling and Courtenay are superb as a happily married couple jolted out of their contentment in this haunting British drama directed by Andrew Haigh.

Film Noir on Blu-ray: ‘Moonrise,’ ‘Gun Crazy,’ ‘No Orchids,’ and the restored ‘Man Who Cheated Himself’

Blu-ray, Criterion, Criterion Collecton, DVD, film noir, Flicker Alley, Kino Classics, Warner Archive 01/13/2019 Sean Axmaker

The Man Who Cheated Himself (Flicker Alley, Blu-ray+DVD)Moonrise (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD)Gun Crazy (Warner Archive, Blu-ray)No Orchids for Miss Blandish (Kino, Blu-ray, DVD) Lee J. Cobb takes the lead as Lt. Ed Cullen, a veteran Homicide detective in a secret affair with socialite Lois Frazer (Jane Wyatt) while she’s in the midst of a divorce, in […]

Blu-ray: Orson Welles’ ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’ on Criterion

Academy Award nominee, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Criterion, Criterion Collecton, DVD, Essential Viewing, National Film Registry 12/11/2018 Sean Axmaker 2 Comments

The Magnificent Ambersons (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) How did it take so long for the sophomore feature from Orson Welles to finally get its Blu-ray debut? I don’t need an answer, I’m just thrilled that it’s finally here, and in such a beautiful edition. The magnificence of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) is apparent from the first […]

Shih Chun in King Hu's 1967 wuxia pian classic from Taiwan

Blu-ray: ‘Dragon Inn’ / ‘Legend of the Mountain’ – King Hu on Criterion and Kino

Criterion Collecton, International Cinema, Kino Classics 08/12/2018 Sean Axmaker

Dragon Inn (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) Legend of the Mountain (Kino, Blu-ray, DVD) After the success of Come Drink With Me, the pioneering wuxia pian (“martial chivalry”) adventure that mixed martial arts, romance, comic action, and historical settings, Hong Kong director King Hu went to Taiwan for the opportunity to make films with greater freedom. Dragon […]

Marlene Dietrich in the 1932 classic by Josef von Sternberg

Criterion Blu-ray: Dietrich & Von Sternberg in Hollywood

Blu-ray, Criterion Collecton, Hollywood Classic 08/10/2018 Sean Axmaker

Dietrich & Von Sternberg in Hollywood (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) At the dawn of the sound era, as German movie star Emil Jannings left Hollywood to return to Germany, the actor invited Austrian-born/American-raised director Josef von Sternberg (who directed Jannings in The Last Command, 1928) to Universum Film A.G. to direct him in that studio’s first […]

Kim Hunter and David Niven star in the 1946 romantic classic by Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger

Criterion Blu-ray: A Matter of Life and Death

Blu-ray, Criterion, Criterion Collecton, DVD 07/28/2018 Sean Axmaker

A Matter of Life and Death (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death (1946), originally released in the U.S. as Stairway to Heaven, is as gorgeous and romantic as films come. The film opens with a celestial prologue and narration providing a sense of cosmic comfort of someone […]

Paul Whiteman and his Band star in the 1930 musical revue directed by John Murray Anderson

Criterion Blu-ray: ‘King of Jazz’ restored, ‘An Actor’s Revenge,’ and Dreyer’s ‘Passion of Joan of Arc’

Blu-ray, Criterion, Criterion Collecton, DVD 03/27/2018 Sean Axmaker

King of Jazz (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) An Actor’s Revenge (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) The Passion of Joan of Arc (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) I came to King of Jazz (1930) with low expectations, I confess. I knew that the early sound film is a landmark production but I’m no fan of the stage style revue films and […]

Blu-ray: G.W. Pabst’s ‘Westfront 1918’ and ‘Kameradschaft’ on Criterion

Blu-ray, Criterion, Criterion Collecton, DVD 02/06/2018 Sean Axmaker 2 Comments

Westfront 1918 (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) Kameradschaft (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD) Georg Wilhelm Pabst was not only one of the great German directors of the silent film era, he (along with Fritz Lang) explored the expressive possibilities of sound in the early days of sound cinema. Criterion presents two of his earliest sound features, a pair that […]